Learning & Development

Overview

Purpose

Why we exist: GitLab Talent Development (commonly referred to as “Learning & Development”) exists to enhance team member performance, expand capabilities, and further develop skills that make GitLab team members the top talent in the industry. We strive to foster a culture of continous growth so that GitLab remains a great place to work. Positive impact on team member experience leads to a positive impact on results, which leads to a positive impact on GitLab customers.

Vision

Where are we going: GitLab seeks to be recognized as a top organization for remote learning & development. We aim for a future where everyone contributes to a culture of curiosity.

Mission

What we do: We empower individual contributors and equip leaders through self-service learning. We accomplish a culture of development by:

  • Focusing on skill-based learning
  • Providing resources to improve career mobility
  • Developing learning journeys for teams throughout the organization

Objectives

Performance indicators

  1. Reduce voluntary attrition by 5% each year by measuring exit survey data related to career development
  2. Secure a 5% increase in the Growth & Development category of the annual engagement survey
  3. Increased access to career mobility: internal transfers, promotions, job shadows, intern for learning, and professional development
  4. Clear evidence of best in class remote learning & development (i.e. Brandon Hall Awards, Industry Speaking Events, Thought Leadership articles, etc.)

Principles

  1. Meaningful and relevant content. We deliver learning solutions that help you reach your professional goals.
  2. Values aligned. Our learning solutions reinforce GitLab’s values and foster continuous learning and curiosity.
  3. Diverse approaches to learning. We apply a blended learning model to find solutions to various individual needs.
  4. Community. L&D offerings available to the public so that everyone can contribute.

Learning & Development Team

We are a small team, but we’ve got a big role to play at GitLab!

Team Member Resources

The Learning & Development team has a number of resources to help team members learn new skills. Click the button(s) below to learn more about each one:

Partnerships at GitLab

Multiple teams across the company contribute to learning and development of our team members. Below is a list of some teams we partner with and how we collaborate.

  1. Education Services: Share sustomer & product training with team members on Level Up
  2. Talent Brand: Telling career growth stories
  3. People Operations: Measuring imapct of learning and development on team member engagement
  4. Select Department Subject Matter Experts: Legal, Compliance, and other specific courses

Contact Us

  1. Slack: #learninganddevelopment
  2. Email Us: learning@gitlab.com
  3. Request support/Collaborate on new learning content

Work With Us

The work with us page outlines issue templates and processes that are managed on our Learning and Development issue board. We review and classify requests based on the scalability and possible organizational impact. Learning solutions that can be applied and used company-wide take priority. Our process includes:

  • Evaluate the strategic impact of the learning session
  • Determine the level of work associated with the learning requirement
  • Assess the impacted audience groups of the session
  • Identify measures of success
  • Assess dates of delivery with the course schedule and forecast a future date

How we work

Handbook First Training Content

All material in the handbook is considered training and we build handbook first learning content. One of L&D’s primary responsibilities is to ensure that content lives in the appropriate section in the handbook. In the below video, Sid, explains how the content of courses is not separated from the handbook to the L&D team.

Learning & Development Team Meetings

Meeting Type Cadence/Time Description
1:1 Weekly meeting/40-45 minutes
- 1:1 meeting between direct report and manager of L&D team.
- Topics covered include: task management, career development, performance management, blockers, project updates, brainstorming, coaching, etc.
- During the meeting, if their is an item that requires broader team collaboration it will be added to the bi-weekly team meeting.
L&D Team Meeting Weekly meeting/25 minutes
- Strategic items that have been brought up during 1:1 meetings that impact the team as a whole.
- The meetings will cover items that are strategic in nature that require discussion, brainstorming, collaboration, and synthesis with the team
L&D Quarterly Strategic Meeting Quarterly/90 minutes to 2 hours
- Review what was acheived in the quarter, what wasn’t, and lessons learned
- Team members will present plans on what they are focused on for the next quarter
- Review team morale, team dynamics, learner satisfaction, long term impact, and alignment with Peope Group goals.

L&D team sprints

The L&D team uses GitLab issue boards to track priorities, organize collaboration, and set due dates based on three-week sprints.

  • The L&D team uses this sprint issue board to track priority issues each quarter.
  • The open list is a queue for issues that need to be addressed, but have not yet been assigned to a sprint, backlog, or priority.
  • When a new issue is opened, it should be moved to either the ld-backlog or ld-fyxx-q1-priority list. This will determine if the issue is a priority for the current quarter, or a backlog issue to be addresses as time allows.
  • The team maintains three milestones, one for each upcoming sprint. The sprints are organized with a milestone using the naming mechanism L&D Sprint # (Date Range)
  • Issues can be moved from the ld-backlog or ld-fyxx-q1-priority list to the correct sprint when they are ready to be assigned/addressed.
  • When an issue is closed, it should remain in the given milestone.
  • At the end of the sprint, the milestone can be removed from the board, or the milestone list can be hidden on the issue board.
  • The L&D Requests list should be used to organize requests for L&D support or courses coming from other teams.
  • The advanced-software-engineering-course list houses issues related to external software engineer courses can can be hidden on the sprint board.

Additional planning and notes around the sprint board can be found in this issue.

Best practices for using sprint boards and issues:

  • Apply a burn-down chart with milestones to track time spent.
  • Create the issue in the sprint where the work starts.
  • When creating L&D content, apply one issue to one course when developing content. Maintain all course development material in the issue for organization.
  • Epics do not show up in the boards.
  • Apply a Storyboard template for course development.
  • Apply labels to manage different work and priorities (leadership requests, prioritized, p1-p3, triage, WIP, Backlog).
  • Consider having GitLab team members vote on priority issues to determine need and interest in learning & development content.
  • Stack rank issues in the board based on priority if possible.
  • Use the Time Tracking feature on issues to track time spend. When opening a new issue, use the /estimate command to set an estimate for the project to be complete. After each working session, use the/spend command to track actual time spent.
  • Consider using the new-initiative issue template when planning a new learning initiative, engagement program, or program idea.
  • Consider using the content-scoping issue template when proposing a new pathway, creating a new course, or building any new learning experience.

L&D handbook merge requests

If you want the wider L&D team to be aware of your MR, please apply the ld-handbook-update label to the MR. This will trigger a Zapier automation that posts the MR title and link to the #learning-team Slack channel.

Tools

The L&D team freqently uses the following tools for creating and communicating learning opportunities at GitLab.

Tool Purpose
Powtoon Video Creation
LucidChart Interactive Diagrams
Canva Image and infographic creation
Articulate/Rise 360 Course Authoring
Genial.ly Create Interactive Images

Developing Learning Content

Top Five Training Content Development Principles

  1. Know Your Audience - Analyze and assess the course audience. Ensure that all audience needs are accounted for at every level in the organization you are delivering the training too.
  2. Define Learning Objectives - Highlight the learner outcome. Consider developing two to three broad overall statements of what the audience will achieve.
  3. Break Down Complex Information - Consider breaking down complex information into easy to digest visuals or text. Reference the handbook but do not be afraid to create a visual representation or use storytelling for the audience.
  4. Engage the Learner - Adults learn through practice and involvement. Consider using tools to engage learners in a virtual setting like Mentimeter or Kahoot to stimulate interactivity.
  5. Implement Blended Learning Course Content - Give the learners pre-course work to read and review before the learning session. Use off-the-shelf resources and ensure the content is applicable to what will be covered in the session. Follow up to gauge how they’ve applied what they’ve learned on the job through surveys and questionnaires.

Application of Adult Learning Theory

Adults learn differently in the workplace than in traditional learning environments or how they learned growing up. If you are developing training, consider applying principles related to Adult Learning Theories, those include:

  1. Transformative learning: Learning should change the individual through transformative learning approaches. Start with learning experiences that appeal to your specific audience, and then move to activities that challenge assumptions and points of view.
  2. Self-directed learning: Emphasize informal learning experiences. Infuse applications of pre-reads and post-course follow up. Have the participants bring up examples of self-directed learning that they have taken that is related to the training course.
  3. Experiential learning: Adults learn through experiences and by doing. When designing a learning experience, apply activities to stimulate learning by doing through role-playing, simulations, virtual labs, case studies, etc.
  4. Andragogy: Design learning experiences with the assumption that your participants will come to the table with their own set of life experiences and motivations. Adults tend to direct their own learning, learn better by doing, and want to quickly apply their learning to concrete situations.

Developing Learning Objectives

Add learning objectives to the beginning of the content to state a clear training outcome. A clear learning objective describes what the learner will do upon completion of a learning/training activity. Good learning objectives are what you want team members to learn or achieve.

Steps to creating learning objectives:

  1. Identify the level of knowledge necessary to achieve the aim of the training. Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to assist with writing practical learning objectives.
  2. Select an action verb.
  3. Create your very own objective
  4. Check your objective. Make sure it includes these four pieces: audience, behavior, condition, and degree of mastery
  5. Repeat these steps for each objective

Sample learning objectives:

  • By the end of the session, team members will be able to describe the steps taken to address underperformance
  • Team members will be able to apply the GROW coaching model framework to coaching sessions with members of their team
  • After learning about the high-performance team-building model, team members will be able to determine the steps needed to reach high performance.

Instructional Design 101

The Learning & Development, Field Enablement, and Professional Services teams hosted an Instructional Design 101 session on 2020-10-28 to better understand concepts of adult learning theory and instructional design. Check out the video to learn how to apply instructional design to learning content.

Learning Components - Definitions

Term Definition Duration
Training The action of teaching a team member a particular skill or behavior Varies
Bite-sized learning A short course to learn a skill. Bite-sized can be a compentent of training or a separate learning element (i.e. a video, a PDF cheat-sheet, an infographic) Max 15 minutes, 5 to 10 minute average
Self-paced course Learner has the control over the amount of material they want to consume and the duration of time needed to learn the new information. Pre-defined by the designer (i.e. hours, days, etc.)
Curriculum A series of learning paths that comprise a course of study on a skill-based topic Varies
Certification A certification indicates that an individual community member has acquired the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform a specific skill or job. Certifications include an examination process. Varies
Learning Path A chosen route taken by a learner through a range of learning activities to build knowledge progressivley Varies

Learning Delivery Methods - Definitions

Term Definition Duration
Instructor-Led Training (ILT) Practice of training and learning material between an instructor and learners. Face-to-face training (classroom training) Varies
Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) Training that is delivered in a virtual environment (i.e. training in Zoom) 1 to 3 hours
E-Learning Learning based on traditional learning theories which takes place electronically, often via the Internet. Varies
Blended Learning Training that uses multiple methods to teach the new information to learners. It can includ ILTs, self-paced materials, VILT sessions, etc. Varies
Webinar A seminar conducted virtually to a large audience 3+ hours
Workshop Hands-on or virtual demos, problem solving, tutorials where team members engage in discussion and activity on a particular subject Varies

Please let us know how you would prefer to learn by filling out this form!

Awards

Brandon Hall Award

The launch of the GitLab Learn LXP was awarded a Silver Excellence in Learning by the Brandon Hall Group for the Best Launch of a Corporate Learning University.

silver brandon hall group award logo


Career Development and Mobility
Resources and direction for career development and mobility for all GitLab team members
Compliance Courses
Welcome to the Learning & Development (L&D) page at GitLab! L&D is an essential part of any organization’s growth, success, and overall business strategy. We want to support the growth of our GitLab team-members’ competencies, skills, and knowledge by providing them with the tools they need and the opportunities to progress their own personal and professional development. Compliance Courses GitLab has several compliance courses and resources. Explore the chart below to learn more.
Elevate Programs
Use the links below to navigate to each Elevate program. Here is a useful guide to ensure you’re choosing the right program: Program Name Description Elevate The next cohort of Elevate begins on 2024-02-12, so if you’ve been recently enrolled, navigate here. Elevate Applied Continuous learning and resources for those who’ve earned their Elevate certification Elevate+ Round 1 and 2 starting in FY25 Q1 Not a GitLab People Leader? We’ve put together a Level Up course available to all GitLab Team Members, to share the self-paced training content for each Elevate module.
GitLab 101
Welcome to the GitLab 101 page! Here you will find some basic info on how to use GitLab. Who can benefit from this 101 training? Everyone at GitLab needs to know how to use GitLab and be technical to some level. This training is geared toward GitLab team members who are in non-engineering roles (i.e. talent acquisition, peopleops, marketing, finance, etc) and/or have not used a DevOps tool like GitLab before.
GitLab 201
Welcome Welcome to GitLab 201. This is a set of reading material and video tutorials for GitLab team members who are in non-engineering roles (i.e. talent acquisition, peopleops, marketing, finance, etc) and/or have not used a DevOps tool like GitLab before. This can also be helpful for non-engineering people outside of GitLab wanting to learn how to use GitLab for personal projects. Objectives Learn how to create epics Learn how to review and make suggestions to a merge request Learn how to create a new handbook page Lesson 1: Epics Epics let you manage your portfolio of projects more efficiently and with less effort by tracking groups of issues that share a theme, across projects and milestones.
Handbook-First Approach to Interactive Learning
All elearning courses tied to the Field Certification Program will utilize the Handbook as the Single Source of Truth (SSOT)
Internship for Learning
Resources and direction for internship for learning for all GitLab team members
Learning & Development Listening Tour
The L&D Listening Tour will identify opportunities at GitLab where training solutions can build and develop great teams to deliver on key business results. The GitLab L&D team is hosting a listening tour to: Gather feedback from leaders across the organization to identify skill and experience gaps that the L&D team can support in FY25. Transition focus of L&D from reactive to proactive, solving key talent needs across the business. Understand the current perception of L&D at GitLab As GitLab’s talent needs evolve, there is an opportunity for our L&D team to shift to a proactive, business-aligned resource.
Learning Initiatives
The Learning & Development team is rolling out learning programs to enable a culture of curiosity and continual learning.
Level Up
Welcome to Level Up! This handbook page is meant to support both learners and administrators in Level Up. Thought Industries is the provider of the Level Up platform and is mentioned often in this documentation. Contribute to Level Up At GitLab, everyone can contribute. Read below about how to contribute to Level Up. If you’d like to explore the content creation options in Level Up, check out this Demo Course.
Manager Challenge
Manager Challenge Currently Paused Please note that the next Manager Challenge has been paused until further notice. Team member can reach out in the #learninganddevelopment Slack channel with any questions about upcoming manager training or utilize their Growth and Development benefit for external training opportunities. You can learn more about our current manager development program on our Elevate handbook page. Introduction Developing managerial skills is no small task. While taking on a new or expanded role as a manager brings great rewards, it also introduces new challenges.
Mentoring at GitLab
Mentorship is an opportunity to learn from personal experience, background, and perspective. Mentorship builds trust, provides a safe space to make mistakes, and encourages growth for both the mentor and mentee. Reach out in the #mentoring Slack channel with questions or feedback. The Power of Mentoring How to get started Team members have multiple options to participate in mentorship at GitLab. Identify and self-select a mentor from your professional network or the list of available mentors below.
New to Leadership and Management
In this section we will review various topics that impact new managers. For first time managers sometimes the transition from a high performing individual to leading a team can be challenging.
Our L&D Team
While our team loves making learning and development content for the rest of the organization, we also love learning and growing ourselves. This page is meant to serve as a resource for the L&D team to explore, learn, and grow. We encourage all L&D Team Members to add to this page as you find additional resources. The content should be accessible at no cost but anything requiring payment can be reimbursed following the GitLab Growth and Development policy.
Self-Paced External Trainings
Details of third-party training providers utilised by various GitLab departments
Transitioning to a manager role
Your first few months as a manager at GitLab can be exhilarating. They can also be challenging, especially when you need to quickly identify what is important for your success. Some of the challenges you might face are: Navigating changing relationships Finding the balance between managing and contributing Using delegation effectively Making strategic decisions Finding resources and support Research by HR consultancy DDI has shown, that your transition may be one of the most demanding life experiences that you will ever endure.
Values Group Discussions
Values Group Discussions Over the second half of FY24, the Talent & Engagement team (in partnership with the Chief of Staff and People Business Partner team) will conduct a series of group discussions about our values and operating principles with high performers and values ambassadors across the organization. The objective of these group discussions is to determine where we may be able to streamline and simplify the operating principles associated with each value to make our values system more memorable and manageable.
Work with the Learning and Development Team
Available Learning and Development Support The Learning and Development team is available to support GitLab teams in the following capacities. Requests will be evaluated as they come in based on team’s capacity for support, business impact, correlation to company OKRs, and number of impacted users. Support Model When to use this process Creating a Learning Hub for your team You’d like to build a new Channel in GitLab Learn to curate professional development content for your team Hosting a Live Learning event You’d like to host an internal Live Learning session Creating a new learning pathway Create a new learning pathway or course for any audience Uploading to company learning platform Add new or existing learning content to the LXP Integrating external content to learning platform Add off-the-shelf learning from another provider Requesting content review L&D review of your learning content for handbook first, adult learning theory, and bias for async alignment Requesting new content creation You’d like the L&D team to create or host learning content for your team Creating a Learning Hub for your team We work closely with leaders across GitLab to develop landing pages for learning material that is tailored to specific departments and teams.
Last modified March 18, 2024: Update Learning Team LIst (cabe4beb)