Unlocking Dialogue
Fostering Individual Learning in the Workplace
by Miia Jaatinen, Kai Laamanen
Unleashing Individual Learning: Transforming Change Through Dialogue
Have you ever pondered the significance of individual learning when it comes to implementing change? Embracing an individual learning approach to organizational change offers the potential for enhanced practices, improved performance, and personal growth. In this context, leaders play a vital role in supporting learning by facilitating the right kind of conversations, and specifically dialogues that stimulate reflection and cultivate a willingness to change behavior.
To drive organizational change, it is crucial for employees to adapt their daily work routines. This requires a recognition of the need or opportunity for change and a willingness to embrace new ways of thinking and acting. Change leaders play a vital role in supporting this learning process by engaging in guiding dialogues with employees and encouraging them to experiment. However, the effectiveness of these dialogues depends upon their nature. The undeniable power of dialogue lies in its ability to enable employees to discover and cultivate sustainable solutions for improvement.
The journey of learning at work: unleashing potential for success
In the workplace, we often learn best when faced with unfavorable outcomes. This leads us to question why things didn't go as planned and consider alternative approaches for success. This initial reflection sets the stage for a learning process that allows us to make necessary changes and achieve better results (see figure).
The first important step is to clearly define the challenge at hand, which provides the focus for our learning journey. A well-defined challenge creates the motivation we need to strive for improvement, even if we're uncertain about what's truly attainable.
Next, we dive deeper into analyzing our current work methods. This helps us gain insights into what actually happened and identify any obstacles that hindered our progress. Following this analysis, we enter a critical phase of experimentation. We start testing improvement ideas that address the challenge we're facing. Through these experiments, we discover what works and what doesn't. It often takes multiple experiments to ensure that the improvement ideas are practical, as we aim to avoid relying on quick fixes that only address immediate problems.
After we finish experimenting, we take a moment to reflect on the success of these trials. In the following phase, we might face the challenge of scaling up, finding ways to make the new approach a regular practice that everyone can follow. With sustained motivation, this new routine becomes ingrained over time, becoming a foundation for future improvements and enabling continuous learning step by step.
Empowering learning through dialogues: nurturing growth in the workplace
The process of individual learning at work may appear straightforward in theory, but in practice, learning is seldom easy. This is why engaging in conversations with leaders, superiors, and team members becomes crucial. In each phase of the learning process, dialogues play a pivotal role in addressing specific issues. However, it is important to approach these dialogues with the right mindset. As a leader, you should refrain from framing situations as problems or seeking to assign blame. Instead, focus on discovering opportunities for improvement that inspire creativity.
During the initial phase, dialogues should concentrate on topics such as 1) the current activity and performance, 2) better ways to explore how people act and how to generate ideas for improvement, and 3) how to observe or measure progress. The goal is to foster a culture of continuous improvement rather than a culture of finger-pointing.
In the analysis phase, dialogues should be held to deepen understanding regarding 1) the detailed current work processes, 2) how to identify factors hindering better results, and 3) how to explore potential changes in work methods. When planning experiments, the focus shifts towards discussing how to effectively conduct experiments and engage people in the process.
In the reflection phase, as a leader, you should encourage dialogues that center around what individuals or teams have learned from the experiment. Emphasize that even small failures provide valuable lessons and communicate your appreciation for people's efforts.
In the deliberate practice phase, dialogues should revolve around planning how to transform the new way of working into a sustainable routine and ensuring that resources to support this routine are available.
In the final phase, dialogues should explore how to measure success in the new context and maintain the achieved improvements. These may even involve redefining success as a continuous journey of growth and progress.
Regardless of the specific topics discussed, the structure of these conversations is of utmost importance. Taking a dialogic approach fosters individual discovery, learning, and improvement. Not only is it highly effective, but it also often leads to improved performance. Dialogues involve creating shared understanding by asking open questions, practicing active listening and observation, sharing experiences, and challenging beliefs. These differ from monologues, which are held to persuade others that the speaker has the correct answers; for this reason, they often result in rejection and resistance within the workplace.
Harnessing the power of dialogical learning: supporting change
When initiating a planned organizational change, it is common to find employees in the initial phase of the dialogical learning process. They may not even realize the need to alter their ways of thinking or acting. As a leader, you are responsible for encouraging them to think about and for acting as a catalyst for the learning process. While change may originate from either the top or the bottom, it ultimately manifests at the grassroots level. Therefore, in your role as a leader, it is vital to recognize which phase of the learning process your employees are in and to provide support through dialogues that focus on relevant topics and adopt a supportive structure.
We have also provided a few examples of dialogues that can support change in three typical change situations. You can find these in boxes 1-3. The first two outline a structure for a single dialogue, while the third suggests topics for dialogues that can be used to develop a change plan.
Unleashing the Power of Dialogical Learning The dialogical learning approach serves as a potent instrument for leading people through change. By empowering individuals, it helps them to alter their ways of thinking and acting, ultimately resulting in improved employee performance and outcomes. Moreover, this approach strengthens relationships and collaboration in the workplace, enhancing overall performance and increasing the chance that the change is implemented successfully. By harnessing the potential of individuals to learn and be creative, the dialogical learning approach propels change forward. It doesn't merely demand that people work harder or faster; instead, it encourages them to work differently, unlocking new possibilities for growth and innovation.