Making Organizational Learning stick

This post has been stuck for a while in the space between the keyboard and the fingers…more out of inertial than anything else.

How can a learning organization ensure that its organization learning methodologies are being put to good use? In an organization that is steadily climbing up the knowledge maturity curve, chances are that they will have a very structured knowledge repository and processes that enable this knowledge repository to get populated with content periodically. It is also highly likely that they have the tools and mechanisms in place for knowledge exchange on a social platform. And most definitely, they will have a formal learning program in place that enables employees continuously upgrade their skills and competencies.

How does one put all of this in perspective, such that each of the programs feeds the other, and there is tangible evidence of social learning that is occurring in the organization?

When enterprises are able to integrate formal e-learning methodologies with social collaboration, a social learning platform emerges. What this means is that the e-learning tool becomes an integral part of the social collaboration environment. For example, if it were possible for me:

1. to follow up a post with a short quiz
   
2. or conduct a survey
   

It would enable the organization get a sense of the level of understanding of the context and concepts underlying the article.

In a dynamic learning environment, I would be able to :

• Discover similar stories and notes
  
• Manage an ordered list of similar topics
  
• Test my understanding by taking tests or quizzes
  
• Look up a hint or follow a link in response to a question that I got wrong
  
• Read up content for more insight into a particular topic
  
• Identify an expert on the subject and get into a private conversation
  
• Join a discussion forum or a Community of practice in this domain
  

From an organization perspective, this kind of a learning environment would enable the organization:

• To go beyond structured learning methodologies
  
• Discover topics and subjects that are of interest to a larger section of the organization
  
• Identify niche subjects where expertise is scarce and develop a Community of Practice around that
  
• Discover experts in the organization and make them available to a larger group of people
  

Such a tool would have the following capabilities:

• Provide the capability to frame questions around a topic
  
• Enable objective and subjective responses to a question
  
• Provide the capability to conduct a survey or a poll
  
• Allow users to discover related topics to a response
  
• Provide valuable insights into organizational learning capabilities based on the responses
  

NEPHILA, integrated with marksplus has the ability to integrate Organizational learning to Knowledge Management thus enabling the enterprise become a learning organization.