How can you foster a learning culture in a remote team?

It's not enough for your team members to have access to learning resources. They also need proper mechanisms and procedures for using the knowledge. Simply absorbing information from courses, podcasts, books, or videos will only have the maximum impact if used systematically. That's why it's essential to create regulated practice fields that allow employees to understand the benefits of the knowledge they've gained and put it into practice. To guarantee that knowledge is effectively incorporated into the company, it's crucial to establish areas where employees can easily share knowledge with one another. Ask yourself: - Can they socialize the knowledge with peers? - Can they use it in daily tasks? - Can they apply it to a project?

Psychological safety is a crucial factor that enables individuals to take risks and learn new things. We often remain silent because we fear appearing foolish or being ignored. If people feel that they might be belittled or marginalized for disagreeing with peers or authority figures, asking simple questions, or admitting mistakes, they are unlikely to speak up. Creating an environment where people feel welcome to voice their opinions, participate, bring bad news, ask uncomfortable questions or express concerns is vital. Ask yourself if your remote team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment or criticism or if they have the same level of comfort as face-to-face workers.

I founded PILOT in 2015 as a remote-first team (before it was cool). We've learned a ton in the process and a key aspect is that we're likely going to get most things a bit wrong on v1. One of our 5 values is Striving -- which is all about continuous improvement. We've baked that into the culture, how we do things, what we recognize for, etc. This helps us balance both the desire to always get better, with also not being perfectionists so we can accelerate learning with our v1. We've fostered a ritual of doing a Plus/Delta after key events or projects that everyone feels free to contribute to. We've even created a meeting rating cadence where each attendee assesses both Connection + Purpose for each meeting they attend. It is powerful!

In my experience, remote team-members can often feel left out of the group/culture. I think it’s important to consider their motivations and differences to ensure the learning/coaching/development takes those variables into account. Creating more and interactive touch points as well as identifying new opportunities for remote members to collaborate and engage will lead to better communication and understanding of material/resources and updates.

Are you fostering a learning culture on your team? Check off each question with a "yes" response: 1. Are team members curious about new ideas? 2. Do you gather information about customers, competitors, industry, or socioeconomic trends? 3. Are mistakes discussed openly without using them against anyone? 4. Can team members express differing opinions in public? 5. Do you encourage healthy debates? 6. Do you reflect on how things have been done? 7. Do you exchange information both within your team and outside the company with customers, suppliers, experts, and forums? 8. Do you take action based on the information you have gathered?