Organisation in transformation
Learning architectures that connect individual learning with your organisation’s change tasks and build a learning organisation.
When new processes demand both new skills and different ways of working together, a seminar alone is not enough. A learning architecture links the concrete change task in the organisation with the learning of the people involved. We design both sides so that what people learn is applied at work, and the organisation develops further through that work.
Jointly define the organisational challenge, the people involved and their concrete skills needs.
Interlock the work and qualification architectures in timing and content.
Apply what has been learned in work phases, project work and on the job.
Reflect on experience and shape the next learning and working phase accordingly.
There are two typical occasions. First: an organisation needs to change an important business process, but the participants lack the capabilities to shape the new collaboration. Second: a qualification programme conveys new competencies, but the organisational prerequisites for them to take effect in everyday work are missing. In both cases, it is not enough to work on only one side.
We therefore clarify with the client, leadership and the actors involved both the organisational need for change and the qualification need. The work architecture describes the organisation’s tasks, decisions and work steps. The qualification architecture describes what knowledge, motivation and skills the participants need for this. Both architectures share a common rhythm. The occasion determines the starting point; the connection between the levels determines the effectiveness.
If the starting point is a concrete change project, we first define the organisational challenge and design a work architecture. For the first work step, we clarify who is involved and which capabilities they need. This gives rise to the first training phase. It immediately precedes the work and prepares precisely for its tasks.
After the first work phase, those involved reflect on their experience: what worked, where did an obstacle appear, what new knowledge is needed for the next phase? These insights shape the next training unit and the further work. The later content cannot be fully defined at the outset. The next phase is specified on the basis of the previous one. In this way the learning architecture remains oriented to the real change work and reduces the risk of a rigid training programme missing the project’s requirements.
The detailed content of each working phase grows out of the experience of the previous one.
If the initiative starts from a target group and its development needs, the work begins with the question of the desired competences. We then examine which roles, decision-making scope, work tasks and forms of communication need to be in place so that the new can be applied. Here, the training architecture initially sets the pace. In parallel with each learning phase, the organisational prerequisites are created and practical opportunities for application are opened up.
A leadership team, for example, can only try out new forms of collaboration if the necessary scope for coordination and decision-making exists in the company. The learning architecture therefore couples individual development with real work. We plan formats such as teaching learning content, learning on the job, project work and individual learning in the appropriate sequence and combination of target groups. The specific assignment determines which setting makes sense.
Regardless of the starting point, an interlocking structure is needed. It answers two questions: what do those involved need to know, want and be able to do in order to tackle the organisational challenge? Which conditions make their learning effective in the organisation? To this end, we create recurring reflection rounds. There, experiences from the work architecture and the qualification architecture come together. Participants and those responsible examine whether what has been learned can be used in the work, where processes or structures need to be adjusted and which qualification is needed next.
The learning settings exist only as long as they serve the development process. The result is not a standard curriculum, but an adaptable sequence of work, learning and evaluation. The broader benefit is that the organisation can observe and further develop its own patterns of change. This capability emerges through repeated application and reflection, not through mere participation in training courses.
In very concrete terms, the interlocking is a matter of timing. If an organisational task comes first, a working phase is preceded by qualification that prepares precisely for its next requirements. After the work, experiences are evaluated and the next phase is built on them.
If, on the other hand, a development programme comes first, the conditions under which what has been learned can be applied are created in the company in parallel with the qualification. Both paths avoid a break between the seminar room and everyday work. The learning settings can convey learning content, accompany work at the workplace, incorporate project tasks and enable individual learning. They exist only for as long as they serve the change.
In reflection rounds, those involved exchange observations from both architectures: what have people learned, what has changed in processes, and where is the organisation currently preventing application? The content of the following stage is not taken from a catalogue fixed at the outset. It is derived from the preceding work and the new questions. Clients thus receive an adaptable process architecture with which qualification and change work can be decided together.
For clients, it is particularly important who carries the connection between the two architectures. Those responsible for the change task and the people responsible for qualification must relate their planning to each other. If a seminar is designed first and an application is only sought afterwards, this connection is often missing. Conversely, a change project can fail because of capabilities that nobody developed in time.
For each work stage, we therefore determine which learning is prepared, which real task is worked on and which experience is evaluated afterwards. This feedback also makes visible whether an obstacle lies with the person, the format or organisational conditions. The next learning phase emerges from this finding and thus remains comprehensible for those involved.
When a change task demands both new processes or routines and new skills from the people involved, or when training risks having no effect without suitable working conditions. A management team can only try out new ways of working together if the necessary room for coordination and decisions exists. A single seminar is therefore not a learning architecture.
The work architecture structures the organisational task: the organisation’s tasks, decisions and work steps. The qualification architecture develops the knowledge, motivation and skills people need for it. Both run to a shared rhythm, and an interlocking structure ensures that individual learning supports the concrete change task. The occasion determines where you start.
No, the sequence is flexible. After each work phase, participants reflect on what worked, where obstacles appeared and what knowledge the next phase needs. These insights shape the next training unit and the further work. Learning settings exist only as long as they serve the development process; the result is not a standard curriculum.
Teaching input, learning on the job, project work and individual learning, in the right sequence and mix of target groups. The specific brief decides which setting makes sense. The reflection sessions also show whether an obstacle lies with the person, the format or the organisational conditions, and the next learning phase is built on that finding.
Case study
A company-wide strategy process brought together market positioning, leadership and organisational design.
What decision are you facing? Together, we clarify your situation, the people involved and the right next step.
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