you never actually go to where the work is done to understand the learners, their work environment, their constraints, and their challenges?” Yes! Part of your job is going to the learners, in their work environment and learning from them. At least, it’s part of your job if you actually want to make a difference for your organization…
How the heck are you building training programs if you never actually go to where the work is done to understand the learners, their work environment, their constraints, and their challenges?
One More Benefit
There’s a fringe benefit to this as well… actually, it’s not really a fringe benefit, it’s a tremendously huge benefit. When you’re seen “on-the-floor” with the operation, you build credibility. You’ll be taken more seriously and seen as a person who is “part of” the operation, instead of an outsider.
When you’re part of the team, you’ll also receive input that is more candid and feedback that is more actionable. And, who would have guessed, all this just by committing to learn the language of your business.
Alright, folks let’s wrap this up – here is a rapid-fire recap for your pleasure:
- Language varies from country-to-country, region-to-region, and even business-to-business. If we fail to learn the language of our businesses, we remain “outsiders” and building credibility will become incredibly difficult for us. We need to take the time to connect with, meet with, and spend time with the individuals who are making our organizations run. They have the best, the most important information we can possibly gather. And, by spending time with them we will speak more like them, which will allow us to communicate more effectively when we’re trying to initiate training initiatives.
- On that note, it would be great to have a resource that provides alternatives to L&D language that are easier for business leaders to consume. Send me your thoughts, what should we include on that list? If we get enough of them, I’ll put up a blog to feature them.
What do you think? Do you agree that learning the language of your business is crucial to success in L&D? Can the language of L&D hurt practitioners when used at the wrong times? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Put them in the comments section or email me at email@example.com.
That’s all for today folks, thank you so much for listening.
I hope you’ll listen again next week when we discuss whether or not we learned anything from our unhealthy 6-year obsession with millennials. I hope you’ll join me.
Take care until then,