Key to running a successful learning business
Background:
On the face of it, all permutations & combinations put together most clients have similar learning needs – alignment, collaboration, change management, teambuilding, culture, communication, sales, processes, motivation, leadership.. you get the gist. So, it is very easy for us to pick sessions / modules from our existing content library and deliver them with ease client after client. But we strictly refrain from doing so. As a learning company we take immense pride in offering highly customized learning, training and upskilling solutions to our clients. Our modules, sessions and engagements are so ‘customized’ that in our last ten odd projects, I don’t remember even one such module / learning tool that we have been able to duplicate from one client to another.
Different strokes for different folks:
So why are we so particular about customizing our programs when the client needs are similar? For over the years we have learnt that there is almost always ‘more than what meets the eye’. The clients might phrase their need as ‘alignment’ but the reason why that ‘alignment’ between their teams / folks is a challenge will differ dramatically from client to client. One only figures the root cause of the problem / challenge / need with a thorough probe and analysis. We have learnt that conducting TNA (training need analysis) through the right diagnostic tools is a must do. It is the root cause / insights that we figure during our probe, that becomes the guide for our program design. Hence, an ‘alignment’ centered program for ‘client A’ is always very different from the one for ‘client B’.
Customized Learning Delivery:
Earlier this month we delivered a highly experiential offsite in Coorg for a leading wine & spirits MNC with the objective of ‘collaboration’, the highlight of the session was the final activity – ‘cook-off’. You could visibly see the team more collaborative and aligned in the midst of the ‘cook-off’ as compared to the icebreaker in the morning. On the other hand, for a leading FMCG we conducted a program on ‘collaboration’ that ran over a period of a month and learning input was made interactive through a blend of video-scribes, coaching, communication campaign, gamification, skits and market-visits. Objective for both programs was ‘collaboration’ but the duration, nature and extent of the engagement were very different in both cases. While the former was delivered on a one day offsite, the latter was delivered over a month through the ‘blended learning’ format.
Over the years we have learnt that different learning delivery mediums fit different clients and different situations. There is no ‘one size fit all’, lest you want a forced fit!
Learn to convert challenges into strengths:
It is the market that has taught us that delivery formats of learning programs need to be customized to the nature of the organization, nature of the challenge and the attitude of the potential learners. For example, till a few years ago when you said ‘team building’ it meant that the team needs to come together in one location for the program to be conducted. Austerity drives in many of our client organizations led to budget cuts on travel and for many such clients we have been successfully conducting highly effective team-building. alignment and collaboration centered programs via link, skype and other forms of videoconferencing.
In fact, at times we suggest that teams that need to align across geographies should attend our sessions sitting in their respective offices since in reality that is exactly what they would need to do even when they collaborate on the same projects / goals. By simulating this element of the challenge / reality we are able to make our programs that much more contextual to our participants. We have learnt to convert challenges into strengths.
The future of corporate learning:
The point I am trying to make is that in order for a learning company to find success continually, we need to adapt and evolve continually in-tune with the evolving nature and environment of our client businesses. Agility is the key and the key to being agile is the ability to learn constantly with an open mind and innovate constantly with the way we design and deliver our learning programs. Today we are as comfortable in delivering programs on a virtual platform as we are in a conference room. Offsite sessions we have understood increasingly (especially for the executive cadre) will be about experiences rather than run of the mill ‘trust-falls’ and ‘acid-rivers’. Most importantly, we are learning and evolving into a ‘full-service’ learning agency that not only provides ‘learning solutions’ but also supports these solutions with a portfolio of other services like media & communication production (learning tools & collateral), travel & logistic (offsite and conferencing) and interactive experiences (cooking, photography, adventure, performing arts and more).
Hence, we are learning everyday that as long as we learn and adapt constantly, we will still be relevant in the business of corporate learning.
