This blog is excerpted from the Performance Matters Podcast. In this episode Bob and co-host, Conrad Gottfredson, sit down to discuss words. Particularly they talk “workflow learning” and “the 5 moments of need” and how these fit together into the larger performance-first picture. Listen to the full episode for definitions on targeted training and the EnABLE methodology.
Bob Mosher (BM): Welcome back to another Performance Matters podcast Bob Mosher
here. And once again, I'm honored to be joined by my dear friend, colleague, mentor
and hero in my life, Dr. Con Gottfredson. Con, how are you?
Con Gottfredson (CG): As always, it's great to be with you and to be able to discuss
with the rest of the world some important thoughts.
BM: This episode is going to be categorized under the Methodology
Matters series, because it's time for a stake in ground. In preparation for our
ebook, which was released in July, we read our work from the past 10+ years and
what we saw as our thinking evolve, as did the use of our vocabulary. The
exciting part is that the word, or words, “workflow learning” are on the rise.
It's becoming a global dialogue if you will. And of course, with those dialogues
comes the blurring of words and the blurring of understanding.
So, we thought we would use this platform to take a step back and
really break down some relationships and some confusion.
Let’s start with ourselves.
We were the performance support guys, Con, I don't know if you
remember this back when we started this years and years ago. We even have a
performance support community that we sponsor, but we were known as the PS, or
the performance support guys. And we've kind of moved a bit beyond that,
haven't we, in our thinking and understanding of that discipline?
CG: For sure, we stepped into performance support, because there was a
gap. But it was important for us to also understand there's more than
performance support when it comes to the 5 Moments of Need framework. And
that’s what has always driven us, the 5 Moments of Need framework, we've just
had to focus on areas where there were holes or gaps in our knowledge and
understanding. And because we sometimes focused in on an area, it appeared that
that was the only thing that was important to us; when in reality, the 5
Moments of Need and the entire world of Learning and Performance is important
to us across those 5 Moments.
BM: Yeah, it's interesting, because that's where we saw the weakest muscle.
I know it was mine when I came out of a training mindset. And I was migrating
towards a performance first mindset.
So, let's talk about three labels to start this off: “the 5
Moments of Need”, “workflow learning”, and “performance support”, because those
are at a high level independent but also, they stand self-reliant. Want to talk
through those a little bit Con?
CG: Yes, let's do so.
The 5 Moments is a framework, it's always been a framework. It's a
framework that was very helpful to me early on in my professional career. And
we found that it's something that can help guide the range of what our view
needs to be. And that's why we're not just performance support, performance
support is certainly crucial at the moment of Apply, at the moment of Solve, and
at the moment of Change, performance support is there. But it's not the only
player that needs to be on the field. Certainly, our formal learning needs to
be a part of that as well.
So, what I found, and what actually brought about the 5 Moments of
Need, was that I was so focused in on learning New, and to some degree learning
More, that I had lost sight of the moments of Apply, Solve and Change. And so,
this is a framework to help us understand the scope of what we need to do. And
then to help guide us as we've looked for the holes in our strategies, and how
we go about ensuring that people perform effectively on the job and in ever-changing
environments.
BM: And we have been very careful to emphasize that you design from
the moment of Apply back, you don't get mired in that training first mentality,
designing training, and then backfilling with a job aid or whatever you want to
do.
Ok, let's move into “workflow learning”.
CG: Well, “workflow learning” is learning while working. And this is
crucial distinction, because there are folks today who think that workflow
learning is simply a micro-learning pushed into the workflow. And that's it. They
believe if you can deliver a small e-learning module in the workflow, you then
have workflow learning. But, it's learning as you actually do your work, that's
at the heart of workflow learning, that's what it is.
And we found our way to this true workflow learning through the
discipline of performance support. We look at the 5 Moments and we know, we
have the moments of Apply, Solve and Change, and then Learn New and Learn More
actually happen in the flow of work.
BM: So, workflow learning, let's dissect it. It is embedding learning
and support in the workflow, while doing work. It's not available in an LMS, it
literally is understanding and analyzing the workflow and embedding a tool,
like performance support or an EPSS, in the workflow itself.
So, workflow learning is during those moments of apply, transfer,
and sustain. And training is also still available. And, this can all be designed
into performance support, or an EPSS.
So, we've got the 5 Moments of Need framework.
We've got workflow learning as a part of meeting three of those,
but as you said, it can actually encompass all 5 of the Moments of Need.
And at the lower end of the food chain here, if you will, it's
enabled through the design of performance support as a discipline and an EPSS
as one of the potential tools.
CG: That's right. And, you know, Bob, leaners have always had, or
done, workflow learning. It's just been haphazard. Because we haven't stepped
into that arena, we've just left everything up to chance. But learners are
remarkable, and they fight their way through it. The problem is that it's inefficient,
mistakes are made, and so forth. And so, what the discipline of performance
support allows us to do, when we design it properly and deliver it with the
right technologies, is to support that at their moment of need. Then we can be
very systematic and intentional in supporting workflow learning in a more efficient
and much more effective way.
Listen to the full
episode for more vocabulary words explained by hosts Bob and Con.
Subscribe to The Performance Matters Podcast to stay up-to-date on all the latest
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