Is your business being held back by staff that can’t get on and live in a blame culture? Or perhaps your business or organisation has a major problem or obstacle you need to overcome.
Does this sound like a team of people you know or work with:
“Excellent at reflecting and analyzing their problems – but struggle to take any sort of action”.
Action learning will benefit teams that are stuck in all types of situations.
What is action learning?
Action learning is:
- when a small group of between 5 to 8 people meet regularly
- keep to a strict set of action learning conventions and ground rules
- resolve important, urgent, problems
- these problems relate to individuals in the group and/or to the organisations they work for
This small group of people is described as an action learning ‘set’.
There are 4 essential steps to setting up a successful action learning programme in the work place.
Step 1. Contact an action learning expert or get trained yourself
Consult a trained action learning facilitator that is well experienced in successfully setting up and delivering action learning in a work place or go on a training course. See www.actionlearninguk.co.uk
If you do not have someone who is trained in the conventions, the ground rules and the questioning techniques, an action learning set may become just another talking shop. It is critical for some teams, (like the one you may have recognised above), to have a structure, which encourages and expects action as well as reflection.
Anyone calling themselves an action learning facilitator should have undergone an in depth form of formal training. I recommend that you only use facilitators that have gained a nationally recognized qualification or accreditation with a body like the Institute for Leadership and Management (ILM).
Step 2. Get buy in from the top!
It is vital to have management and executive buy in.
When you have enthusiasm at the top for action learning, you are on your way to having an effective action learning programme. If senior management isn’t interested or doesn’t value the concept of action learning (even if this just is a perception), there will be less incentive for set members to commit to the sessions and results will be negligible.
Step 3. Involve all staff!
All staff need to understand how action learning will benefit everybody in the organisation and not just those directly involved in the sets.
As many staff as possible in the organisation need to understand:
- The benefits of action learning
- What is expected of them once they join the action learning set
- What it is like being part of an action learning set
The best way of explaining this is to set up an action learning ‘briefing’ (approx a 2 hour session) for interested members of staff.
It is vital that this briefing is delivered by a trained and experienced action learning facilitator.
Step 4. Identify a co-ordinator
You need an enthusiastic, organized, proactive member of staff who can take on the role of action learning set co-ordinator. The co-ordinator is often also a member of the set.
The co-ordinator is responsible for:
- liaising with the external action learning facilitator
- identifying potential set members
- arranging dates and booking venues
- feeding back actions to the rest of the organsiation,
- communicating the quantifiable and qualitative benefits of the action learning programme
The Co-ordinator is crucial – without them a well-intentioned action learning set can fizzle out after just a few months.