Learning & Performance Support

Steve Rayson and Mark Harrison explore the issue of learning and performance support.

The latest Kineo Briefing paper explores the issues of learning and performance support. There has been a great deal of interest in recent years in the concept of performance support systems. In essence, this means providing all the knowledge a person needs to carry out a task without interrupting their workflow. Not surprisingly, it’s often referred to as workflow learning and in the e-learning world it has been dominated by the growing interest in embedding just-in-time systems and procedural hints and tips.

The drive for this quick just-in-time knowledge provision is the need for quick decisionmaking and a reluctance to herd staff into classrooms for just-in-case learning covering the sort of details that will never stick for more than a few minutes.

With time at a premium, a great deal of the knowledge we need is going to have to be provided directly within the workplace. This is reinforced by market analyst Keynote, who in their 2005 training review noted the scarcity of time available for training training in organisations. It seems increasingly to be the case that people simply don't have the time to spend days on training courses. Organisations are looking for shorter training events and for ways of integrating learning into the day job.

The latest Kineo briefing paper sets out our views on performance support and why it is different from traditional learning models. We’d love to hear your views after you have read it.

Read the full briefing When Learning Becomes Performance Support.