PPA4 – LEARNING AND SHARING CONCEPT
Definition of “Learning and Sharing”:WWF wants to become a real learning promoter[1].
At WWF – Colombia, the concept of “Learning and Sharing” has been developed from the institutional learning point of view. In this sense, it is understood as an organisational environment that facilitates, promotes, values, and rewards its members’ use of learning, individually as well as collectively[2]. The intention is to promote, through this transversal component, an institutional learning culture, which must be integrated into the organisation’s strategic thinking, must occur at all levels, and must be implemented in each and every one of WWF’s processes and projects[3].
The organisation’s main approach is learning by doing[4]. Therefore, learning comes mainly from experience. There many different ways of generating institutional learning[5].
Learning is the main engine for change. Defined spaces for collective reflection allow questioning assumptions, plans, activities, and indicators, thus paving the way, since the very inception stage, for the adaptation of processes and projects to generate organisational improvement and facilitate decision making. This is why flexibility and participation are the two key features of the learning system[6].
WWF has designed a learning system that works with learning communities (DISCUSS THE DEFINITION OF LEARNING COMMUNITY, HOW IS IT EVIDENCED?). Learning happens around learning stories that document relevant subjects for the organisation and are discussed in the various groups[7].
Agreements on issues that the concept does NOT make reference to:
When we talk about “Learning and sharing” at WWF-Colombia, we do not refer to “how we share knowledge with all the participants involved in a project (this idea and action has been developed through Downward Accountability.) “Learning and sharing” is about institutional learning; about what is the status of learning at WWF – Colombia organisation.”[8]
“Reflection does not automatically lead to learning[9].” Institutional learning requires a strategy that goes beyond the generation of reflection spaces.
“Participation in training does not imply in itself that learning is disseminated throughout the entire organisation… Listing events is not enough to generate knowledge[10].”
Good practices do not come from external learning, such as cases or evaluations that a few people read. Evaluation is related to a shared reflection and not only to identifying learning items[11].
ABC of “Learning and Sharing”
Goal: Implement and disseminate learning to achieve a continuous improvement in the organisation in such a way that:
· A learning culture is created where learning is part of the organisational strategy, processes, and projects.
· People learn concepts and, at the same time, learn how to do things in a more effective and efficient way, both individually and collectively.
· Past successes are replicated and multiplied.
· Past mistakes are not repeated.
· There is organisational memory, and knowledge remains in the organisation and not with the individuals.
· Improvements achieved by the organisation may be measured and disseminated.
Guide for organisational learning
1. Centralization of information, WWF Colombia learning system
· Given that WWF already has a learning system in place, it is worth analyzing which functions it offers and how it can be promoted in order that it becomes the centralizer of all the information and documentation related to institutional learning.
· Some of the functions that the platform should have are the following (IS THIS DONE OR COULD THIS BE DONE THROUGH YAMMER?):
o Databases.
o Individual and collective goals.
o Lections learnt through projects (rights and wrongs.)
o Learning stories. It is important that these stories be one of the tools of WWF Colombia learning system, but stories should not serve as the basis of the organisational learning system.
o Minutes and/or records of learning meetings.
o Mechanisms’ proposals to promote officers’ learning.
o History of institutional learning.
o Key words search capability.
o Learning log to influence public policy.
o The system should offer the possibility to organize presentations, videos, audio, photos, and traditional files.
· ARTICULATE WITH COMMUNICATIONS
2. Appoint learning leaders:
The first thing to do is to make sure that the organisation’s management is committed and drives learning. Thus, a learning team may be appointed including leaders from various areas and a document should be created including their accountabilities:
· Organisational learning leader: it is the management channel in charge of decision making on learning-related issues and the head of learning area leaders.
· Area leaders: they are in contact with people in their area to know about their performance and expectations about learning. They are in charge of reporting and coordinating necessary activities of their work area.
· The document should also define the accountabilities of officers who are not leaders of the learning process:
o Share reports of events or training sessions to which the officer has attended.
o Feed the system with their performance and learning that the officer deems relevant.
o Actively participate in learning sessions.
o Share ideas on how to improve the learning system.
o Support leaders using learning and socialization documentation when requested by the leader.
3. Create learning spaces
· Have conversations on the importance of institutional learning led by the organisation’s management at least once a year, exposing the importance of learning and the results obtained through this strategy.
· In order to ensure that learning is part of the organisation’s strategy, it should be one of the main subjects in annual planning sessions.
· The learning plan should be reviewed, adjusted, and adapted every two or three years in order for it to be in line with the strategic plan.
· Organise exclusive learning meetings on a regular basis. In relation to these meetings, workshop participants have proposed the following:
o Devote an M&E meeting every ten weeks, making specific invitations to the technical and administrative team, to review learning contributions.
o Plan a reflection day, in the whole office, once a year, separate from annual planning sessions.
· Promote learning and reflection in out-of-office spaces to help people see new perspectives. For example, lunches or learning outings.
· Prepare records of meetings dealing with learning, specifying what has been agreed, the attendants, the methodology, and the conclusions.
4. How to promote knowledge and skills
· Create a database including knowledge and expertise of each officer.
· Prepare a schedule including knowledge and skills that must be reinforced per area or per position, and define courses, workshops or meetings to which officers must attend on a yearly basis to reinforce their knowledge.
o An attendance record must be maintained and a budget must be prepared for payment of events registration and travel expenses.
o Events may be recorded, or records may be prepared for each event which may be saved into the system.
· Involve expert personnel that may give support by training other members of the staff in technical topics relevant for the organization. Define the training that this person may offer to other members of the staff and set up a training implementation schedule.
o Compliance records must be maintained for this type of training.
· Join networks or communities (physical or virtual) to promote knowledge on specific subjects.
5. Learning with stakeholders
· Prepare a community database including contact data of partner entities. Make a list including what each partner can provide in terms of knowledge and what our organization can provide to each partner. In this way, opportunities to work in partnership with expert organizations on some specific subjects are evidenced.
o This map of the partner network may be published in the system and, in addition, in some visible area of the facilities.
· Attendants to technical learning sessions offered by external partners must prepare and share with officers that find this information most useful a discussion on the most relevant subjects learnt.
o Define in advance which officers may find it useful to learn more about certain subjects and prepare an attendance record.
o This learning should also be included into the system.
6. Communication on learning
· New officers must be able to understand from the very start of their induction, the importance of learning at WWF, and of leaders and their role in learning.
· Use internal communication means and visual means at the office site to remember the importance of organizational learning and recent learning. For instance:
o Significant learning section, newsletters, or corporate mail for the entire personnel.
o Message boards and other visual means at the office site.
o Management corporate mail.
· Establish a organizational timeline and disseminate it at a visible place at the office site, where everybody can see it and remember it.
· Establish channels to communicate learning stories:
o WWF web page.
o E-mail.
o Printed brochures to be distributed at events and available at the office site.
7. Follow-up
· Carry a log of lessons learnt including not only successes, but also failures.
o It must be included in the system, and officers should feed it according to what they learn in each project.
· Define learning indicators for each officer in order to measure regular compliance level. difficult
· Make presentations and prepare records of meetings (signed by the attendants) in order to share knowledge developed in workshops or events promoting learning.
8. Mechanisms to stimulate officers to implement learning (suggestions, this is something they must come up with themselves: WWF)
· Trips to take courses on work-related specific subjects or on subjects related to institutional learning for collaborators that stand out for their learning contributions.
· Give public recognition for good learning contributions made by officers, whether by e-mail, at organizational events, or at message boards installed at the facilities.
Guide to ensure project learning
1. During the planning stage, it is important to:
· Reflect on past learning that may be useful for this new project and verify that such past learning is taken into account from the very project inception.
· Select a person responsible for learning for the project: this person shall organise meetings to use past learning, document project learning, and disseminate results.
· Define reflection spaces to capture learning during implementation of each project. For example, feedback sessions with stakeholders involved in projects may be very useful to develop new perspectives and closer links between WWF and stakeholders.
· Define spaces that shall be used to share learning arising from project implementation, and make joint reflections with the rest of the WWF Colombia team and with stakeholders.
2. During the follow-up stage, the following must be taken into account:
· As all learning should be documented since the beginning and during project development, it should be defined where and how this learning will be documented.
o The organizational learning system will serve to standardise and carry a record of each stage of the Project.
· Establish forms to socialise learning obtained during implementation of the project with PPA4 implementation team and its partners. Reflect to understand how success was achieved and which mistakes were made.
· Identify, jointly with the project implementation team, learning that may be used to influence public policy.
3. In order to report project learning:
· Records of meetings or activities should be prepared including project-related learning.
· In addition, records of socialisation meetings should be prepared including project outcomes and learning together with WWF Colombia team and with stakeholders interested in the particular subject.
· Formats with sequential numbering showing evolution of project formats according to learning. difficult
· Create a “Learning log to influence public policy”, which should be publicly available to any and all officers.
Review of literature and documents including references to the “Learning and sharing” concept at WWF
Learning related concepts and their benefits
Learning: “Organizational environment that facilitates, promotes, values, and rewards individual and collective use of learning by its members.” It must be a culture, as focusing only on outcomes can be counter-productive. (WWF Network Standards)[12]
It is important because:
- It provides learning about how success was achieved and how good practices were developed.
- Provides experience to make better decisions about how to adapt plans.
- Strengthens the position of those who promote a project.
- Influences implementation of good practices in projects from the local standpoint to the global standpoint, in order to increase impact of conservation.
- Brings outside lessons which may be incorporated to the organization.[13]
- Learning processes are essential to develop capabilities and resilience for handling disasters, to adapt to climate change, and for sustainable development through questioning of the paradigms and stimulation of innovation to promote new response patterns[14].
Various documents mention that learning defines the way the organization changes because it is a transformation situation and we should regularly evaluate this transformation. Learning types to build adaptive capacity are social learning and one-, two-, or three-cycle learning[15].
Organizations do not learn by themselves, individuals do. In order for learning to take place, lessons must be consciously learnt, disseminated, and used to improve the future. Conscious learning includes: review goals, level of compliance, explore what worked, what did not work, and why. The organization must be open to include lessons learnt and external good practices[16].
Learning system: Set of elements and processes combined with the purpose of learning. In order to work with a system it is necessary to understand its limits and initial conditions. Learning systems must be flexible[17].
Learning guidelines and practices
Various forms of institutional learning:
- “Starting with the organization’s history is a way of learning.”
- An organizational timeline (rebuilt together with various groups) is a way of identifying milestones, stories, successes, and failures.
- Current work mapping, identifying elements and players and establishing the relevant connections.[18]