ARTS THREAD’s career education specialist and digital editor Jacqui Rudd’s guide to the benefits of skills sharing and how to make the most of it.

Skills sharing is an informal learning setting where you are both the teacher and the student; an exchange of knowledge that benefits and upskills both the teacher and student as each person involved plays both roles. This exchange of knowledge makes learning a new skill less daunting, more affordable and more accessible.

In this guide, we will discuss how to utilise skills sharing to strategically benefit your career and/or business development.

HOW SKILLS SHARING WORKS

Skills Sharing can be in person or online, many communities have been set up to encourage ongoing knowledge exchange with groups and events, and you can sign up to share a skill or learn a skill from an experienced person.

This knowledge exchange can also be in a far more informal setting between friends, networks, connections or peers. It is about identifying skills you have that you could teach and share, and skills you want to develop and find a suitable person to exchange that knowledge with.

For example, if you are skilled in dressmaking but are looking to develop social media you might agree to exchange dressmaking lessons for a tutorial in social media strategies for fashion businesses.

THE BENEFITS OF SKILLS SHARING

• Learn new skills in an affordable and accessible setting


• Develop teaching skills while exchanging your knowledge


• Create and nurture networks


• Empower yourself with access to new practical knowledge


• Build a sense of purpose in empowering others


• Create a sense of ‘can do’ positivity with accessible teaching and learning


• Develop skills that will support your career and/or business

WHAT SKILLS TO FOCUS ON

To strategically make the most of a skills share opportunity it’s helpful to consider your skills as practical assets, what practical assets you have that could be valuable to others and what assets you want to gain or build on. Create a master list for both:

Choosing what skills you want to develop

• Look at job specifications: Look for skills mentioned frequently in roles you are interested in that you don't currently possess.


• Interests, curiosity and passion: What possible projects have sparked your interest recently? Maybe it’s a creative technique like calligraphy, knitting, an instrument, creative writing or making your own clothes. Find things that sparks your curiosity that you’re interested in learning.


• Make your job easier: Consider tasks at work that you struggle with or areas you want to improve on to make your job easier or develop to the next level.

Choosing what skills to share with others
These should be skills that tick one of the below:

• Skills you utilise regularly at work and have had good feedback on.


• Skills you obtained while studying for a qualification.


• Skills you have developed highly through a hobby.


• Skills that you are comfortable and confident sharing with others.

HOW TO HOST A SKILLS SHARE

• Discuss skills sharing with your friends and family, ask about tasks you know how to do and ask if they want to learn it, or ask them if they’d be willing to teach you a skill they have that you admire and are interested in learning.


• Post on social media, you could put a question on stories and start a conversation with people about want they want to learn and/or offer what you do!


• Take a look at platforms like www.skillshare.com where you can pay to learn new skills or earn income sharing online classes sharing your knowledge.


• Host a skillshare event online or in-person in your home, studio or community hub with people hosting workshops.

TIPS TO MAKE THE MOST OF SKILLS SHARING

• Start small: A helpful way to start your skill-sharing experience is to do it with friends, exchange skills that will benefit both of you and empower each other to see value in your skills.


• Create a lesson plan: This can simply be just a basic list of topics you want to cover at first and develop from there your full lesson plan. This isn’t a script but a prompt sheet for you to refer to during your skills share lessons.


• Venue: Using video tools for teaching comes with its own issues, consider how to utilise screen-sharing to support your lesson plan and make it easier for your student to take in this new information.