Talk is NOT Cheap

In today's business world, organizations increasingly recognize that an ability to learn faster than their competitors is as vital an advantage in the marketplace as being able to produce a better widget. In short, that's why managers, as a preferred information source for employees, should pay more attention to the learning power of talk. A 2003 study completed in an organization headquartered on the Canadian prairies identified three facilitating characteristics of learning conversations in the workplace: 1. openness, 2. informality, and 3. questioning. The notion of a conversational learning partnership, through which both employees and managers actively and openly engage in conversation for learning purposes, emerges from the study as a novel concept applicable to managers, organizations and scholars alike. Employees and managers identified several best practices in workplace learning conversations: 1. the use of questioning, 2. building partnerships, 3. shared experience as a case study, 4. establishing a clear and common purpose for conversation, and 5. making time to talk.