How do you build a learning environment for your team?

I have learned that talking about my actions and how my time is invested in learning and growing is helpful to the team. I then listen, understand, and encourage each individual to be curious and consistent in their learning journey. I speak about reading daily and sharing good books that I have learned from. I speak about my fitness and mental health activities of yoga, walking in nature, deep breathing, and gratitude journaling. I speak about using an executive coach and how I have learned so much about myself. I take these points and encourage others to have their ways to continue their journey. If you have the resources as a leader to provide them, then that would be a great investment for the team and the organization. Good luck!

A leader cannot develop others to a higher level than they've developed themselves. It's important that a leader models the learning environment by doing the work they want to see.

Establish clear goals and expectations for individual and team performance. Clearly communicate what is expected in terms of skills, knowledge, and continuous learning. Help team members identify their learning objectives and align them with the overall team and organizational goals.

When I had a team, we practiced: 1. Regular one-on-one conversations to hear thoughts about anything they wanted (needed) to share and build rapport to know how we can assist with how they can grow. 2. Training sessions to help develop skills and hear insights of their own when it came to client interactions and practice protocols. If you don't know Jenn Whitmer, she's a great resource especially given that her strength is "kind conversation" vs. avoiding confrontation. We did a podcast about it. @jennWhitmer

Be a lifelong learner yourself as this mentality can be infectious. Foster a culture of curiosity by embracing mistakes as stepping stones for growth and encouraging experimentation. Celebrate both individual and collective wins, nurturing a safe space for knowledge-sharing. Empower each team member to take ownership of their own learning journey.

Step 1: Create a safe space with a no judgment process. Step 2: Curate an environment that inspires leaning through curiosity. Remember curiosity drives innovation. Step 3: Acknowledge what didn’t work and make a commitment to always fail forward! Step 4: Celebrate daily ??! Turn your celebrations into stories that will inspire others to learn, grow, and share! #LeadLoudly #voice #value #visibility #executivecoaching #mindset

Yes, it’s important to provide support and resources and also to allow for experimentation and failure. That way people wont be afraid to try their new skills.

Ensure that your team has access to the necessary resources and tools for learning. This may include providing training programs, workshops, books, online courses, or mentorship opportunities. Support their professional development by allocating time and resources specifically for learning activities.

I have found the best way is to: -Ask what people need to thrive. -Never assume that you know. Listen. -Based on what they tell you, co-create the plan. Co-creation means that there is buy-in when they are bought in. The odds of success improve dramatically!

?? Collaboration is key for facilitating a learning culture for a team! One excellent thing my manager does has assigned “Subject Matter Experts” for particular facets of the job. -That way associates can connect and collaborate on researching or resolving issues for clients. -It helps new associates gain experience from seasoned associates. -It also helps everyone build relationships across state lines and when working in a hybrid environment it builds a sense of community!

Foster Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing by encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing within the team. Create opportunities for team members to share their expertise, best practices, and lessons learned. This can be done through regular team meetings, knowledge-sharing sessions, or collaborative projects. Encourage mentorship and peer-to-peer learning to facilitate knowledge exchange.

This is such an important point. A major focus for us was ensuring that we talked about learning as something that everyone was responsible for and could contribute to. It's not just the preserve of the HR and L&D team. This helped us to build a cross-organizational group of people who championed learning, identified needs in the business and worked with HR & L&D to create and deliver training sessions to colleagues.

Collaboration is a byproduct of trust + healthy culture. Here's why: -A toxic culture means trust is scarce, and mistakes are judged -Folks won't collaborate if they don't trust each other. -Create trust and a culture of collective responsibility. -Trust means I can disagree and be respected. -Trust means it's safe for me to be different. Together, we can achieve so much more, always. -Trust mea Together, we can always do more.

Let’s even further this to inclusion, equity, & belonging. They are each different but all are necessary in order for DEIB to really work & be effective. Once you have this all, effective & positive collaboration will follow.

I hadn’t fully read through the full article and added the need for allowing experimentation and failure earlier in the article. This is so important. Give people the chance to use their new skills without risk and celebrate that.

Creating a learning environment means helping your team make the shift from procrastinating by perfecting to learning by experimenting. They can do this by listening for phrases like, "I need to make a few more tweaks" and responding with a phrase like, "Let's get eyes on this now for input."

We found that promoting reflection also helped people to realize that learning doesn't only happen 'in the classroom' but can happen at any time 'on the job', through quality self-reflection and conversations with others.

Allow for mistakes. Of course we don’t want this to happen, but we are after all human, & not robots. Most important allow for mistakes, learn from them & move on…

Lead by example and demonstrate your commitment to learning and development. Engage in continuous learning yourself and share your knowledge and experiences with the team. Be open to feedback and actively seek opportunities for improvement. Your behavior sets the tone for the team and inspires them to follow suit.

Absolutely! A few things that really worked for us included leaders sharing their performance reviews openly with their teams, posters in the office which identified development areas that leaders were working on, and people sharing books and podcasts that they were reading. I found that the simple act of saying 'I don't know the answer' or 'That's something that I need to find out more about' also helped to signal to people my own learning mindset as well as providing permission for others to do the same.

Let your leaders know when you make mistakes or make a bad decision. There are no perfect leaders and showing that you are equally as vulnerable to success and failure is a gift and permission for your leadership team to enjoy the journey and be open to all the learning along the way.

Cultivating learner safety to empower psychological safety is a critical investment. Employees must have the feeling of safety in making mistakes in order to learn, grow and develop. Also, learning is often viewed as a punishment or a reward by employees because of how they may have interacted with learning in the past. Learning should not be a penalty, nor should a prize given only to the company elite. A culture of learning requires that learning is interwoven in the workflow and also that it’s positioned in such a way that employees can self serve and enjoy doing so. Experiential learning is also important when competing against shortened attention spans and entertainment options.

One other crucial factor is psychological safety. If a learner knows it’s okay to fall on their face they will take the risks that lead to deeper knowledge. Safer means more learning.

The Cloud architects on my team seem to be struggling to obtain a final milestone certification. Several senior directs had just recently passed.?To help the few struggling to pass, who had sat once or twice and failed, I asked the more senior directs to start a study group.?In this way, they could share their learning journey and expertise with their colleagues. Moreover, it provided them with the opportunity to gain exposure within the company and contribute to their professional and personal growth. Through employee involvement in the training process, I was able to ensure that the program met the team's and organization's needs. Additionally, since they were all a virtual team, they were able to establish bonds without my involvement.

Create space for open dialogue where you can experiment with ideas and solution building. There are many different ways to problem solve and solution build.

Encourage a growth mindset and foster a culture that values learning and growth. Emphasize that mistakes and challenges are opportunities for development, and that continuous learning is essential for personal and professional growth. Encourage team members to embrace new ideas, take risks, and learn from their experiences.