To those outside the business world, the phrase “knowledge transfer” may sound daunting and technical, but in actuality it simply refers to keeping employees within a company informed of important developments and information. This can mean informing employees of important news via email, making announcements during a company meeting, or training new employees.
New employee training is of course nothing new, but according to knowledge transfer expert Steve Trautman, true knowledge transfer goes much further than basic training. Truly effective knowledge transfer as it exists today is more akin to peer mentoring than formal training. It includes learning on the job and sharing effective methods and strategies that aren’t always taught in a formal instructor-led training session. It also must be versatile, especially since no two people learn exactly the same way. Some people actually do learn well from a formal training session, while other employees won’t really be able to pick up a certain skill until they officially start working.
Interestingly enough, one of the best ways to conduct knowledge transfer for new employees is through a company’s blog. A well-maintained and well-written corporate blog can contain all kinds of information, from important company announcements to fun anecdotes that could still teach someone a few lessons. It may not be the ideal teaching tool for everybody, but that can be said about any training or knowledge transfer technique. With that being said, here are just four of the many reasons why blogging can help support employee training.
It Feels Less Formal
A corporate blog will obviously come across as more serious and to-the-point than someone’s personal weblog, but many employees will still see it as less formal and therefore less stressful than a typical corporate training session. Learning from a blog allows people to move at their own pace; there could still be a deadline when it comes to completing one’s training, but simply allowing employees to learn at their own pace will allow them to relax and be better able to absorb more information.
It Allows Writers to Share Corporate “War Stories” with Others
As valuable and thorough as a traditional training session can be, most people know that there will be situations that simply will not come up during a new employee’s orientation. Just about everyone who has spent some time in corporate America has at least one amusing, horrifying or interesting war story about some unforeseen scenario, and a blog can give them the platform to share such stories and how they were handled. In fact, Sally Falkow of The Proactive Report mentions this very advantage of corporate blogging. A lot of people learn from these kinds of stories, yet they are unlikely to show up during an organized training session.
A Blog Can Be Updated at a Moment’s Notice
While training sessions have to be scheduled and organized, a blog can be updated at practically any time. This can of course work against a training schedule, but it can also make things easier on those in charge of knowledge transfer. While blog updates should adhere to a loose schedule, the fact that a blog can be updated so quickly takes some of the pressure off of the writers.
A Blog Is Inexpensive
Training sessions can be expensive, so much so that many companies will hold off on hiring new workers because of the cost of training them. A company has to set aside time to develop a formal session, schedule the time needed for it and have one of its current high-level employees run it. On the other hand, a blog post can be written in a person’s spare time and posted just as quickly. It may or may not have all the relevant information that a training session does, but a well-written and informative blog post can still contribute to knowledge transfer in a big way.
1 Comments on "4 Ways Blogging Can Help Support Training"
Nice Blog thanks for the blog Training sessions can be expensive, so much so that many companies will hold off on hiring new workers because of the cost of training them A corporate blog will obviously come across as more serious and to-the-point than someone’s personal weblog.
Thanks for the blog