Applying Adult Learning Principles To Enablement
“Adults have a self-concept of being responsible for their own decisions and for their own lives.” - Malcolm Knowles
Happy World Enablement Day, enablers and those who celebrate them!
After being featured in Federico Presicci’s recent article, where I talked about the importance of weaving in adult learning principles to enablement programs, I thought it would be a good idea to dust off some of the theories I learnt during my PGCE days, and put my adult learning design experience into action. Read on to understand the main differences between adult and child learners, the academic principles behind effective adult learning, and gain ideas as to how to design enablement programs to the way adults actually learn, process, retain and apply information ⚡💪
What is adult learning, anyway? And how is it different from how children learn?
Great question!
When we think about the concept of ‘learning’, how many of us picture a classroom, with rows of desks facing a whiteboard, an apple on the desk, and books featuring your ABCs and 123s? 🍎📚
I’d bet quite a few of us.
After all, that’s how the vast majority of us started our learning journeys. It was formulaic and fairly predictable because it had to be. Our brains were clean slates, ready to absorb concepts and facts and skills, and we had no prior experience to gauge whether this information would be relevant or useful - we just accepted it, put our heads down, and learnt.
It was presumed, up until the 1970s, that adults and children learn exactly the same way - but adults, with all of their messy complexities, thoughts and experiences, do not learn this way. The academic Malcolm Knowles came up with the concept of ‘andragogy’ in 1973 to define the way adult learners differed from child learners - the characteristics of which are listed below:
Need to know: Adults need to know the reason for learning something.
Foundation: Experience (including - and often focusing on past - errors) provides the basis for learning activities.
Self-concept: Adults need to be responsible for their decisions on education; involvement in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
Readiness: Adults are most interested in learning subjects having immediate relevance to their work and/or personal lives (think going on holiday to France and wanting to learn some phrases in French!).
Orientation: Adult learning is problem-centred rather than content-oriented.
Motivation: Adults respond better to internal vs external motivators.
This makes sense, but how can I use all of this information to turbo-charge my enablement/L&D programs?
If we take the six main principles of andragogy, as well as the concept of any adult learning being based in self-directed and experiential learning, there’s a chance you’re already subconsciously weaving these into your enablement programs. After all, who’s stressing the ‘why’ and ‘what’s in it for me’, experimenting with different “fun” approaches through gamification and AI, and using real-life call examples to coach our reps and managers? Probably quite a few of us!
There are however, certain ways you can weave in these principles when building enablement, to ensure reps are set up to engage with your content from day 1. Let’s go through these together…
The 6 principles of andragogy, and how to use them in enablement
Need to know: Adults need to know the reason for learning something
Enablement Tip ➡️ Take time to stress the ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what’s in it for me’ when positioning a training session or playbook… and keep it at just this information.
A great communication device I learnt about and utilised during my early enablement days was the 4Mat theory - I’d highly suggest reading about this and putting it into practice.
Foundation: Experience (including - and often focusing on past - errors) provides the basis for learning activities.
Enablement Tip ➡️ When building slides, playbooks, or content, feature as many real-world experiences and examples as possible to make it relevant to reps, and to continuously remind them of the reasons why they’re learning.
You don’t have to name and shame (John and Jane Doe are still my go-to fake names), but show them real-life where at all possible. The more they see themselves and their genuine experiences in enablement, the better.
Self-concept: Adults need to be responsible for their decisions on education; involvement in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
Enablement Tip ➡️ Weave your reps into what you’re building from day 1.
I’ll hazard a guess that a lot of us don’t do this, and then wonder why our programs aren’t hitting home 🙂. Gather a focus group of reps and managers, show them what the data is saying, and ask them their thoughts on what they think would help from an enablement perspective. If they tell you live trainings aren’t really working, listen to them. I know getting feedback can sometimes be painful, but it’s a lot less painful than continuing to build programs that reps aren’t bought into and ultimately don’t have revenue impact.
Readiness: Adults are most interested in learning subjects having immediate relevance to their work and/or personal lives.
Enablement Tip ➡️ Make any ‘here’s what you need to do’ points easy to implement and action, and feature the ‘why’ behind it so reps are motivated to apply learnings straightaway.
There is nothing worse than reading a fluffy, unstructured sales play with unclear actions - it feels irrelevant and vague. Make sure that any enablement is positioned using clear ‘this is what this is, this is why we’re focusing on this now, and here’s how you can execute straightaway’ language - and include action-oriented enablement, such as role playing, guided skill practices, and AI simulations.
Orientation: Adult learning is problem-centred rather than content-oriented.
Enablement Tip ➡️ Use data, revenue impact analysis, and word of mouth to focus on problems that reps care about - and bring these problems to the sessions themselves.
Listen, I know you haven’t done any enablement on objection handling for a while, but if the data is showing that close rates are up and average deal size is through the historical roof, you probably don’t need to focus on it right now. Spend your time understanding what’s truly a problem for reps and the business, build enablement around it, and - better still - bring these problems to the reps through enablement, and have them come up with solutions themselves.
Motivation: Adults respond better to internal vs external motivators.
Enablement Tip ➡️ Focus on the ‘why’ at all times, and tap into real life motivators for your reps.
The carrot and stick approach can work, but the real magic happens when reps are excited and motivated to apply enablement because they know it’ll help them achieve a goal. When we show we know our reps and what they’re truly motivated by, and weave it into enablement to constantly remind them of why they should pick up or change behaviours, the relationship between sales and enablement grows stronger… and revenue can be influenced as a result.
I hope this all helps, and has given some ideas on how to refresh and recharge enablement offerings within your organisation. If you try some of these, I would love to hear how it went! Drop me a message or comment below - and let’s continue elevating enablement together! Happy Enablement Day 2024! ✨
