One of the major challenges facing organizations is getting the balance between formal and informal right. Capitalizing on the benefits of social learning requires the right environment to facilitate it. The most successful communities have clarity of purpose, support from wider stakeholders, an engaged hub of participants, and a skilled facilitator to nurture it. For anyone interested in creating a sustainable and effective social learning strategy for their organization, understanding the benefits of a community approach and the right balance between structure and exploration is key.

In this session you will learn what makes a successful community and how to design, plan, and nurture communities. You’ll see real case studies on how a combined approach of formal and informal learning has been used to great effect in a range of organizations. You will analyze a case study from IPG Mediabrands on how to successfully blend communities and formal learning programs. You’ll take part in the first stages of a community planning workshop and you will leave the session with supporting materials to assist you in the first steps of community creation.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to design and nurture effective communities
• How to improve the effectiveness of formal learning through communities
• How leading organizations have used communities as part of the learning ecosystem
• Why communities have truly come of age and why today’s learning ecosystem makes communities more relevant than ever
• How to curate from communities to enhance formal learning programs

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
SharePoint, Yammer, Salesforce Chatter, Ning, Pathway LMS, and Learning Portals.