Image via Wikipedia Yesterday was my first official day (this year) back in the school world. We were asked to introduce ourselves. I mentioned that I was first hired on as a Training Manager.
A lot has happened in this time. My focus has changed dramatically. My day-to-day concerns are now centered around implementing, maintaining and strategizing around social learning / network / media initiatives with a side plate of formal training. I am about to give a training this morning on how to hold difficult conversations, but these type of occurrences (where I do the actual training) don’t happen nearly as often. My team does most of the training. We still have customer-facing training that we create and deliver. There is always the development and delivery of internal training. Yet my strategy is less on the formal and more on the informal.
With all the talk of social learning, web2.0 and informal communication and learning, we cannot neglect the personal touch as well. Social learning does not only mean Web2.0, but it means any learning that has a number of characteristics (which I will be blogging about next).
A couple days ago I spoke to Christine Martell who mentioned an instance (and I don’t exactly remember what it was about) where she was frustrated by a particular interaction she was having because everything was in short bursts and nothing was getting done. What she needed was a sit down conversation to learn and communicate and plan. That may not be totally correct, but my mind took me to this thought: We can’t be so caught up in the new social learning / network / media that we neglect or minimize those in front of us and the personal relationships we need to make and nurture. Too often I see others who’s noses are constantly burried in their iPhones or eyes are fixed on the screen when the most important ‘friends’ and relationships are all around them. We ought not ignore those that are right in front of us.
Instead, there needs to be a balance. When anything new is introduced we tend to do a balance check and teeter totter back and forth until we find our personal equilibrium. Mine is not the same as yours is not the same as Joes is not the same as… But we all know when we are personally out of whack.
But when we check ourselves and we achieve the correct balance with the new (insert whatever it is here), what a wonderful thing that is! Our world is that much more open and full.
Oh, the changes in life, the challenges and opportunities – aren’t they wonderful?!
RELATED INFO:
iPhone and iPod: Learning tool or distraction?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e84ad511-949e-4fee-aa7a-7fb26ccc2426)
