INDUSTRY EDUCATION: ONLINE, COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Last week, I promised to re-imagine collective stakeholder education through the avenues of the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association (WRMCA).
It is difficult to envision the WRMCA without an educational component. Though the concept of “lifelong learning” is not found in the association’s bylaws, the WRMCA has been providing educational opportunities for its members since it was founded.
Indeed, the association excels at providing technical training for its members and other construction professionals and supports well lifelong learning for its members in the areas of operations, environmental management, and safety (OES). Through the efforts of Essie Kammer Group (the WRMCA’s association management services provider), the WRMCA has acquired competence in educating legislators and regulators about industry issues and concerns.
With technology and regulations in flux, WRMCA educational offerings help the membership stay current and assist the membership’s customers in adopting new equipment and improvements in materials and products to help Construction Professionals in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) improve project quality, increase job site productivity and safety, and reduce in-place concrete costs.
A majority of concrete-related certification programs are also managed by the WRMCA.
The ever-changing dynamics of the ready-mix industry mean collective education will be a cornerstone of the WRMCA’s mission for the foreseeable future.
To varying degrees, soft skills – including leadership, management, marketing, business communication, sales, and customer service – are also part of the WRMCA’s educational-offering mix.
The association is adept at partnering with government agencies and allied industry professionals to provide member educational programming, including the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), the Portland Cement Association (PCA), the American Concrete Institute (and its Wisconsin Chapter. ACI/WI), Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Associated General Contractors (AGC), and the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC), to name a few.
Unfortunately, the WRMCA has been providing relevant educational programming for its members (and other construction professionals) for so long, its educational offerings are often taken for granted.
Out of the Ballroom; Onto the Desktop
Part of the comfortable living I pursue as president/construction materials evangelist for the Phill Domask Consultancy comes from my presentation activities. Unfortunately, my presentation-activity days are numbered, as increasingly (and appropriately), businesses and organizations are moving training out of the ballroom and onto the desktop.
WRMCA needs to embrace this technology-driven trend and provide online, distance learning opportunities for WRMCA stakeholders, with the goal of providing almost all WRMCA training opportunities online.
NRMCA, PCA, AND ACI have already embraced this trend … the WRMCA should tap into existing distance learning programs whenever possible and save resources to develop proprietary distance learning opportunities specific to the Wisconsin/UP ready-mix industry.
Some stakeholders – especially those of my generation – will resist this change in the association’s education delivery system. But businesses and organizations embracing self-directed training technologies gain two key advantages:
- Annual savings
- Higher participant satisfaction and productivity.
IBM saves more than a quarter-billion dollars annually, since moving a majority of its training to the desktop, and its employees appreciate the opportunity to acquire knowledge when they need it, where they need it, and in the right context.
WRMCA members will, too. As young ready-mix professionals replace dinosaurs like me, they will demand distance learning opportunities.
But … effective high-tech education distribution also requires high-touch. Perhaps a role will remain for dinosaurs like me … especially at conventions and workshops … if I (and other presenters) am able to provide relevant, interactive education programs supplementing WRMCA distance-learning offerings.
Knowledge Management
According to Wikipedia, knowledge management (KM) comprises a range of practices used by organizations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge for reuse, awareness and learning.
Effective KM programs are tied to organizational objectives and designed to achieve specific outcomes – shared intelligence, improved company or organizational performance, competitive advantage, and innovation.
The WRMCA should embrace KM and use it to help the membership leverage best management practices, systemize processes used by industry-leading performers, distribute environmental scanning information, and advance collective industry intelligence.
Using intelligent systems and technology, I can envision the association capturing, archiving, and sharing information and education, enabling WRMCA stakeholders to have access to the relevant industry knowledge, from anywhere, 24/7/365.
I also dream of a mywrmca.com, where stakeholders can post their lifelong-learning goals ... and keep track their progress toward those goals.
With members controlling the pace and the setting of their educational opportunities … What an exciting time to be part of (or join) the dynamic Wisconsin/UP ready-mix industry!
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