School's Never Out

Want to build a learning organization? It starts by asking one question repeatedly.

"What did you learn this week?"

And listening to the answer.

Try asking the question in a group setting. Invite your team to lunch or set aside some time late on Friday for a meeting. Go round the table and have each person relate what they learned this week.

The first couple of meetings may not elicit much discussion or lessons learned, but persevere and you'll begin to set the expectation that your team should come prepared with lessons to share.

Well facilitated, these meetings can become lively sessions, with team members sharing similar learning experiences or suggesting additional ways to address a situation, move forward on a difficult problem, or effectively work with a difficult employee. Perhaps an employee didn't have a lesson to share...how about recommending a favorite business book to the team?

Done well, your team will begin to open themselves up to teachable moments and to continuously self-question - how could I/we have done this better? They'll begin asking co-workers for advice rather than trying to solve situations all on their own.

You'll build a trust within your team. A feeling that you "have each other's back" - that you want everyone to succeed. At a minimum, it's an opportunity to "blow off steam" - to vet issues causing stress.

You may discover some team members who are oblivious. Each week (or month) they'll attend the meeting with nothing to share. They clock in each day and do their jobs but don't have their "radar up", watching for teachable moments. They're caught in a daily grind, locked into a rut. Worst case, they may be the kind of employee who "checks their brain at the door".

There's a place for these employees too.

Working for the competition.

Here are four steps to beginning the process.

Step 1: Start asking the question in a group setting.
Step 2: Encourage (demand?) participation.
Step 3: Keep asking the question. (Make continuous learning a habit.)
Step 4: Move the "dunces" out.

Turn learning into a habit and watch what happens to team productivity, employee engagement and morale.