An inside look at an app to activate ‘learning in the flow of work’

When the urgency of work trumps the luxury of learning: Short bursts, action steps, and circadian rhythms help bring 'learning in the flow of work' to life.

For more than three quarters of a billion knowledge workers, the harsh reality is that more than 60 percent of their time is occupied by things like exchange of email, data gathering, and internal communications. The other 40 percent, we hope, is spent on the completion of actual work required in their role.

Add on the constant flow of reorganization, strategic change, initiatives du jour, pesky customers, and other time-consuming distractions and a very obvious question arises: When do professionals find time to learn and grow, especially in times of transition and career advancement when development is needed most?

There has been a growing body of research and discussion on this subject, as truly innovative organizations change their talent development strategy from one in which time is carved out for learning to one that embraces what Josh Bersin has coined “learning in the flow of work,” because too often "the urgency of work invariably trumps the luxury of learning."

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Bersin said:

“Learning in the flow of work is a new idea: it recognizes that for learning to really happen, it must fit around and align itself to working days and working lives. Rather than think of corporate learning as a destination, it’s now becoming something that comes to us. Through good design thinking and cutting-edge technology, we can build solutions and experiences that make learning almost invisible in our jobs.”

At 1st90, our own collective experience has thrown the need for this approach into sharp focus. While technology allows the application of microlearning in a wide variety of scenarios, at 1st90 we focus on the most pivotal and trying times in the professional lives of knowledge workers: Career transitions. Whether you’re moving from peer to new manager, team member to team leader, or even to a new position at a different firm, recent studies show that it can take up to 2 years for you to be successful and fully productive… Really?

Bringing 'learning in the flow of work' to life

We can significantly accelerate an individual’s development in a new role and overall time-to-performance during that critical point in the onboarding process by combining good content with a “learning in the flow of work” approach. At 1st90, here’s how that approach comes to life:

• Learning on the Run: While many in our industry cower at the fact that most knowledge workers have only 5-7 minutes a day to learn something, to us this is an opportunity; our structured paths are comprised of 5-7 minutes of daily learning through a mobile app over a 30-45 day period.

• For Every Step, There’s an Action: In addition to the short, daily piece of development content, we ask participants to commit to an action tied to that learning. And here’s the kicker: That action is something they ought be doing in their new role but don’t have the knowhow. Therefore, we’re not asking workers to take time away from their job “to learn”; we’re empowering them to contribute in faster and more meaningful ways.

• Personalized Timing: We’re all wired differently. Any of us who have been through a credible time management program have realized that productivity ebbs and flows alongside our own individual circadian rhythms. We provide every participant with the opportunity to personalize their experience so they are able to get the most out of each step in the path. Furthermore, we integrate our reminders, prompts and cues into the tools and systems they already use as part of their professional toolkit.

• On Demand and Highly Scalable: The first step of every path begins on the individual’s first day in their new role. No delays, creation of cohorts, or other time killers get in the way of a participant’s ability to immediately enter into the community and the experience.

At 1st90, we know these approaches will continue to evolve as we continuously learn from our participants and our clients. Our goal is to empower everyone to be able to do their best work, without interruption.