Informal Learning for Efficient and Effective Skills Development
Introduction
Examples of Informal Learning
- Doing online searches to find answers or resources, learn how to do something
- Asking a peer or SME or getting help from your supervisor
- Working with a mentor
- Participating in a community of practice
- Team learning through discussion, iterating toward a solution, etc.
- After-action reviews or “lessons learned” sessions
- Job shadowing
- Participating in task forces, committees, inter-agency working groups, etc.
- New job assignments or developmental details
- SharePoint sites with curated resources
Rapid change and the attrition of talent require better and faster ways to develop the skills of today’s workforce. One often-overlooked solution to this challenge is informal learning that is embedded in the flow of work and controlled by the learners. Today, employees have more opportunities than ever to learn informally through collaboration platforms, knowledge-sharing tools, professional networks, and AI platforms that can help them quickly locate relevant information and resources. Workplace learning can be more efficient and more effective if we reduce over-reliance on formal training and dedicate more attention and resources to fostering informal learning. It aligns well with how people naturally learn and puts employees in the driver’s seat for their own development.
Definition and Benefits of Informal Learning
Informal learning can be defined as learning that is driven by the learner, not by a trainer or instructional designer. There are no assessments or certificates, just learning that occurs in the flow of work. The 70-20-10 model of professional development1 holds that 70% of what we learn is from experience on the job, 20% is from other people, and only 10% is from formal training. Thus, informal learning accounts for about 90% of all learning in the workplace.
Benefits of informal learning include the following:
- Occurs naturally when getting work done with other people (no time away from work as there is with formal training)
- Lets the learner decide when, what and how to learn a new skill or process
- Provides social learning that builds relationships and a culture where employees are comfortable sharing new ideas and collaborating with one another2
- Does not have a direct cost (as there might be with formal training)
Strategies for Fostering Informal Learning
While informal learning occurs naturally in everyday work, organizations can adopt a variety of strategies to help it flourish. Below we provide some strategies your organization can try. For each, we show how to get started and how to take it to the next level.
| Strategy | Getting Started | Taking It to the Next Level |
|---|---|---|
| Foster team learning | Utilize staff meetings for team problem solving sessions; mix senior and junior staff on teams | Make after-action reviews a standard step on team projects |
| Leverage hands-on experience | New team assignments; job shadowing | Organize mentoring programs and communities of practice and drive participation |
| Build skills conducive to informal learning.3 | Encourage feedback seeking, strategic questioning, active listening, and pattern recognition | Hire and promote people with demonstrated success learning informally |
| Elevate the importance of continuous learning, curiosity and innovation | Promote online microlearning via emails and newsletters; “Lunch and Learns” featuring SMEs; encourage employees to leverage trusted digital resources and AI-powered tools to support self-directed learning and exploration | Encourage employees to incorporate curated knowledge resources, collaboration platforms (i.e., Microsoft Teams and SharePoint), and AI tools into their daily workflows to make learning more accessible in the flow of work; Give awards for innovation; Recognize and promote managers who excel at encouraging innovation |
| Turn managers into champions of informal learning | Include Developing Others as a required competency for managers | Train supervisors and managers on skills and strategies for informal learning and workforce development |
| Be strategic about bringing fresh thinking and different experiences to the workforce | Utilize internal details to expose employees to different functions and challenges while building their network | Undertake talent exchanges with external organizations; Consider hiring externally for key positions, including former employees who have gained new experiences elsewhere |
Conclusion
Informal learning comes in different shapes and sizes and occurs in a variety of different circumstances. Whether you are actively seeking to learn a new skill or a situation happens to present itself, look to take advantage of the informal learning opportunities around you.
Have you tried any of the informal learning strategies listed above? Are there ones you would like to see your organization adopt?
Sources
- Cynthia McCall et. al. (1988). Lessons of Experience. Lexington Press. ↩
- Retrieved from https://trainingindustry.com/articles/remote-learning/7-strategies-to-foster-informal-learning-in-your-digital-workplace/ ↩
- Megan Le Clus (2011). Informal Learning in the Workplace: A Review of the Literature. Australian Journal of Adult Learning vol. 51 (2). ↩