LERNLUST #37 // User Creation & User Curation

If we knew what we know... These winged words of organizational knowledge management summarize well the relevance of making knowledge and learning visible and sharing it in companies.

This is especially true since new, changed and different topics are emerging in organizations at an ever-faster rate and becoming more important. Knowledge must be available quickly at the right moment. Software applications, such as digital adoption platforms, have long since addressed this issue. And yet, as long as there is a complex editorial process behind it, the need for rapid exchange remains.

Of course, in such cases, collaborative learning and mutual support among colleagues in the work process is not a new phenomenon either. When “content” is created in the process (e.g. a helpful email, a recommendation of an article, a how-to video created on a smartphone and sent via messenger), it is already “user-generated content,” but only two people see it.

How can we ensure that learning and support materials created by users for users can be accessed by all colleagues for whom they are helpful? How can companies use this for corporate learning? How can the advantages of user-generated content be strategically promoted and potential risks minimized?

Shownotes

Host:
Susanne Dube, Teamlead Learning // LinkedIn
Mastodon: @susanne_bbg@norden.social

Guests:
Stephan Hilbrandt, Product Manager tts performance suite // LinkedIn
Johannes Starke, Product Manager Learning // LinkedIn

Gedanken zu Content Curation von Johannes Starke
Gedanken zu Rapid Learning von Johannes Starke

Unternehmen müssen schneller lernen können
Insights von Stephan Hilbrandt zu einem Usecase für User Generated Content

Definition und Hinweise zu User Generated Content (Die Lerndesignkarten)
 

Thematically related episodes of the LERNLUST podcast:
Was zählt is' auf'm Platz - Pascal Guderian & Claudia Schütze
Schnell, schneller, Rapid Learning - Lisa Müller-Gebühr & Susanne Dube

You can also find all episodes of our LERNLUST podcast at:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music | Deezer

LernLust, the podcast for everything related to corporate learning. We are Susanne Dube and Claudia Schütze and we are Learning Consultants at tts. It's great to have you with us today.

[Johannes Starke]
It's never the users' fault. No, it's not just never the users' fault. Users can actively contribute to showing topics and things about which they have the greatest expertise because they are the ones affected.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
I think that whenever employees today can't find content, information, things they want to know right now, and can't access it, then that happens anyway. Then it's an email, then it's a team chat, then it's a phone call to a colleague.

[Susanne Dube]
That's how it is, if you invite two people, then they talk twice as long.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
Yes, but that doesn't even bother me, because I think we see the development in many contexts.

[Susanne Dube]
A lot has happened in the field of further education in recent years. There's no question about that. People like me are no longer the ones who simply build up knowledge quickly in order to pass it on as a multiplier or better mouthpiece.
Rather, I am now helping others to speak for themselves, to share their skills and knowledge themselves. It's a really great thing. User-generated content is like vegetables fresh from the farmer.
It comes straight from the source. It's never the users' fault. The credo of my dear colleague and learning architect Johannes Starke may change a little to: the user takes responsibility. 
Together with Johannes and our product manager for the Digital Adoption Solution, Stephan Hilbrand, I am finding out exactly what user-generated content is, what makes it so valuable, what opportunities and perhaps also challenges lie in the fact that learning content and maintenance are in the hands of the user.

Welcome, dear Stephan, welcome, dear Johannes.
Today with me on the Lernlust sofa. We have a very, very exciting topic, on which you, Stephan, are the expert – namely user-generated content.
Say hello briefly.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
Yes, hello everyone. It's great to be a guest here today.

[Susanne Dube]
Gladly, gladly. And you, Johannes, are the one with us who always deals with all topics very broadly, which is why you have been on our Lernlust podcast so often.

Tell us, what is your interest in the topic of user-generated content?

[Johannes Starke]
Hello everyone. Yes, exactly. I obviously have something to say about everything.

Thank you for having me. It's great to have you here, Stephan.

But the question was what interests us about user-generated content, right?

[Susanne Dube]
Yes, I thought you could sort of sort that out a bit, what interests you about the topic.

[Johannes Starke]
Exactly, what interests me most is that user-generated content is created by the users themselves. You know my mantra: it's never the users' fault! What's more, they can actively contribute to making their expertise visible and spreading their knowledge within the company.

[Susanne Dube]
I think it's really exciting that you bring this up! I just read a blog post of yours about this recently, which I'll be happy to link to.

[Susanne Dube]
Before we go any deeper – and I realize that I may have two professionals at the table here – we should briefly clarify for our listeners: What exactly is user-generated content, and what is it perhaps not? Stephan, as our professed professional, I would say you start.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
That depends a little on how much background you want to cover. The term user-generated content probably originated with Web 2.0 and the social web – when content was no longer created by just a few, but the general public gained access to publish content themselves. Whether it was via blogs, platforms like YouTube or podcasts – suddenly everyone could enrich the internet with their own content.

This idea is increasingly being transferred to the corporate context: employees can not only consume learning and knowledge content, but also actively contribute to sharing and disseminating knowledge. That's exactly what user-generated content means to me – the opportunity for everyone in the company to share their knowledge and content with colleagues and make it visible.

[Johannes Starke]
Now that you mention it, Stephan – that's actually surprisingly late, isn't it? The term *Web 2.0* has almost retro charm by now. That was about ten years ago, wasn't it?

That was when we started to make ourselves visible on the internet and share content. It is only in recent years that more and more companies have been following suit and transferring this potential from the private sphere to the corporate context. At the same time, there is almost a backlash in some areas of the general internet world. 

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
Yes, but that doesn't bother me at all. We see it in many areas: what is quickly adopted and tried out in society at large is often viewed with caution and reservation in the corporate context. A period of trial and error takes place first. This time lag is almost natural – so I'm not surprised that a good ten years or more have passed in this area.

[Susanne Dube]
Could it be because the topics of user-generated content and user curation arose almost simultaneously in the corporate context, because more trust was placed in maintenance? Can you explain the two terms to me again in more detail? What is curation, what is generation? Curation is maintenance, and generation is the creation of content. How do these two concepts differ in the corporate context?

[Johannes Starke]
You mentioned the blog post I wrote yesterday because I am very concerned about the topic of curation at the moment. It is actually a fluid transition. Good content curation includes strong elements of self-creation, because curation doesn't just mean collecting links and sharing them without comment. Rather, it is about enriching things with meaning. Therefore, content curation can be a good introduction to user-generated content, because we build on existing content, bring it into the company, enrich it with meaning, make it usable and share it again. The principles that we practice in content curation are very helpful for creating user-generated content.

[Susanne Dube]
And the more I then add of my own knowledge and materials, the more I am also involved in user-generated content.

[Johannes Starke]
Exactly. One principle that I find essential in content curation is Harold Jarche's Seek-Sense-Share model, which has a great influence on me and which I have often mentioned in podcast episodes. It assumes that we find something interesting in the wide world, often by chance, and then bring it into our company, communities or teams. There we enrich it with content – that's sense-making. We process it so that it becomes relevant and useful in a specific work context. Finally, we share it so that it actually reaches the colleagues for whom it is intended. This creates a cycle that applies to both content curation and user-generated content. 

[Susanne Dube]
I was just about to say that. Stephan, is it somehow different with user-generated content, or what do you see as the special feature of it?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
Yes, I think the distinction between generation and curation is primarily a demarcation between sharing existing content within the company – as Johannes says, by enriching and linking it with context to make it useful for colleagues – and the actual creation of new content. For me, creation goes beyond just sharing links. When I prepare and link new content instead of just sharing links, that's when the content process begins for me. For me, pure link sharing remains more of a form of curation in which a certain goal is always pursued, even if it depends heavily on the medium as to how effective the curating can be.

[Susanne Dube]
I have an idea right now that goes a little bit in a different direction. But Johannes, you were just about to say something about it.

[Johannes Starke]
Exactly, Stephan, you brought it up: when I receive a link from a colleague, I assume that this link is relevant because it comes from someone with whom I work and who shares similar work contexts. This is an important point for both curation and creation. By the way, thank you for the word “creation”; it's really elegant. The trusted source from whom I receive something plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of user-generated content. The mere fact that it comes from a colleague is reason enough for me to take a look at it.

[Susanne Dube]
When a colleague sends me a link or content, it is initially detached from any social network or software that exists on my computer. I wonder whether that is really what I mean by user-created, user-generated or user-curated content, or whether I don't rather expect something more sorted. Perhaps that is precisely why companies need to think about it today – there are just so many things that colleagues want to share.

[Susanne Dube]
There is so much knowledge among employees that wants to be shared and passed on, and maybe that needs to be built into a structure. Could that be the reason why we are dealing with user-generated content right now, or am I completely off track?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
I think we are dealing with it right now because in the last two, three, four years we have felt more acutely how quickly changes can affect companies and how quickly they can impact individual workplaces. These were not only self-induced changes from within the company, but also external events such as the Corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which have forced companies to change. In such cases, you can't react fast enough if you don't rely on a part of your own organization that can actively help. And that usually happens very willingly if the appropriate structure and the right content are available. Otherwise, we can't keep up with the speed of change.

[Johannes Starke]
I absolutely agree, Stephan. Even though the example of the corona lockdowns came suddenly and unexpectedly, it perfectly illustrates the importance of content created by those who actually know. It's also about making the work transparent: How do I deal with the situation? How do I solve it? Informal support structures have always existed in companies when colleagues help each other with problems. But making these structures more transparent and scalable, so that a reply email not only reaches the questioner but also 20 other employees who have the same problem, is crucial. These are precisely the situations in which user-generated content becomes particularly helpful – when things change quickly and there are no formal options yet to absorb these changes.

[Susanne Dube]
Exactly, maybe as a specific example: as someone who had already experienced virtual training and working in virtual environments before the pandemic, I was suddenly able to help many colleagues with tips. It became a self-perpetuating process because tools were brought to me and an exchange was created. I didn't know all the tools, but I was able to categorize them differently than someone who was completely new to the subject. This was very important in the situation two years ago.

[Susanne Dube]
Now a very, very heretical question from today's world.

If AI delivers content so quickly, it really raises the question of whether we still need user-generated content at all. But I think the big difference is that while AI can deliver quick, often very precise answers, it lacks the context and personal experience that humans bring to the table. User-generated content often provides a deeper, more practical perspective that AI cannot deliver – especially when it comes to situation-specific knowledge or internal processes. AI can be supportive, but the personal input and expertise of employees is still indispensable.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
I agree with you. Humans are currently still more flexible and faster in responding to new or specific challenges, especially when it comes to very current or company-specific information that AI has not yet captured. While AI can be helpful with general, recurring topics, humans remain the deciding factor in dynamic, fast-changing areas, especially with new legal or company-internal developments. In this respect, user-generated content remains important for providing truly up-to-date and contextual knowledge.

[Johannes Starke]
You've touched on an important point. The flood of content generated by AI – whether inaccurate, manipulative or simply irrelevant – makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish between truly useful and trustworthy information and less valuable content. User-generated content has clear advantages here: it comes from the actual work context, is created by real people who stand behind the topic, and is generally much more credible. Especially in a world that is increasingly flooded with AI and automated content, this authenticity and relevance of content becomes all the more valuable.

[Susanne Dube]
I didn't want to go into too much detail, we can discuss that elsewhere. I would have arguments for it, but I'm with you at this point: we need people because we are the first to experience change. It's about sharing current knowledge, categorizing it and making it usable for colleagues.

[Johannes Starke]
Exactly, I would like to add that the term “content” is often seen in a narrower sense in the context of user-generated content. Traditionally, content is understood as a unidirectional medium – content is created and consumed on the other side. User-generated content expands this concept because it shows how employees work in the company. Artefacts that arise during work are shared because someone thinks that they could also be of interest to others. This makes the work process transparent and goes beyond the classic idea of content.

[Susanne Dube]
Stephan, would you say that user-generated content also arises in corporate networks like Teams or Yammer (now Viva Engage)? Or in external networks like Mastodon, Twitter or LinkedIn? Do you think that this falls under user-generated content or do you see it differently?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
I think that platforms like Yammer, which replicate social networks, are definitely a breeding ground for user-generated content. I would consider Teams more of a collaboration platform than a content tool. But to make user-generated content truly useful for the company, a certain amount of curation is required. A simple Yammer post is often not enough. It takes someone who organizes this content and makes it accessible to the company so that it can be easily retrieved later. This is where the combination of content creation and curation comes into play, which should ideally take place centrally in the company.

[Susanne Dube]
From a company perspective, this means that if I want to rely on user-generated or user-curated content, I have to be really open and trust in the knowledge of my employees. Instead of always distributing everything top-down, I want to take advantage of the benefits that we can discuss in more detail in a moment.

[Susanne Dube]
What would a strategy of this kind look like for a company that wants to promote user-generated content? How should a company be structured that actively seeks to support user-generated content?

[Johannes Starke]
A company should start by finding out where content is already being created that is not yet accessible to others. For example, what is shared today via e-mail could tomorrow be shared in an enterprise social network like Yammer or on an official intranet. The first step would be to organize the collaboration in such a way that as many people as possible can benefit from the content created.

Then we need structures in which people can create and provide content without official mandates. We need to create opportunities to generate and share trustworthy content without hierarchies or other restrictions getting in the way. We need to create spaces in which content can be securely created and shared.

[Susanne Dube]
I find it fascinating how you describe the secure creation of content and say that official mandates don't help. I would like to go into this in more detail, even though I have a vague fear of letting everything run in the area of user-generated content.

[Johannes Starke]
Sorry to interrupt again. A slightly different approach: content always sounds so difficult, like an official document. Many companies now practice forms of collaboration in which expertise is valued by many, regardless of official titles. These are Barcamps or initiatives such as Fridays for Learning at tts, LEX at Telekom or “Wenn DATEV wüsste, was DATEV weiß” at DATEV. Here colleagues share their knowledge, and the focus is not on the content, but on the way they work together.

[Susanne Dube]
I find it exciting that you see it that way, because I've always viewed user-generated content more as a separate entity, like small guides or documents. But now you see it much more broadly.

[Johannes Starke]
You had asked how companies can proceed to implement a user-generated content strategy.

[Susanne Dube]
What you just mentioned are the first steps towards becoming a company in which user-generated content can be created, stored and used.

[Johannes Starke]
Exactly. The content that is created is not the primary focus. We record our Fridays for Learning sessions and store them as videos. It's more about positioning ourselves, making ourselves visible and gaining trust, even if a mistake happens.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
The issue of trust is crucial. Susanne, you have concerns about how this could work without hierarchies. But if employees can't find information, it will happen anyway – whether it's by email, team chat or phone call. At that moment, the company no longer has hierarchical information sovereignty. So why not make the content accessible to everyone?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
A significant error would be more likely to be noticed if the content is publicly accessible, and the feedback would come faster. In a personal dialog, no one would correct the error. The content is there anyway and is shared – the technical possibilities only make it more visible and make it easier to correct errors.

Susanne Dube:
It's interesting that you bring that up – it brings us to the opportunities and risks of user-generated content. We've already mentioned one part of it. If you agree, I'd like to start with the positive aspects. To summarize, from your different perspectives: Stephan, based on your professional role, and Johannes, based on your interest in user-curated content. What do you think are the biggest opportunities for companies to be found in making greater use of user-generated content? Where is it worthwhile and where are the opportunities?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
We have already mentioned most of the opportunities: on the one hand, the opportunity to keep pace with the speed of change. On the other hand, participation, i.e. giving employees the chance to be heard and to make their ideas visible. This also gives them a sense of being valued. Another point is to make the implicit knowledge in the company accessible to everyone, which creates a competitive advantage and promotes new ideas. Overall, there are numerous opportunities.

[Susanne Dube]
Exactly, the corrective we just talked about plays an important role. When knowledge is made available to the masses, the masses can critically question it, which can lead to innovation, especially through the discussions that arise from it.

[Johannes Starke]
User-generated content gives us the opportunity to integrate different perspectives on a topic. If only an official content department creates a “truth”, it remains just one view. With user-generated content, we can show several perspectives, especially on controversial topics or those with different positions, and credibly convey that there are different points of view and possibly also a unifying perspective.

[Susanne Dube]
And now I'll move on to the topic of the dangers of user-generated content, which I'd like to discuss.

[Johannes Starke]
Do you want to cover the opportunities a bit more?

[Susanne Dube]
Sure, but you just inspired me. Let's continue with the opportunities first, maybe I'll remember the danger later.

[Johannes Starke]
One example in particular stands out in my mind: Before 2019, I had a project with a customer who installed complex, expensive machines worldwide. The service technicians flew out to the machines alone, and one of the biggest problems was that a lamp was described as pink in the manual, while it actually glowed red. The R&D department couldn't keep up with the fast product cycles, and updates to the manuals were delayed. This is where the advantage of user-generated content became apparent: it enables faster updates without having to go through the long formal process. A simple tip from a colleague, such as “Kick the lamp, then it turns pink again,” helped much faster than an official update.

[Susanne Dube]
That's right. It's exciting.

[Johannes Starke]
Of course, there are many more opportunities. One less obvious one is that experts engage even more intensively with the topic by creating user-generated content.

[Susanne Dube]
Then we would be talking about learning by teaching.

[Johannes Starke]
Exactly, learning by teaching: When I create content that is useful to others, I deal with it more intensively. I also want to make sure that my content stays up to date because my name is attached to it. This motivates me to regularly check whether everything is still correct and promotes a deeper engagement with the topic than with centrally created content.

[Susanne Dube]
This probably works best in large companies with lots of people, because there is a wide variety of topics and interests. In addition, the company can identify clear trends when a lot of employees suddenly turn to a particular topic.

[Johannes Starke]
Interesting insights. Yes, definitely.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
An important aspect is identifying knowledge gaps and trends. If a lot of user-generated content is created at certain points, this could indicate that official information is missing at that point. In such cases, the company should act quickly to disseminate the official information and thus close a knowledge gap. This process also helps to specifically address areas where information is missing when a hierarchical approach is needed again.

[Susanne Dube]
Through our Fridays for Learning or discussions on Yammer, we often get more input for formal training needs. Sometimes these discussions lead to topics that we can then approach in a formalized way and convert into comprehensive offerings. For example, we could offer a structured onboarding for newbies that gives them a good start in the company without having to work their way through all the content.

[Johannes Starke]
Exactly, user-generated content promotes the visibility of pressing issues and knowledge carriers. It increases the density of networks in the company, making it more resilient and adaptable. If knowledge carriers are unavailable, others can take over. It also helps with the shortage of skilled workers by passing on the knowledge of experts who will eventually leave the company. All these are opportunities offered by user-generated content.

[Susanne Dube]
Very exciting, but I notice how the word “but” keeps popping up in my head when we're discussing many of these points. Stephan, I'm a bit of a heretic when I'm talking to Johannes, you'll just have to go with it. But if you see another opportunity that we haven't discussed yet, we can also take a very structured approach.

Stephan Hilbrandt:
I think we can happily move on to your “buts”, because maybe we can identify new opportunities through the “buts”. Many of the “buts” can be easily refuted.

Susanne Dube:
I hope so, definitely! I still have two “buts”. The last one concerns the swirling mass of employees in the company. There are the innovators and early adopters, but also those who are more reserved. My concern is that the loud ones are constantly speaking, while the quiet ones, as knowledge carriers, remain in the background. Who participates in Fridays for Learning or posts on social networks? Am I not creating a two-tier society of expertise?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
This is primarily a question of the chosen platform. How strongly is the content linked to the people? In social networks, including enterprise social networks, the focus is often on the person's name and face. But it is also possible to create platforms that emphasize the what and why in order to promote exchange. This allows even reserved people to share their knowledge without having to constantly expose themselves. This creates space for those who do not want to be so visible but can still contribute valuable knowledge. This does not block the sharing of knowledge, but rather enables it on a factual level.

[Susanne Dube]
This could also be a cultural issue. If the corporate culture is such that quieter people sometimes point in the right direction with small posts, it might work well.

[Johannes Starke]
As already mentioned, it takes practice and appropriate structures to promote user-generated content. Moderation can help to ensure visibility. It's not a problem if some voices are louder than others, as long as it's not disruptive. Employees will use the channel to contribute. With the 90-9-1 principle, 90 percent just passively observe, nine percent interact slightly, and only one percent is active.

That's just the way it is.

[Susanne Dube]
Yes, but then only a small, visible mass remains. I like the idea that you, Stephan, had of using a tool that doesn't work like a social network but instead puts the content in the foreground, where everyone can get involved. But it still needs some kind of evaluation to apply the corrective that we mentioned earlier.

Something else occurred to me: when different approaches come up in user-generated content, whether on the social intranet or in another tool, sometimes there's a clash. In the past, someone would have had to put their foot down. Is that counterproductive or sometimes necessary?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
It depends on whether the discussion influences actual action. Such discussions often make a problem visible that would otherwise have remained below the surface. The dispute over different approaches would have been there even without user-generated content, just not so openly. Ultimately, it is a business decision whether a word of power is needed to set a direction or whether the discussion can lead to a fruitful outcome. User-generated content only makes such issues more visible; the decision, however, remains a business one.

[Johannes Starke]
I have the feeling that our conversation often gives the impression that user-generated content is always completely free and that anyone can share anything at any time. In reality, however, it is often used in a highly selective and moderated way. For example, if I create a learning path with content from different knowledge providers, I can specifically select the voices that fit the learning objective. This problem doesn't arise. There are different types of user-generated content, and when considering the risks, we should not only look at the dynamics in enterprise social networks, but also consider the moderated, quality-assured area.

[Susanne Dube]
That's an interesting point you're making. Whenever you say something, it triggers a thought in me – quality assurance.

[Susanne Dube]
How do I ensure the quality of user-generated content? Do I always need someone to monitor it? And what expertise should this person have?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
The question depends heavily on the type of tool. From the perspective of our own tool, I would recommend simply displaying the content initially. Although we offer the option of running content through a quality assurance process before publication, I believe it is often better to rely on collective knowledge. When employees share content, I assume that they have no malicious intentions. If something is wrong, it will quickly come to light.

It helps if someone regularly looks over it and makes suggestions for improvement, but I would initially just leave the content as it is. A formally sophisticated QA process is not absolutely necessary, since most colleagues want to support the company.

[Susanne Dube]
That addresses the fear of loss of control that companies often have when they no longer have control over the shared knowledge.

[Johannes Starke]
It is important to make clear rules in advance and to communicate them, specifying the areas in which user-generated content is desirable and valuable and those in which it is not, especially for topics involving liability issues or safety-related aspects.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
You should always assume that important information is well organized and easy to find, so that no gaps arise that need to be filled by user-generated content. The need for such content usually only arises when you come across a gap, whether through repeated questions or a lack of information. In regulated areas, existing content should be sufficient to provide assistance.

[Susanne Dube]
Couldn't it cause an enormous amount of work if all employees suddenly started to act as a corrective, creating, maintaining and reading content? That would take up a lot of time that would be difficult to control.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
Can you think of an example where employees got lost in tools like a company wiki for days on end, causing production to drop or the social intranet to get out of control? In the press, you tend to hear about cases where people have to spend hours replying to e-mails. But in my experience and in the media, I can't think of any cases where there has been such a loss of productivity. After all, everyone wants to get their work done and fulfill their tasks, not just clock off.

[Susanne Dube]
We'll assume that you all want that.

[Johannes Starke]
Absolutely. In my experience, it's more the case that the user-generated content approach fails when employees base their work on the wrong metrics. When they only focus on output and don't have time to document their work properly or support colleagues.

[Susanne Dube]
Yes, it really is a hindrance when people don't take the time.

[Johannes Starke]
If they don't get the time, if they don't have the opportunity or if it's not appreciated.

[Susanne Dube]
Well, if it's not a priority. I don't like talking about people not having the time, but it's not prioritized highly enough.

[Johannes Starke]
Yes, I'm always a bit skeptical about that because it's often framed as an individual deficiency. They don't organize themselves properly...

[Susanne Dube]
That's not what I mean at all. It's a priority, and it doesn't just come from myself, it also comes from me and the company. That doesn't solve it.

[Susanne Dube]
That brings me to my next question: Let's say I assume that our company is already good at sharing information, but I don't know whether all of my colleagues feel the same way. I myself am active on the social intranet, in the Fridays for Learning group, and I do this podcast. I take advantage of all the learning opportunities and enjoy sharing them with others.

Assuming a company doesn't have any of this yet, what would be the first steps in motivating employees to create or curate content? They should listen to our podcast and read your posts, Johannes. Is there anything more they could do?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
If you look at the tool landscape in most companies, you are bound to find something to get you started. There is hardly a larger company that hasn't licensed at least one tool, be it from the Microsoft world or other areas. So I would first look at the options and start initial experiments with the tools available. With the first experiences, you then learn what you specifically need and whether a more specialized tool is required. The hurdles to getting started are low these days, because the possibilities are everywhere – you just have to dare to get started.

[Susanne Dube]
What you are talking about are more technical hurdles. The crucial point, however, is that the company must dare to provide this space that you, Johannes, mentioned. The employees must have the opportunity to trust each other. We were often socialized with the saying “If you have no idea, just shut up.” With user-generated content and the visualization of knowledge, we are working against this slogan. I think that as a company, you have to create a foundation – otherwise it will probably not be a sure-fire success.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
I think that when knowledge gaps become transparent – when I see that information is missing and no one has provided it over a long period of time – it could lead me to share my knowledge even if I don't see myself as an expert. It's true that the reflex “if you don't know, shut up” could be activated, but if no one else fills the gap, why not just share how I solve it? This way, the knowledge gap is closed and nobody gets ahead. So it's about making knowledge gaps and perhaps also underestimated skills visible.

[Johannes Starke]
The question is a bit too big for me, and I would rather leave the topic of courage and trust out. It's about creating structures in which it is possible to share content without danger – supported by careful selection and curation, especially in the beginning. For example, through content that is not formally mandated. Another point could be to initially operate in a community. For example, we have set up Centers of Competence where groups create content together on specific topics. This feels safer than going it alone. You could also use rituals and events to try out what it feels like to become visible – like hackathons to produce content in a safe group. This way you can take your first steps without asking too much courage of individuals.

[Susanne Dube]
Okay, it's exciting and great that you can take it in this way. We've been talking for a very, very long time and I've learned a lot, already today. Maybe just one more thing as a motivating conclusion.

[Susanne Dube]
Do you have a few good examples of user-generated content? Or are you saying, oh no Susanne, let's put it all in the show notes later?

[Johannes Starke]
You've already talked about rapid content production with Lisa in another episode.

[Susanne Dube]
But that wasn't user-generated.

[Johannes Starke]
The mechanisms are not so different. We support experts in creating content quickly and with little effort. If I understood your podcast correctly, a lot changed for the experts when they were able to explain their work in a video in a way that could be understood by those less deeply involved. This shows how knowledge carriers become producers of their own content.

[Susanne Dube]
It is the subject matter experts themselves who speak, and we merely accompany the process. Stephan, do you have an example of this?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
I can agree with the content without giving specific examples, as I don't want to use customer names without prior consultation. But in general, it works well when it comes to producing smaller content pieces in an uncomplicated way, as described in your podcast under Rapid Learning. Especially for content that comes from a hierarchical content creation structure anyway, it makes sense to give subject matter experts the opportunity to publish their knowledge directly.

[Johannes Starke]
Can I add one more thing? Many of our customers are currently introducing Learning Experience Platforms (LXP), which is a big topic. We advise them on how to set up such platforms in a meaningful way and what opportunities they offer learners. Particularly with regard to content creation, we have the mandate to support the Academy in how learning paths are well structured in an LXP. For companies introducing an LXP, this platform provides an optimal tool not only for integrating external content such as LinkedIn Learning or Coursera, but also for easily enabling user-generated content.

[Susanne Dube]
Very nice examples from you. It was a really great conversation for me – I think one of the longest podcasts I've recorded. But when you invite two people, they talk twice as long.

[Johannes Starke]
I hope not quite.

[Susanne Dube]
I hope you were able to take something away with you. Was it okay? Is anything still missing? Then we will probably have to schedule a second conversation. Or do you still have something for our hearing audience?

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
I don't think I'm missing anything. I thought it was a pretty well-rounded thing. From that point of view, Johannes.

[Johannes Starke]
It's good for now. I really like that saying.

[Susanne Dube]
It's very nice. Then I'll say thank you to you both and to the listeners. We'll definitely put some more stuff in the show notes.

Feel free to check them out and have fun. See you next time. Bye.

[Johannes Starke]
Thank you, bye.

[Stephan Hilbrandt]
Thank you.

[Susanne Dube]
By the way, have you subscribed to us yet? You can do that wherever you prefer to listen to your podcasts. We look forward to your feedback and, above all, to interacting with you.

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So feel free to tell us what you like about our podcasts and where we can improve. Until then, I look forward to seeing you in the next episode of the Lernlust Podcast.