Content area
Full Text
When considering their most powerful learning experience, most people do not cite a conference, academic study or a classroom based training course. Instead they cite an experience that was moving, touching, stretching or challenging in some way. Sometimes it is work related, sometimes it is not. Often it was many years ago - a memory or event that has stood the test of time; that has shaped and moulded how a person behaves and that still evokes an emotional response. So if experiences are so powerful a learning tool, how can they be introduced into a work setting to deliver tangible and measureable business results? UK-based organizations Synergy Health, Allianz and Aviva have all incorporated experiential learning activities into their development strategies. This article sets out some of their thoughts and evidence on why this approach worked so well for them. But, first, what do we mean when we use the term "experiential learning"?
Experiential learning can be defined as the development of personal understanding and skills through the analysis of, and reflection on, activity. Experiential learning is all about giving people the opportunity to experiment with a variety of techniques in different environments, indoors or outdoors, based on David Kolb's cycle of learning - Plan, Do, Review, Apply. It is founded on the idea that if people experience something (through doing it) they are more likely to remember it and therefore take action.
Improving intra-team communication
Synergy Health's IT Leadership Team had been through significant change. Initially based in different offices, the majority of the team moved to the same office and this highlighted challenges with trust, communication and team effectiveness. The Head of IT calculated that rework (as a result of communication challenges) was costing each manager at least 1.5 hrs a day of management time. This gave 360 wasted days a year across the whole team - the equivalent of employing another 1.25 managers or a cost of £65,000. The Head of IT therefore recognised an urgent and important need to develop the leadership team's effectiveness, cohesiveness and communication skills in order to stop this significant loss in terms of time and money.
When asked why he chose experiential learning as a route to delivering the required results, Adil Jan, Head of...