Ten Things To Know About How To Learn At Work

Everyone wants to grow. From the recently promoted CEO who needs to change their style and learn new ways of getting things done to the new grad who wants to succeed fast. And to grow involves learning. It is in the context of work that most of our learning takes place.

So it is worth looking at the 10 things we think help make learning work

1. Tie your learning to real results that you can impact and measure the value of. It adds motivation.

2. Learn through the context of real problems and real situations. This is what makes the abstract real and what focuses you on what makes the most difference.

3. Be happy to look for new insights and ways of seeing things. Sometimes the critical part of learning is an AHA moment. When you suddenly see the world in a new ways which unlocks new energy and ways of doing things.

4. Look to learn with others. All learning is in the end individual. But if you work with others you will not only get a wider set of experiences but you will potentially get a critical mass of people to work with to sustain change.

5. Learning is a process not an event. Learning takes practice, application, reflection, refinement and continual adjustment as the context changes. Learning is often uncomfortable as it involves change

6. Listen in to your internal drives, to find what you are interested in. Once you identify what you need to learn, take responsibility for following through

7. Learn in safe environments first; to build confidence, secure skills and to convince yourself you are ready. Then apply in higher stakes situations.

8. Remember that the interpersonal and communication skills you learn are as important outside of work as inside and are universal skills you can use.

9. Use a variety of methods that fit your style of learning and the subject you are learning about.

10. Don’t be constrained by what is offered. There is so much fantastic quality information and material out there and available for free that you do not need to be constrained by what is offered by your HR team.You make up your own curriculum.