Our prodigious ability to learn is one of the things that makes us human. And while much of what we think about as learning is an individual endeavor, the truth is, regardless of our learning style, we can learn much with and through others. Whether you are thinking about your own personal learning journey or trying to create more effective learning in your organization, understanding the powers of – and differences between - social and peer learning is important.

Social Learning

Psychologist Albert Bandura developed social learning theory which states that people can learn from observing others. The theory proposes that five things must take place for learning to happen:

  • Observation
  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Reproduction
  • Motivation

The purpose of this article isn't to explain the theory but to highlight the reality that we can and do learn from others. Whether it is learning table manners from our parents or replicating what someone does during a virtual meeting, we can and do learn from others. While social learning theory focuses on how we can learn from anyone, for our organizational purposes, think about this as how people learn from the group or members of it.

If culture is “how we do things around here”, that means that there is plenty of social learning for new team members who are observing interactions, styles, and processes that aren’t “taught” but learned through the five steps listed above.

Peer Learning

Let’s distinguish real world peer learning from social learning in this way: peer learning is when I learn directly because of my interaction with a colleague. It might include observation, but more directly includes things like on-the-job training, peer coaching, and spontaneous and serendipitous conversation.

Why Does This Matter?

Now that I have defined a difference between social and peer learning, the question you might be asking is why does it matter? It matters for three very important organizational reasons:

  • These types of learning are powerful yet under appreciated and applied in most workplaces.
  • When left to chance, the learning that might occur might not serve organizational goals very well (i.e. people “learning” and repeating behaviors counter-productive to desirable outcomes).
  • If we think about learning beyond training and harness these approaches to workplace learning, we can achieve faster and more lasting learning results.

Now What?

Knowing that social and peer learning is fine – but translating that to organizational results matters far more. Here are four things your can do on a team and across your organization to harness this power:

  • Create an expectation of learning. Share this article with your team and let them know that you want and need them to learn together and from each other. Make social and peer learning a part of people’s jobs. Most of all, help them value these types of learning and realize that “training” isn’t the only time learning happens at work.
  • Provide some structure. Beyond encouraging and modelling these ideas you could provide some structure. This could look like mentoring programs or peer learning partners as a follow up to traditional training and learning activities.
  • Include learning in meetings. By incorporating what we are learning into meetings, we are providing space for sharing, modelling the importance of learning, and spurring even greater learning across the team.
  • Less PowerPoint, more conversation. Whether in a meeting or in a training session, create more space for small group conversation, question creation, and application.

This list is just a starting point. Work with others to determine the things you could do to create more informal learning opportunities on your team and in your organization.

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Kevin Eikenberry is a recognized world expert on leadership development and learning and is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com). He has spent nearly 30 years helping organizations across North America, and leaders from around the world, on leadership, learning, teams and teamwork, communication and more.
Twice he has been named by Inc.com as one of the top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World and has been included in many other similar lists.

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