Action Learning
Action Learning, NLP and In House Training
Action Learning is a modern approach to solving problems and learning new things in a group setting. Action learning involves two groups, the first being the person who owns the problem and secondly a panel of people that listen to the first person and give advice (called the ‘Set Group’).
The person who owns the problem will give a presentation to the Set Group which is based on their problems, for example problems with a colleague. It is of utmost importance that the entire process is carried out in a safe and confidential manner, meaning that the members of the Set Group do not take what they hear outside the meeting room.
The job of the Set Members is to ask the presenter about their problems in a way that challenges them, they can do this by using such linguistic patterns as the
Meta Model. It is important that the Set Group do not give the presenter direct advice unless the presenter specifically requests so.
The excellent thing about this framework is that it allows the presenter to reflect on their problem while allowing the Set Members to communicate their views on the problem. After this initial stage, the presenter is able to report their changed perspective about the challenge – and maybe some solutions. This allows the entire group to learn and benefit from the experience.
Members of the Set Group will also reflect on the challenges they have given and what they learned from the experience. The Set Group can be made up of people from within an organisation or it can be an external group from another organisation, or even multiple organisations.
A good thing about Action Learning is it allows us as individuals and as teams to
reflect on problems. This is something that people in business often neglect. People have a tendency to not reflect on problems and just to act on them without proper thought. A lot of the time all this results in is more problems.
Another benefit of Action Learning is that it involves a group of peers instead of an "expert" which brings into play what Napoleon Hill describes as the
MasterMind Principle. Often people who take part in action learning find that the results they get are much more beneficial than the results from sessions with a single expert.
Specifics
A good number for a Set Group is from 4 to 7 people. Before the Action session there should be a meeting where you decide on the rules - with the two most important ground rules being confidentiality and each presenter being given equal opportunity to talk about their problems.
Most groups find that around 2 to 3 hours is a good amount of time, with 30 to 40 minutes being given to each presenter. Action Learning is not just a one-off; one has to make sure that the group meets regularly, perhaps every 6 to 8 weeks. The running of the group should only be stopped when all members come to a mutual agreement that is the right time to end. An entire Action Learning ‘program’ usually takes from 5 to 6 months.
Before you decide to start an Action Learning group in your organisation it is a great idea to gauge interest in the activity. You can either create questionnaires to give to your colleagues which will help you find out if Action Learning is suitable and if colleagues would find it to be beneficial. In addition to this there are also some great resources to help you learn about Action Learning and some excellent methods that will ensure a productive session, such as "Action Learning" by Weinstein and "The Action Learning Handbook" by McGill.
In order to have an enjoyable and beneficial Action Learning session, there are a number of pitfalls which you will have to make sure that you avoid. The first thing is that you really do have to be sure of your team size. With relatively small teams of 3 to 4 people the amount of work needed for a beneficial Action Learning group to work may be effectively overwhelming. On the other hand if the group is too large, for example 7 to 9 members there is a large risk of having some team members not pulling their weight, and other team members doing the majority of the work. This will reduce workflow and will lead to serious breakup in the cohesion of your Action Learning team. Personally we would recommend five or six people per team, as this is the "sweet spot" that ensures that all team members will pull their weight.
Another common pitfall is that Action Learning groups allocate too much time to their entire project - for example some groups allocate eight months to their Action Learning projects. This is a really bad idea as after five or six months many members of the group will lose interest in the project. If this happens it will compromise the entire team. Again, we would recommend that you allocate 5 or 6 months to your action learning project as this will ensure that it is over in a timely fashion and that you get the best possible results.
If you have any further questions with regards to Action learning please feel free to
contact us.
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