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Organisational Learning - People in the Process
Dtalk SeminarManaging People and Change in Development
29 September 2005
Bruce Britton, INTRAC
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Overview of presentation
• What is organisational learning?• Where do individuals fit in?• Barriers to organisational learning• Practical steps towards
organisational learning
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How was your week?
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Organisational learning
Individual and collective learning in an organisational context that contributes to changed organisational behaviour
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Levels of learning in organisations
• Individual• Team• Organisation
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If learning was a crime?
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If learning was a crime …
• Motive
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If learning was a crime …
• Motive• Means
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If learning was a crime …
• Motive• Means• Opportunity
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What do people need in order to contribute to organisational learning?
• Motive reasons for contributing
• Means tools and methods for contributing
• Opportunity favourable circumstances and ‘space’ for
contributing
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Motive - the reasons for contributing to organisational learning • Understanding where you and your contributions fit in• Supportive culture
Wheatley’s principles - people want to share their knowledge, everyone is a source and people choose to contribute based on commitment, valuing colleagues, respecting leaders, encouragement and not fearing negative consequences
Knowing that learning is legitimate, encouraged, supported, resourced, rewarded and used
• Supportive leadership Prioritisation Communication Legitimacy Example Recognition
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Means - the tools and methods for organisational learning
• Conceptual clarity - understanding individual and collective learning
• The necessary competences - how to learn and how to contribute
• Access to a range of methods and tools• Specialist support• Access to resources
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Opportunity - the ‘space’ for organisational learning
• Organisational learning as a strategic goal --> team and individual work plans
• Learning as an integral part of the planning and management cycle and other routine activities
• Access to knowledge management infrastructure including CoP
• Networks of relationships built on trust
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What do organisations need to do in order to encourage learning?
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External barriers to learning
1. Working in increasingly complex situations2. Short term funding leading to high staff
turnover and lack of continuity3. Pressure to diversify focus of activity4. Project-based funding5. Lack of unrestricted funds - to ‘buy the
time’6. Pressure to demonstrate low overheads7. Competition for public profile and funding8. Image - the need for success stories
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Internal barriers to learning - Individual and Team
• Individual Limited understanding of importance/purpose of
learning Psychological barriers (eg pride, fear, cynicism, need
for quick fixes, mistrust, bad experiences) Limited networking/relationship-building Limited skills Lack of incentive or recognition for learning Job insecurity
• Team Underdeveloped leadership & teamwork competences Underdeveloped team communications Territorialism / bunker mentality
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Barriers to organisational learning
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Internal barriers to organisational learning - Organisation
1. Activist / unsupportive culture 2. Lack of leadership commitment /
understanding3. Centralised / hierarchical structures4. Geographical spread 5. Underdeveloped systems6. Under-resourcing7. Institutionalised ‘defensive routines’8. Staff turnover
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Overcoming barriers to organisational learning
1. Agree the intended benefits of organisational learning 2. Identify the barriers - using different approaches for a
more holistic picture 3. Assess the organisation’s capacities - what’s working
well?4. Identify early adopters - promote and build on existing
good practices 5. Address motive, means and opportunity issues6. Make learning a part of strategy (planned and
emergent)7. Address functional issues
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Assessing the eight learning functions to identify strengths / barriers to learning
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Practical starting points for organisational learning - Individuals
1. Build learning into job descriptions and individual work plans (motive)
2. Ensure everyone has a plan for their own learning and development (means)
3. Develop reflective practitioner competencies (means)4. Leadership development using the ‘5 disciplines’
(means)5. Ensure leaders act as champions / models6. Provide a range of opportunities - supervision,
mentoring, coaching, action-learning7. Encourage and enable people to make informal
connections with colleagues (opportunity)
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Practical starting points for organisational learning - Teams
1. Build learning objectives into project and programme plans (motive)
2. Develop collective responsibility for results through team appraisal (motive)
3. Develop team-working and facilitation skills (means)4. Create a team of internal facilitators to support After
Action Reviews (means)5. Create informal teams using action learning sets and
communities of practice (opportunities)
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Knowledge Management Generations
ConnectivityCollectivity
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Practical starting points for organisational learning - Organisation1. Strategy
• Take a strategic approach to learning (planned and emergent)• Apply a learning approach to strategy
2. Structure• Reduce hierarchical levels• Consider specialist support units / posts
3. Systems Build learning requirements into project / programme design,
planning and evaluation Commission thematic reviews and evaluations Use 3G knowledge management infrastructure
4. Culture• Ensure that learning is legitimate, encouraged, supported,
resourced, rewarded and used• Lead by example
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Creating a Learning Culture
Non-Learning Behaviours Giving in to pressure Accepting assumptions Being over-cautious Burying problems and
mistakes Defensive routines Acting in isolation Blaming others
Learning Behaviours Asking questions Showing interest Challenging assumptions Admitting problems &
mistakes Converting mistakes into
learning Networking ‘Boat-rocking’ and
acting as a devil’s advocate
Demonstrating humility
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Developing a strategy for organisational learning
Develop a planned strategy
Create conditions for
emergent possibilities
Motive
Means
Opportunity
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Organisational learning - some examples • Organisational Self-assessment (SMC,
TearFund, WaterAid)• Networking (BOND SMOLNet, KM4DEV)• Learning Team (Christian Aid’s PL&D Team)• Knowledge Management Systems (WWF K-
Zone)• Corporate Knowledge Project (TearFund)• Exchange programmes (WWF)• Action learning (Traidcraft, BOND)