{"id":17077,"date":"2020-09-25T10:17:39","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T10:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/?p=17077"},"modified":"2021-04-15T11:11:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T11:11:58","slug":"learning-in-the-flow-of-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/learning-in-the-flow-of-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How learning in the flow of work drives productivity and engagement | the definitive guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without sounding like a bad Cher tribute act, what if you could learn back time? If you could find a way of accessing information when you need it and reinvesting all the wasted time searching for it where it will make a difference? This is one of the key principles of learning in the flow of work. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a nutshell, it\u2019s the concept of easily accessing short pieces of content that help you achieve tasks as you\u2019re working. It recognises that if workplace learning is going to happen organically each day, it needs to fit around how we already work and the tools we choose to use.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pulling it off helps you create more productive, effective and engaged employees. And the point of this guide is to show you why and how learning in the flow of work is so crucial to development and success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, this is the definitive guide, but doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be to the point! So, that\u2019s our aim here, to explain the point and not to labour it, while using data to support the ideas at play.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Jump to: <a href=\"#How to successfully learn in the flow of work\">How to successfully learn in the flow of work<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><b>Why learning in the flow of work is so important<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>It\u2019s how employees prefer to learn<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you set aside a 25-minute window each week, how much do you think you could realistically learn? It\u2019s a much shorter period than you think &#8211; it\u2019s only slightly longer than the average Friends episode. Maybe it&#8217;s time that you and this way of learning were on a break&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The current challenge employees have when learning in the traditional sense is that they\u2019re just too busy to put more time aside. Research by <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/joshbersin.com\/2017\/03\/the-disruption-of-digital-learning-ten-things-we-have-learned\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Josh Bersin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> states that employees take less than 25 minutes to slow down and learn, which equates to just 1% of the average working week. In such a short period, it\u2019s difficult to learn new skills and develop to any noticeable extent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a key reason why almost half of employees prefer to learn at their point of need. Why? Because it\u2019s when the resources on that issue are most relevant and they\u2019re most motivated to take the ideas on board. This allows them to apply what they\u2019ve learnt in practical, real-time situations, which reinforces the concept and helps them remember it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17079 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Learning-at-the-point-of-need-1024x481.png\" alt=\"Learning at the point of need is the employee preference\" width=\"780\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Learning-at-the-point-of-need-1024x481.png 1024w, https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Learning-at-the-point-of-need-300x141.png 300w, https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Learning-at-the-point-of-need.png 1138w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taken from the <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/learning.linkedin.com\/resources\/workplace-learning-report-2018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn Learning<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2018 Workplace Learning Report<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, none of this is possible unless the resources people are finding in their moments of need are concise, well-structured and informative. And that\u2019s why microlearning and learning in the flow of work go hand in hand. The specific and relevant nature of the former is what enables that latter to happen effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>It can drive productivity and profitability<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stop wasting 25% of your day! That\u2019s the average amount of time people spend searching for information, a lot of that is caused by leaving the workflow and it results in huge losses in productivity and profitability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Worryingly, it\u2019s not a new issue either. It was reported that employees spent <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/technology-media-and-telecommunications\/our-insights\/the-social-economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1.8 hours<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> each day looking for information in 2012, which rose to <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/computhink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IDC20on20The20High20Cost20Of20Not20Finding20Information.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2.5 hours<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2015. The situation has improved slightly since then, but a 2019 survey confirmed that the number still sits at around 25% of each day. If you consider the 40-hour working week and 2019 UK average hourly pay of \u00a314.80, those 10 wasted hours equate to \u00a3148 per week. Across 42 weeks of the year, that equates to \u00a36,216 annually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Making your resources searchable at the point of need is one of the most effective ways to claw some of those hours back. It\u2019s estimated that creating a knowledge base for all of your resources reduces that research time by as much as 35%.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>A bi-product is that people become more engaged<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The short version of this is that people value progression and development, but we already know that time is the barrier to learning in the traditional sense. Helping them learn and develop in the flow of work removes that hurdle and makes their growth an ongoing process. As a result, employees become more engaged and those who feel highly engaged are <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stcloudstate.edu\/humanresources\/_files\/documents\/supv-brown-bag\/employee-engagement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">87% less likely<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to leave their companies. Here\u2019s a few statistics that explain why in more detail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clearcompany.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">76% and 68% of employees<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> value career growth opportunities and training and development, respectively, and yet only <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.smarp.com\/employee-engagement-8-statistics-you-need-to-know#:~:text=Overall%2C%20companies%20with%20high%20employee,workplaces%20saw%2041%25%20lower%20absenteeism.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">29% of employees<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are very satisfied with their current opportunities for career development. The same number of companies (<\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cipd.co.uk\/Images\/learning-skills-work-report-1_tcm18-79434.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">29%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) claim to have clear learning and development plans, which seems pretty low considering how important they are to staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We already mentioned Josh Bersin and this quote from his <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/want-happy-work-spend-time-learning-josh-bersin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">research summary<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> hits the nail on the head when it comes to learning at work and that sense of happiness.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn the research we just completed, we found that employees who spend time at work learning are 47% less likely to be stressed, 39% more likely to feel productive and successful, 23% more ready to take on additional responsibilities, and 21% more likely to feel confident and happy. And the more you learn, the happier you become.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"How to successfully learn in the flow of work\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>How to successfully learn in the flow of work<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re not familiar with HowNow, our mission is to connect people with the knowledge they need, everywhere they already work. So, we like to think we know a thing or two about learning in the flow of work. In this section, we\u2019ll show you some of the integrations, tools and ideas that help us do it effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Search in HowNow everywhere you go<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often do you turn to Google or YouTube when you need to learn something? It\u2019s most people\u2019s go-to. Now imagine that each time you did that, every relevant resource from your company\u2019s knowledge base was surfaced at the same time. Watch the video below and you can stop imagining.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 780px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-17077-1\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/HowNow-Browser-Extension.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/HowNow-Browser-Extension.mp4\">https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/HowNow-Browser-Extension.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\nThis not only offers more control over the quality of information your people find, it means that they can do it without breaking their existing habits. That\u2019s typically one of the largest barriers to adopting new learning tools and techniques, so what better way is there to facilitate learning in the flow of work?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Find and share knowledge where you already work\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So much of our day is spent in chats, and for most people, that means <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/integration\/slack\/\">Slack<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/integration\/microsoft-teams\/\">Microsoft Teams<\/a>. It\u2019s where great ideas are shared and questions are answered, but it\u2019s also where those ideas and answers slip through the cracks. Because they\u2019re not captured, that typically results in repeat questions and answers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16984 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Search-in-Teams-GIF-min.gif\" alt=\"Search for HowNow content in Microsoft Teams in the flow of work\" width=\"1357\" height=\"678\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In both <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/integrate-with-slack-and-never-look-back\/\">Slack<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/theres-no-i-in-teams-but-you-will-spot-our-h\/\">Teams<\/a>, the HowNow integration lets you save messages as nuggets as you receive them. More importantly for learning in the flow of work, it empowers you to search for, surface and share knowledge as people need and ask for it. You can send any resources from within HowNow, without leaving the app and it\u2019s as simple as a few clicks and searches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Highlight and annotate important things<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relevant resources are worth their weight in gold, but there are always going to be little gems within it that you find most useful. When you find them, you should be able to flag them and make some notes so that you can revisit that even faster further down the line.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16096 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Highlight-Annotate-GIF-V2_compressed.gif\" alt=\"Highlight and annotate nuggets and courses in HowNow to learn actively\" width=\"871\" height=\"401\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That glorious, time-saving benefit aside, it also helps you retain knowledge better by actively engaging with it. When you\u2019re shown these <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/highlighting-and-annotating-content-helping-you-learn-and-recall-knowledge\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">highlights and annotations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at regular intervals, it improves your recall and helps you build knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Ready to go with the flow of work?<\/h3>\n<p><strong>If you want to discuss how you can connect people with knowledge in the flow of work, get in touch with us to arrange a <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demo<\/a> or <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trial<\/a> of HowNow today.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Without sounding like a bad Cher tribute act, what if you could learn back time?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":18589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1071,2484],"tags":[1597,1537,1595],"yst_prominent_words":[279,2399,2393,1887,42,13,2404,9,2296,2394,2392,349,2395,2396,2405,2403,14,2400,10,2398],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17077"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19016,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17077\/revisions\/19016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17077"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=17077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}