Tag Archive for: Learning companion

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Conceptathon – a New Work booster

15.06.2022

Ever heard of a conceptathon? Nope? No wonder. It’s actually a brand new format of New Work and New Learning that combines teamwork, collaboration and learning with immediately usable work results in the field of conception. And it does so with a lot of fun and a high level of energy. That’s what the Conceptathon is – a New Work Booster.

Conceptathon reminds of Hackathon

To be honest, the basic idea of the Conceptathon is not all that new. It has its roots in hackathons known since the turn of the millennium in hardware and software development.

These are IT developers meetings limited in time, first in the presence and later also in the virtual environment. They pursue the goal of collaboratively developing products or finding solutions to specific challenges during the meeting. From classic hackathons, the public is familiar with large quantities of pizza boxes and all kinds of technology that the developer needs to creatively design the tasks set. You could say they have made a reputation for themselves as mega pizza parties, where a lot of creative competition packed into agile sprints ensures a lot of fun and output.

Conceptathon has agile roots

And that’s where the Conceptathon comes in. This format also relies on collaborative design and a good team spirit to achieve high-quality work results in a short time. The Conceptathon also focuses on fun and creativity and the basic design is in sprints. So it is in no way inferior to the Hackathon and appreciates its qualities and experience. Especially since the Hackathon, as a prototype of agile working, practised the principles of New Work in its purest form early on.

Learning by doing in Conceptathon

And yet the Conceptathon is very different from its relative. That starts with the general conditions. It is true that the Conceptathon also offers suitable catering, but with a different focus: fresh fruit and snacks with food for the brain. Conceptathons are also planned for several days. The nights, however, are for regeneration and the breaks and evenings are for relaxing, often with the team. While at hackathons everything is preferably darkened, conceptathons deliberately open doors and windows and let the light in or move straight outside into nature.

The real difference, however, lies in the format itself. The Conceptathon – a New Work Booster – supplements collaborative learning and working with small teaching nuggets at the beginning and end of a sprint. I.e. during the meeting, the product development is supplemented with suitable learning impulses that then inspire the joint concept work. In this way, not only is something co-created, but at the same time a targeted individual competence development takes place.

As the name suggests, learning and working at Conceptathon revolves around the theme of “conception”. In many ways, a participant in a Conceptathon can increase his/her ability to create concepts while at the same time designing concepts.

This process is supported by these attitudes or methods:

  • The idea of the “Wisdom of the crowd”, i.e. many people working together have a more holistic perspective and more options for finding solutions than just one person
  • The New Work principles of “collaboration” and “co-creation“, the understanding and methods of how to effectively implement collaborative working
  • The New Learning understanding that learning is best done by doing and on demand
  • The approach that learning facilitators as guides, as we say at TCJG, give impulses that promote empowerment instead of imparting knowledge
  • The framework of Design Thinking, which can be used not only for excellent product development but also for the development of concepts

Conceptathon – a New Work Booster

A conceptathon can be held over 2 days, but it is preferable to run it over 3 days. A longer duration is not recommended, as experience has shown that the concentration decreases.
Design of a camp that works with a team of 5-7 people and a guide is recommended. The number of participants is scalable with a simultaneous increase in the number of learning guides. This camp can also be significantly larger at any time if the framework conditions allow.

These conditions should be met:

  • Sufficiently large room with individual working areas for each participant, but also collaboration areas and chill-out areas
  • Provision of technical equipment (e.g. computers) and creative material
  • Space or format that allows all participants to meet together from time to time during the course of the workshop
  • Availability of healthy catering
  • Offer socialising and team-building sessions

Conceptathons can be organised in fixed working teams or in Mix-Max groups. They are suitable for the “real world”, for example as presence camps and are recommended by us, but they also function just as well in the virtual world as remote sessions.

In order to test the ability to create concepts, suitable topics should be available. Either the participants themselves bring topics or the organiser provides appropriate topics and, if necessary, resources.

The design of a conceptathon can be varied. A pure open space is just as suitable as a theme-based format, such as the joint development of workshops or learning nuggets, or the creation of decision-making templates for new ideas of one department.
Either way, the Conceptathon is a New Work Booster. And a learning booster at that.

Many good reasons for a Conceptathon

The added value list of Conceptathons is as long as its possible applications.
Here are just a few selected reasons why Conceptathon – is a New Work Booster.

  • Participants build up individual competences in the field of systematics and structure as well as expertise in concept work and agile working
  • Collaborators experience community work and train collaboration with a view to output
  • Participants experience teaching and learning at eye level and understand the importance of sharing and caring in the context of New Work
  • Participants learn a variety of methods, e.g. design thinking or Scrum techniques as well as creative work and argumentation
  • The investment in learning has an immediate effect: directly usable concepts for the utilisation of the learning process

The Conceptathon is an open source Zeitgeist L&OD format by The Company Journey Guides.

You shape the future.
This is something we´re good at.

This article was written by Eva-Maria Danzer.

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If human, then humane

06.09.2020

 

For some time now, the minds have been divided when we look into the future. Who or what will make the race? Machine or human? Or to put it better: if the machine, if digitalization takes its place – where will the human be? What remains of the human being? Where is his sweet spot?
Well, if human, then humane.

Digital determines the frame

The inspiration for this somewhat different case came from a recent experience. It was about a virtual pitch. A new external partner in the area of leadership development was to be acquired. In COVID 19 times such sessions are done remotely. And that has certainly its advantages. Especially in the scalability. More stakeholders can get an impression in less time. The decision is based on a broader data basis. A clear point win for digitization.

In the pitch, eight representatives from the client side were in the conference call. There were two of us: more participants seemed inappropriate for the short time frame. Everyone should have their own room – especially the potential customer.
A small window on the PC shared by ten people and a slide.

Remote and human

Meanwhile it is familiar to us, the calls with the 2-150 participants in their little windows. And yet these encounters are foreign to us as a result of our socialization. Especially in this new pitch application.
How should one behave there? When do you say what? What exactly do you say? What do you do when you don’t say anything?
First, you have to find your place in the machine. Until then, it is probably best to remain “neutral”.
With the conclusion: 10 static images meet. At the presenter a slide faces a human being. And 9 watch. Few people, a lot remote.

Communication in virtual space

One would not describe this as human. Something is missing. When communicating in virtual space, the atmosphere in the room is already missing due to the remote situation. If the communication channel “body language” is closed now, we are already quite close to machine language. And somehow it doesn’t really jump over. Nothing is created, except data transmission. In the case of a dialog, there may be mutual data transmission.

And the human being…

None of this really does justice to him. Deep down, he is insecure. He is missing something. The “nuances”, the reading of facial expressions and gestures and the interaction directed towards them. The magic that can arise from interaction and the appreciation that is felt when a reaction to self-expression takes place.
That would be human. According to the human being. If human, then humane. A member of the said pitch has done just that. Sometimes smiled, then pointed his thumb up or shook his head once. How wonderful. A feedback.

If human, then humane

The named pitch showed what characterizes our time. Indeed, this kind of interpersonal encounter cannot only be described in virtual space. There are several cases, also in direct contact, where we humans are next to each other instead of with each other. Where there is simply no reaction to emotional statements. Where neither body language nor the word is apparent.
That is digital, factual and neutral.

If it is to be alive, moving and emotional and thus human, which does justice to the human being, then it would be advisable to check and align your own mindset.

In which attitude do you enter into (virtual) contact with the other person? What is good for the other person/system? What promotes the development of the highest potential in the situation? What can one contribute oneself to make a spatially and/or objectively distanced process “human”? How can one’s own liveliness be expressed?

From the passive attendee to the active co-creator. This does justice to the human being. If human, then humane.

You shape the future.
With us it works well.
From person to person.

 

08.09.2020

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New learning, learning – Trainer first!

New learning primarily challenges those that teach today.

As the OECD Pisa-Study 2018 concludes, students are only as good as their teachers. And in this case, what applies to teaching students can also be transferred to HR Learning & Development.

Internal qualification experts such as trainers and HR developers are a decisive target group. As multipliers they are effectively building the skills of staff while acting as guides for current changes.

Our case illustrates how to transform a conventional train-the-trainer programme into a modern, forward-looking qualification approach.

Neue New Teachers, New Learning
Formats

A premium automotive manufacturer finds itself confronted with various L&OD challenges. There is, for example, the central requirement to quickly prepare the workforce for the digital future.

Internal trainers and HR developers are experienced and well trained, but most of them still use the same methods as 20 years ago. They, themselves, have a considerable need for development when it comes to new learning.

At the same time, the outlined change creates an increasing learning pressure, requiring the timely implementation of new teachers and qualification format.

Obviously, the manufacturer is not alone in this challenge. Well-qualified trainers with experience in “future learning” are a rare find on the current market. Those that are newly recruited for this role therefore demonstrate a broad range of different skills and show a wide variety of development needs.

How “teaching” has been taught so far

Our client’s previous Train-the-Trainer programme was designed as a classic “one-size-fits-all” curriculum. Developed many years ago, it comprised several classroom modules and accompanying self-learning units in PDF format. The programme is representative for a traditional understanding of “blended learning” containing all things relevant for the qualification of this target group: brand, company, role, methodology, didactics and application.

Over the time, the programme had grown to twelve (12!) classroom days and has always been identical for each participant.

From curriculum to adaptive concept, from teacher to learning guide

The architecture for this contemporary “Train-the-Trainer” programme was influenced by two central considerations: How does a qualification concept for the future look which meets the above challenges and requirements in equal measure? And how is the role of the learning guide of the future defined?

It quickly became clear that a new version of the programme needed to be designed to adapt to individual qualification needs while considering a variety of prerequisites. It was therefore built as an adaptive qualification concept that can map individual learning paths. Content is segmented in micro-teaching units and can be accessed individually.

Of course, new learning is at the centre of meeting future qualification needs. Virtual learning modules, community learning, workspace learning and virtual learning support make up the majority of the programme. Where live training adds the highest value, classroom modules are complementing the course. Here, too, new designs and methods are used to strengthen learner’s self-efficacy.

We could also say: New Learning is learned through New Learning – by the new “trainer”. In the future, this trainer will be more of a learning companion who supports individual learning at the workplace and assists the learner in shaping his or her own learning path. This is fostered by feedback and by purposeful questions, or by individually arranged exercises.

In this way, learners develop into learning designers and co-moderators of their own qualification – and, thus, from trainer to enabler.

Qualification in tomorrow’s zeitgeist

The conception and coordination phase took place in several iteration loops with the customer and began with facing several pending decisions: Which competence model will be used and how will it be operationalized? Which resources are used to make implementation as lean as possible?

The overall concept follows the competence model of ability (transfer into application or action), knowledge and attitude (motivation/ mindset) and provides learning nuggets for the development of all competences. First, the learner explores his own learning fields in a development centre to then design his individual learner journey based on this experience.

Following the 70-20-10 approach of “Future Learning”, live workshops and small modularized knowledge bits are available virtually and on the job. Mandatory modules are combined with “on demand” offers. Throughout the programme, learners take part in community learning. Regular blogs and small tasks promote learning and exchange in different group sizes and compositions. They ensure learning transfer and enable the mutual exchange of experiences and support.

Specific skills, such as methodology and didactics, are taught in accompanying virtual classroom training sessions. With a learning guide as a sparring partner, the learner carries out an individual project enabling him to apply and test what he learned.

The good old “certification” at the end of the programme is a classroom event. It is somehow the tribute that is still “paid” to the old world. But that also makes sense – and certainly makes you proud. The event is combined with a future workshop and marks the final shift to new learning.

Because here, we are also talking about a change in learning culture …

Learners start with a virtual information phase before the actual start of the programme. This creates transparency in communication and an understanding of the new learning process. The participants get to know Community Learning right from the start.

This is the current status quo of the programme.

The first virtual tasks of the now following pre-phase make learners more familiar with this new learning format and prepare them for the live kick-off event.

Parallel to the information phase, details are currently being sketched out. Here, too, there is close coordination and iteration with the customer. So the journey has just begun.

Quite exciting.
Our customer is shaping the future – and we’re the right partner.