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Brightwave LT2011 debate - all the action as it happened - part two
28 January 2011 | 
Author: Peter Styles |
Right - back in the saddle for part two of the report of our LT2011 keynote debate...
Read part one: Brightwave LT2011 debate - all the action as it happened - part one
Download the debate results here
Question four - which asked what else do we need to put in place apart from technology - elicited the following voting pattern:
- A positive learning culture 47%
- Ability to measure success 33%
- A change of attitude 11%
- Skills of L&D dept. 4.5%
- Board-level support 4.5%
Kenny said the current economic situation challenges L&D departments to think along business lines far more than ever before, to measure effectiveness and prove they are adding value. Allied to this he said learning technologies should be seen as an enabler in this process, not a threat.
Charles thought the industry had often been too frightened to measure results, and that this habit had to change rapidly. An audience member agreed wholeheartedly, saying that once you have the ability to measure, everything else follows.
Laura added that L&D professionals should essentially be performance consultants, being able to solve specific problems for specific departments across organisations.
Kenny and Charles spoke of the impact of measuring learning impact has had for Sky, and the extent to which this has heightened the status of L&D for the broadcaster.
The wider world was the subject of question five - in the form of what influential trends from our personal lives can impact performance in the workplace?
Our survey said:-
- Smartphone/apps 33%
- Google/power of search 31%
- Personalisation 12%
- Micro-blogging (Twitter) 10%
- Sustainable living 7%
- Augmented reality/games 5%
- Video 2%
Charles' vision of the future involved people accessing smaller bits of information more often, with more use of video to inform and less emphasis on reading. He joked that 140 characters may be the 'limit' of what the next generation will be willing to read. With an estimated five million people joining the workforce over the next ten years, that's an awful lot of Tweeting, Twediting and Tweading.
The opportunity cost of this piecemeal, visual method of learning - Charles said with regret - may well be plummeting standards in terms of spelling and grammar. Donald quipped that he was working on an app that would deliver electric shocks to a person if guilty of poor use of language!
Kenny cited the desire of Gen Y for information anytime, anyplace, anywhere - whilst Laura thought this hunger for instant answers extended across all technologically literate generations. Donald confessed that the Yellow Pages at home was still in its cellophane wrapping - an anecdotal indication that the days of paper-based information storage could well be numbered.
The subject of flexible working was then addressed, with Laura advocating the way Towards Maturity operated as a virtual organisation with no physical offices, and that this was a genuine strength. Kenny outlined Sky's progressive approach to home working and the trend away from being chained to the office desk day in, day out.
A third of the audience thought the use of smartphones / apps would be the pre-eminent technological driver in transforming the way we work. Nearly as many (31%) plumped for Googlisation and the power of search. Kenny thought the 2% who voted for video sharing underestimated the effect this method would have in changing the way we learn.
Summing up this exploration of the world in 2020, Charles emphasised the importance of trusted, well crafted sources of information. Kenny left the audience with the notion that trainers and the rest of the L&D community shouldn't fear learning technologies encroaching on their turf. They're enablers not barriers. Laura's parting shot was a plea to maximise stakeholder engagement, which she was sure would lead to tangible results and increased productivity.
Donald left the audience with seven words of wisdom - go out and talk to the business - to try and ensure that an organisation's learning and development department was an integral part of the whole, not the shadowy figures that come out of the woodwork when there's training to be delivered.
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