I hear it all the time.
"We don't have time for training."
"People are too busy."
And let me say this: if you don't have time for training, that's okay.
Wait a minute, Kevin — don't you deliver training? Isn't that kind of surprising coming from you?
I'm not saying that because training isn't valuable. It's just that it's not the only tool in our learning toolkit.
We can find other ways to insert learning into the work. Here are four ways to build development into the work itself.
Create Reflection Time
We ought to be creating reflection time in our one-on-ones. When you're meeting with your folks, are you having time to say what's working? What's not working? How can we move forward? That's reflection time.
Reflection time in meetings is: are you taking time in your meetings to think about what we're learning? Share what you're learning with each other.
And lastly, in projects — if you're on a project, we should be having learning look-backs along the way. A lot of times people talk about doing that at the end, but we ought to be doing it in the middle too.
Finding time, making time, creating time for reflection in all those situations doesn't really take any more time. It's stuff you're already doing.
Create Learning Channels
In our organization, we use Slack. You might use Slack, you might use Teams, you might use something else. We have a channel called AI. That channel helps us all learn from each other about what we're learning about AI right now. It could be about anything — a learning channel is a way to give people the chance to learn and to share what they're learning. It doesn't require any training.
Share What You're Learning
Are people sharing what they're learning with each other, in formal and informal ways? Encourage that, and help people make sure they're doing it.
Apply Today's Tools
You're listening to this on a podcast. You're watching this on YouTube or somewhere else. These are all what I'd call today's tools. Are you using mediums like these to help people continue to learn?
None of these are meant to replace training. But just because we don't have time for training doesn't mean we can't be creating learning.
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