What is LearningConnect?

We've had some questions come up lately about how to explain to others what LearningConnect is and what it's all about. So we thought we'd post some additional language that may help you share with others. In addition, feel free to download this free gift, which is a visual of the LearningConnect process (along with some description). Many people find it useful as a tool to help explain LearningConnect to others in their organizations... we know we do.

So what is LearningConnect?

LearningConnect is a qualitative research approach that helps teams apply their collective intuitive and analytical skills to discover and bring to life consumer insights in ways that are fully embraced and crystallized. It utilizes a graphic approach to guide conversation and allow people to share ideas. It is a workshop that encourages direct connections. Unlike traditional focus groups, LearningConnect clients are in a front room with respondents, not in a back room or behind a mirror. Depth and breadth of learning are achieved by spending three hours with consumers.

Conversation is guided by means of graphic templates. Having and showing honor and respect for consumers encourages them to participate and speak freely. Conversations with groups of respondents and clients take place around small, round tables. A mix of large and small group activities is used to tap into people's different styles of learning and thinking.

The graphic templates are blank graphic frames printed on large sheets of paper posted on the wall of the research facility. Like outlines, they guide conversations. They are very low tech. They remind interviewers and respondents of the different areas to be explored. They provide a space on which to capture and organize real consumer language. They provide a big picture in a way that reveals connections. The simple graphics stimulate respondent input. They use metaphors such as mountains to provide structures for taking notes. A variety of templates are use to shape different kinds of conversations or collect different kinds of information.

The consumer insights follow from team analysis of the sessions. Team analysis turns insight into action, builds passion, and leverages team members' diverse knowledge and skill sets. It works because it is open and collaborative, goal oriented ("intentional"), and incorporates multiple learning approaches. You really learn by listening to people, recording their words, reading them, saying them aloud, converging and synthesizing them, making decisions, and taking action.

LearningConnect is a model for building wisdom. The stages, as of a pyramid, are to collect data; organize, converge and identify patterns to create information; integrate and build knowledge; and take action. This drives action-based outcomes and tangible results, builds team knowledge and alignment, produces rich, unexpected insights by getting below the surface, accelerates teams' learning by involving them directly in active learning, and sets up a greater knowledge transfer, so the enterprise as a whole becomes wiser. Isn’t that what we all want?

Don't forget, you can see these stages represented in the arrow on our free gift by going to http://www.beideaconnect.com/LearningConnectProcessArrow2009.pdf - the LearningConnect process arrow. We hope you'll download it and use it.

You Know it's a LearningConnect if...

As the creators of the LearningConnect® process we often hear of people doing something they are calling LearningConnect®, but then as they describe what they are doing we say to ourselves “huh? That doesn’t sound like what we created.” Other times people tell us they have done LearningConnect and then as we start describing our recommended approach, they utter “Ooohhhhhh, uhhhhhh, I guess what I was doing wasn’t really LearningConnect. So in the interest of clearing things up here are a few ways you can tell when it IS and when it is NOT LearningConnect:

LearningConnect® is…

• A Team Learning Process (i.e. it doesn’t happen in an hour meeting or even in a day) – it’s multi-day, experiential and collaborative
• Conversational – where the consumer guests have the power – it’s all about them, their stories and their experiences
• Graphically facilitated (it uses templates) so your team collects and organizes data (the actual, real words your consumers are saying) in real time
• When your team spends more time doing Analysis, Synthesis and Building individual and team Knowledge than collecting data … Because the real learning happens in the Analysis – together as a team
• Action focused … when complete, your team has made decisions, collaboratively created Outcomes and is moving your project forward in a real, tangible way – applying insights and taking ACTION. There might even be a celebration!

You know it’s NOT LearningConnect if…

• There’s not a Team Start Up to orient to the process, envision success, and surface team questions, prior to the consumer workshops
• There is a back room or there are team members who are “observing”
  When you are with your consumers you are asking a series of direct questions – like an interview
• Data is not collected and organized during the conversations (using graphic tools)
  Individuals are working alone or independently
• One person takes the data and does the analysis alone in order to write a report
  The only output is a report

What does your team learning look like? When do you LearningConnect?

LearningConnect Webinars

We’ve been training people in our revolutionary LearningConnect process for almost 10 years now. Hundreds of people around the world have attended our trainings and we are ready to take the next step – Webinars!

Here are a few topics we are considering offering to YOU – our LearningConnect facilitator community. We hope these webinars will refresh and reinvigorate your LearningConnect practice. And we’re really interested in what you might be most attracted to – and would love YOUR ideas for topics too. Let us know.

A Refresher (or Introduction) on the 7 Stages of LearningConnect
Has it been awhile since you’ve attended LearningConnect Training? Or have you been on a LearningConnect team journey and are considering attending Training? Join this webinar for an overview of the full LearningConnect process with tips and suggestions on facilitating your team in the immersive learning process with your customers or consumers.

Team Start Up and Team Workout Sessions
Too often we hear “our team is already is aligned” or “we’ve been on the project together for awhile now…” so teams skip these critical steps. Yikes! In our experience a good solid StartUp and Workout session is critical for the LearningConnect process and sets up the success (or potential failure if skipped) of the whole learning journey. Join this webinar as a review of some simple practices to orient and ground your team in order to build a shared starting point and vision from which to launch each project. We’ll review the Team Start Up, Success Looks Like and Speaking Our Minds templates and explore other activities that can enrich these sessions.

Keeping Your Team Engaged along the Journey – ReConnecting during the LearningConnect Process
LearningConnect can be a process that works well over time, with breaks along the way (we know you have lots of other work to fit in as well). One way to manage this is to take a few minutes every time your team gets together to reconnect and restart. We’ll share ideas for revisiting and actively engaging with your Team StartUp templates by adding layers – deepening your team’s connection with the topic and with each other.

Overview of the LearningConnect Templates for Data Collection
Not sure what all the options are for templates to use in Data Collection? Have a favorite that you use a lot and want to branch out to try new ones? Join this session to review the wide range of templates available that can help you in a variety of ways during your data collection. We’ll discuss a range of topics and question areas that each template can provide a framework to capture the conversations with your consumers.

Thinking about Data Collection Design – using a variety of templates in your Data Collection
Now that you remember that there are lots of templates, how can you mix it up during Data Collection to create fun and interesting series of activities and conversation frameworks? Which templates will work well in sequence to dig deeper into your topic? This webinar will review some case examples that use a variety of templates together to layer the conversation.

So what’s attracting your attention? What potential topics do you have?

We look forward to hearing from YOU!