An efficient company needs to use everything it has in its arsenal to provide the best results possible for customers. However, one powerful tool that often goes unnoticed is creating and supporting learning communities. A learning community is one of the most efficient driving forces for change and improvement within a business and successful incorporation of the practice results in a more robust workforce.
When built correctly, a learning community creates an open environment for everyone to join in, discussing reflection, problem-solving, and applications to meet new goals and objectives.
Here are tips to help you build a better learning community:
Have a Plan
Like most worthwhile endeavors, having a plan is crucial to achieving success. So, before you start, take the time to define the purpose of making the learning community. Make a realistic and goals-based plan of action that you would want to achieve and develop with the organization. After defining your purpose, you’ll need to handle better the goals and objectives you’d like workers to meet.
Besides that, discuss logistics, such as how often will the team meet? Will you meet in person or online? And who’s going to be the mediator? Setting these rules and guidelines help the learning community function better and create an environment of respect and collaboration that values cooperation over competition.
Collaborate with other People
A community can’t work without members, and the people making up the learning community dictates how efficient the learning community will be. So, it’s wise to take the time to form and maintain relationships among group members and help them hone their ability to work together.
You can start by letting each member introduce themselves and emphasize what they bring to the meeting and wish to get out of them. Ensure to offer a decent list of icebreaker activities after assembling your community to keep everyone engaged. Starting everyone off the right way can help you understand who makes up your community and what they’ll bring to the group dynamic.
After the community members have gotten to know one another, they need to choose a leader to represent them. The leader can be someone that you appoint or yourself. Keep in mind that it’s their responsibility to know the group’s functions and goals while ensuring each task gets completed, meetings stay on track — and the community happy.
However, since the threat of the coronavirus pandemic is still very much present, it will be wise to have innovative thermal imaging solutions set up in your community. You can take care of your group members and guests from other states by having them checked regularly. This will help; ensure their health and the continuity of your programs amidst the fluctuating economy.
Personalize the Learning Community
After organizing the group and appointing a mediator or leader, it’s to make some adjustments and personalize the community. Remember that each learning community is unique for several reasons, including its individual goals — and its members. Each team member brings various learning styles and needs to the table. That’s why learning communities need to understand their group dynamic and adopt strategies that will benefit everyone involved.
A learning community must also ensure that everyone in the group collaborates and builds upon one another’s ideas. Plus, since the group’s unique, each solution you come up with needs to be unique. It’s up to the leader and all group members to address these differences and personalize the learning community to get the most out of meetings and status updates.
So, make sure to regularly meet and hear what each group member needs to say to help your organization accomplish more than a community dominated by a single voice.
A well-organized learning community can lead everyone involved to accomplish what needs to be done, allowing each member to incorporate them into other applications — and following the tips mentioned can streamline the process for you.
