Working out loud (WOL), first introduced by Bryce Williams in 2010, is now widespread workplace learning and social collaboration. Employees realise that WOL helps them grow, and employers see significant benefits in how their teams function after implementing this. The notion supports the value of teamwork in harnessing collective intelligence to use both the employee and the company.
Working out loud undoubtedly facilitates information sharing, mutual growth, and the development of a more robust work culture. Furthermore, this is made more accessible by using modern knowledge management software systems, which include multiple features for communication, collaboration, and document management.
Working out loud is a technique for increasing knowledge demand, supply, and, as a result, total knowledge management. According to a Bosch poll, 91% of their WOL circle members suggested the WOL approach to others in their network. Furthermore, 9% of their working out loud programme participants deemed learning in circles more effective than standard (classroom) training approaches. Again, 89% of participants agreed that the training improves digital competencies and promotes cultural change.
So, what exactly is working out loud?
Working Out Loud + Narrating Your Work = Observable Work
Let’s dissect the formula. Your team members will return to the resultant collection of information when they have questions or run into roadblocks, and the time you spent writing the blog in the first place will save you a lot of time answering queries in the long run.
“Observable Work” entails making space for others to interact with your work. This might be a wiki, discussion forum, workplace social collaboration platform, or entirely.
According to the author and speaker John Stepper, the five elements of Working Out Loud are as follows:
- Make your work visible by putting it somewhere where people can find it and interact with it. You want people to be able to remark, like, and agree or disagree with your work while it is in progress. It should be a discussion to help spark fresh ideas.
- Rather than self-promotion, frame posts as contributions. Make a point of liking and commenting on other people’s posts. This helps you connect with your audience and establish a solid rapport.
- Create a social network – Establish genuine relationships. What you write about assists individuals in discovering content and relevant information. This is a fantastic networking opportunity and a win-win situation.
- Make it meaningful – Maintain your Have a growth mentality – Look for methods to improve your work. Be willing to try out different strategies. This is where feedback comes in handy. Through their comments on your postings, your readers help form the final product.
This is an excellent set of principles to get you started working out loud. If you want to pique colleagues’ interest in your business in working out loud, try the following best practices: attention to a specific aim. Keep track of what you’re doing to achieve your objectives.
- Make a dedicated area for working out loud. Now that you know what Working Out Loud entails, equip your workplace with tools and platforms that allow you to share various types of content (docs, photos, links, videos, etc.). This solution may offer enhanced search capabilities as well as social networking capabilities.
- Coaching and mentoring are available. “Narrating your work” refers to the act of creating rich content through blogging or microblogging. While many people are put off by the prospect of writing anything regularly, blogging does not have to be a time-consuming or tiresome endeavour. Some people will be afraid or uncomfortable sharing with their coworkers, while others will share excessively or infrequently. It’s helpful to have someone who can serve as a sounding board for what to share and when to share it and provide criticism along the route.
- Make it simple. Select an easy-to-use solution that includes mobile apps, browser extensions, email compatibility, single sign-on, and integration with regularly used programmes.
- Provide a monetary incentive for participation. This may involve public acknowledgement, which can be as simple as a remark in an email or as sophisticated as awarding gift cards to reward content that sparks conversation.
- Model the conduct you want to see in others. Employees must see it happening at the top levels to feel more comfortable sharing their efforts. That implies senior management must be fully committed to Working Out Loud and participate by displaying their own work and soliciting feedback.
Give working out loud a try if you haven’t previously. You will rapidly see the significant influence that input from others has on productivity and collaboration. To allow everyone a voice in the organisation and seek their knowledge.
Final Thoughts
“Knowledge is the new capital,” Hamilton Beazley correctly remarked, “but it’s meaningless unless it’s accessible, conveyed, and enhanced.”
Knowledge management is a set of processes that aid in creating a knowledge base. For example, disseminating knowledge, communicating knowledge, and enhancing earning. Organisations and their employees can utilise various knowledge management software solutions and corporate social collaboration platforms to improve knowledge management.
Apart from these tools, the working-out-loud style is proven to be a massive success in terms of more effective knowledge management. The WOL idea is an easy-to-implement self-service knowledge management solution.
Working out loud is a novel approach to knowledge management that combines socialising, entertainment, and knowledge sharing. Furthermore, working out loud as a virtual network can be easily implemented in the popular hybrid work model, in which employees work from different locations.
Adopt working out loud to establish an ideal work environment that encourages healthy working, knowledge management, and long-term connections.