7 Focus Areas for a Strong Learning Strategy
We’ve noticed that when the word “strategy” is used, people’s eyes sometimes glaze over. Strategy is a vague term and everyone seems to have their own interpretation. Also, it’s easy enough to talk strategy, but words don’t automatically translate into actions and results.
Our primary goal at Tangram is to support learning teams in getting better at what they do, and we believe continuous improvement is made possible by continuous strategy evolution. And for us, strategy is not just words — it’s a clear plan and the concrete actions that will get us there.
Every leader has a vision for what learning can do for their organization. We’ll help you refine your goals, develop targets, and build your plan to achieve that vision. And we’ll share our perspective on what good looks like. Our methodology is informed by our leadership experience and also the consulting we’ve done with various organizations.
In our webinar, “7 Bold Moves for a Learning Strategy Reset,” we explain our recommended focus areas and share examples of each one. We’ll let you know when we’re offering the webinar next so you can join us. In the meantime, we hope this outline will be a helpful guide.
Here are Tangram’s 7 focus areas for a strong learning strategy:
A clear value proposition: Your value prop is your explanation of why your organization’s learning approach is effective and how your learning products bring this promise to life. It’s essential to have a strong value prop and communicate this clearly and frequently.
Thoughtful marketing: Marketing is about attracting new customers and keeping your existing customers. It’s about making a case for your products and their potential impact. It’s about using different communication techniques to achieve your goals. Part of your marketing approach should be setting targets and doing regular testing to see what works for your organization.
Intentional community building: There is so much opportunity to draw people in and design ways for them to be social together and also learn together. This is a special area of focus that we encourage you to consider to increase your reach and presence in your organization. Building a learning community can be an energizing project for your team to work on together.
Human-centered design: What’s different about human-centered design? For one, it starts without a solution in mind. It’s also completely learner-focused and involves questioning, immersion, and soliciting constant learner feedback. The spirit of human-centered design is what’s important — there are many tactics designers can use to achieve the desired outcomes.
Rituals for creativity and innovation: Developing new rituals that promote these behaviors can help unlock a learning team’s full potential. There are many ways we can work and play together creatively that benefit all team members and feed our need for inspiration and personal development.
Streamlined ways of working: Streamlining is not about temporary adjustments we make to address a reduced budget — it’s about “thinking lean” as a regular practice. Working to be more efficient and effective with our time and resources allows us to focus on better results for our organization, and it can also help us take on new opportunities.
A focus on the future: This component is about recognizing the possibilities for improvement and figuring out what to tackle next. The key is to always be looking ahead and preparing — it just becomes part of our routine.
These 7 focus areas are each important, and success in any area can positively impact others. When our clients approach us for support with their strategy, we start with an evaluation of their current state and make recommendations for where to begin. Sometimes people want to tackle all 7 components — and they certainly can! — but we always suggest choosing one or two areas to focus on first.
For each component, we offer focused Tangram workshops wherein we share different approaches you can take depending on your goals. We walk you through a plan you can follow and also give you an implementation toolkit to use as you get started. We offer these workshops for individuals, and we can also deliver them to your team, which is a great way learn and get better together. Strategy is the foundation of everything we do — we’ll help you make improvements in the areas that matter the most as you work to make your vision a reality. Feel free to reach out with any questions.