Social learning empowers employees to think about learning in a whole new way — to share what they know and to learn from their peers on a regular basis.

To date, social learning has been a largely untapped resource for corporate learning and development. But with the advent of straightforward tools for video creation and sharing, that’s all changing. L&D professionals finally have a way to capture and curate deep knowledge across a wide range of subjects.

Naturally organized into relevant topics, searchable via an enterprise video platform, and accessible on-demand to support interval reinforcement, social learning videos helps employees learn exactly the what they need, exactly when they need it.

Once a video platform has been deployed and the learning initiatives have been identified, the final, and most critical, step in a social learning program is to build a culture that encourages employees to share what they know.

Knowledge sharing with video will be new to most employees. As a result, they’ll need leadership by example and permission to experiment. Below are three specific tips for building a culture of social learning.

1. Get leadership to lead the way in social learning

One of the fastest ways to get people on board any initiative is to have company leaders on board too. And what better way to let employees know than to have the executives record and share their own videos?

While keystone events like product launches and shareholder meetings are excellent opportunities to share executive facetime with employees, so too are informal moments, recorded right from their office. These recordings can also do wonders for organizational transparency, enabling leaders to share as appropriate the logic that underpins the corporate strategy and the data that comprises the quarterly numbers.

What can your executive team do with video? Quite a lot. Watch the video below to see how one CEO uses video.

 

 

2. Minimize hurdles for content producers

While some companies pursue social learning with tight approval workflows in place, most find that empowering employees to make smart decisions about what they post is an effective policy that will generate a better response for the program.

Armed with a few common sense guidelines and a handful of examples, the vast majority of employees will self-regulate. After all, no one wants to look foolish or violate company policy. Short approval cycles can always be instituted where necessary.

3. Focus on content, not production value

Social learning videos need not look like they were produced in Hollywood. Having an enthusiastic presenter coming through with clear audio is more than enough to get started, and people will improve with practice. Most companies don’t want departments spending money for high-end cameras on every desk, or on payroll required for an employee to refine a video until aesthetically perfect.

Bottom line — don’t let perfect be the enemy of useful.

 

Learn More About Enabling Social Learning With Video

In our newest white paper, How to Build a Social Learning Program with Video, you’ll learn how your organization can embrace social learning, you’ll discover 6 ideas for getting started, and you’ll gain an understanding of how an enterprise video platform can provide the technology foundation to your social learning program.

Download your copy today.