Knowledge Transfer In The Digital Age

Knowledge transfer is a core part of the training process. In order for someone to be trained, they either have to want to be trained, or it’s a part of their remit within their job role. Ideally for our employees it’s the first option. An interested and motivated person is always easier to train, as they are driven and eager to get to the next stage of their personal development.?

But for the person that doesn’t actually want to be trained but needs to be trained, it’s perhaps even more critical to get the training approach correct.?

Knowledge transfer is the part of the training process where information is shared. There’s a variety of ways in which this can be done and traditionally it would be labelled as a workshop, a lecture, or just training.?

I’ve been at both ends of the stick. In my early days in corporate I’ve been the unwilling participant that has seen ‘mandatory training’ in my diary courtesy of HR and really not wanted to be there. I’ve also been the trainer now. I look back now on my unwillingness to be in the training as a way to make my training sessions better. But we’ve also come a long way in 20 odd years in terms of how the training is delivered and how the attendees want it to be delivered.?

I’m a big fan of the in person delivery, for training, for workshops, for awareness sessions, for any kind of knowledge transfer. The last two years have shown me just how much I do actually enjoy and miss doing that. I’ve recently had the opportunity to deliver some in person sessions again and I have to say I really enjoyed it. But I also have to face a reality. One where I am not as young as I think I am. One where I am one of ‘those’ people I used to see saying ‘it wasn’t like that in my day’ - ‘it’s not the same anymore’. In spite of how much I enjoy delivering training in a physical sense (and I do think there is a time and a place for this) it’s also time for me to realise that the next generation of attendee, employee, humans, don’t have the same outlook as I do.?

They do value knowledge share and training, but they don’t put as much onus on the physical delivery of it. And why would they? Many have been born into a world of on demand screens. Where just about anything and everything they want or need is at their fingertips. Need food, open one of the myriad of delivery apps and you can have whatever cuisine you like delivered to your door in 30 mins (give or take an hour) Need to get to a meeting, get yourself an Ola, Uber, Careem or Lyft. Or if you don’t need a car, call up one of the many electric scooter or bike apps and hop one one outside your building. Unlock it with your phone and off you go. And do we even need to mention the Netflix, Prime, Apple TV+, Spotify, YouTube, Hulu’s - any programming you want, on demand, whenever you like.?

So it is any wonder that they apply the same thinking to training and knowledge sharing? As above, many see the value in the training. The bit they don’t understand is why they have to physically be somewhere at a specific time to undertake the learning.?

Welcome to the expectation of knowledge transfer into the digital age.?

Video training, virtual reality training, Zoom training, Teams training, Metaverse training where our avatars are in a virtual training room. This is the expectation. Now some of those still rely on a specific time for us all to convene, albeit in a digital space, so we don’t have the commute and may well be wearing our pajamas under the suit. But video training, well that doesn’t need a specific time, as it can be recorded.?

Now I’m in the physical delivery is good camp. But I also can’t escape the fact that for 2 years now I’ve delivered a lot of valuable knowledge transfer through recorded Zoom sessions as well as short snippet video recordings.

The ability to package up the knowledge into a short sharp talking head video, with b roll and transitions so it’s not death by powerpoint on video has meant that parts of my business have been allowed to flourish during this global pandemic.?

It’s also why Cobabble as a platform is designed to help get your knowledge transfer down in the same way. Your audience, ie your employees, if not now, in the very near future will expect to be trained virtually. And this is a good thing.?

Streamlining the on boarding process by providing all the necessary training to your new joiners a month before they are due to physically set foot in the office is a good thing. You can have short video explainers, accompanying PDF documents, provide audio only content so they can listen in the car, gym, wherever and also test that they are actually taking the knowledge on board.?

Then once they are on board, let’s talk about continuous training. There’s a myriad of options here too, but how about providing direct access to video training for your staff via a QR code on the side of the machinery, outside the room, on a part even. The ability to keep that knowledge and recount it in your head is not a necessary skill in the digital age. We can call up information at the flick of a finger, or more likely a voice command to Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant or Cortana (to name but a few) So shouldn’t we tap into that mind set and provide our employees with the necessary information at the scan of a QR code.?

A new joiner can’t quite remember how to operate the commercial coffee machine in the lobby restaurant from their training. Open Cobabble, scan the QR code on the side of the machine and go directly to the video tutorial showing you exactly how to use it and help that employee ensure the signature cappuccino is spot on every time.?

An engineer is walking through your warehouse full of parts, there’s 16 versions of the same part all with a different use and for a different machine. They can’t quite remember which one number 12 is. Open Cobabble, scan the QR code on the side of the box, be taken to the PDF instruction manual for that specific piece. What it’s used for and which machine it goes in, at your finger tips.?

Your new security guard is on their first night shift and is responsible for closing up the property. The brand new very expensive alarm system has a very specific process that needs to be undertaken in the correct order, or run the risk of calling out the fast response unit at a huge fee. Open Cobabble and scan the QR code on the system box by the door - be taken to the video tutorial showing you exactly what the process is, allowing your security guard to follow and pause and ensure the property is safe, without unwittingly setting off the alarm. You as the business owner is happy and he is sure happy that his first night shift went off without a hitch.

Welcome to knowledge transfer in the digital age. It’s not that bad, even if you are old school, which apparently I am! Actually it’s great, it saves time, which saves money and it taps into how our audience wants to be trained. So we have more willing participants and less of those that think they know best and don’t want to be there in the first place. A win-win situation if ever I saw one.?

#training #digital #convenience #optimisation #listentoyourcustomer #workforce