Make Learning Part of Your Collaboration

People like to learn.

Adults like to learn as part of their work because it adds an extra sense of accomplishment, and a feeling that they are getting better, even as they are making things better for others. Work is more satisfying when we are learning. We are almost always learning, but making learning explicit can add to awareness of the benefits of learning.

Collaborative initiatives can take advantage of this by building learning into collaboration and making it an explicit goal of the work.

Schedule Learning Into the Timeline

One way to make learning an explicit part of the collaboration is to schedule learning activities into the timeline of the project. Kick off the project with a half-day or day-long "academy" in which experts and project participants present key information about the subject of the collaboration. Plan similar academy sessions in the middle and at the end of the collaborative effort.

Create a Thread for Learning

If your project is using a chat tool or an asynchronous message board, create a thread for people to share key learnings. Ask participants in the collaboration to be aware of new information that is providing them insights into the work of the collaboration, and to share these learnings—no matter how small they might seem—with others.

Reflect on Learning

Set aside time during meetings for reflection, or consider scheduling special meetings for this purpose. What have we learned through our work thus far? What do we still need to learn to achieve our goals? Reflection can help to establish a mindset for continuous growth and improvement.

Take advantage of the fact that learning feels good to improve your partnerships and collaborations.