Are your people using Generative AI like ChatGPT? Is it improving their work or positively affecting your business? Although exciting, it is early days, and many companies have decided not to allow their people to use these new tools because of inherent risks.
I have been watching the people in my company, and it has been enlightening to see how they use these tools. Some are experimenting and sharing to do fun and innovative things. They are learning from each other — “Oh, I didn’t know it could do that” is a common refrain.
Others, however, are just using it for the same basic functions, for instance, to replace Google. They are missing out on using it for novel applications — like some of their colleagues who write songs with AI help.
Irrespective of the various policies related to use, it struck me that what I’ve been seeing reflects a common trend around how people use new skills. Like using AI chatbots, the skills we develop should be applicable for many reasons in many situations.
For example, if you learn a growth mindset or presentation skills, these are not just things you use for one task. You may use them with your children or in your associations outside work. Skills must have multiple applications if we are to unlock their full value. But all too often, we come back from a class or a course and, like using ChatGPT only for search, we limit their use, and thus our mastery of them.
I previously shared how the key to growth is experimenting with newly developed capabilities. Accountability, engaging peer-to-peer support, and community are critical in maximising a willingness to try new things to make this happen.
We are eternally busy, and tools like AI promise help or relief. Carefully designed, short, powerful, targeted interventions can supercharge learning, practice and application of the new capabilities we need. This need not be complicated. There are three common barriers to people not levelling up new skills when they don’t know:
- Where to get additional help to expand mastery;
- Whether anyone cares if they use the new skills;
- Where to find ongoing support to improve/ add new skills.
Here are some ideas to ensure your people continue to grow and master their new skills.
If your people don’t know where to get additional help to grow, consider providing group or individual coaching as a support for action-learning projects and group, team and individual projects. This need not be complicated or expensive, and you don’t need to bring in outside coaches.
Setting up coaching assignments by your people, or even for each other, helps them go deeper by focusing on how they applied the new mindsets, skill sets and tool sets. If you have senior people willing to help, they can guide and review progress on agreed goals and suggest additional tools for moving forward. Simple coaching support can ensure that projects are based on current challenges and linked directly to real-impact projects. Coaching has never gone away, but ensure it is grounded in your context.
If your people don’t know whether anyone cares if they use their new skills get them to commit to delivering an impact presentation. Again, it’s not difficult, but get them to commit to a future date on which they will present to people who matter what they have done, and what the outcomes were. This is an excellent way of building accountable people.
People will apply themselves when they know they have to share what they tried, the tools used, and the impacts on their work or life. It has the added benefit of allowing them to learn from each other’s stories, lessons learned and the impact made, and their peers can seek out recommended next steps to sustain the impact.
Administratively these can also be used to document and report results from a specific learning application assignment or even return on investment from the learning experience. It also creates a library of good application examples for future learners to refer to.
If your people don’t know where to find ongoing support to improve/add new skills, then I recommend communities of practice. Create opportunities for them to share/exchange ideas and experiences to improve. These are simple ways to sustain change after learning, discuss real-life issues they are facing, and get fresh perspectives, new insights and practical solutions.
As discussed previously, the opportunity to learn from others and find better solutions for desired outcomes maintains momentum and creates long-lasting impacts in work and in life. Ensure the focus is on expanding, improving and sharing to create momentum after formal learning.
Even with something as novel as Generative AI, encouraging and creating the above learning laboratories for your people are excellent ways to scale, deepen and ensure the expertise is used.
Arinya Talerngsri is Chief Capability Officer, Managing Director, and Founder at SEAC — Southeast Asia’s Lifelong Learning Centre. She is fascinated by the challenge of transforming education for all to create better prospects for Thais and people everywhere. Reach her email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa