BTOES - SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT: Deploying blended learning for Operational Excellence

Growing Lean and Six Sigma capabilities across an employee base of 40,000 could easily be perceived as an overwhelming, daunting task. Doing so in a manner that results in a workforce that thinks differently while driving sustainable change presents a further complication - especially when studies show that adult learners retain 20% of what they hear, 40% of what they see and hear, and 80% of that they do! Further complicating that, let’s be honest! Not everyone learns at the same pace, especially when it comes to more complex topics like statistics that are part of a robust Lean Six Sigma curriculum. So - how do you rise to the challenge and overcome these obstacles?

Whether it is completing a Green Belt curriculum or earning a Black Belt certification, the opportunity to get ‘hands-on’ while applying tools and techniques is critical to retention - as is the expertise of an instructor with real-life experience. A blended learning approach which allows students to self-study on their own, at their own pace, but then bring the learnings together in a facilitated session offers the opportunity for students to truly apply what they’ve learned in a challenging, dynamic case study. This facilitated session can be done virtually, or in person - depending on what your organization needs. More importantly, using data from the self-study, the facilitator knows what topics might have been a challenge for students.

In addition, it’s often challenging for associates to take time away from work to attend training. This blended learning approach can be flexible in meeting students at the right time in the right place. For example, at Nielsen, we’ve opted to go with a virtual delivery spread out over 16 weeks as it minimizes our travel expenses. It also allows our students to integrate their training into a schedule in a way that works for them, while still meeting their day to day workload. A bonus with this approach is that our students are completing their project in real-time with the curriculum, applying what they’ve learned to their project.

By diving into Nielsen’s case study and hearing about their best practices, you’ll have an opportunity to reflect on your current operational excellence culture: what are you doing today that could be elevated, what are the challenges you need to overcome, and what are the potential ways you can creatively solve for this - ultimately resulting in a unique-to-you solution that returns measurable ROI. As we talk through Nielsen’s evolutionary approach leveraging OpusWorks to deploying blended learning, you will understand the key success factors and explore new models learn how solutions can be creatively adapted to fit your unique situation. Start your journey to consider what learning strategies and best practices you might embrace to build a game-changing organization of problem solvers.