Management framework
Why is it important?
After a decade in Education and Team Management, I've discovered the key to learning isn't just lectures, videos, or books. It's about integrating these into real, practical experiences. Here's a simple, actionable 4-step model: Kolb’s learning cycle. It offers a framework to help employees learn from experience. By understanding their preferred learning style, managers can assign stretch assignments tailored to each individual. This accelerates growth.
Explained
The cycle has 4 stages that employees continuously move through:
Concrete Experience - A new task is assigned to build a skill ⇒ Involve your team in live, real-world tasks.
Reflective Observation - They consciously reflect on what worked, what didn’t ⇒ Encourage your team to think about what they did and how it went.
Abstract Conceptualisation - They make connections to extract broader theories. ⇒ Help them transform these reflections into a practical checklist or framework.
Active Experimentation - The lessons are applied to the next experience
This cycle of experiencing, reflecting, learning, and trying again allows for rapid behavior change.
How to apply?
- Encourage Experiential Learning: Provide opportunities for your team members to engage in new experiences. This could be a new project, role, or task.
- Facilitate Reflection: After a new experience, hold debrief sessions. Encourage your team to share their thoughts and feelings about what happened.
- Promote Idea Generation: Challenge your team to think critically about their experiences and derive lessons or new concepts from them.
- Support Application of Ideas: Encourage your team to apply their new insights in their work. This could mean trying new approaches or solving problems differently.
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