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Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

sloanreview.mit.edu

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Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#61

Post by pipingdog »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #3

That you should “always be learning” is absolutely true. It helps with neuro-plasticity and keeps you engaged. That said, as a manager I find it hard to get direct reports to accept sometimes that it is not only okay, but required, by me that they learn new things. I do what I can to encourage it, offer to buy books for people, give time to do online course work, etc. They often complain that they don’t feel like the…

> So what can I do as a manager to make it more “okay” to spend time at work learning?

Be seen doing it yourself.

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#62

Post by himynameisdom »

runninganyways wrote: post #23

This is one of the reasons I quit programming. I could be spending time improving as a developer but instead they've got me doing some totally inconsequential "bug" fix (spend the next two hours updating this translation for the third time). I just got sick of someone rationalizing me doing non work by saying it's better for the business as though I have no broader perspective of what might be better for the business…

Same here. I moved into Agile/DevOps coaching, where it's expected you learn in order to help your teams grow and improve their practices and products. Haven't looked back. I now spend a lot of time advocating on behalf of my teams to get them in-sprint time to learn and mature what they're interested in.

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#63

Post by doh »

Bootwizard wrote: post #9

I'm currently a frontend engineer. I told my team lead a while back that I'd like to transition to the server side, especially since our server team is woefully understaffed and our frontend team is overstaffed. He told me "Sure but you'll need to learn all that stuff on your own time". So I never did it because I'm interested in doing other things at home.

Unfortunate approach.

My company not only encourage transitions, we actually "pay" for them. That means we will assign a senior developer that will have responsibility for growth of the new mentee and we purchase any educational materials the person requires.

We have quite decent amount of transitions within last few years and all were successful. They do require commitment and investment from both sides.

I do believe we are stronger for it as people appreciate the opportunity for growth and support we provide. We, on the other hand, re-gain skilled colleague that is not looking elsewhere.

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#64

Post by eitland »

My job gives us about 5K a year for individual training in addition to hosting meetups after work etc etc.

The 5K can be used for training, conference and travel tickets etc etc.

This is in Norway so everything is mostly nice all the time, but to be honest it is the first time I've had anything like this. Feels awesome.

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#65

Post by [deleted] »

runninganyways wrote: post #23

This is one of the reasons I quit programming. I could be spending time improving as a developer but instead they've got me doing some totally inconsequential "bug" fix (spend the next two hours updating this translation for the third time). I just got sick of someone rationalizing me doing non work by saying it's better for the business as though I have no broader perspective of what might be better for the business…

[deleted]

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#66

Post by leeter »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #3

That you should “always be learning” is absolutely true. It helps with neuro-plasticity and keeps you engaged. That said, as a manager I find it hard to get direct reports to accept sometimes that it is not only okay, but required, by me that they learn new things. I do what I can to encourage it, offer to buy books for people, give time to do online course work, etc. They often complain that they don’t feel like the…

Can and have seen agile teams just create user stories for this. With estimates and acceptance criteria (yes having your people pass a quiz can be acceptance criteria). They even did an end of sprint demo where they had to present (without a deck) on the concepts of what they learned and answer questions.

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#67

Post by kedean »

datashow wrote: post #31
Bootwizard wrote: post #9

I'm currently a frontend engineer. I told my team lead a while back that I'd like to transition to the server side, especially since our server team is woefully understaffed and our frontend team is overstaffed. He told me "Sure but you'll need to learn all that stuff on your own time". So I never did it because I'm interested in doing other things at home.

What if someone learned something on their own time, do they get to be reimbursed from the employer? Or, can I ask my employer to reimburse my under-graduate and graduate tuition?

There's no hard and fast rules. No, a company will never retroactively pay for you learning, but yes a number of companies will reimburse you if you attend graduate programs while employed with them.

It's a balancing act. If a company wants employees to keep learning, they need to invest in that. If I, as a salaried employee, am expected to be available outside of the explicit working hours for emergencies, then it's also fair that I be allowed to do things that are directed at my own career during work, bonus if it proves useful to the company.

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#68

Post by leetrout »

michaelcampbell wrote: post #58
rafaelvasco wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is. Another big red flag is micro managing. Managers that want to control even the amount of coffee you drink or how many times you go to the bathroom, if you go out too much etc. Super annoying;

That happens?

I've seen it be a concern at a couple companies where the person takes 30+ minute "coffee breaks" and has to leave the office to go to Starbucks. Not surprisingly they were generally lower output team members as well. (He says, on HN, in the middle of the workday.)

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#69

Post by MS90 »

michaelcampbell wrote: post #58
rafaelvasco wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is. Another big red flag is micro managing. Managers that want to control even the amount of coffee you drink or how many times you go to the bathroom, if you go out too much etc. Super annoying;

That happens?

Maybe at Foxconn or something

Re: Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it

#70

Post by overcast »

Bootwizard wrote: post #9

I'm currently a frontend engineer. I told my team lead a while back that I'd like to transition to the server side, especially since our server team is woefully understaffed and our frontend team is overstaffed. He told me "Sure but you'll need to learn all that stuff on your own time". So I never did it because I'm interested in doing other things at home.

So what about the server team lead? What did they say? Seems to me it doesn't matter what your existing frontend guy has to say about it.
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