I think it’s safe to say that informal learning has been around since before Neanderthals. It’s not unheard of among animals (here’s a video
of chimpanzees using informal learning), and should be considered a given whenever humans of different experience levels interact. So why is it now a topic of interest for businesses? And what exactly is informal learning?
For complex, important content, in a business setting, I believe that informal learning should occur after formal training as a means to adapt what you’ve recently learned to your specific job. Informal learning is not a structured method. Rather, it results from people communicating and passing along what they believe are tried-and-true methods to adapt formal learning to their jobs.
It’s a valuable way to learn in certain circumstances, as you’ll see in the following example. Recently, my 18-year-old son and his friends decided to cook lasagna. I overheard them noisily looking through the kitchen cabinets for a lasagna pan to bake it in. They decided to use a glass pan as
opposed to an aluminum one. That’s when I decided to intervene. I explained that if they were going to use glass they would have to adjust the cooking time, because glass heats at a different rate than aluminum.
How did I know this? From years of cooking. I don’t really recall how I learned it; maybe it was after I had burned something. The important thing was that I helped them avoid a mistake and saved myself a trip to a local fast food joint to replace a burned dinner. That was an instance of informal
learning that made perfect sense in a particular environment.
My question is: How reliable is informal learning in a corporate environment? It has its place, but how much do we want to rely on it for decisions that will impact business outcomes which can in turn make or break the business? This brings me back to my original question about why this is a
topic of interest for businesses now.
Communication is now easier and less expensive than ever. The spread of mobile devices, in particular, has exponentially increased the amount of information communicated across a global workforce, particularly younger workers. The "Internet Trends 2015" report from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers noted that 87% of millennials said their “smartphone never leaves my side,” while 80% said, "When I wake up, the first thing I do is reach for my smartphone."
We’re moving from an environment where, until recently, corporations forbid the use of social media in order to control their message to an
environment where absolutely everyone has access to social media. Uh oh! The pendulum has swung. Now how do we find a happy medium? I believe we should start planning for the challenges of informal learning and avoid the cost of too much reliance on it.
It’s one thing to ask your co-worker how to execute a function in Word or Outlook, but it’s quite another if an employee is posting informal information as online help. You simply don’t know whether or not the individual’s information is accurate. For example, it may well be a shortcut
that you want everyone to use or it may be a shortcut that seems to work, but it may eventually negatively affect other functionality. And, do you know who actually posted the information – are they reliable, accredited? How much access do you want any one individual to have to your online
help or training manuals?
You might ask: Do you want your corporation’s online help content to become another Wikipedia? Wikipedia is reviewed by the general population
and it’s believed that much of the information is accurate, but is it? Who’s policing it? How quickly does it get corrected? And are the corrections
accurate?
So, where do we draw the line on informal learning? And, who draws it?
Yes, it can often be a time-saver to ask a colleague for help, rather than taking the time to access corporate Help files. But do you want employees to rely on informal learning to gain knowledge about new software or complex processes? Probably not.
Another significant issue is content management. Even if informal content is accurate, how do you manage its volume, plus updates? In
fact, how do you track informal updates?
Undoubtedly, it’s possible to manage informal learning content; but suddenly the informal must be formalized and systematized! This raises the specter of having to hire an additional employee to oversee the transition – not a preferred option in these budget-challenged times. As Clay
Shirky put it at a Web 2.0 Expo conference in NY a few years back, "It's not information overload. It's filter failure.”
If you’re going to recognize informal learning as part of a corporate-wide initiative, you have to understand how to curate it and evaluate
it. You’ll need to learn how to evaluate informal learning within your organization because people expect to be judged on their knowledge base, which also effects their performance appraisals, bonuses, and pay. That means you’ll need a formal assessment to appraise informal learning. A good starting point can be tying informal learning into the annual appraisal process. There, you can discuss how (and if) it is helping an employee meet his/her learning objectives and integrate it into their personal learning portfolio.
What’s the best way to start planning how your organization will manage informal learning? You need to begin now! First, your organization needs to enable informal collaboration by creating channels that stimulate conversation - blogs, employee networks, twitter feeds, etc. Then, you can begin to monitor what information is being shared, who's sharing it, and how it's being used. Once you've done that, you can promote success stories and measurable results in order to stimulate even more informal learning conversations and reward those using it.
As recommended in “Revolutionize Corporate Learning: Beyond Formal, Informal, Mobile, Social Dichotomies,” instead of managing and measuring "the amount of instruction provided through informal and formal means, socially or 'on your own,' mobile or desktop-based, education leaders should focus on ever-evolving topic distinctions and the useful ways people can access them."
If we were living during the times in which our Neanderthal ancestors hunted and gathered, rewards could have been as simple as a nice chewy piece of bison hide or a flint rock. The modern equivalent would be to reward social media contributors with “Like" buttons, virtual badges, and or a point system to unlock rewards, or even advanced training opportunities.
However, a more fruitful approach might be to develop an understanding of how people are using information gained through informal learning to create more targeted training that furthers careers and positively impacts the overall performance of the organization.
END
I am save, 
and we improvise.
