Humans learn a lot informally. In fact, this is a significant way we learned as children. This article offers strategies to harness the power of informal learning in today’s remote work environment, fostering creativity, innovation, and engagement.
What Is Informal Learning?
Informal learning is a type of learning that occurs in a more natural, less structured environment compared to traditional classroom settings. It’s characterized by a self-directed, experiential, and often a spontaneous process of acquiring knowledge. Unlike formal education, informal learning is not typically led by an instructor or bound by a curriculum. Instead, it relies on the individual’s curiosity and natural learning inclinations.
Key Characteristics of Informal Learning:
- Self-Directed: Learners set their own goals and choose how to acquire new skills or knowledge.
- Experiential and Contextual: Learning is often based on real-life experiences and is immediately applicable to the learner’s context.
- Unstructured: There is no formal curriculum or predefined path, making the learning journey unique for each individual.
- Social and Collaborative: Often involves learning with others, either through casual conversation, observation, or collaboration.
What Is the Difference Between Informal Learning and Formal Learning?
The distinction between informal and formal learning is significant in understanding diverse educational approaches. While both are integral to personal and professional development, they differ in structure, context, and methodology.
Structure and Environment:
- Formal Learning: Structured, with a set curriculum and objectives. Takes place in educational institutions like schools, colleges, or training centers.
- Informal Learning: Unstructured, without a set curriculum. Happens in everyday life, often spontaneously.
Learning Process:
- Formal Learning: Instructor-led, with a clear teacher-student dynamic. Learning is often linear, following a prescribed path.
- Informal Learning: Learner-driven, based on personal interests and needs. The process is non-linear and more organic.
Flexibility and Control:
- Formal Learning: Limited flexibility, with fixed schedules and content.
- Informal Learning: Highly flexible, allowing learners to control what, when, and how they learn.
Learning Outcomes and Application:
- Formal Learning: Focuses on theoretical knowledge and generalized skills.
- Informal Learning: Often results in practical, context-specific knowledge and skills.
Cost and Accessibility:
- Formal Learning: Can be expensive and requires physical or digital access to educational institutions.
- Informal Learning: Often low-cost or free, accessible through everyday experiences and resources.
Formal and Informal Learning Methods
Formal and informal learning methods encompass different approaches to education and skill acquisition. Here’s a breakdown of their primary methods:
Formal Learning Methods:
- Classroom-Based Learning: Traditional face-to-face teaching in a classroom setting.
- Online Courses: Structured courses offered online, often with a set start and end date.
- Workshops and Seminars: Instructor-led sessions focusing on specific topics.
- Standardized Curriculum: Following a predetermined syllabus or curriculum designed to meet specific educational standards.
Informal Learning Methods:
- Self-Directed Research: Learning through self-initiated research, using resources like books, articles, and online content.
- Peer-to-Peer Learning: Gaining knowledge and skills by interacting with colleagues, friends, or online communities.
- Experiential Learning: Learning by doing, through hands-on experience, trial and error, and reflection.
- Observational Learning: Acquiring skills by observing others, such as mentors, colleagues, or experts in a field.
While formal learning methods are structured and often certification-oriented, informal learning methods are flexible, contextual, and driven by the learner’s curiosity and immediate needs. Combining these methods can lead to a more holistic and adaptable learning experience.
Benefits of Informal Learning
Informal learning offers various benefits in the workplace, enhancing the overall learning environment and employee skill set.
- Enhances Problem-Solving Skills: Employees learn to tackle real-world problems through hands-on experience.
- Promotes Continuous Learning: Encourages a culture of continuous, self-directed learning among employees.
- Improves Adaptability: Helps employees adapt to new technologies and methodologies more quickly.
- Increases Employee Engagement: Informal learning often leads to higher employee engagement and job satisfaction.
- Cost-Effective: Reduces the need for expensive formal training programs.
- Fosters Innovation: By allowing employees to explore and learn new things, informal learning can lead to innovative ideas and solutions.
By leveraging the strengths of informal learning, businesses can create a more dynamic, knowledgeable, and adaptable workforce, crucial for success in today’s fast-paced business environment.
Challenges of Informal Learning
While informal learning offers numerous benefits, it also comes with its own set of challenges, especially in structured environments like the workplace.
- Lack of Structure: Without a defined curriculum, learners may miss crucial information or skills.
- Difficulty in Measuring Impact: The impact of informal learning is often harder to quantify compared to formal training.
- Inconsistency in Learning Quality: The quality and depth of learning can vary greatly between individuals.
- Potential for Misinformation: Without a formal review process, there’s a risk of acquiring incorrect or outdated information.
- Limited Recognition: Skills and knowledge gained informally are often not formally recognized or valued as much as formal education.
- Over-reliance on Self-Motivation: Informal learning requires a high degree of self-motivation, which can be a barrier for some learners.
What Is Informal Learning in the Workplace?
Informal learning in the workplace refers to the unstructured, non-formal process of gaining knowledge and skills through everyday work activities, interactions with colleagues, and personal experiences. It’s not part of a formal training program but occurs naturally as employees engage in their job duties, collaborate with others, solve problems, and adapt to new situations. This type of learning is typically self-directed, experiential, and closely tied to the learner’s immediate needs and job context. It plays a vital role in continuous professional development and adapting to rapidly changing work environments.
Why Should Leaders and L&D Teams Care About Informal Learning?
Informal learning provides significant benefits and value for individuals, teams, and corporations:
- Informal learning drives collaboration. Employees organically seek out and create bonds within and without teams, breaking down silos.
- Within the intersection of creativity and collaboration is where innovation thrives.
- Informal learning is driven by the learners and is focused on exactly what they want, exactly when they need it.
- Adults find more fulfillment and intrinsic rewards through informal learning.
- Informal learning tends to stick better. Learners create mental constructs within which new information is effectively stored in the long-term memory.
- While it’s often overlooked by corporate training teams because it’s outside their control, informal learning doesn’t require formal L&D direction, design, or development.
- Organizations with a strong culture of learning benefit from greater creativity.
Strategies to Drive Informal Learning
There are several things that L&D departments can do to drive informal learning.
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Cultivating a Learning Culture:
As Peter Drucker, the renowned management consultant, famously stated, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s crucial to foster a learning culture underpinned by autonomy, purpose, and mastery, as Daniel Pink highlights in his book, “Drive.” When employees find these elements in their workplace, they naturally gravitate towards informal learning:
- Mastery Drive: Most people are inherently motivated to master their profession.
- Purposeful Engagement: Engaged employees find purpose and fulfillment in their work.
- Autonomy in the Workplace: A growing sense of autonomy among employees enhances their learning initiative.
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Digital Social Learning Spaces:
Establish digital platforms for social learning where employees can:
- Engage Constructively: Leaders should actively participate and encourage constructive interactions.
- Reward Participation: Learning & Development (L&D) departments can incentivize constructive behavior and engagement.
- Structured Exchanges: Implement scheduled chat sessions and idea sharing, using tools like hashtags for organization.
- Establish Guidelines: Set clear rules to maintain professionalism and avoid typical social media pitfalls like contentious debates or trivial discussions.
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Semi-Structured Virtual Forums:
Provide platforms for coworkers to interact and exchange ideas in a semi-structured, virtual environment.
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Pre-Course Preparation Materials:
Develop interactive PDFs and other materials summarizing essential information needed for formal courses.
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Microlearning:
Utilize content broken down into small, digestible pieces for more efficient learning.
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Digital Learning Resources:
Facilitate access to various online learning tools, including:
- LinkedIn Learning
- Udemy
- Pluralsight
- Blinkist and get Abstract
- Industry-specific journals
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Promote Reading and Virtual Book Clubs:
Encourage reading as a key learning tool, echoing the sentiment of Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, who said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
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Mentorship and Coaching Programs:
- Augment Formal Training: Use coaching and mentoring as supplements to formal training.
- Short-Term Coaching Relationships: Pair training participants with coaches for short-term guidance.
- Mentoring for High-Potential Employees: Connect high-potential employees with mentors to prepare them for future roles.
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Facilitate Informal Virtual Interactions:
- Encourage Live Video Calls: Promote the use of live video for more personal and engaging interactions.
- Embrace the Informal Setting: Remind participants to be understanding of the informalities in remote work environments, like background noises or casual appearances.
Here are some examples of informal learning in the workplace:
- Job Shadowing: Employees observe colleagues in different roles to understand various aspects of the organization.
- Peer Collaboration: Teams work together on projects, allowing for skill and knowledge exchange.
- Lunch and Learn Sessions: Informal meetings over lunch where employees share insights on different topics.
- Professional Networking Events: Attending industry events or internal social gatherings to gain fresh perspectives.
- Online Forums and Communities: Participating in online platforms to discuss industry trends and challenges.
- Feedback and Reflection Sessions: Regular informal meetings for giving and receiving feedback.
Informal learning, while sometimes difficult to measure and seems like it’s outside the control of the corporate L&D department, is more vital now than ever in remote working environments. Hope this article gives you compelling insights and strategies to unlock its potential.
