By Meredith Camp
Today’s top story talks details how the Partnership for Public Service’s three types of innovation can be put into practice, so I thought it appropriate to follow the theme by putting them into a training context to show how this innovation model could be applied to workplace learning.  I will discuss each in detail over the next week.  Here is the first type with a description applicable to training:

Adapting a proven practice into a new context.  Training programs can have a tendency to grow stale over time.  While the methods may be tried and true, the idea of putting a new spin on what is being delivered is often a missed opportunity.  For instance, online training has proven to be a cost effective option for many organizations that require a certain amount of certifications or continuing education for employees.  But many click through the slides as quickly as possible in order to get to the end without really absorbing the material.  An online forum which takes an hour of the employee’s time to discuss the main concepts and solutions to relevant problems would engage workers more and draw out real world issues and ideas for solving them.  It could be as structured as the manager needs it to be to get the staff to reach solutions at the conclusion.  This type of innovative collaboration leads to real world answers, which are more valuable and applicable than simply being told basic concepts through a series of slides.  Bonus: it costs no more to put together a mandatory online forum discussion than online training—probably less, considering it does not require an in-house instructional designer’s time or the hefty price tag of an online training package from an outside source.

What are other ways to put a new spin on a proven training practice?