The “Modern” Lawyer Learner – Overwhelmed, Distracted & Impatient
By Steve Gluckman –
Overwhelmed, Distracted and Impatient… Nope, I’m not talking about my 3 year-old son. (Well, actually I could be, but I’m not at the moment). Instead, I’m referring to, as Josh Bersin of Deloitte calls it, “The Modern Learner.”
He states, “As training moves to more digital formats, it’s colliding with new realities in learners’ jobs, behaviors, habits and preferences. Today’s employees are overwhelmed, distracted, and impatient. Flexibility in where and how they learn is increasingly important. They want to learn from their peers and managers as much as from experts. And they’re taking more control over their own development.”
If you can pivot your approach to cater to these new preferences and behaviors, you will be an instant hero with your workforce.
Just look around at what your peers are doing and you’ll see that firms of all sizes have realized the way their lawyers want to learn is “on-the-job” and “just-in-time.” And they are moving quickly to meet these changing preferences and approaches in a variety of creative ways.
One big shift is the move to modular, targeted learning. Smart firms are finding that “bite-size is the right size” for delivering useful online content to their lawyers and encouraging them to engage more frequently with it as part of the way they work. Bite-size content is short and focused, and thus easier to absorb and understand (and easier to make time for). It is also better aligned with the way our short-term memories work and is likely to result in better retention.
Click here for an example of a ‘bite-sized’ learning module
Many live CLE programs converted to an e-learning or on-demand format can be quite lengthy – an hour or more – in part because of the strict requirements for making these programs available for CLE credit. However, the way that adults want to learn has evolved, and firms are starting to adapt their approach accordingly, expanding beyond the confines of a CLE mindset.
We are seeing firms today leverage their existing CLE programs by repackaging them into something more. In addition to creating an on-demand version of the one-hour live CLE session, some forward-thinking firms are repurposing the content into bite-sized “bursts” of learning.
Hogan Lovells LLP is one firm that is recognizing these benefits and is now pursuing such an approach, under the leadership of Chief Professional Development Officer, Heather Bock. After building a robust library of on-demand CLE programs, Hogan Lovells is now disassembling lengthy one and two hour programs and re-packaging the content into shorter, more concise quick-hit e-learning segments that succinctly address targeted aspects of the topic. An existing two-hour program on the topic of confidentiality and attorney-client privilege, for example, has been re-envisioned as a six-part series of 15-to-20 minute modules that each address a narrowly-defined segment of the topic. Rather than a full discussion of all the nuances of attorney-client privilege, for example, a bite-sized module might address only the ramifications of communications in front of a third-party and how to plan accordingly.
To leverage the knowledge of Hogan subject matter experts without further infringing on their time, the new series leverages the original content, but features a condensed rendition that is professionally narrated and supported with strong visuals to help illustrate complex topics and aid understanding and retention.
“This approach allows us to capture the deep knowledge and expertise of our subject matter experts in a format that is highly-engaging and more likely to be viewed many times over across the firm … while not asking any more from our attorneys,” said Bock.
MIT Professor Seymour Papert once said, “You can’t teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it.” So become that hero to your Overwhelmed, Distracted and Impatient workforce and give them the flexibility to learn where and how they want.
Blog Author
Steve Gluckman is the Founder of Law Firm E-learning, LLC. He is also the author of the ABA and Amazon.com best-selling book, “E-Learning for Law Firms” (published by the American Bar Association) and has advised scores of AmLaw 200 firms regarding their online learning efforts.