Learning organizations are more receptive, adaptive and generative -- always focused on meeting the needs of the organization/business. Learning organizations often exhibit the following characteristics:
Macro picture of Learning Organization
1. Strong employee involvement - input to the system starts from those closest to the outcome preferred by the system, from those most in-the-know about whether the organization is achieving its preferred outcomes with its stakeholders or not. This way, the organization stays highly attuned and adaptive to the needs of organization/ business.
2. Organic in nature - less rules and regulations, sometimes no clear boundaries and always-changing forms
3. Authority based on capability - ensures the organization remains a means to an end and not an end in itself
4. Alliances - takes advantage of economies of scale, e.g., collaborations, networks, strategic alliances/mergers, etc.
5. Teams - shares activities to take advantage of economies of scale at the lowest levels of activities and ensures full involvement of employees at the lowest levels
6. Flatter, decentralized organizations - less middle management, resulting in top management exchanging more feedback with those providing products and services; also results in less overhead costs
7. Mindfulness of environments, changes, patterns and themes - priority on reflection and inquiry to learn from experience; develop "learning organizations"
8. Network Structure
This modern structure includes the linking of numerous, separate organizations to optimize their interaction in order to accomplish a common, overall goal.
9.Virtual Organization
This emerging form is based on organization members interacting with each other completely, or almost completely, via telecommunications. Members may never actually meet each other.
10. Self-Managed Teams
These teams usually include from 5-15 people and are geared to produce a product or service. Members provide a range of the skills needed to produce the product. The team is granted sufficient authority and access to resources to produce their product in a timely fashion. The hallmark of a self-managed team is that members indeed manage their own group, i.e., they manage access to resources, scheduling, supervision, etc. Team members develop their own process for identifying and rotating members in managerial roles. Often, authority at any given time rests with whomever has the most expertise about the current activity or task in the overall project. Often members are trained in various problem-solving techniques and team-building techniques.
Micro picture of Learning organization
1.Greater commitment to the organization and to work;
- less rationalization of negative events;
-ability to face limitations and areas for improvement;
-ability to deal with change Mental models - individual
-The ability to compare reality or personal vision with perceptions;
-reconciling both into a coherent understanding
2.Less use of defensive routines in work;
-less reflexivity that leads to dysfunctional patterns of behavior;
-less avoidance of difficult situations Shared vision - group
-The ability of a group of individuals to hold a shared picture of a mutually desirable future
3. Commitment over compliance, faster change, greater within group trust;
-less time spent on aligning interests;
-more effective communication flows Team learning - group
-The ability of a group of individuals to suspend personal assumptions about each other and engage in "dialogue" rather than "discussion"
4.Group self-awareness; heightened collective learning;
- learning "up and down" the hierarchy; greater cohesiveness;
-enhanced creativity Systems thinking - group
-The ability to see interrelationships rather than linear cause-effect;
-the ability to think in context and appreciate the consequences of actions on other parts of the system
5.Long-term improvement or change;
- decreased organizational conflict;
-continuous learning among group members;
-Revolutionary over evolutionary change
Best Practices are always the producers of such 1.Positive reinforcement from role models/managers
2.Sharing experiences
3.More interaction time between supervisory levels
4.Emphasis on feedback
5.Balance work/non-work life
6.Time for learning
7.Reflective openness
8.Habit of inquiry
9.Forgiveness of oneself
10.Flexibility/adaptability
11.Participative openness
12.Trust
13.Empathy towards others
14.Habit of dissemination
15.Emphasis on cooperation
I'm sure this'll give you a deep insight in evaluating and assessing your organization at the level of learning stage.
msantos
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