How Effective Team Training Is Powered by Social Learning
“In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, to struggle together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life.” – Albert Badura
Many leaders are increasingly frustrated by the time and money wasted on traditional types of training. These seminars, workshops, and webinars, while packed with helpful information, rarely lead to tangible results. If you lead a team, finding the best way for your team to be fully engaged in what they are learning should be a priority. Which is why many organizations are looking at social learning as the real powerhouse behind effective team training.
Although the term is relatively new, social learning has been a powerful vehicle for human progress throughout history. According to ideas proposed by learning experts, such as psychologist Albert Bandura, we learn primarily via interaction and shared experience.
One increasingly popular example of a social learning forum is YouTube. YouTube users upload their own content, on a topic of their choosing, and the content’s credibility is mainly determined by the popularity and rating of the video from those within the community. This highlights a key difference—social learning is self-regulatory. (Interestingly, an article from Wegner and Trayner comments on how some online communities mirror aspects of Communities of Practice).
Is your team fully engaged in their work as a team or are they distracted? Really, who can blame them if they are distracted? This last year has brought major upheaval in how teams interact and in how work gets done. There’s no going back to normal and maybe that’s a very good thing. If you’ve been wondering how to keep team members engaged, there is a new and exciting opportunity for you! I believe leaders can use this time of transition as an opportunity to re-engage their teams through 