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Perspectives for the devel opment of training

Approaches such as the knowledge-cre- ating company and communities of prac- tice help to establish the learning para- digm as a necessary step forward from the teaching paradigm in the training of employees. The way organisational dy- namics are explained in the knowledge- creating company approach is very much geared to satisfying management needs, especially as far as management of groups and teams is concerned. The communi- ties of practice approach is, in some re- spects, an extension of the first and fo- cuses on the internal functioning of the groups, as communities in which impor- tant socio-cognitive mechanisms operate.

Both have several interfaces with other approaches recently developed to inter- pret the dynamics of organisations, bring- ing the debate back to the role and ob-

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jectives of training. The idea of the learn- ing organisation shares many features with the approaches described above and has become popular among managers and experts; it has prompted much reflection among training practitioners about the role of training in facilitating learning in organisations rather than as a simple trans- fer of knowledge (Tomassini, 1993, 1996).

Both provide interesting references for in- novative training actions within the learn- ing paradigm at different levels.

A first level concerns the definition of co- herent objectives for training activities, which are linked in a non-generic way to organisational development requirements and can foster direct involvement of those involved. For example, in enterprises un- dergoing technological change, training managers often think it sufficient to cre- ate programmes only for those directly engaged to learn principles and opera- tional procedures of the new technolo- gies. In doing so the results do not al- ways match expectations. Technological innovation produces unexpected conse- quences and very different adaptation and integration requirements than the linear application of technical standards. Tak- ing into account knowledge transforma- tion processes should help, in such cases, by identifying the most critical aspects of change with the aid of those involved es- pecially at the line-management level. It can also help in assessing the meaning of the decisions that led to the innovation, in analysing the flows of tacit and explicit knowledge through the organisation, in seeing how the communities of practice affected by the innovation can rebuild their modes of operation in terms of learn- ing, interpreting situations, co-opting newcomers.

This should be the premise for planning training interventions inside the organi- sational scenario: those involved should not acquire “training” more or less pas- sively, but be required to formulate pro- posals and solutions, point out constraints, learn and re-interpret situations collec- tively and, at the same time, acquire the specific technical skills needed to master the innovation.

Taking into account knowledge conver- sion processes should also help choices

for appropriate training methodologies. A vast range of tools and techniques are available for new types of continuing training, which, for example, might be grouped into tools and techniques:

❏ to develop new understanding of cur- rent phenomena and induce more realis- tic decision patterns. Interesting examples are techniques to simulate different vari- ables and states of the organisation such as “micro-worlds” developed by the Cen- tre for Organisational Learning (Senge, 1991, 1994) and now available for large audiences on specific software tools simu- lating the specific realities in which the parties operate;

❏ to increase the skills which, in Nonaka’s approach, allow the knowledge-creating company to grow through the autonomy of individuals, teamwork and using the creativeness of both. For this purpose, vari- ous forms of action learning are available, techniques that involve teams in control- led and self-reflective solving of real firm problems and encourage the integration of explicit and tacit knowledge, shared in- terpretations of situations, and collabora- tion within the community. Other more tra- ditional techniques, such as role-playing, can familiarise people with the behaviour of different roles and encourage the de- velopment of skills for responding to tur- bulent external environments by reproduc- ing their complexity within the teams. A number of tools (such as “Metaplan”) can be used to increase both vision sharing among members of the same or different teams and role synergies from an inter- functional viewpoint;

❏ for distance learning and self-learning, designed for autonomous acquisition of knowledge useful for work activity from a wide variety of sources outside the workplace. This area is receiving consid- erable stimulus from the growing use of the Internet and application software ena- bling users to interact in computer-medi- ated communication systems. Self-learn- ing is an essential element of continuing training, but to be effective it must be co- ordinated and optimised with appropri- ate methods and forms of coaching;

❏ in the area of organisational analysis. As mentioned earlier, often the most ap- propriate training intervention is not the “(…) In enterprises under-

going technological change, training managers often think it sufficient to create programmes only for those directly engaged (…). In do- ing so the results do not al- ways match expectations. Technological innovation produces unexpected con- sequences (…). Taking into account knowledge trans- formation processes should help (…) by identifying the most critical aspects of change with the aid of those involved especially at the line-management level.”

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one in which the actual organisation is taken for granted, but the one in which self-definition and on-going self-evalua- tion of the intervention paths are set in motion.

By means of these processes, the organi- sational actors should be able to fulfil their own needs themselves as far as possible and find missing knowledge when nec- essary by using experts, information sys- tems or databases or other sources. In several action research and action learn- ing approaches, the tendency is to involve several levels of the organisation in the far-reaching and long-term objectives of change. The basic idea is that multi-polar learning processes can be set in motion. They can lead groups in organisations to share background values, content, meth- ods and solutions for change by means of guided sessions of organisational self- analysis and internal-external communi- cation (Di Gregorio, 1995, 1996).

To set these processes in motion, specific skills for organisational analysis are nec- essary, which the new types of trainers need to possess on a large scale. In gen- eral, the brief considerations made above should show how necessary it is to raise new generations of continuing training operators according to approaches which are as innovative as possible with respect to the teaching paradigm. The emerging profiles in the field of training integrate pedagogical skills with organisational de- velopment skills and the ability to trigger complex interventions. In many ways the gap should be abolished between trainer and activator of new organisational proc- esses, both of whom are agents of change. Furthermore, the gap should be reduced between training and co-ordination roles within the working groups and teams. In innovative organisations, coordinators have fewer hierarchical features and in- creasingly provide stimulus and support to collective processes through coaching.

For trainers wishing to keep in step with change, continuous innovation is neces- sary, but it is impossible for each to spe- cialise in the whole (and virtually infinite) range of available approaches and tools. Consequently, training of trainers should focus not on updating and qualification/ re-training of professional profiles in se- ries, but as far as possible on creating

inter-functional teams and optimising methods of operation of the communi- ties of practice type. The teams should develop internally a multitude of special- ised roles to cope with the complexity of the assigned tasks; they should be able, when necessary, to integrate external knowledge, particularly as regards tech- nical aspects of training, which should be entrusted to experts engaged on an ad hocbasis according to requirements.

Concluding remarks and