Working is Learning

One of the most discussed topics in e-discovery articles today is that most organizations do not have enough knowledgeable people prepared to manage an e-discovery project effectively. It’s been my experience as a trainer that most organizations do not have a solid succession plan in place for litigation support career paths at their firm and so when one person leaves, they must start over. This is the essence of today’s blog post as we discuss the 5 stages of workplace learning. Learning about litigation support and electronic discovery is an ongoing process that should include more than just your current litigation support department team.

Working is learning. A best practice in firms that have successful litigation support teams is to identify paralegals, project clerks, IT and other staff who have an affinity or interest in litigation technology well before they need them on the team and begin training them in advanced concepts and techniques necessary to engage in litigation support. Litigation Support Training involves both technical software instruction and project or case management workflow instruction.

Many firms do not have a dedicated training resource for litigation support / e-discovery training. Most of what litigation support professionals learn is on their own via self directed training or social networking (linked in groups or twitter) which lead to blog posts and articles that provide some insight and clarity as to best practices. Software & technology training is a little different. More often than not, it will involve formal training from the software vendor or an approved “certified” trainer. Or software administrators learn collaboratively on the job from peers & colleagues, trial & error or asking questions on listservs and Linked In groups.

There are five stages according to a recent blog post by Jane Hart. They are outlined in her chart here:

“… some of the key mindset changes that will move organisations into Stage 5 are:

• recognising that working=learning; learning=working
• understanding that informal learning needs to be enabled, supported and encouraged – but not designed or managed
• “letting go”, so that there is a move from learner control to learner autonomy
• realising that autonomous, independent and inter-dependent, self-directed learners are essential  in an agile organization”

Jane describes in her blog post that learning is not an event but a process continues beyond the first stage classroom training. LitWorks provides formal classroom training for case & project management in e-discovery & litigation support.  LitWorks can be your “stage 1” resource but it shouldn’t stop here. How can you enable your litigation support team, attorneys, paralegals and IT staff to learn more about e-discovery and litigation support best practices? One way is by sending a couple of people to a formal training training class with the expectation that they will work with the rest of the team upon their return to build your organization’s best practices. Achieve a greater return on your training investment through encouraging your staff to attend industry networking events and conferences. This too will foster learner autonomy.

Another blogger expounds upon Jane’s original post with this updated version of her chart here:

The new chart adds an additional layer of focus in extending the importance and reality of informal learning while pointing out that leadership can control only about one-half of the learning evolution. I think this is true for litigation support and e-discovery learning. When I talk to our attorneys, paralegals and litigation support professionals, I hear the same complaint: the information available about e-discovery and technology is overwhelming! Where do I even start???

The five stage approach calls for classroom training first then eventually works its way to the work and learn stage. However, in our industry, what we typically do is start with stage 5 and work backwards. So our learning path usually ends in a classroom or instructor-led course for the software / technology information but the collaborative OJT happens as we get our feet wet. Often the “all-hands-on-deck” world of litigation support necessitates learning litigation technology and e-discovery best practices informally.

Today’s marketplace calls for us to modify our traditional approach to learning and be more proactive and flexible in how we achieve our learning objectives. In reviewing the five stages of workplace learning, I’ve outlined some practical ideas for implementing this learning model at your organization (feel free to start at stage 5 or at stage 1):

Classroom Learning

• LitWorks – project management & workflow

• Software & Technology – by developer approved certified trainer

E-learning

• Webinars – some are edu-marketing, some are simply educational
• Create e-discovery content for your learning management systems

Blended Learning

• Actively facilitate an on-demand webinar with your team where you stop and start the webinar to address questions & key points
• This can be a formal combination of e-learning and classroom learning activities

Social Learning

• LitSupport Yahoo Group
• Twitter
• LinkedIn Groups
• Blogs (participate by leaving comments)

Collaborative Learning / Working

• Supervisor or Peer directed learning
• This is not an event but rather a process
• Apprenticeship-like environment

Each of the five stages outlined above is essential to a well rounded workplace learning system. Actively developing the skills of everyone who bears responsibility for litigation technology and e-discovery best practices in your organization includes making sure they participate weekly in one of these five stages. LitWorks can be a part of your succession plan and a stage one resource for your organization.