Our colleague Josh Bersin has written an insightful article for Chief Learning Officer about the concept of the “flow of work” and how people can learn new things efficiently while still getting their jobs done. In it, he points out that there are two types of learning:
Macrolearning: He defines this as learning focused on major new processes, concepts, and skills. The learner must devote sufficient time –including periods of uninterrupted time – to develop a comprehensive knowledge of new concepts and information. Examples of this include learning how to use a completely new enterprise accounting system or figuring out how to adapt a firm’s reporting practices to comply with major new regulations.
Microlearning: We all have to learn many new things every day in order to be effective workers, but most of these new things don’t require extended, concentrated effort. In the accounting world, an example of this is learning codes for a new Chart of Accounts. It only takes a few seconds to look up an expense code, and once you have used it a few times, you remember it. You can easily perform microlearning while juggling all the other things that happen during your work day. In in many cases, you may not even think of it as learning.
Josh sums up this difference beautifully: “While the goal of microlearning is to solve a problem, the goal of macrolearning is to develop a new skill, obtain a complete understanding or provide context for deeper knowledge.”
Improving your written communication, and teaching your staff how to write more clearly and effectively, involve both types of learning. People who start with weak skills or those who are learning English as a second language need to spend more time with macrolearning, especially at first. For instance, many untrained writers struggle with basic issues like using proper sentence structures or eliminating ambiguity. To make sense of best practices, learners need time, repetition, practice, and good instructors.
Other elements of writing, like proper word choice in “their-they’re-there” situations, require a microlearning approach. Writers can quickly find answers to such questions with web searches, and once they have used the right words in the correct way a few times, they incorporate that knowledge into their thinking.
Josh makes this critical point: “They want to learn but they don’t have much time. If you want to make learning relevant, give people access to just enough information to do their jobs, deliver it when and where they need it, and use intelligence to make sure they get enough spaced learning and macrolearning in the process.” It’s worth noting here that, according to Deloitte research, people spend an average of only 24 minutes per week on learning.
Dean-Peoples’ teaching methods, including our proven online collaboration and learning platform, make macrolearning efficient and memorable. Learning written communication processes, concepts and skills becomes an experience that people want to fit into their working days. We also provide a variety of microlearning tools, tips, and aids, including:
- Using spelling and grammar check to see readability statistics on your document, including words per sentence and reading ease.
- Using the “Find” tools in Word and PowerPoint to find “ly”, “of”, and “that” words in order to simplify removing wordiness.
- Referring to a job aid like this one to remind you of key tips that you can apply every time you write a document or message.
The full article is well worth reading. Find it here: http://www.clomedia.com/2018/04/02/learning-flow-work/
