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Streamlined L&D teams: What exactly are they, and how do you make the most of them?
It’s no secret that an effective Learning and Development strategy has a massive impact on business success. The passion for knowledge and learning present in Learning & Development spreads out not just to training, but into return on investment, customer satisfaction and employee engagement - to name just a few.
But even given its innate indispensability, L&D departments are no stranger to the feeling of being undervalued. Plagued by a lack of resources, budget constraints, and low head-count, the perennial question “How can we do more with less?” is a stark, persistent reality for L&D teams.
At Thrive, we work with hundreds of businesses across the world to help them hone their digital learning strategies and get the most out of the resources they have. Whether they are one person teams or simply just comparatively small given the size of their organisations, many of our customers are familiar with the need to streamline.
We’re familiar with the most common pain points that people are experiencing - as well as potential solutions - and we firmly believe that small L&D teams can make a big impact on their organisations. Let’s explore some common struggles and how to begin streamlining.
Unsurprisingly, the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the struggles of L&D is budget constraints.
There’s good reason for that. A 2023 survey from Fosway Group found that the number of L&D teams expecting their budgets to decrease had risen from 8% to 21%. It’s a statistically underfunded department.
While this is an absolutely undeniable reality, there is another, just as pressing truth running parallel to it: It may not always be the case that the budget itself is not big enough. Rather, there are several, pressing priorities all fighting for dominance at the top of the list. It’s therefore difficult to understand how one budget is going to cover all of it.
Aside from budget constraints, team head-count is often cited as an issue for L&D. The problem is, it’s hard to make the business case for this.
The key to mitigating both of these issues is the simple task of prioritisation. If you have an understanding of priorities across the business, you’ll be able to allocate resources more effectively. Think both short term and long term: Data is your best friend in this instance, allowing you to be strategic and make the case for extra people power.
Another common concern is, of course, time constraints. Like budget constraints, this is a multi-faceted issue that covers more ground than you might initially think.
The first - and most obvious - element of this is the lack of time available to tackle the various problems and tasks at hand. But another part of this issue is the length of time it can take to reach a decision.
Oftentimes, even if you have a perfectly formed and well-researched business case, the gap between making the case itself and reaching the verdict can be your biggest hindrance. You never know what other business cases you might be competing with at the time, particularly in larger organisations.
We come back once again to our friend prioritisation. There is often a false perception around time management that intimates people need to “get better” at managing time, where prioritisation of activity is the real culprit.
Along with prioritisation, it is obviously still essential to craft an effective business case. This rests on a number of factors, amongst which data (both quantitative and qualitative) and bringing stakeholders along on your journey all play into. Along with an executive summary, make sure you cover, in detail:
There are numerous different pain points and things to tackle. Digging into the problem itself and attacking it from all angles is so important, ensuring that you are actually solving the right problems in the first place.
Adopting a learning design and product design mindset to action map could be useful here, especially from a business alignment perspective. (See our recent edition of Insights on this very issue!)
Ah yes, that all-important and ever-elusive leadership buy-in. Again, we’ve written an edition of Insights on this very issue, exploring the tightrope act that many L&D teams need to walk in order to get stakeholders on board.
Building effective relationships depending on the project you’re working on is really important, but what’s also important to note is the fact that these relationships will ebb and flow. You’ll need to adapt based on key deliverables and priorities.
Building trust with stakeholders starts with empathy. Put yourself in their shoes, and understand what’s driving them. From there, understand their communication style in order to help your message come across as effectively as possible. While some people like the high-level facts, others need the details. We then come back to data. The ability to tell stories with data can inform decision making, so make sure you’re making the most of the data points that you have.
As a final bonus tip, we’re obviously big advocates of utilising all the tools at your disposal to help your budget spread further.
We’re willing to bet you’re already fully aware of the fact that AI can be a big help in this case (we’ve even got a whole blog on the various tools you can use to make your life easier.) Content creation has the potential to create a huge bottleneck, and that’s where AI comes in to help move things along.
Aside from helpful AI tools, ensure you have a learning platform that can evolve with your needs. Thrive helps everyone from small businesses to large enterprises with their L&D strategies, and has the capacity to grow with you.
Embracing the community around you is absolutely invaluable. Not only does it create a sense of camaraderie, but it can also help you inspire and innovate your own strategy. Ask for support from your peers, and join groups within the industry. Here are a few of our recommendations:
We hope you’ve found our tips helpful. If you’re still curious for more, we have a webinar coming up on this very topic soon. Follow our LinkedIn page for updates!
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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Streamlined L&D teams: What exactly are they, and how do you make the most of them?
It’s no secret that an effective Learning and Development strategy has a massive impact on business success. The passion for knowledge and learning present in Learning & Development spreads out not just to training, but into return on investment, customer satisfaction and employee engagement - to name just a few.
But even given its innate indispensability, L&D departments are no stranger to the feeling of being undervalued. Plagued by a lack of resources, budget constraints, and low head-count, the perennial question “How can we do more with less?” is a stark, persistent reality for L&D teams.
At Thrive, we work with hundreds of businesses across the world to help them hone their digital learning strategies and get the most out of the resources they have. Whether they are one person teams or simply just comparatively small given the size of their organisations, many of our customers are familiar with the need to streamline.
We’re familiar with the most common pain points that people are experiencing - as well as potential solutions - and we firmly believe that small L&D teams can make a big impact on their organisations. Let’s explore some common struggles and how to begin streamlining.
Unsurprisingly, the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the struggles of L&D is budget constraints.
There’s good reason for that. A 2023 survey from Fosway Group found that the number of L&D teams expecting their budgets to decrease had risen from 8% to 21%. It’s a statistically underfunded department.
While this is an absolutely undeniable reality, there is another, just as pressing truth running parallel to it: It may not always be the case that the budget itself is not big enough. Rather, there are several, pressing priorities all fighting for dominance at the top of the list. It’s therefore difficult to understand how one budget is going to cover all of it.
Aside from budget constraints, team head-count is often cited as an issue for L&D. The problem is, it’s hard to make the business case for this.
The key to mitigating both of these issues is the simple task of prioritisation. If you have an understanding of priorities across the business, you’ll be able to allocate resources more effectively. Think both short term and long term: Data is your best friend in this instance, allowing you to be strategic and make the case for extra people power.
Another common concern is, of course, time constraints. Like budget constraints, this is a multi-faceted issue that covers more ground than you might initially think.
The first - and most obvious - element of this is the lack of time available to tackle the various problems and tasks at hand. But another part of this issue is the length of time it can take to reach a decision.
Oftentimes, even if you have a perfectly formed and well-researched business case, the gap between making the case itself and reaching the verdict can be your biggest hindrance. You never know what other business cases you might be competing with at the time, particularly in larger organisations.
We come back once again to our friend prioritisation. There is often a false perception around time management that intimates people need to “get better” at managing time, where prioritisation of activity is the real culprit.
Along with prioritisation, it is obviously still essential to craft an effective business case. This rests on a number of factors, amongst which data (both quantitative and qualitative) and bringing stakeholders along on your journey all play into. Along with an executive summary, make sure you cover, in detail:
There are numerous different pain points and things to tackle. Digging into the problem itself and attacking it from all angles is so important, ensuring that you are actually solving the right problems in the first place.
Adopting a learning design and product design mindset to action map could be useful here, especially from a business alignment perspective. (See our recent edition of Insights on this very issue!)
Ah yes, that all-important and ever-elusive leadership buy-in. Again, we’ve written an edition of Insights on this very issue, exploring the tightrope act that many L&D teams need to walk in order to get stakeholders on board.
Building effective relationships depending on the project you’re working on is really important, but what’s also important to note is the fact that these relationships will ebb and flow. You’ll need to adapt based on key deliverables and priorities.
Building trust with stakeholders starts with empathy. Put yourself in their shoes, and understand what’s driving them. From there, understand their communication style in order to help your message come across as effectively as possible. While some people like the high-level facts, others need the details. We then come back to data. The ability to tell stories with data can inform decision making, so make sure you’re making the most of the data points that you have.
As a final bonus tip, we’re obviously big advocates of utilising all the tools at your disposal to help your budget spread further.
We’re willing to bet you’re already fully aware of the fact that AI can be a big help in this case (we’ve even got a whole blog on the various tools you can use to make your life easier.) Content creation has the potential to create a huge bottleneck, and that’s where AI comes in to help move things along.
Aside from helpful AI tools, ensure you have a learning platform that can evolve with your needs. Thrive helps everyone from small businesses to large enterprises with their L&D strategies, and has the capacity to grow with you.
Embracing the community around you is absolutely invaluable. Not only does it create a sense of camaraderie, but it can also help you inspire and innovate your own strategy. Ask for support from your peers, and join groups within the industry. Here are a few of our recommendations:
We hope you’ve found our tips helpful. If you’re still curious for more, we have a webinar coming up on this very topic soon. Follow our LinkedIn page for updates!
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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