How to help your tech team with learning in the flow of work

Effective training is crucial for business success, but traditional methods often clash with today's digital-heavy work environment. Introducing new learning apps only adds to employees' digital fatigue. The key is integrating learning seamlessly into daily work, known as 'learning in the flow of work.' This approach ensures training is relevant, timely, and less disruptive.

Learning shouldn't be a separate, formal activity but a natural part of the workday. Coined by Josh Bersin in 2018, this method focuses on accessible, on-the-go learning that enhances developer productivity, not hinder it. It's an essential strategy for modern learning and development as it balances employee development with work demands efficiently.

What is learning in the flow of work?

Learning in the flow of work revolves around providing appropriate information precisely when it’s needed. To ensure that your training is highly pertinent to the learner, utilize a platform that enables the presentation of context-specific content.When fostering a culture of learning in flow, you need to consider these three core principles:

• Integration of learning: The focus should be on enhancing learning opportunities within the existing framework of meetings, projects, and daily tasks rather than allocating specific time slots for learning.

• Active learning: Passive attitudes toward learning are counterproductive in the context of learning in flow. It requires a proactive approach, both in mindset and skill set. So, it demands continuous and consistent engagement from individuals and teams.

• Routine learning: Effective learning in flow becomes a natural part of the daily work routine. It’s not the sole responsibility of any one individual but a collective commitment ingrained in the team’s culture. This is reflected in the language and collaborative methods used within the team.

Why your tech team needs learning in the flow of work

In essence, learning in the flow of work is almost invisible. It doesn’t interrupt but rather enhances daily activities. It’s learning that doesn’t feel like learning.

Employees have long been practicing a form of this with tools like Google and YouTube. They quickly access information relevant to their immediate work needs. It’s instant, on-demand, and doesn’t feel like conventional learning, yet it significantly improves workplace performance. It represents the latest stage in the evolution of corporate training, following the paths of digital learning, continuous learning, talent management, and eLearning.

However, learning in the flow of work is distinct from consumer content platforms, which aim to maximize engagement and time spent. In corporate learning, the goal is the opposite—efficient learning that: 

• Applies directly to work tasks

• Enables employees to learn and apply

• Enables employees to return to their jobs without unnecessary distractions 

This focus on practical, job-related learning is what sets “learning in the flow of work” apart in today’s fast-paced work environment.

How LIFOW helps your team learn at work

Learning in the flow of work (LIFOW) integrates skill development seamlessly into employees’ everyday tasks. This eliminates the need for long, separate training sessions. This approach makes learning a natural part of their job, enhancing productivity and efficiency.LIFOW brings numerous benefits to a team: 

• It enhances employee productivity by providing timely, relevant learning resources. 

• It boosts engagement and motivation as employees apply new skills directly to their work. 

• It leads to higher job satisfaction and retention, with employees valuing the support for their career growth. 

• It aligns learning with business goals and strengthens communication and understanding within teams. 

• It fosters innovation and organizational growth while offering cost savings by reducing the need for traditional, disruptive training sessions. 

How to embed workflow learning 

Here are the key steps to integrate skill development directly into daily work routines:

• Ensure easy access: Remove barriers like mandatory logins for training platforms. Seamless access, possibly with single-click training, is crucial. This not only eases the learning process but also maintains a record of training completion. Our corporate learning platform is perfect for this. 

• Contextual relevance: Tailor learning content to be hyper-relevant. For example, in response to specific customer feedback, trigger a lesson in customer service skills. Continuously adapt training content based on feedback and observed needs. Using our core dashboard, engineering managers can effortlessly delegate content, monitor progress, and address obstacles before they cause delays. 

• Utilize short content: Engage learners with bite-sized appealing content. Think of quick “how-to” guides, which are not only more engaging but also aid in better retention.

Incorporating these strategies, along with a focus on microlearning, mobile-friendly content, and performance support tools, ensures learning aligns with immediate work requirements. 

Examples of learning in the flow of work

Let’s look at some examples that demonstrate how learning in the flow of work can be effectively integrated into various business processes: 

• Uber’s driver training: Uber integrated lessons into their driver platform, providing one-tap access to training. This resulted in a 10% increase in driver ratings and an 8% rise in productivity. They also successfully embedded diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training in apps, leading to significant behavioral changes among participants.

• PedidosYa’s vendor onboarding: By integrating training, PedidosYa delivered personalized, bite-sized training to new restaurant vendors, significantly reducing onboarding time and vendor inactivity.

• APC Overnight’s frontline workforce training: APC adopted this model for mobile-accessible training, improving frontline worker retention by 5% and productivity by 2 points, alongside a 20% reduction in accidents.

• Sales training course: Focused on identifying buyer needs, this course provided LIFOW support through quick-access videos and scenario-based activities, offering an immersive learning experience.

• Quality assurance at a consulting firm: Employees learned to differentiate key accounts using a cloud-based template for score calculation. This practical approach was supplemented with instructional videos, enhancing understanding and application.

Start applying LIFOW for your tech team now

Many on-the-job performance scenarios are not covered in formal training, and employees often don’t retain what they learned in a two-day training session a year ago. The examples of learning in the flow of work provided above demonstrate how LIFOW effectively fills knowledge gaps at critical moments, preventing underperformance in real-time work situations. Start implementing LIFOW in your work culture by using DevPath’s corporate learning solutions. DevPath offers tailored learning solutions that seamlessly integrate into any team’s workflow, ensuring implementation at the most opportune moments in a developer’s career.