By Meredith Camp

Taking a page from today’s top story on GovLoop’s Social Learning Experiment takeaways, I’ve compiled a brief how-to for successful social learning ventures in the workplace.  Here are a few guidelines for making training through a social learning platform worthwhile and successful, resulting in a) learning on the part of the staff (main point), and b) a proven method to training employees in a unique way that financial decision makers can justify continuing (bonus point).

1. As the author put it, social learning should be “of the people, by the people, for the people.”  But his focus was more about drawing upon the expertise of the GovLoop staff and material that had already been developed.  My take on this is that one must make the material:

• Collaborative
• Dynamic
• Living
• Adaptive
• Interactive
• Real-world
• Personalized
• Facilitated, not instructor-led
• Quick and easy when done virtually



2. In an “if you build it, they will come” fashion, if you make it interesting and applicable (and all the other things listed above), they will engage.  If they can use what they learn in their own working lives and it specifically relates to what they are doing (rather than making it too generalized, genericized, and hypothetical), they are more likely to engage in the learning.

What social learning experiences have you found to be most successful?  When have you been most engaged in a training project?