Thriving to Be Learn-It-Alls: Learning Culture at Microsoft

Director of Eng. Learning at Microsoft, Chris Shaffer, shared how he has helped the company shape its strong learning culture throughout his 30+ years of experience with the org.

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Insights from Tech Enablement program leaders at the most innovative companies and enterprises. These are their stories.

 

    Onboarding

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    The 8 Best Practices on Engineering Onboarding you Should Know in 2022

    Some of the most significant companies in tech share how they go about getting their new hires off on the best possible footing.

    The Framework Microsoft Uses to Onboard 1,200 Engineers per Month

    How Microsoft takes aim at providing a common way of assessing the onboarding programs at Microsoft using defined standards, terminology, and guidelines.

    How Carbon Health Scaled Technical Onboarding During the Pandemic

    Learn how Carbon Health implemented a technical onboarding program to scale 5 engineers to over 90 engineers in support of frontline medical staff.

    Creating Psychological Safety at Slack During Remote Engineering Onboarding

    Benji Shine from Slack explains how to offer engineers psychological support through the onboarding process

    5 Ways Salesforce Manages Tech L&D for 18,000+ Engineers With PlusPlus

    Marika Spediacci spoke about how she is able to offer and manage hundreds of classes every quarter, for 4 different organizations at Salesforce.

    How Uber Scales Remote Engineering Onboarding Globally

    Cameron Breen at Uber explained how his team developed a consistent global onboarding experience for engineering team members learning remotely.

    How LinkedIn Reconfigured Their Bootcamp to Remote-First in 3 Days

    LinkedIn’s technical training team shared how they successfully adapted their classroom technical onboarding program to remote learning in 3 days.

    How Visa Redesigned Instructor-Led Training for a Virtual World

    Sravani Tammiraju and Matt Peters from Visa University explained how they redesigned their ILT for a virtual world.

    At the Frontier of Design Thinking for Technical Learning with Ray Kung

    To stay competitive and achieve growth in today's rapidly changing world, nearly every business these days needs to regularly integrate new technologies.

    Taking a holistic approach at Twitter University with Simeon Franklin of Twitter

    Simeon Franklin from Twitter talks about how you can step up and provide leadership that can have a huge impact beyond your initial scope.

    The power of feedback and metrics at LinkedIn with Rajon Tumbokon

    Rajon Tumbokon from LinkedIn talks about what they learned from feedback and metrics that led to redesigning their new hire ‘bootcamp’.

    Collaborative Learning

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    Lessons From Scaling Uber’s Machine Learning Program

    How Uber delivers ML educational resources to Engineers, Applied Scientists, TPMs, and PMs across the globe.

    Effective Workshops: 5 Tips From Splunk’s EngProd Team

    Splunk's Engineering Productivity team explained how their tech enablement efforts help manage operations better and increase engineering efficiency.

    How Twitter University Inspired Tech Enablement

    By empowering internal people easily teach one another, Twitter University allowed Twitter to create a strong culture of learning company-wide.

    Collaborative Learning is Helping Spotify Speed Up Innovation

    Spotify shares how they creates a collaborative environment through peer-to-peer learning to speed up their innovation.

    Peer Learning Framework Step 6: Rinse & Repeat

    As you scale up your learning program, you’ll run into issues. These are good problems to have. Here, we’ve outlined a few helpful cases to keep in mind.

    Peer Learning Framework Step 5: Measure

    By now you have a rich calendar of learning events. Training is happening. How do you know if it’s working?

    Peer Learning Framework Step 4: Promote

    How best to promote internal courses and learning events that help unblock your people.

    Peer Learning Framework Step 3: Show & Tell

    There are pain points in your organization. And there are people who can share best practices that would help others. These people are your heroes.

    Peer Learning Framework Step 2: Creating Heroes

    Experts are rarely acknowledged. This is a mistake. Here's how to celebrate them and promote their invaluable know-how.

    Peer Learning Framework Step 1: Uncover the Pain

    Internal systems are aren't always clear. That tool or process lacks easy-to-find documentation. So, how do you uncover these pain points?

    Peer Learning Framework: Overview

    Peer Learning Framework is the best practices to create a culture of learning in your organization. This framework came out of building Twitter University.

    Netflix Shares Their Internal Training Checklists

    Jasmine Robinson from Netflix shares how they empower their subject-matter-experts as instructors to deliver effective workshops.

    How Netflix Studios Adds Human Touch to Blended Learning Experience with PlusPlus

    Netflix found out that to truly operate at scale, they needed to add back a missing ingredient, one that's seemingly the least-scalable—the human touch.

    Engineering Ways to Close the Knowledge Gaps at LinkedIn

    Narsi Nagampalli and Sandi Friend from LinkedIn shared the methods their team is using to close the knowledge gap for engineers.

    How a Dojo Differs from Traditional Training

    Learn how learning leaders could apply the ancient concept of a dojo to accelerate knowledge sharing across their organizations.

    How Shopify Transitioned to Delivering Workshops Remotely

    Kate Brennan from Shopify spoke about transforming their in-person workshops into meaningful remote experiences.

    How Cruise Uses Standard Story Construction to Train Subject Matter Experts

    Stuart Collins from Cruise explains how learning professionals can use standard story construction to train SMEs to share knowledge.

    How Twitter University Scaled Peer Learning for Engineers

    Saša Gargenta explains how his team grew to include over 200 engineer instructors who both teach and facilitate learning.

    How Expedia Group Scales Train the Trainer for Engineers

    Rebecca Shepherd describes how her team developed an ‘Instructor Academy’ to help scale learning at Expedia Group.

    Staying in the Know at Any Distance: 3 actions you can take now to keep your team learning

    This socially-distanced way of working has been so effective that the tech world is making it semi-permanent.

    How Lyft Achieves Classroom Quality in Remote Learning

    As onboarding has shifted online for many companies, Lyft want to make remote onboarding the best product ever!

    How Twitter Enables Peer Instructors in a Remote-First Environment

    Here is what Twitter University had to say about effective peer-to-peer teaching and learning in a remote-first work environment.

    Jumpstart Your Training Program with Values-Based Learning

    Kelly Scanlan from Box shared how she managed to take a Box certification program from an NPS of 0 to NPS of 67 in just six short months.

    At the Frontier of Design Thinking for Technical Learning with Ray Kung

    To stay competitive and achieve growth in today's rapidly changing world, nearly every business these days needs to regularly integrate new technologies.

    So You’ve Built a Peer-to-Peer Learning Program… Now What?

    Katie Hawkes & Simeon Franklin of Twitter Have 3 Tips to Keep the Momentum Going.

    Balancing Peer-to-Peer Learning with External Conferences at SSENSE

    Tuan Bach from SSENSE has noticed that peer-to-peer learning not only improves employees’ skills but also boosts productivity and motivation. 

    How to spin up and scale up learning in your organization

    Learning is a means to helping people have the right skills. We're able to give our employees the right set of tools to learn and grow in their fields.

    Tech Enablement Insights

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    Measuring the Effectiveness of Training Engineering Teams

    Learn the best practices around measuring the success and effectiveness of your tech enablement programs.

    Thriving to Be Learn-It-Alls: Learning Culture at Microsoft

    Director of Eng. Learning at Microsoft, Chris Shaffer, shared how he has helped the company shape its strong learning culture throughout his 30+ years of experience with the org.

    The Story of SSENSE: From eTailer to a Tech-Enabled Company

    Learn how SSENSE scaled from 40 to 250 engineers, transitioning into a tech-enabled company.

    Lessons From Scaling Uber’s Machine Learning Program

    How Uber delivers ML educational resources to Engineers, Applied Scientists, TPMs, and PMs across the globe.

    Expert Advice On Designing Mentorship and Coaching Programs

    Learn how L&D experts at LinkedIn, Instacart, DropBox, and Expedia Group handle mentorship and coaching.

    What HubSpot Does Differently to Keep Talent Motivated

    Leadership Development partner at HubSpot, Stephanie McClellan shares the manager's role in engaging and retaining talent.

    Peloton’s Evolution from Tech Learning into Tech Enablement

    Tech Learning Lead at Peloton, Thansha Sadacharam shares how they ensure a great developer experience.

    Salesforce’s Paul Eldridge Wants Technical Training That’s Made for the Real World

    Senior TPM at Salesforce, Paul Eldrige, shares thoughts on where the cloud learning industry needs to go next.

    From Silos to Shared Understanding – Lessons from Early Java at Schwab

    Read Ron’s story of how he up-leveled engineers knowledge at during his Charles Schwab days.

    Maximizing Software Development Productivity

    Krishna Kumar and Mickey Mantle discuss the latest exploration in how leading companies are building highly resilient teams that deliver better value.

    Avoiding Death by a 1,000 Cuts – Lessons from Scaling Twitter Engineering

    The exponential growth of organizational drag can sometimes mean that further staffing will create problems at a greater rate than it solves them.

    Why Hiring More Is Slowing You Down – Lessons from Early Days at Facebook

    Those days were marked by a style summarized by the company’s notorious compass: Move Fast and Break Things. This approach worked… until it didn’t.

    The Autodesk Manager Development Program Playbook v. 2.0

    Autodesk shares how they created a technical manager development program that relied on the power of group mentorship cohorts.

    Developing Software Leaders: Best Practices for Making Software Development Hum

    Managing programmers is hard. Ron Lichty shares success as a software developer vs what it takes to be a software manager.

    Netflix Shares Their Internal Training Checklists

    Jasmine Robinson from Netflix shares how they empower their subject-matter-experts as instructors to deliver effective workshops.

    Scaling Knowledge Sharing: Creating and Maintaining Programs

    LinkedIn, Twitter, and Shopify discuss several challenges teams face when they scale, facilitate, and maintain their knowledge sharing programs.

    5 Ways LinkedIn Unlocked Knowledge Sharing at Scale for 6,000+ Engineers With PlusPlus

    Learn how Sandi Friend from LinkedIn has created and managed training programs for over 6,000+ engineers.

    5 Ways Kia Motors America Democratized Its Learning Culture for 5,000+ Employees With PlusPlus

    Kia Motors America needed a system to limit administrative and manual processes as much as possible. That’s why they implemented PlusPlus.

    5 Ways Salesforce Manages Tech L&D for 18,000+ Engineers With PlusPlus

    Marika Spediacci spoke about how she is able to offer and manage hundreds of classes every quarter, for 4 different organizations at Salesforce.

    How GitHub Brings Community Together During Uncertain Times

    GitHub describes how the company prioritizes a remote-first environment and brings their community together to support learning and growth.

    How Shopify Solves Remote-First L&D Problems

    Here is what Shopify had to say about the tools and processes that are needed to solve remote-first learning & development challenges.

    Mentorship & Coaching

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    Expert Advice On Designing Mentorship and Coaching Programs

    Learn how L&D experts at LinkedIn, Instacart, DropBox, and Expedia Group handle mentorship and coaching.

    How Autodesk Relies on Group Mentoring to Empower Their Technical Managers

    Autodesk shares how they came up with a technical manager development program that relied on the power of group mentorship cohorts.

    Building a Mentoring Program That Runs Itself and Scales

    One conversation can change everything. Blocked? Need a fresh set of eyes from someone who’s been there before? A teammate will have the answers.

    Walking the Talk at Airbnb: When Your Product Changes Your Culture

    Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb shares how their product shaped their mission.

    How Dropbox is Democratizing and Scaling Coaching

    Here is what Justin McSharry, Dropbox’s Global Head of Leadership Development, had to say about democratizing and scaling coaching.

    How to Grow Your People: Creating Cultures of Fulfillment with Peer Coaching and Real-Time Feedback

    Nathanael Chawkin shares how create cultures of fulfillment with peer coaching and real-time feedback.

    Three Steps to Launching a Peer Mentorship Program

    Growing organizations grow their people. The surprise is ‘how’ and ‘where’ you find and build the ‘personal growth culture’ for your organization.

    Democratizing Coaching at Shopify

    How Shopify built and scaled Coaches Corner, with René Moortgat

    Growing headcount?

    Learn from what’ve built for leading companies. Faster onboarding, team alignment, and meaningful engagement.

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    Culture

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    Thriving to Be Learn-It-Alls: Learning Culture at Microsoft

    Director of Eng. Learning at Microsoft, Chris Shaffer, shared how he has helped the company shape its strong learning culture throughout his 30+ years of experience with the org.

    What HubSpot Does Differently to Keep Talent Motivated

    Leadership Development partner at HubSpot, Stephanie McClellan shares the manager's role in engaging and retaining talent.

    How Twitter University Inspired Tech Enablement

    By empowering internal people easily teach one another, Twitter University allowed Twitter to create a strong culture of learning company-wide.

    Agile Instructional Design at LinkedIn to Create Engaging Courses

    LinkedIn shares how their team incorporates methodologies to their instructional design process for useful eng training experiences.

    Collaborative Learning is Helping Spotify Speed Up Innovation

    Spotify shares how they creates a collaborative environment through peer-to-peer learning to speed up their innovation.

    Peer Learning Framework: Overview

    Peer Learning Framework is the best practices to create a culture of learning in your organization. This framework came out of building Twitter University.

    Netflix Shares Their Internal Training Checklists

    Jasmine Robinson from Netflix shares how they empower their subject-matter-experts as instructors to deliver effective workshops.

    How Shopify Empowers Globally Distributed Employee Communities

    Since Shopify went 100% remote, their Latinx ERG at Shopify created a vibrant globally-distributed virtual community to help support and engage employees.

    How Netflix Studios Adds Human Touch to Blended Learning Experience with PlusPlus

    Netflix found out that to truly operate at scale, they needed to add back a missing ingredient, one that's seemingly the least-scalable—the human touch.

    Engineering Ways to Close the Knowledge Gaps at LinkedIn

    Narsi Nagampalli and Sandi Friend from LinkedIn shared the methods their team is using to close the knowledge gap for engineers.

    How Twitter University Scaled Peer Learning for Engineers

    Saša Gargenta explains how his team grew to include over 200 engineer instructors who both teach and facilitate learning.

    How Square Set L&D Focus Areas in a Time of Ambiguity with Oliver Liao

    Here, Oliver Liao, learning and development lead at Square, explains how his team found their focus during a challenging year.

    How to Future-Proof Your Org Through Learning Ecosystems with Mike Hruska

    Mike Hruska from Allen Interactions shares a series of tools organizations can use to transform their L&D processes proactively.

    How Twitter Ignited a Culture of Learning: An Interview with Marko Gargenta, co-architect of Twitter University

    Here we explore the genesis of Twitter University from Marko Gargenta's unique perspective as the entrepreneur who brought it to them.

    Walking the Talk at Airbnb: When Your Product Changes Your Culture

    Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb shares how their product shaped their mission.

    Staying in the Know at Any Distance: 3 actions you can take now to keep your team learning

    This socially-distanced way of working has been so effective that the tech world is making it semi-permanent.

    How Lyft Achieves Classroom Quality in Remote Learning

    As onboarding has shifted online for many companies, Lyft want to make remote onboarding the best product ever!

    How Visa Redesigned Instructor-Led Training for a Virtual World

    Sravani Tammiraju and Matt Peters from Visa University explained how they redesigned their ILT for a virtual world.

    How Microsoft Measures Learning Culture and Barriers

    Here is what Justin McSharry, Dropbox’s Global Head of Leadership Development, had to say about democratizing and scaling coaching.

    How Microsoft Promotes a Remote-First Culture

    Microsoft has about 150,000 employees. Moving the entire ship, especially to an entirely virtual experience, is challenging.

    How Shopify Solves Remote-First L&D Problems

    Here is what Shopify had to say about the tools and processes that are needed to solve remote-first learning & development challenges.

    Jumpstart Your Training Program with Values-Based Learning

    Kelly Scanlan from Box shared how she managed to take a Box certification program from an NPS of 0 to NPS of 67 in just six short months.

    3 Steps to Drive Adoption of a New Cultural Concept

    How Haidee Thanda & Andrew Barrett Introduced PlusPlus and Peer-to-Peer Learning at Shopify.

    Inclusion & Economic Efficiency Go Hand-in-Hand for Jen Gilbert, Tech Learning Manager at Lyft

    Jen Gilbert from Lyft has spent the past year creating an onboarding program that sets their entire engineering team up for success.

    3 Ways to Foster a Learning Environment in Your Engineering Team

    How do you build an environment that fosters learning at your company? Author and Consultant Ron Lichty explains.

    How to spin up and scale up learning in your organization

    Learning is a means to helping people have the right skills. We're able to give our employees the right set of tools to learn and grow in their fields.

    Why is Creating a Learning Environment Essential for Technical Teams?

    How do you maintain a learning environment going forward? Ron Lichty, consultant and former Apple team lead, explains.

    How to get experts to share their knowledge

    People naturally want to share their skills with fellow coworkers. Often, they don’t think they know how. It turns out that a bit of a system can help.

    Empowering the organization with Nazhat Salim of Credit Karma

    Nazhat Salim from Credit Karma shares how the Talent Development team created and continues to evolve Credit Karma University.

    Adult development theory and leadership effectiveness with Jessica Amortegui of Logitech

    Jessica Amortegui from Logitech created the Leadership Leap program, which offers an innovative approach to leadership development.

    Applying positive psychology to business with Keith Gatto of UC Berkeley

    Keith Gatto describes how he has applied psychology to a business context to create positive work cultures where innovation can flourish.

    The power of feedback and metrics at LinkedIn with Rajon Tumbokon

    Rajon Tumbokon from LinkedIn talks about what they learned from feedback and metrics that led to redesigning their new hire ‘bootcamp’.

    A new approach to leadership development with Victoria Sevilla of VMWare

    Victoria Sevilla describes how her team is changing the way that leadership development is carried out, and the success of their Genius Maker program.

    How L&D can learn from marketing with Ceil Tilney

    L&D professionals today face challenges within a fast-evolving business landscape. We believe the solution may lie in putting the customer first.

    Internal Experts

    View Topic

    Peer Learning Framework: Overview

    Peer Learning Framework is the best practices to create a culture of learning in your organization. This framework came out of building Twitter University.

    How Twitter University Scaled Peer Learning for Engineers

    Saša Gargenta explains how his team grew to include over 200 engineer instructors who both teach and facilitate learning.

    How Twitter Enables Peer Instructors in a Remote-First Environment

    Here is what Twitter University had to say about effective peer-to-peer teaching and learning in a remote-first work environment.

    How to spin up and scale up learning in your organization

    Learning is a means to helping people have the right skills. We're able to give our employees the right set of tools to learn and grow in their fields.

    How to get experts to share their knowledge

    People naturally want to share their skills with fellow coworkers. Often, they don’t think they know how. It turns out that a bit of a system can help.

    All Articles

    Measuring the Effectiveness of Training Engineering Teams

    Learn the best practices around measuring the success and effectiveness of your tech enablement programs.

    Thriving to Be Learn-It-Alls: Learning Culture at Microsoft

    Director of Eng. Learning at Microsoft, Chris Shaffer, shared how he has helped the company shape its strong learning culture throughout his 30+ years of experience with the org.

    The Story of SSENSE: From eTailer to a Tech-Enabled Company

    Learn how SSENSE scaled from 40 to 250 engineers, transitioning into a tech-enabled company.

    Lessons From Scaling Uber’s Machine Learning Program

    How Uber delivers ML educational resources to Engineers, Applied Scientists, TPMs, and PMs across the globe.

    Expert Advice On Designing Mentorship and Coaching Programs

    Learn how L&D experts at LinkedIn, Instacart, DropBox, and Expedia Group handle mentorship and coaching.

    What HubSpot Does Differently to Keep Talent Motivated

    Leadership Development partner at HubSpot, Stephanie McClellan shares the manager's role in engaging and retaining talent.