Author: Marjut Sadeharju

We’ve always believed that the ability to adapt in the face of strategic shifts is what truly brings value. Recently, we had the privilege of partnering with Helen, where their data analysts faced a significant change: transitioning into the role of Data Product Owners (DPO). This move was not just about taking on a new title—it was a complete shift in mindset, responsibilities, and skills.

The Challenge: Assuming New Responsibilities After a Strategic Shift

Helen’s strategic reorganization required their team of data analysts to step beyond their traditional roles. They were now expected to not only analyze and interpret data but also to own and manage data products. This transition posed a challenge especially since the team had varying backgrounds and skills.

While their technical expertise was unquestionable, the competencies required for effective product ownership—strategic thinking, stakeholder management, prioritization, and long-term vision—were new territory. The team needed more than just technical coaching; they needed support to build a strong foundation in product ownership while maintaining their confidence in their core abilities.

Our Approach: Learning Sprint and One-on-One Coaching

At Splended, we take pride in designing solutions that meet our partners exactly where they are. For Helen, this meant bringing in a tailored approach to support the development of their data analysts. We partnered with Coventures and enlisted expert coach Tom Weckström to lead a focused Learning Sprint.

The Learning Sprint was a dynamic and intensive program, aimed at rapidly upskilling the team in the intricacies of product ownership. From defining product vision to managing backlogs and communicating with stakeholders, the sprint covered critical aspects needed to build competence in this new role.

Alongside this team coaching, I also worked closely with each individual through personalized one-on-one coaching. As CEO of Splended, I know that no two people face challenges the same way, and this tailored coaching was critical in helping each team member transition to their new roles with confidence. These coaching sessions allowed us to address personal obstacles, develop individual action plans, and reinforce a growth mindset that would serve them in their new roles.

The Result: Clarity and Confidence in Product Ownership

Helen is a company that invests in their people. In this coaching cycle, we managed to clear out hesitations and qualms about the new role description. Helen’s data analysts not only gained a deeper understanding of their new responsibilities as Data Product Owners but also walked away equipped with the practical tools they needed to excel.

Here’s how one participant reflected on their experience:

We were able to openly discuss the concerns related to the DPO role, both in the training sessions and in the one-on-one coaching. There was a lot of discussion, so the training didn’t just consist of going through slides. Good concepts were presented during the training, which could lead to great ideas for our own work. The facilitation of the discussion worked well. Problem areas were effectively brought to light, and we generated ideas on how and where to discuss these issues within the organization.

Beyond just learning the technicalities of the role, they embraced the broader strategic mindset needed for product ownership. They became more proactive in decision-making, improved collaboration across departments, and created a stronger alignment with Helen’s business goals. The team’s newfound clarity and confidence were palpable.

Additionally, the initiative strengthened the overall team dynamic. Transparency and open communication became central to their operations, promoting better collaboration and helping them work more cohesively toward common objectives.

We are committed to delivering top-notch experiences, as demonstrated by our recent collaboration with Witted. Partnering with industry expert Daniel Vahla, already working as a consultant for our customer in the marine industry, we rolled out three hands-on, data-driven Python learning experiences that delivered real value to over 50 participants in three cohorts.

A Data-Driven Approach from Start to Finish

The learning process was designed to follow a data-driven approach, ensuring that from the initial planning stages to the final retrospectives, every decision was backed by insights and real-time feedback. This method ensured that the teams’ progression was not only tracked but also optimized based on their needs.

Sprints That Worked

Despite the short duration, the sprint sessions were highly effective. Daniel Vahla led three 3-hour sprint sessions online, bringing together a well-structured blend of learning, doing, and reflecting. The pace was quick, but the experience was carefully managed to maintain engagement.

At first, the teams were understandably overwhelmed—Python was new territory for many—but as they dove into the tasks, guided by Daniel’s hands-on coaching style, they quickly gained confidence.

From Learning to Doing: A Hands-On Experience

One of the key aspects that made this cooperation so successful was the hands-on approach. Daniel did not simply lecture or provide the answers on a silver platter. Instead, he worked side-by-side with the teams, engaging in parallel coding to ensure they gained practical experience. As the coach “showed and told,” the participants followed along, actively coding in Python from the outset.

Breaking the content into manageable chunks helped the teams grasp the concepts without feeling overwhelmed. Daniel structured the learning in such a way that each section built on the previous one, allowing the teams to progressively apply their newly gained knowledge.

Teams Finish Strong with an End-to-End Project

By the end of the sessions, the teams were developing a mini-project, using company’s own APIs. Such practice is highly valuable in API-centric company. The new knowledge wasn’t just theoretical—it was put into practice immediately, and the benefits were felt all around the business.

A Retrospective for Growth

The sprint series culminated in a retrospective, giving everyone the opportunity to reflect on what they had learned, how they could apply their new skills, and how they could improve in the future. This critical step allowed teams to consolidate their gains and understand the broader impact of the learning experience. The instructor provided encouragement in his closing words, inviting the participants to continue their learning by applying the toolset they had gained.

Final Thoughts: Building Skills That Last

Our cooperation with Witted and Daniel Vahla is a shining example of what happens when we bring together industry expertise, a data-driven approach, and hands-on learning. By focusing on practical application, rather than just watching or listening, the teams were able to acquire practical Python skills that are already making a difference.

At Splended, we believe that true learning happens when theory is put into practice. This initiative has demonstrated that not only can our teams tackle new challenges, but they can also emerge stronger, more skilled, and more confident.

Stay tuned for more exciting partnerships and learning opportunities from Splended as we continue to lead the way in data-driven, hands-on learning experiences!

We thrive on creating impactful experiences that spark innovation and strengthen collaboration. Our recent collaboration with Elo, an internal hackathon aptly named “Elothon”, was a shining example of these values in action. The day brought together diverse talents, combined data with customer-centric solutions, and delivered meaningful results.

The Challenge: Data Meets Customer Solutions

Elo sought to tackle a challenge at the intersection of data and innovative customer solutions. With this focus, they aimed to create not only practical outcomes but also strengthen collaboration and cross-pollination between teams—an essential aspect of modern problem-solving and innovation.

The Coaches: Experts Supporting Innovation

To guide the teams before and during the hackathon, we brought in three seasoned coaches whose expertise levelled up the event: 

Pasi Vuorio: An AI expert from Lastbot, who also served as a juror during the pitching sessions. 

Phuoc Tran Minh (Fuki): From Goodin, offering deep insights into data-driven business development. 

Aleksi Nuuja: From Reaktor, bringing a fresh perspective on innovation and execution.

Their mentorship ensured that teams stayed focused, pushed boundaries, and delivered high-value solutions. Many participants thought Splended succeeded in providing “a well-organized event and a skilled and enthusiastic team”.

The Event: From Brainstorming to Sauna

The hackathon was hosted at Splended’s office, an innovation center at Aalto-University, designed to create an energizing and collaborative atmosphere. Teams worked intensively throughout the day, brainstorming, building, and refining their ideas. After a successful day of pitching and presenting concrete solutions, we celebrated the day’s achievements with a dinner and sauna experience. This mix of hard work and relaxation strengthened the connections formed during the event.

Concrete Results, Real Value

What set Elothon apart was its ability to deliver concrete, actionable solutions. The participants didn’t just brainstorm—they created concrete implementation plans and detailed solution designs with real potential to add value to the customer. Teams impressed the jury with innovative pitches that demonstrated creativity and commercial viability.

Cross-Pollination and Connections

One of the primary goals of the Elothon was to encourage cross-pollination—bringing together individuals from different teams to collaborate and share their unique expertise. The hackathon managed to break silos and lay the foundation for future collaboration. One participant commented on the experience,

A pleasant day, nice to clear my head and network. Very different compared to the daily grind.

Many participants reflected on building meaningful connections citing having “conversations with coworkers you haven’t spoken to before”.

A Successful Partnership

Our collaboration with Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company exemplifies how innovation, when paired with the right environment and expert support, can lead to impactful results. We are proud to have played a role in making Elothon a success and are excited to see how the ideas generated during the hackathon shape their innovations forward.

At Splended, we believe that the future of tech learning lies in providing highly practical, role-specific training that empowers professionals to feel skilled and confident in their assignments and roles. Our recent collaboration with Siili Solutions is a perfect example of how tailored, hands-on learning can drive real impact.

Upskilling Over 100 IT Consultants with Tailored Learning Sprints

Siili Solutions, a leading digital transformation company, recognized the need to upskill their IT consultants to stay ahead in bringing their customers value with what they call “A 10-day workweek”. To meet this challenge, we partnered with them to design and deliver intensive, one-week learning sprints aimed at enhancing the skills of over 100 IT professionals.

These learning sprints were not just another generic training program. We tailored each sprint to the specific needs of different roles within Siili Solutions, including data engineers, full-stack developers, and more. This role-based approach ensures that every consultant receives training that is directly applicable to their day-to-day work, making the learning experience not only relevant but also immediately actionable. As one participant noted, the Learning Sprint offered

“Great insight into the hot topics of the behind the curtain of the raging AI trends.”

A Hands-On, Practical Approach

At Splended, we understand that the best way to learn is by doing. That’s why our learning methods are heavily focused on hands-on, practical exercises, labs and reflection tasks. During the learning sprints, participants were not just passive recipients of information—they actively engaged in real-world projects, applying new concepts and techniques in a controlled environment. This approach ensures that the skills learned are deeply ingrained and ready to be used in real-world scenarios.

Industry Thought-leaders as Coaches

To ensure the highest quality of learning, we brought in two industry thought-leaders to lead the initiative: Aappo Pulkkinen, a seasoned Data Scientist from Forge Digital, and Pasi Vuorio, a serial entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in tech innovation.

Aappo Pulkkinen brought a wealth of knowledge in data science, guiding the participants through complex data engineering challenges and helping them develop the skills necessary to excel in this newly developing area. His sessions were a blend of deep technical insights and practical applications, ensuring that the data engineers left with a strong grasp of both the theory and practice of their craft. The experience was highly interactive as one participant commented Aappo’s skills as a coach:

“Very skillful boosted with extraordinary good teaching skills!! It was very easy to understand everything during the lesson. He explained things well and he was very calm speaker (ok, he has earlier training skills gained in universities). Many online questions were asked during his presentation which means that people were learning too.”

Pasi Vuorio, with his extensive entrepreneurial background, provided invaluable insights into the full-stack development process. His coaching style is both inspiring and pragmatic, offering participants a unique perspective on how to approach problem-solving and innovation in their roles. Pasi’s experience as a serial entrepreneur allowed him to share real-world stories and challenges, making the learning experience even more relatable and impactful. A partipant commented Pasi’s Sprint like this:

“Really liked the training! I was previously familiar with the concepts so it was a nice to get some real hands-on experience. First lesson by Pasi introduced the concepts around LLMs, the history & potential future. The most valuable information was around learning the ways how AI could be used in the future to work as the interpreter for an application. Seeing examples from LastBot was insightful.”

Collaboration Boosting Success

Our collaboration with Siili Solutions is a testament to the power of tailored, hands-on learning which does not rule out scalability. By focusing on role-specific skills and providing practical, real-world practice, we’ve been able to significantly enhance the capabilities of Siili’s IT consultants, positioning them to tackle the challenges of today’s digital world with confidence. Our scalable Learning Sprint model has also raised interest among Siili’s own customers and we are proud to spread the message to everyone interested in impactful learning.

Thanks you for being so active and making this a wonderful event!

Let’s continue sharing and exchanging ideas on learning!

At Splended, we are lucky to have found an exciting addition to our team of advisors: Marjaana Murtomaa. With her wealth of experience and expertise in the field of technology, people operations and learning, Marjaana is set to play an important role in guiding our journey towards greater learning interventions, community-building and overall company performance.

Who is Marjaana Murtomaa?

Marjaana Murtomaa is a seasoned professional with a passion for tech startups and people operations to drive meaningful change and transformation. With over two decades of experience in the tech industry, Marjaana has held various leadership roles in both corporate and startup environments, gaining invaluable insights along the way. Her expertise spans across a wide range of areas, most notably organizational development. Marjaana’s unique blend of people operation skills and strategic vision makes her a valuable asset to Splended.

Why Marjaana Murtomaa?

At Splended, we believe in the power of collaboration and mentorship to fuel our growth and success. Marjaana’s track record of driving innovation and building robust teams combined with skills in continuous learning aligns perfectly with our values and aspirations.

As an advisor, Marjaana will provide invaluable guidance and insights to help us stay at the forefront of learning in the technological space and deliver exceptional learning experiences to our clients. Her deep understanding of the intersection between technology and learning will inform our strategies and initiatives, ensuring that we continue to exceed the expectations of our clients and partners.

What does this mean for Splended?

Marjaana’s appointment as an advisor reaffirms our commitment to excellence and innovation in everything we do. Her guidance and mentorship will enable us to explore new opportunities, tackle challenges head-on. She also participates in our operations as a coach.

Stay tuned for more updates as we embark on this exciting new chapter together. The future is bright, and with Marjaana by our side, we are ready to seize every opportunity and overcome any challenge that comes our way.

Welcome, Marjaana, to the Splended support crowd!

At Splended, our mission is to boost onboarding experiences through innovative learning approaches. We understand that traditional methods often fall short in engaging and empowering new hires, which is why we’ve partnered with various companies in medical and technical industries to enhance their onboarding programs. With our tailored strategies and tools in use, we ensure that no one will fall asleep during their onboarding!

Our collaborative journey with each partner begins with a comprehensive discovery call, where we dive deep into understanding the unique learning needs and context. This initial step is crucial for creating commitment among participants and gaining insights into their skill levels and specific focus areas for improvement. During this inspiring moment, our coaches carefully listen to the wishes and aspirations of the participants, setting the stage for an insipiring learning experience.

Once we have a solid understanding of our partner’s needs, we move on to conducting hands-on coaching sessions. These sessions provide trainers with practical exposure to modern learning designs, allowing them to experience these techniques firsthand. For instance, trainers become familiar with interactive lecturing strategies and engage in activities like fishbowl discussions to reflect on the content covered. By immersing themselves in these innovative methods, trainers gain valuable insights and confidence in integrating them into their onboarding programs.

Following these sessions, we facilitate online retrospectives to reflect on progress and identify areas for improvement. Through open dialogue and collaboration, onboarding trainers not only gain the skills but also the confidence to integrate modern learning methods into their programs. Additionally, we encourage on-the-job learning by providing practical ideas on how to apply new skills and knowledge directly in the work environment. The feedback has been positive overall. Participants have appreciated the tailored approach and the practical tools that they can put immediately into use.

The impact of our collaboration is evident in the many inspired trainers who are now equipped to create more effective and engaging onboarding experiences for their teams. By embracing modern learning approaches, they ensure that new hires are not only welcomed but also empowered to thrive from day one. At Splended, we’re committed to renewing onboarding into a truly transformative experience for both organizations and their employees.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into how we designed an interactive workshop series and trained a subject matter expert (SME), Juhana Suhonen, a senior software engineer from Codemate, to deliver engaging sessions on a new programming language.

Identifying an SME with deep expertise and effective communication skills was crucial. We handpicked an SME who possessed both technical proficiency and the ability to engage an audience. However, being a subject matter expert does not automatically translate into being an effective trainer. To bridge this gap, we provided training to our SME, Juhana Suhonen, who worked with Splended to deliver a workshop series for our customer in the telco industry.

During our cooperation, Juhana learned to design learner-centric workshops with both theory and practical application. We co-designed the content and interactions to create a meaningful learning experience for the two cohorts that we were training. To create a successful workshop series, we began by establishing clear goals and learning objectives. For this, we organized a discovery call with some of the future participants of the workshops. This way our trainer, Juhana, was able to identify skill gaps and shape the structure and content of our workshops. It also engaged the participants because they got a chance to be part of the planning.

Juhana found the experience meaningful and comments how “It was a great learning experience for me and I feel much more confident now to deliver future workshops. I’m actually looking forward to accelerating my own expertise by teaching others!”

Splended trainer program focuses on equipping SMEs with various interactive techniques to make their workshops more dynamic and engaging. We highlight the importance of hands-on activities, group discussions, and case studies to encourage active participation. By incorporating these elements, we can ensure that participants are not just passive listeners but active contributors to the learning process. Juhana, being a fast learner himself, received excellent feedback on this from the participants: “The workshops were helpful, especially the exercises done in smaller groups.”

Additionally, we emphasize the significance of reflection in the learning process. Trainers are encouraged to provide dedicated time for participants to reflect on their learning experiences, assess their progress, and identify areas for further growth. This practice promoted self-awareness and enabled developers to take ownership of their learning journeys. “I learned a lot in this course . The instructor was well prepared and knowledgeable and it was an even paced training . However , may be the course can be extended to like 4 days since we didn’t had time to go through the advanced concepts in detail” comments one participant.

During the training process, Juhana discovered valuable insights that enhanced his effectiveness as a trainer. For example, he learned the importance of adapting to the audience’s needs and skill levels. Creating an interactive workshop series requires a thoughtful approach that goes beyond technical expertise. By training our SMEs to deliver exceptional sessions, we empower them to engage developers, foster interactions, and encourage reflections.

The key takeaways from this journey are the significance of hands-on activities, the power of group discussions, and the importance of reflection in the learning process. At Splended, we are committed to nurturing an environment where developers can grow their skills and achieve their full potential. As an IT director, you have the power to unlock the full potential of your development team. Embrace the power of interactive workshops and join us on this journey towards confidence and skill. Together, we can create a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and success that propels your organization into the future. Experience the Splended difference and witness your developers soar to new heights.

In today’s dynamic and competitive business landscape, effective leadership, strong communication skills, and efficient prioritization are vital for achieving personal and professional success. Read how we boosted skills, increased knowledge and put learning into practice with our leadership training with Helen.

We do a careful discovery and needs analysis before we deliver training. This way we can ensure that the training is spot-on and relevant to the target audience. We find the best specialist to deliver the training and co-design the learning experience with them. The best subject matter expert may not be the best trainer but we combine effective learning with their expertise. This offers the participants an enjoyable and interactive experience.

This is how the tech leads at Helen commented the morning sessions we facilitated with our trainer Tom Weckström from Coventures.

“A versatile and activating training where we got to think and do a lot.”

“Thought-provoking ideas on what makes a functional team.”

“Tom is a diamond!”

Leadership development is the foundation of a thriving organization. It encompasses the ability to inspire, guide, and empower individuals and teams towards a common goal. With practical activities and a solid foundation on modern leadership theories, Tom led three effective sessions where the team was able to talk, co-create and reflect on their behaviours and how they might challenge their old thinking. Indeed, they remarked that many of the good practices “will be tested immediately at work.” Some felt that this training enhanced their already existing skills, but found it useful to refresh their memory to avoid getting stuck in their ways.

An experienced leader and coach, Tom was able to provide the participants with both inspiration and content knowledge. The topics featured communication and prioritization which are commonly the painpoints in product development. Indeed, the sessions saw groups reflect on their sphere of influence and whether leadership belongs to leaders alone.

Helen considers learning, growth and development important for their success. They have been actively developing their IT teams with Splended. Mikko Muurinen, the Head of Data and AI, was very pleased with the outcomes of this learning intervention. He has noticed the excitement and sparkle after the sessions in his team. This initiative has immediate returns on investment as the participants will start testing the ideas they practised during the training. We checked up on them after five weeks to make sure they are implementing the models and practices from the sessions.

If you need to ramp up your team’s leadership skills, you’ve come to the right place! We at Splended make sure to make a visible change in leadership practices.

Reach out for more information.

In the dynamic world of gaming, innovation and staying ahead of the curve are crucial for success. We recently had the opportunity to collaborate with Futureplay Games, a renowned game development studio, on a learning sprint which offered tools for self-development among the entire studio. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the details of this exciting initiative and explore the valuable insights gained along the way.

A learning sprint is a focused, time-bound period during which cross-functional teams come together to explore new ideas, experiment with different approaches, and learn from one another. It serves as an opportunity to accelerate learning, foster innovation, and develop a shared understanding of complex challenges. The collaboration between Splended and Futureplay Games aimed to harness the power of curiosity, exploration, sharing of knowledge and above all, allowed time for the teams to foster a culture of continuous learning.

During the learning sprint, Marjut, the Chief Learning Officer from Splended and Mirva Vimpari, People and Organizational Lead at Futureplay Games led a collaborative exploration of key areas such as learning and development, career planning, agile learning, experimentation as well as engagement. We worked closely together in interactive workshops and webinars focussing on how teams and team leaders could optimize their ways of working and how to lead learning discussions.

One of the core pillars of the learning sprint was the idea of one’s career as a product that needs to be managed and developed like any other product. We explored tools for identifying strengths, boosted collaboration and envisioned futures. These exercises proved eye-opening. Many commented that they had never thought about their futures in such a strategic manner and were inspired by the discussions that sparked among them after each workshop.

The learning sprint between Splended and Futureplay Games was an invaluable experience, yielding several key takeaways such as more confident personal plans for the future as well as interesting explorations into topics such as AI. Some of them had started reading books, researching online libraries and reconnecting with alumni in their university. When we sat down for a Q&A session in the end, many people reported having found multiple ways to try new tools, gather information and to explore resources such as article libraries. The entire learning landscape also experienced a push that encouraged teams to have more meaningful development discussions and to better identify when someone needs more support in their role.

Futureplay Games have an extremely modern learning culture where everyone is supported and given the opportunity to pursue their career in meaningful ways. The learning sprint between Splended and Futureplay Games further promoted these ideals and focussed on increasing collaboration and shared learning. This can already be seen in how teams use their allocated “Futureplayground” time on Fridays on learning, sharing, experimenting and gathering new understanding together. As Splended and Futureplay Games continue their journey, the lessons learned from this learning sprint will undoubtedly shape their future success. Here’s what one participant thought of the experience:

I believe our team got a lot of more fuel for self-development and got inspired to take some of the ideas into action in Futureplaygrounds going forward. Thank you!

If your organization needs to envision and start building futures, develop tools for collaboration and learn how to learn in an agile manner, just pull us from our virtual sleeve here.

This blog post is a part of the series in which we open the Splended way to build and run pro to pro trainings. If you are a subject matter expert, this blog post will give you some practical hints and tips that would help you to succeed when you start enabling learning and run interactive learning sessions.

“If we read it from a PowerPoint, they will hear it. If we create training where they can participate, they will learn it.”

Ideally, training would be so hands-on that we could put it in practice right after it happens. We need concrete guidance to learn, practise and reflect so that we can retain the content in our deep memory. This is why we pay close attention to our trainers and how they operate in a training situation. We coach and guide them so that the end-user will experience something memorable. Otherwise it’s time wasted for both parties.

What is the role of the trainer then?

• To enable and facilitate deliberate practice
• Most of the time to step back from the front and observe where they struggle
• To help them, coach them and lead their learning. Not doing things for them. 
• To create a positive environment

We know how important it is to deliver an excellent training session. Typical challenges with the trainings are that they are built around the trainer (data dumping) and they are not connected to the daily lives of the participants. With our tested training model (part 1, part 2 – doing, part 3-reflection) it is possible to build trainings in a way that the learning sticks.

How to move from content delivery to learning enablement?

Putting the learner first is our biggest priority here. So it’s best if you forget how you have been taught in the past (read: (possibly) a monologue that puts you to sleep). You have your own unique domain expertise and now it’s time to plan how others will benefit from it in an engaging and interactive manner. 

What do we want to see them do after the training? Teach only the things they cannot survive without. The rest can be additional reading. Content dumping is so last season. Better to have less content and learn it well rather than dump loads and leave them confused. 

Write the learning objectives on a slide and make the verbs active in them. What do we see them do when they finish the training? Give them post-it notes where they can write their own objectives. Have them discuss these with their partners. Come back to them at the end of the day. 

Interactive Lesson Strategies

Reading from a presentation is ineffective as a strategy. This is because our brain gets distracted and needs activation. Keep your own speech at 15 minutes max. You can tell your audience that they need to teach the content you deliver to their partner after you finish. Have them write a brief summary on the joint notes on what they learned. 

There are also a few things we propose that you should avoid doing: asking “Are there any questions?” (they will most likely be quiet because they don’t want to appear incompetent), ask a rhetorical question, display a lot of PPT slides, you say: “Let’s discuss” and then you continue speaking, you speak for an hour and then there’s a quiz or a game, you ask one participant and they answer, you tell jokes or anecdotes (not related to the topic). This is not recommended since the focus is on the trainer and these methods reach very few people in the audience.

It is important to build the connection between learners. When planning the training remember that your audience needs to connect with each other frequently. You need to establish collaborative interdependence by designing tasks that they can only solve together. They need to be individually responsible but active in cooperation. Make sure there is safety in teams, change them if necessary.

What is then an efficient interactive lecture strategy?

• You stick to the 15-minute rule of speaking
• You have them summarise the learning content in one minute in one sentence to their partner
• There is a concrete goal that you cannot achieve without cooperation
• They take responsibility for their learning and focus

Benefits of interactive learning strategies:

• They remain focused on their learning
• They are interested and contribute to the groups joint learning
• You will improve their conceptual understanding
• They will remember better
• You will raise their energy levels

Brain and Learning

Our brain and physicality contribute to our learning fitness. We need to be moving when we learn so make them stand and change pairs frequently. Our brain cannot take too much information at one time without processing it somehow so make them talk in pairs as much as you can. Our brain loves variety and surprises but also predictability. Give them tasks that they didn’t know to expect. We are hardwired to listening to stories and analogies, use these to relate to their world of experiences. This works in advertising, films and games. Tap into this as much as you can. Our brain gets excited about multiple sensory experiences and stimulation. We love to be in informal learning environments (think desks and conversations, coffee etc.) We are motivated by choice. So if learners can choose between activities, it’s always a good idea. 

We all have inner motivations that the training event should support. For example, we want to avoid feeling: stupid, bored or humiliated. Instead, we want to feel: competent, respected, smart. Focus on the latter.

Concrete Practice

When all learners are actively doing the learning, you will optimise learning outcomes. To learn skills, you need to practice them. Design concrete practice activities that are preferably connected to their daily lives. For example, if they need to learn coding, create a coding assignment with errors in it and have them spot them. Concrete practice can be started right away. Already with limited skills, your learners can engage in activities. 

What concrete practice is not:

• only you demonstrate and “practise” how things are done
• reading about or watching a video about a skill
• few practice with a game or similar activity and others watch
• the team competes so that only one participates and the rest watch
• there is a Q&A session in the end
• the practice situation is dangerous or risky

What concrete practice looks like:

• learners teach back what they have learned
• learners improvise in 15 seconds a slogan for the content they just learned
• learners do table demonstrations and share their screens or notes with others
• learners mentor each other and give constant feedback to each other
• all learners practise a skill even with limited knowledge

Ending in Style

We tend to remember beginnings and endings better than what is in the middle so prepare to go out with a blast. Go back to the learning outcomes, have them assess what they have learned. Have action planning session triads where they discuss together how they are going to apply the skills. You can do also a standing celebration of everyone’s accomplishments in groups of three. Good ending is when you make them write this on a poster: “need more practice……………can use with ease” and have them place their post-its on the scale. You can have them do a standing meeting and discuss this question: What will it take me to get to the next level now? What did you learn that you didn’t know before?

You can ask them these questions on a joint document: How do I feel about this now? What helps me do my job better? How will my on-the-job behaviour change as a result of this? How will my company benefit from this?

Your Strengths as a Trainer

When you start seeing yourself as a domain expert who helps and guides learners instead of someone who “teaches” like you have been taught in the past, you will tap into your coaching skills and feel empowered in the training situation. When you have designed practice activities and use the interactive lecture method, your audience will be motivated to learn and there will be a positive vibe in the room. Make sure that 80% of the time your audience is speaking. This is the only way to guarantee training success. Trust yourself and be who you are. It gets tiring to pretend to be someone else.

You are in a key role enabling people’s success. This means that you need to step back and let them do the work because you already know the stuff.  Acknowledge the fact that learning is always an exercise in approximation. Errors, questions and missteps are part of it and the quicker you start practising, the better you will understand their progress.

You got this. Really. You do. Trust this advice and you can’t go wrong.

(We were inspired by Training from the back of the room by Sharon L. Bowman when writing this blog post)

Other posts in the series:
Part 1/3 – How we’re coaching our trainers: our learner-centric approach to training design
Part 2/3 – How we’re coaching our trainers: a human doing, not being
Part 3/3 – Why learning without reflection is like driving without a map?

Reflection helps us to make sense of our experiences, connect them to our goals, and apply what we have learned in new situations. Without reflection, we risk getting lost in a sea of information, without a clear sense of how to navigate our way forward.

Here’s how we incorporate reflection practices into our trainings and learning interventions at Splended.

We use collaborative techniques where pairs and teams discuss, write questions, find solutions and share their own practices with each other. Workshops are designed in a way that allows for frequent reflection activities. This motivates and increases ownership as learners take an active role in supporting each other. It’s important that the previously learned connects with the new information. For this, we use for example, questions, image prompts, cases and scenarios that the participants need to reflect upon. We make existing knowledge visible and then introduce new perspectives and insights. This creates meaningful structures or schema in the brain which, in turn, help with knowledge retention.

“The session was well-structured and for me the most rewarding parts were the group discussions, says a participant in their feedback on our interactive training. “

Reflection allows you to track your progress, identify areas where you need to improve, and develop strategies to address them. Without reflection, you risk losing track of your progress and missing out on opportunities to grow and develop. This is why our participants write concept summaries, write mock exam questions on the topic and discuss them with the team so that any gaps in knowledge can be addressed.

Our trainings aim at visible changes in behaviour. For example, if participants need to learn prioritization skills, they learn about poor and best practices, and then craft a playbook or a toolbox to use in their work contexts. This again, increases motivation as the learned material supports more effective and meaningful practices at work.

“The training led to some interesting discussions and some good internal processing about my priorities, reflected one participant in our self-development training. “

At the end of a learning series, learners need to summarize what changed in their thinking. For example, they can use the “four Cs” to reflect with their teams: Connection, Concept, Concrete practice and Conclusion. Another way is to form a line on the floor with these words: Not there yet – On my way there – Already there. Participants can then reflect their learning in the light of the goals and see where they are. This usually creates a lively discussion and, again, boosts learning because they have to go back to what has been discussed. It also allows the trainer to see where they are in terms of confidence. Those who have already reached the goals can mentor others.

Participants in our trainings have enjoyed the reflection activities and typically comment that “the best part of the training was the interactions and focussing on the very practical and actionable items”.

We create trainings that rely on science on how people learn. Reflective practices are at the heart of our designs. Let us know how you want to grow, develop and futureproof your teams. We can help.

Other posts from the series:
Part 1/3 – How we’re coaching our trainers: our learner-centric approach to training design
Part 2/3 – How we’re coaching our trainers: a human doing, not being

“Give a man a fish…”

At Splended, we believe that learning by doing is the most effective way to acquire new skills and knowledge. It is a hands-on approach that allows learners to explore and experiment with new concepts and ideas. It provides a safe and supportive environment for learners to make mistakes, learn from them, and grow.

We co-design the training with our trainers who are specialists in their subject matter area. This way we can guarantee an inspiring training experience where we see active participants practising instead of passive listeners swamped in theory.

Here are some examples how we apply experiential learning in our learning development initiatives:

1. Active learning: Experiential learning is a hands-on approach that encourages active participation from learners. It allows learners to apply their knowledge and skills in real-world situations, which enhances their learning experience. For example, in Product Management trainings, participants share their software start-up ideas which they then comment on in the light of product development best practices. This helps them relate to their customers’ needs and identify ways to improve communication, for instance. Another case in point: Leadership and communication trainings are designed in a way that allows room for practising the dialogue needed to create psychological safety among teams.
2. Real-world experience: Learning by doing provides learners with real-world experience. This experience is invaluable as it allows learners to understand the practical implications of their learning. They learn how to apply their knowledge and skills in a variety of situations, which enhances their problem-solving and critical thinking abilities. For example, they can engage in a fishbowl activity where they share best practices and ideate new solutions.
3. Engagement: Learning by doing is engaging and fun. It encourages learners to be creative, curious, and enthusiastic. When learners are engaged, they are more likely to retain information and apply it in their lives. This creates a positive feedback loop that leads to better learning outcomes. At Splended trainings participants teach others, create their own materials and concept maps and produce questions that summarize the content they’re learning. This kind of active role empowers participants and while they have accountability partners, their own learning becomes supercharged. We bring people together so that they can contribute with their ideas.
4. Collaboration: Experiential learning encourages collaboration and teamwork. It provides learners with the opportunity to work with others to solve problems and achieve common goals. Collaboration teaches learners how to communicate effectively, build relationships, and work effectively in a team. In a busy work context, it is important to sit down as a team and evaluate what could be done better, what tools could be introduced or how to prioritise work so that everyone benefits.
5. Building confidence: Learning by doing helps learners to build confidence in their abilities. As they actively engage in the learning process and achieve success, they gain confidence in themselves. This confidence spills over into other areas of their lives, leading to increased self-esteem and a positive outlook. We design activities where feedback is given and received.

At Splended, we believe that experiential learning is the way forward. Our trainings are safe spaces to practice skills needed to perform everyday tasks.

So, if you want to experience a human doing, instead of being – let’s talk how we can make this happen.

The next blog post will continue discussing the role of reflection and how it can be seamlessly integrated into our trainings.

Stay tuned!

Other post from the series:
Part 1/3 – How we’re coaching our trainers: our learner-centric approach to training design
Part 3/3 – Why learning without reflection is like driving without a map?

If you’re a professional trainer, you know how important it is to deliver an excellent training session. Typical challenges with the trainings are that they are built around the trainer (data dumping) and they are not connected to the daily lives of the participants. With our tested training model, it is efficient to build trainings in a way that the learning sticks.

We all know that it’s not just a matter of talking at people—you have to motivate them, help them retain what they learn, and make sure they actually get something out of the experience. You also want to be able to learn from your own teaching experience and get better at what you do.

But where do you start? How do you know if your training sessions are effective? How can you deliver a training with your expertise so that it’s impactful to the participants?

This is where we come in. We’ll help our trainers design meaningful learning interventions — interactive trainings that keep participants engaged and boost competence development of both the trainer themselves and the participants. Our approach is based on learning science, so we’ll work with you to create a joyful learning experience that allows both parties to grow their skillsets together.

Our learning model is based on learning, doing and reflecting with a strong focus on putting skills immediately into practice. Training sessions are safe places to develop and test new skills that can then be used in real-life work contexts.

What is an interactive training session then? What does it mean to be learner-centric?

First of all, we design the training in a way that allows for collective sense-making. This may include teaching others, creating posters or answering questions on a joint document. Second, we keep lecturing to a minimum because people need to practise skills rather than hear information. We incorporate activities to make the day varied. For example, a 15-minute lecture may be followed by a discussion activity or see the participants teach the topic to each another. It’s important that they can discuss the topics together which, in turn, allows the trainer to move about in the room and answer questions and queries as they emerge. This approach has several benefits: we can see what is difficult and what needs further clarification. This also brings the trainer to where they are most needed: among the participants and their needs.

Emotional aspects of learning should not be dismissed, either. Our trainers are instructed to motivate, encourage and give timely feedback so that everyone can feel comfortable practising new skills in the group. In doing so, we can help everyone to participate, not just the active ones.

We learn effectively when we see someone more experienced perform a task. This is why our training sessions help in a concrete way, for example by showing how to create snippets of code or giving tools to having meaningful conversations with business stakeholders. We believe that practising a skill, even with little knowledge can boost development more quickly than merely watching someone else do it. Our trainings encourage self-reflection and curiosity. It’s important to see where we are confident and where we still need practice.

Here are some tips for making an interactive training experience:

• Keep lecturing at max. 20 minutes
• Include a variety of tasks such as dialogue, posters, group discussions, teaching others
• Encourage self-reflection and immediate practice
• Make everyone participate, not just the active ones
• Avoid bombing the participants with questions, have them write down questions in pairs and then ask them
• Create activities that help them meet their learning goals
• Assess learning outcomes during the training by observing and helping when they struggle
• Make participants do everything that you normally would for them – have them design activities for each other
• Create meaningful entities for learning rather than random snippets of information
• Use visual note-taking tools and templates to help knowledge recall

Our trainings have been well received among our customers. We can share our expertise on the content as well as through the learning experience. Our trainers have reported that they find workshops now more motivating since their participants are engaged and they don’t have to feel the pressure of being “the sage on stage” with a monologue prepared in advance. Our trainer tools offer practical and actionable advice on how to design meaningful interactions and activities.

Would you like to be one of our trainers? Or does your team have training needs in the digital space?

Let us know – we can make learning stick!

Next blog post in this series will discuss the doing -part and the last one is about reflection.

Stay tuned.

Other posts from the series:
Part 2/3 – How we’re coaching our trainers: a human doing, not being
Part 3/3 – Why learning without reflection is like driving without a map?

Finding a training that is spot on may be difficult for companies. We at Splended are experts at this: we choose the best SME, coach them on the learning design and conduct discovery calls to identify learner needs and context. Trainers are well prepared to conduct interactive workshops and have clear goals in mind thanks to discovery calls.

Our most recent workshop “From on-premise developer to a cloud developer” focussed on migrating to the cloud, building apps on the cloud and using serverless architectures. This training saw the participants utilizing a sample application written in Java which they then refactored step by step to become fully cloud native. The workshop was led by Juho Saarinen, an experienced developer and subject matter expert in software architecture and cloud-native development. Juho comes from our partner company Mavericks where he works as a Test & DevOps Architect. We designed the training together, carefully making sure that there is a good balance between theory and practice. His experiences as a trainer were positive due to the discovery call, our support with workshop materials and overall how we helped him create interactive workshops.

As a first-timer doing workshop type of training, support from Splended was really helping to make participants learn. I’ve only held some conference talks and clinics before so this was valuable, comments Juho.

At Splended workshops you are encouraged to ask questions, share your own experiences, or simply follow along as you learn about some of the most common challenges and best practices for creating applications to the public cloud. The training was offered for the first time earlier this year and proved to be a success. Here’s what a participant thought about it:

The training was a good overall introduction to GCP and gave some good info on Go also with interesting items that I was not aware of. It was good to create one sample application and then replatform it and eventually add more cloud native functionality like the Pub/Sub.

This two-day workshop helps participants to get started with application modernisation for a successful cloud strategy. The feedback we received was very positive, both from Juho and the participants. Some participants commented how the training was very relevant to the projects they carry out in their company. We could see how the team started testing and developing applications already during the training. We had a lot of fun running the training, and seeing the team become more confident at utilizing public cloud and creating applications that run there.

Are you planning to start utilizing cloud environments? Let us teach you how.

When we are developing a new product or continuously improving an existing one, a lot of co-operation and communication is required for success. Communication and joint co-operation practices should bring clarity and bring all the makers, doers and leaders together. Do we understand the direction we are heading in a similar way and do we see the big picture from our silos? Are we using the right measures? These are common considerations of product management.

Splended trainers

To better equip team leads in their challenges, we have built a product management training together with Marko Oksanen from Coventures. Marko has brought his extensive experience from product management, which is then built in the form of the dialogue-based training, where one can apply recent knowledge and practices to one’s own work context.

”A shared understanding can really make interactive situations more productive”, says Marko Oksanen, a Splended coach and CEO of Coventures who is happy to share his insights on product management and who has previously been cooperating with Aalto-University and now with Splended.

The training we built together covers product discovery methods and increases understanding of the business context and customer focus. After the training participants know how to use communication tools skillfully and are able to understand the product management process as a joint organizational process. They will also know how to act confidently outside silos when developing a product. Training will help every participant to understand the importance of their roles – be the title then designer, developer or CTO.

Training should meet real needs

Our latest product management training was tailored to the people from New Things Co. They view it important to continuously develop their people, so that they can better support their customers. The product management for developers training was tailored to their purposes.

Our training with Coventures can be tailored to different groups. The best results can be achieved when there is diversity in the group (e.g. product managers, product owners, developers, designers). Working with a professional who is doing the work themselves, can open up new perspectives on how to speed up our own learning and the way we process information both during and after the training.

Our training experience is interactive, based on cases and dialogue where you can experience the challenge and solve problems together with your team and the coach. You can take this newly developed knowledge with you once you return back to your desk and put it into use right away. Do you have your product team going in the same direction?

Companies that succeed in integrating and orchestrating their systems and digital processes using APIs usually reap the biggest benefits in the digital market. We all want to be those companies. But to develop the understanding and skill to maneuver all this in the most agile way possible may require some extra help. APIs are a technology but there’s a bigger opportunity to develop for bigger orchestration, creating a way for others to use your data and services. We need to look beyond implementation to enabling building successful systems and collaborations.

If you want to be successful at APIs, look no further. We at Splended have skilled coaches who can not only lead the discussion in training sessions but they can open new perspectives to your individual development agenda.

Miki Wiik, COO and advisor at Wunderdog knows how to enable learning with his vast industry experience.

It’s not just about coding. It’s about dialogue, planning, networking, solving problems together and answering questions that are relevant at that particular moment.

At Splended, we think it’s important to give participants practical tools and confidence to solve their API challenges in their own domains. Hearing how others have approached the same problems offers new insights and adds value in addition to the content discussed in the training sessions. We engage participants in interaction and meaningful activities such as improving the code in pairs or solving development tasks together. 

You want to learn while working on your API project plus network with like-minded colleagues?

Let us integrate you into our Splended community.

If we speak from a PowerPoint to our audience, they will hear it. If we create interactive situations, they will most likely learn it. When we design learner-centric training, it’s important to shift the focus from the trainer to the learners. This means that instead of focusing on delivering content, trainers should create interactions and activities that allow learners to process the new information on their own through dialogue. 

When they do this, they can gain visibility into what is going on in their learning and help facilitate it when needed. Another important factor is to bring variety to the training experience. 

Breaking it into parts

When we have a 75-minute sequence, we can split this into three parts: 1) trainer-led actions, 2) pair activities, and 3) group reflections.

This approach has several advantages. The group is actively solving problems, engaging in learning. They will have an opportunity to exchange ideas and test solutions with each other, and gather knowledge. This also empowers them to take responsibility for their own learning and eventually take ownership of the new knowledge they have built. 

Transparency of thinking

This can be facilitated with digital tools such as Google docs or Slido. For example, the trainer may give a task for the team to solve and they need to write their notes on a shared document. Visibility to the teams’ reasoning and thinking helps the trainer to see where they have been struggling. Shared notes also benefit the team themselves. It’s important to make erroneous thinking visible because that too is part of learning.

We at Splended facilitate social learning with careful learning design. It is important that training is an active and social experience where both confidence and skills grow. 

Tips to making it interactive

• Keep trainer-led actions at 15 minutes max.
• Use joint note-taking activities
• Vary between pair activities and team activities
• Give task options they can choose from
• Listen and encourage questions

Splended helps teams learn together with an experienced trainer. We appreciate a quality learning experience that considers how knowledge is built in interactions, joint problem-solving activities and being guided by true professionals from the field. We coach our trainers with 20+ years of learning design experience that is backed in educational science.

Interested? Let us know.

Our client had identified a skills gap: a couple of Android developers needed to learn Jetpack Compose quickly and they couldn’t find a ready-made solution that would meet their needs. This is where Splended came in with an agile training approach.

In this client case, we worked together with the customer every step of the way starting from making discovery calls to understanding their needs better all the way to designing learning interventions that suited them spot on. We organized coaching sessions in which we demonstrated step by step how to develop skills in practice.

True to our client mission, it’s not enough to help a client to do something – we’ll help them do it better than well! We always help the trainer with our approaches so that they can feel confident in coaching our customers. In this particular success story, Katri Vilonen from Mavericks Software was the lead of this learning intervention. She is a Senior Android Developer who also organizes Google Developer Group meet-ups and inspires young women into the IT industry by helping to organize the Super-Ada events. Katri also teaches Android summer courses at Haaga-Helia.

It was a pleasure working with someone who enjoys experimenting with modern learner-centric ways of teaching as much as Katri. She is one of those Splended trainers who not only know their craft but are also extremely innovative in their approaches to learning. A fun example of this was ‘mob coding’ that she used as a method in this client story. It really seemed to work well.

“I’d be happy to cooperate with Splended again! The people I coached were super nice,”  Katri sums up after her coaching sessions.

We at Splended definitely hope to continue cooperation with Katri in the future as well. Splended solutions are applicable, practical and user-centric.

If you want to know more about our training methods, give us a call!

It’s good to have food for thought and the body as well. This is what happened at our breakfast event where our panelists Mervi Airaksinen (Microsoft), Elina Lankinen (Relex Solutions), Antti Ijäs (Denso) and Jaakko Kotila (WithSecure) shared their insights and experiences on what learning means in their organization. 

Takeaways

Key takeaways from the panel discussion included the need to upskill the existing workforce to remain competitive in the global war for talent. One way to do this is for leaders to have an open dialogue on employee’s skills and meet their learning needs in the constantly changing business environment. This may be challenging in the hybrid world of work but ever so important from the point of view of employee experience. In fact, this is one of the areas that many companies are now investing in to retain talent as traditional compensation methods no longer apply. People want to learn and develop in their work, to have transferable skills and the only way to do this is to be exposed to learning experiences.

We all agreed that learning must happen all the time, it needs to be tailored and support the company strategy. Panelists shared their most memorable learning experiences which included a mob coding with a lead coder, a book club discussing relevant literature, learning how customers in the bank can receive a bank card in 15 minutes straight and gaining perspective through insightful dialogue. 

Splended believes in the power of community and learning in the social space. This is why we bring teams together to engage in activities and dialogue and to share their knowledge in a safe environment. We build confidence with the best trainers but also with our carefully designed training concepts that meet the needs of the participants.

Feedback

Some feedback from the participants:

“Great breakfast, facilities worked well. Perhaps if anything to improve, a little more time could have been spent on audience-panel interaction.”

“A well organised and interesting event. I felt welcomed and there was a relaxed atmosphere. The panel was interesting and the speakers were good. Of course, I would have preferred to go more explicitly into the concrete.”

“The duration of the event was appropriate and the atmosphere was nice and intimate with a smaller group. The dynamics of the panel was excellent and relaxed. The service was also excellent. I would have been happy to attend a similar event for a one-off fee. The topic is so broad that this could be a similar type of event, even quarterly, with a changing panel and different emphasis on the theme, for which you could buy a set of tickets or individual sessions.”

“Well organised, lovely breakfast, great facilities and really good and diverse speakers.”

“Thank you for a nice event. There was a good atmosphere. Suitably long and breakfast time worked well.”

“Inspiring, thought-provoking, reignited our own motivation, great to hear how we all revolve around the same questions and how much we can learn from each other in our encounters. More of these. Thank you!”

“Great panelists, great breakfast and a good time to network and discuss. Could well have our own themes in the future around the same topic.”

Pictures from the breakfast session can be found on our Instagram page.

Would you be interested in joining our next breakfast event? Drop us a line.

When I type in Splended, my computer keeps autocorrecting it ‘splendid’ which according to the dictionary means ‘magnificent and very impressive’. Although not heard phonetically, the word itself includes ‘-ed’ in its end, implying our education business. 

Learn from the best with your peers

Our mission is to be a high-quality pro-to-pro training agency who employs the best domain experts from the field and designs meaningful learning experiences for our customers. By sharing knowledge of the best digital professionals, we help develop digital competencies
and create a better digital world through continuous learning.

We want to bridge the skills gap by training professionals in the digital transformation space be it in technologies, business or design. Our training concepts help boost the employee experience, keep talent in the house and support professional growth with relevant, timely and applicable training.

Immediate takeaways

We all acknowledge that learning is important but investing time and energy may sometimes be challenging. We get this. Our trainings are designed to cause minimal disruption to the workflow yet bring maximum learning impact. For example, we offer interactive workshops, coaching sessions, short webinars and case-based learning for learning cohorts from various organizations. We believe in learning from the best in the field and learning together.

We want teams to become confident, skilled and well equipped to embrace the digitized world. We can make career dreams come true with our practical approaches: if you want to get those challenging IT projects or deepen your T- or M-shaped skill set, we’re here for you.

The people behind Splended are Vesa Härkönen and Marjut Sadeharju. You can also read about our story in a Fusion Ecosystem blog post.

What are you going to learn next?