AD-HOC Learning - Acquiring Skills on Demand - Know-Center

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The workspace represents the user’s desktop PC and shared document storage devices such as a common file structure or a document management system. It contains the work documents which are needed by an employee on a day-to-day basis, such as project related documents. The workspace is typically structured according to a company’s organization and task structures (such as project structures). The learning space stands for conscious learning situations, e.g. attending seminars and taking elearning courses. The learning space is either completely outside any technical system or combined with an e-learning platform. Sometimes information about available seminars is available through the Intranet. The structure of the learning space mirrors the structure of the learning topics as it is seen by course providers. It follows the didactical abstraction of the topic and provides generally no information about the relationship of work tasks to courses. In addition, the available course material is fairly general and has to be adapted to ones work context. The knowledge space represents unconscious learning, application of past experiences (own and from others) to new situations, spontaneous search for information and use of examples in order to understand how to apply newly found information. The knowledge space of an organization is often distributed over different systems such as the Intranet, a common file server, etc. Here the structure again is different: Organizational knowledge often does not have one clear structure, but mirrors the internal cognitive map of each person providing the knowledge. Often a mix of the organizations processes, topics and department structures are found here. Work <strong>Learning</strong> Knowledge 4 Search Figure 1: The three spaces, a typical work place consists of Based on the above description of the three spaces we can identify two main problems when wanting to link the spaces together and provide a bridge from everyday work to learning: Cognitive and structural disconnection between the three spaces: Each of the spaces has an inherent structure which mirrors to some extent the mental model of the people who are using it. Technical separation of the three spaces: Each of the spaces is implemented on a different technical platform. The technical separation of the three spaces can be overcome by choosing a platform which can support all three different spaces equally well. In the following case study we have chosen Hyperwave’s knowledge management platform to implement the <strong>AD</strong>-<strong>HOC</strong> approach because it is a unique platform which readily provides support for document and content management, knowledge management and collaboration, and e-<strong>Learning</strong>. Worse than the technical separation of these three spaces however, is the first problem: The cognitive disconnection between the spaces. It manifests itself in the evolution of totally different storage structures – as described above. Knowledge as well as learning resources are not linked to work documents and have a totally different structure than the work task. So, knowledge and documents exist which could bridge the gap, but they are somewhere hidden in organizations’ IT-systems and networks and lack the links to the work processes. In order to provide a link between the three spaces and their structures, <strong>AD</strong>-<strong>HOC</strong> moves, as it is schematized in Figure 2, the work process into the center of the worker’s focus. Work resources (e.g. document templates, forms, work supporting-tools), knowledge resources (e.g. checklists, guidelines,
how-to descriptions, example documents), and on-line training modules are aligned according to the sequence of tasks. This forms a spectrum from work resources such as checklists and how-to descriptions to in-depth and on-demand training-modules which can be used by the employees depending on the requirements of their specific work situations. <strong>AD</strong>-<strong>HOC</strong> aims at providing users on the one hand with as little information as sufficient and on the other hand as much as necessary. In one situation a person just applies task-specific work resources such as a meeting arrangement tool. In another situation a person might additionally use checklists - to make sure nothing is forgotten. And in still another situation users really need introductory how-to descriptions and follow references to work results of colleagues in order to be able to accomplish their task. And finally, in some cases in-depth training is needed – here links to adequate on-line training courses can be followed. Collaboration tools, like chat, discussion forums or video-conferencing enrich <strong>AD</strong>-<strong>HOC</strong> and facilitate discussions and elaboration of strategies. By doing so the <strong>AD</strong>-<strong>HOC</strong> approach proves value in a variety of situations: An experienced person new to the company can easily identify “how work is done here”. A novice to the task can find additional advice on how to best perform the task. And whenever operational procedures change and work processes are improved, these changes are immediately visualized and communicated to the people who are affected at the moment in which they perform the task. Templates E-<strong>Learning</strong> Course 5 Checklist Work results Experts Figure 2: Deploying <strong>AD</strong>-<strong>HOC</strong> <strong>Learning</strong> – aligning work, knowledge, and learning resources according to the work process Case Study Know-Center The Company The Know-Center is Austria’s competence center for knowledge-based applications and systems. As a connecting link between research institutions and industry, the Know-Center carries out problem-driven and application-oriented projects in various fields of knowledge management together with and for its partner companies. The Initial Situation In order to achieve standardization and to assure quality, project management processes and policies were documented at the Know-Center. Over time they were updated and adapted to emerging needs. However, they were not sufficiently applied on a regular basis. Especially, it proved to be extremely difficult to communicate the changes to all affected employees in a timely manner. The management realized that processes were improperly conducted and that people forgot things and skipped steps. Many companies who are trying to establish quality assurance processes already know this problem: It is time consuming to define them. But it is extremely tedious to ensure that they are really lived. The Know-Center continues to grow. To ensure the scalability of the organization more and more employees have to be qualified as project managers. To achieve this, project management e-learning courses are provided. Employees take these courses, but it showed that they forget too much of the acquired knowledge until its application in real-world situations. And they have extreme difficulties of applying the learned methods to their tasks at hand.
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AD-HOC Learning - Acquiring Skills on Demand - Know-Center

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