As humans we “copy and paste” our way through life. We observe the behaviour of people around us; our peers, our team members, our managers and we imitate the behaviour that inspires us.
Nowhere is this more relevant than with soft skills like communication, influence, leadership style and empathy.
You can try learning these skills via the written word, but the real catalyst for acquiring soft skills lies in tapping into our instinct to observe, imitate and model the behaviour of the people around us.
That is why social learning plays such a pivotal role in what we do at BLT. We know that our expert training design and our highly-skilled trainers provide the foundation for learning. But we also know that creating an environment in which our participants can give their opinion, talk through their ideas, listen to one another and share insights is the secret ingredient that will drive the acquisition and retention of new skills.
Three top tips:
- Spark conversations: In L&D it’s so easy to get wrapped up in targets, models and budgets. Remember that learning is about sparking conversations so that people can observe, imitate and model one another
- Get the atmosphere right: Much as we’d love it to be, social learning isn’t a switch that can be turned on and off at will. Learners can be reluctant to give their opinion or share their ideas. But every good trainer knows that getting the atmosphere right is the key that opens the floodgates to social learning.
- Make it fun: There’s a quote from the American writer, Maya Angelou, which is a bit of a company mantra for us at BLT: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” How your participants feel will influence how effectively they learn. We believe passionately in making the learning fun.