Ideas for a Learning Function (LF):

Mission (what does the LF do?):

• Nurture a learning organization

Infrastructure:

• Support standard courses. These would be targeted at new learners (hires), and testing out would be mostly possible, with the exception of compliance type training.
• Sponsor "learning" spaces/activities that are not "Job 1" specific - just fun places to learn new/cool stuff.
  • books in break and lunch rooms (non-fiction, non-boring). I'd like to learn how to embroider for example... I would love to spend 10-15 minutes doing that to destress during a lunch break @ work, but I need to learn how first.
  • games - chess, tangrams, strategy, games that could be "played" in 15-30 minute increments.
  • 'How To' areas - really divergent things to learn in a short time... embroidery :), soldering, something else "crafty" but useful, fly tying (fishing), have employees come in and give 10-15 minute presentations on their hobbies. Short, focused, brain-stretchy. Have stuff set up for podcasting (digital camera, networked computer) emphasize that it would have to be single take, 2-5 minute stuff but there is no reason it couldn't be "problem I'm dealing with" or "problem I solved" type of stuff
  • A big whiteboard where people could jot what's on their mind and ask questions. Same thing could be accomplished in a wiki but it would be more intuitive for users.
• Leadership/management blog & wiki
  • What you need to know today
  • What I learned today

First 30 days:

• What is already in place? How do we consolidate and streamline these resources?
• Manager Interviews/Forums - how can the LF support you?
• Competency identification - what do people do here that the LF can help them do better?
• Who are our customers and can the LF help them grow?