Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2018 - 9

GUEST EDITOR
MATTHEW MURRAY

FOLLOW THROUGH

As the articles in this issue demonstrate,
building boosts into the sustain phase
of your learning journeys is critical if
you want to drive performance-based
application. Learning professionals
have moved beyond thinking in terms
of pre-work and post-work, with its
assumptions that the learning event in
the middle of the journey is what counts
the most. We recognize that knowledge
reinforcement and continuous learning
in the final phase of the journey can
make a significant difference in the
lasting impact of our programs.

A LEARNING BOOST
IS NOT A JOLT OR A
NUDGE, BUT A SURGE.
One of the challenges we have as
learning architects is how best to design
those reinforcement and application
boosts. There are two common design
approaches to the sustain phase that
appear to be diametric opposites:
the Seamless Integration and the
Grand Finale. If we tease out the best
components of these two approaches,
we can achieve a third design construct
that is crafted around the meaningful
workplace moments of our learners.
THE SEAMLESS INTEGRATION
This design approach maintains that
the means to successful learning is to
embed reinforcement into the workflow,
as close to the point of application as
possible. In this scenario, the learning
boost is a just-in-time reminder, nudge
or recalibration that prompts the learner

to reflect on the skills and methods they
learned earlier in the journey and apply
them to the real situation they now face.
The Seamless Integration approach to
the sustain phase is designed around
quick hits and resources: micro-sims,
context-specific learning nuggets, popup videos, Quick Reference Cards, mini
diagnostics, etc. Some of these might be
pushed out to learners in a structured
way; some might be pulled by learners
as and when they need them.
The persistent drumbeat of the Seamless
Integration approach makes complete
sense. The problem is that your sustain
resources can be dismissed as "nice
to haves" by your learners once the
program is less front-of-mind and they
are back in longue durée of their work
patterns. The energy of the learning
journey can dissipate in the sustain
phase, trailing off into irrelevance as
learners gradually forget the key points
in the flurry of workday activities.
THE GRAND FINALE
The Grand Finale design overcomes
that problem by building up to a peak
at the end of the learning campaign. As
narrative design tells us, and as popular
media demonstrate, any learner journey
or compelling story should end in a
climax, the culminating apex of energy,
intensity and impact. The elements of
the program come together in a rising
crescendo and a milestone event. There's
no danger of your sustain phase running
out of steam in this model; it concludes
with a big, memorable experience.

Very good! But what comes next for the
learner? Do we just depend on reminders
and takeaways? And how does the
learner translate this big experience
back to the more mundane practicalities
of worklife?
Have we reached a stalemate here?
THE MEANINGFUL MOMENTS
Perhaps not. We can avoid the dilemma
by reconsidering how we think of our
learning boosts, mapping our sustain
activities to the moments of everyday
work behavior that are most important.
Meaningful moments don't have
to be high-adrenaline situations or
revelations. Most of us expend and
recharge our energy in micro-bursts.
Meaningful moments can be daily habits
that are contextually significant and
carry impact.
As Chip and Dan Heath suggest in
"The Power of Moments: Why Certain
Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact,"
we can shape the peak moments in
our learners' worklife and connect
our learning reinforcements to these
personalized, high-impact situations (an
annual review; a first time; a first day;
a recognition; a stretch assignment; a
threshold achievement). Being more
intentional about how we align our
learning boosts to elevated moments
can enhance their effect. In this scenario,
a learning boost is not a jolt or a nudge,
but a surge.
Matthew Murray is the digital learning
leader at PwC. Email Matthew.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - GIVING LEARNING A BOOST 20 18 I WWW. T RAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2018