“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” Henry Ford
Volunteers from the Madison Chapter of the national Association for Talent Development (ATD-MAC) have created learning “toolkits” for employees of the United Way of Dane County (UWDC). There are toolkits on the following four topics: Influencing- How to Manage Up/Across; Collaboration- How to be a Great Team Member; Feedback- How to Give and Receive; and Relationships-Building Trust.
Each toolkit is a four-page pdf:
Page 1: LEARN introduces the topic and the learning objectives. It also provides a link to a 90- second video on the topic, with instructions regarding what to watch for in the video.
PAGE 2: REFLECT asks a question to debrief the video and then offers more explanatory content about the key points in the video. This is set up to be interactive by having the readers indicate in front of each step if it is something they do regularly (+), something they do sometimes (?) , or something they would like to do more often (-).
Page 3: PRACTICE lists a variety of action learning activities that the employees can complete on the job. The activities are aligned with the learning objectives and content provided in the video and on page 2. This page is also interactive, with 5 points awarded for each completed activity. The final point total will land the employees in one of three tiers.
Page 4: CONNECT asks the employees to schedule time to debrief their active learning practice with their supervisors. It outlines what to think about in preparation for that conversation, as well as what to talk and ask about during the discussion. This page also includes references that credit and thank resources that contributed to the content in the toolkit.
It is our understanding that all UWDC employees will work with the same toolkit at the same time, so they can reinforce and support each other’s learning.
This has been a wonderful collaborative learning experience for the volunteers, many of whom had little or no experience creating an animated video (developing a script, drafting the storyboard and adding the animation and narration)- or writing action learning activities. I’m very glad I was a part of it!
May your learning be sweet- and safe.
Deborah
