Training That Promotes Learning In The Flow of Work

Creating Training that Promotes Learning in the Flow of Work

LIFOW or Learning in The Flow of Work conceptualised by Josh Bersin, contends that learning resources must be accessible inside the learner’s workflow in order for continuous learning to occur. According to author Asha Pandey, employees learn most effectively when they are expected to apply what they have learned, which is at work. The 70:20:10 rule also emphasises how L&D significantly affects performance at work. The line separating where work begins and ends is anticipated to continue to blur as 2022 progresses and more firms adopt the hybrid work model. The traditional meaning of “workflow” is shifting as a result of the likelihood that employees will work “after hours” and juggle personal errands with “work hours.” Employees and L&D teams will struggle to arrange designated learning time under this new paradigm unless firms adopt LIFOW approaches.  

A study found that synchronous learning, which includes on-the-job training (OJT) and on-the-job coaching (OJC), decreased from 86% to 77% between 2017 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (post-pandemic). These data sets also suggest that over 80% of learners favour at least one sync learning method, and the findings explain why. Nearly 50% of the students who received some kind of sync learning thought it was very effective. Comparatively speaking, fewer than 30% of individuals who engaged in non-synchronous learning felt their instruction was successful. 

31% of learners reported a preference for OJT, and approximately 35% of them received training through that modality. OJT, which has LIFOW components, came in second (32%) to instructor-led training (57%), which was the most preferred training delivery mode overall. 

Here are 4 Learning in the Flow of Work examples applied in real life: 

Sales Training

The purpose of this course is to show how a salesperson should accurately recognize a customer’s wants during any engagement. For easy access to the most important guidelines that must be followed to accomplish this goal, LIFOW help was made available through films.  

• The principles were integrated through the use of scenarios. 
• To give the student an immersive experience, videos and ‘mini activities’ were used. 

Internal Reporting

To help staff members grasp a product registration tracking module offered by the customer’s system, this course was created. Support for LIFOW was in the form of a comprehensive digital resource available any time while working.  

• The concept was thoroughly explored in the primary module. 
• To enable continuous performance in the workflow, downloadable resources were inserted in at necessary points. 
• The staff can access this resource on any device as and when the need to follow this process arises to fill in the gaps 

Safety Systems 

The course was designed for employees to examine how to protect confidential information at all times, what constitutes it, and techniques to preserve the information. LIFOW support was offered to staff members throughout the day in the form of succinct, to-the-point pointers that were covered in the film. 

Quality Assurance

Employees of a consulting firm were expected to distinguish between key and non-key accounts. The scores for each account were to be calculated using a formula, to be compared to the baseline score. To calculate the scores and contrast them with their baseline, the staff has access to a cloud-based template that served as LIFOW support.  

Click here to know what strategies, you should adopt to enable LIFOW. 

Pandey strongly believes that a good LIFOW program integrates several performance enhancement and support dimensions: 

1. “To drive deliberate practice”- Since all formal trainings are time-constrained, LIFOW can make use of chances for staff members to develop skills that were introduced during official training sessions in a safe, risk-free environment. 
2. “To reinforce learning”- LIFOW can make use of the chances provided for remote workers to continuously review, revise, refresh, and reinforce the knowledge gained during formal training. 
3. “To offset the forgetting curve”- When there is a delay between formal learning and situations where employees apply such abilities to obstacles at work, learners frequently forget “things.” Just-in-time (JIT) learning, which includes “how-to” tools and other job aids, aids learners in “remembering” information as part of a LIFOW strategy. 
4. “To improve the application of learning on the job”- Employees acquire knowledge that will improve their performance through extensive training. ‘Learning in the flow of work strategies’ assist in integrating new knowledge into the workforce. 
5. “To teach new concepts and for skill building”- When a need for assistance arises in a hybrid workplace where trainers, mentors, and supervisors may not always be on hand to help, LIFOW enables employees to quickly learn new skills. 

Pandey also added, that “not every situation that arises during on-the-job performance is covered in formal training”. Similarly, few employees can recall the lessons they acquired at a two-day training session twelve months prior. The examples of learning in the flow of work provided above should demonstrate that LIFOW can help fill knowledge gaps that might otherwise result in suboptimal job results when performance matters at the time and place of need.  

On the other hand, training is not a silver bullet to better performance unless it is delivered with a specific purpose. Understand your culture better and define the needs your training program will address. Get to the bedrock of the business needs and then plan accordingly. Don’t be afraid to seek expertise in arriving at a precise diagnosis of your organisation’s needs, and always train with the end in mind. If you need help with these, give us a call.