Stop Trying to Formalize Informal Learning!

Informal learning is “theunofficial, unscheduled, impromptu way most people learn to do their jobs,” accordingto Jay Cross, an expert on this type of learning. Informal learning happenswhen we ask our colleagues for assistance, observe what they do, and shareideas or resources with each other. It also accounts for a large proportion ofour knowledge. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown that 70 percent of whatemployees know about their jobs is learned informally on the job.

Unofficial,unscheduled, and impromptu are the key words in Cross’s description of informallearning. No one ever uses those words to describe formal training! Trying toturn informal learning into formal learning diminishes the unique benefits ofeach of these learning methods. Yes, you want to find a way to encourage thesharing of information among employees and the transfer of knowledge. And ofcourse, you want to track that somehow. But if you go too far, you’ll find thatyou’ve simply created another avenue for formal learning.

This is not to say that you shouldimmediately cancel all your scheduled formal learning and set your employeesloose to learn informally on their own. Organizations would miss out on manyopportunities for learning deployment and performance support without thecareful planning and instructional design that goes into formal learning. Inaddition, formal learning offers structure, compliance, and the ability toeasily assess your learners’ progress.

However, we need to supplementformal learning with informal learning to encourage as much knowledgeacquisition as possible. By encouraging informal learning, you are alsosupporting tacit knowledge transfer, motivated learners, and on-the-jobsatisfaction.

Tacit knowledge transfer

Tacit knowledge is the mostdifficult type of knowledge to share, especially from a departing veteranemployee to a younger, new employee. Tacit knowledge comprises the information,knowledge, insights, and experiences an employee has gained over the years andholds in his or her head. For a sales representative, this might be an insightinto a particular client’s personality that no one else knows. Informallearning tools can capture some of this knowledge and make it available to aidthe entire organization.

Self-directed learning

Employees take responsibility fortheir own learning when they do it informally, such as by seeking out a mentorin their department or looking up additional resources for a project. Thisshows their commitment and ability to manage their own needs. This personaltouch is also why informal learning is so effective. The learners areresponsible for directing their own learning; they can focus on what they’reinterested in and what they know needs improvement. It also increases jobsatisfaction as learners see themselves improving and gaining new skills.

You can’t force these results tohappen, but you can create both an environment that’s conducive to informallearning and a central place to capture the knowledge that employees shareinformally.

Central knowledge hub

There are several different ways tocreate a central knowledge hub, including wikis, blogs, or collaborativeworkspaces that you create through your organization’s learning managementsystem. Designersand developers are finding that some of the new LMSs (such as Lectora Express) makeit easy to encourage social learning and content sharing, and also make itsimple to track the popularity and effectiveness of informal learning. Theability to track what’s shared through informal methods is key—we certainlydon’t want bad habits to be shared and passed down among employees! After all, ifemployees learn 70 percent of what they know about their jobs informally whileat work, we need to make sure they’re learning the right things!

We are all lifelong learners, and we’re seekingand delivering knowledge in our social networks every day. As learning anddevelopment professionals, we need to encourage both informal and formallearning and provide a place to store all types of knowledge for access by theentire organization. Today’s eLearning tools are offering us more and moreopportunities to do so. It’s up to us to take advantage of them.