Research shows us that learning new skills or knowledge is most effective when it can be applied into situations that are recognisable to the learners. For topics such as leadership, the traditional format of a mini-lecture and/or a generic case study, may mean learners are less likely to engage or find the content stimulating. Using a more contextualized approach can speed up the process of them being able to put their learning into action. Experiential learning is an excellent way of achieving this aim.

Our habits have all changed over the last decade as well as our expectations. With services such as Netflix we have grown used to receiving what we want and when we want it. We have the option to binge watch a latest series or watch it over a longer period of time. We are starting to see some echoes of this in organisations, where employees want (and may even expect) more flexibility. Organisations may therefore think about how the learning is delivered e.g. would it be appropriate to have some online content and/or can there be flexibility in when the events take place? Timing is critical, the sooner participants have the opportunity to put their learning into action the better. To focus the minds on the activities, holding events in external locations can be useful and reduces the risk of people popping out to meetings etc.

What is experiental learning?

Experiential learning is learning by doing – learners engage in interactive activities that are real and meaningful. This can take the format of one case study or it can be broken down into different tasks, depending on what the real life problem or scenario is. The learning facilitator may need to help the learners understand how to engage with experiential learning and understand their role and expectations in the event.

An advantage of experiential learning is that it enables learners to be able to work at different levels of complexity. A second benefit of experiential learning is the positive impact it can have on team-working and internal relationship building if the learners are collaborating. This might be a rare opportunity to also have diverse groups including learners from the senior teams.

Developing real world activities

The success of programmes are reliant on them being well designed and having the ability to meet the learning outcomes required. Therefore developing experriental learning activities is a specialist skill to enable it to meet the learning needs of the organization and  the learners. The facilitator usually needs to be able to think on their feet so that they can add in some extra layers if the groups can be stretched further. Organisations need to provide a detailed brief of what they want from the learning and the extent to which they would like to use real organizational data and any issues around confidentiality etc.

For some organisations, they may want to commission a simulation that is not based on their specific organization but still offers opportunities to focus on areas that will also be beneficial for the learners and the organization. This may be based on a particular business problem or it may be more skills based. Simulations may also be specifically designed to develop teamworking or leadership skills.

For experiential and real world learning to really make a difference, learners will need to learn how to reflect on their experience and consider how and when they can make use of the key learning points. For some, reflective learning may be a brand-new concept and they will need to be guided through the process.

Developing real world activities

There are great opportunities for organisations to work with practice-focused Universities to benefit from the latest thinking and expertise of academics who have worked inside and outside of academia. Programmes can be designed in collaboration with the academics and in some instances they may be well placed to facilitate the actual events. Developing these relationships could open up wider opportunities for collaborations such as talent pools of students, internships and knowledge exchange possibilities.

Whilst experiential and real world learning can be expensive as a one off cost at the design stage, it can offer many benefits to organisations. As well as developing skills and knowledge in the required areas, good development programmes may act as a retention tool for valued employees. Smaller organisations may choose a hybrid approach where the majority of the content could be off the shelf but then some customization is added.