Essay

43-44PedlerMikeAbbot_2013_3TheAccoucheurInitiat_FacilitatingActionLea.pdf

The accoucheur: initiating action learning 43

In deciding whether action learning will work in this or that situa- tion, consider the following:

• Does the idea fi t with the stage of development of the organization?

• Are people ready to take more initiative, have more of a say, be entrepreneurial, take risks, run their jobs as if they were their own small businesses?

The Organisational Readiness for Action learning Questionnaire (see Figure 3.1) will help you assess your situation. You can use it by yourself, as an aid to thinking, or with colleagues to pilot the idea and check collective judge- ment on whether it ‘has legs’ in this situation, or you can use it as a survey instrument to assess the potential for action learning in any team, project, department or community.

The Organisational Readiness for Action Learning Questionnaire will help you assess the chances of success for action learning in your situation.

For each statement score the organisation from 1 (not much like us) to 5 (very like us):

IN THIS ORGANISATION . . .

. . . people are rewarded for asking good questions 1 2 3 4 5

. . . people often come up with new idea 1 2 3 4 5

. . . there is fairly free fl ow of communications 1 2 3 4 5

. . . confl ict is surfaced and dealt with rather than suppressed 1 2 3 4 5

. . . we are encouraged to learn new skills 1 2 3 4 5

. . . we take time out to refl ect on experiences 1 2 3 4 5

. . . there are plenty of books, fi lms, packages and other resources for learning

1 2 3 4 5 . . . people help, encourage and constructively criticise each other

1 2 3 4 5

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C o p y r i g h t 2 0 1 3 . M c G r a w - H i l l E d u c a t i o n .

A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . M a y n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y f o r m w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r , e x c e p t f a i r u s e s p e r m i t t e d u n d e r U . S . o r a p p l i c a b l e c o p y r i g h t l a w .

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44 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Is there support and commitment from the top?

Action learning is likely to have the biggest impact on people and on their organizations if it has support from powerful people. The Organisational Readiness for Action Learning Questionnaire will help in estimating the climate or mood of any group that is sampled, but some other questions are indicated when considering the extent of interest, support and commitment from the top managers:

How can action learning

• support their visions and aims? • offer ways forward on some of their organizational problems and

issues?

Selling action learning to senior people often involves making a business case for the commitment of resources and energies which addresses these issues. A third question may have to be estimated rather than directly answered:

. . . we are fl exible in our working patterns and used to working on several jobs at once

1 2 3 4 5

. . . senior people never pull rank and always encourage others to speak their minds

1 2 3 4 5

NOW TOTAL UP YOUR SCORE, IF YOU SCORED . . .

. . . between 10 and 20 Action learning probably won’t work very well until things open up a bit more.

. . . between 21 and 40 Yes – action learning should work well to help you achieve your purpose.

. . . over 40 You don’t seem to need action learning! . . . or perhaps action learning would help develop your critical and questioning faculties?

Figure 3.1 The Organisational Readiness for Action Learning questionnaire

Source: Reprinted with permission from Pedler (2008)

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 45

• To what extent, will they sponsor change, experiments and the questioning of current practices?

Getting support and commitment from senior people in the system is more or less essential for the prospects for organizational learning. Action learning can happen in organizations without this support, but the benefi ts tend to be limited to the sets, and to the individuals in them. In some cases action learning even happens without the knowledge of the top managers, as in the ‘shadow side’ case in Box 3.1. In this case, the action learning effort is hidden from the view of those at the top and might even be seen as subver- sive of their purposes. And yet, even in the shadow side of the organization, action learning could still fi nd a place to work and be of value at least to individuals. Also, despite the leadership being kept in the dark, at least two arguments can be made for the value to the organization of this ‘subversive’ activity: fi rst, and directly, through helping the company to retain its new graduates; and secondly, but more indirectly, because all organizations

Box 3.1 Case example: Action learning on the ‘shadow side’

The management development manager of a large international but family-owned fi rm, was concerned about the recent graduate intake. As the company had grown, it had not changed its management style and was privately described as ‘feudal’ at times.

Several of the recent graduates taken on just a few months previ- ously had come to the management development manager with their concerns about their jobs, their bosses and how they were being treated. He decided to respond by organizing – without the knowledge of his superiors – an action learning set for seven of the most fed- up trainees. At the fi rst meeting, after discussions about ground rules and confi dentiality, all those present said that they wanted to leave the company and asked the set and the management development manager for practical help to this end.

After eight fortnightly meetings, two of the new graduates had indeed left the company, but others had found new ways of improving their working lives: by moving departments, fi nding alternative projects and new friends and allies. All this happened in the ‘shadow side’ of the organization – unknown to, and unsanctioned by, the most senior managers.

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46 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Casey was stubborn about getting his questions answered because he knew that, if there is ignorance of what action learning entails and if the quality of welcome is poor at the top, then there is unlikely to be much wider learning and little long-term innovation in that organization.

must change from time to time, and there are clear indicators here that this company needs to learn how to do that in this respect. The problem is that if the directors are ignorant of what is going on, how can they learn from it? Creating the relationship with the leadership of any system as part of the structure of welcome for action learning is a key task for the accoucheur. The possibilities for organizational change and learning are greatly enhanced if the senior managers are engaged from the outset; yet, this can be one of the toughest parts of the job (Box 3.2).

Box 3.2 Casey on contracting

David Casey was a wise practitioner of action learning who took great pains to start on the right foot. In one instance he talks about pulling out of a starter workshop with the senior team, very late in the day:

After much thought and at the last minute of the eleventh hour I refused to run the workshop. In the fl urry of alarm and excite- ment generated by my decision, it became very clear that the chief executive had been pulling the wool over my eyes – he had no intention of undertaking a serious joint investigation with his colleagues about how they did their work together.

(Casey 1993: 33)

In a second and very different case, he recounts how he had to persist with a critical question which proved very frustrating for the client but which eventually led to a signifi cant breakthrough:

In one organization I got on their nerves by persistently asking the question ‘What is this group for?’ over a period of nearly eight months. In exasperation two members of the group put their heads together and came up with four quite clear and largely separate purposes . . . [which] . . . led quickly to a complete rehash of their entire schedule of meetings.

(Casey 1993: 50)

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 47

Box 3.3 Case example: Hyundai Oilbank

Hyundai (hereafter) was hitting its lowest point in the years 2000 and 2001 due to its high cost business structure, unpredictable employ- ment condition, and continued bad reputation as well as unfavorable external management environments such as being open to overseas markets and fi erce competition in domestic markets. As a result, the company faced the worst fi nancials of 451.7 million U.S. dollars in debts which led to the skyrocketing fall of shareholders’ and external trust. In order to attack these fundamental problems in 2002, action learning was introduced as an innovative management tool for changing the way they work. A major reason why action learning was chosen was that the then CEO (recently retired in August, 2010) had had experience in action learning in a U.S. fi nancial institution in his formative years.

Hyundai’s action learning was initiated by the top management but in later years employees’ team activities were brought up to the center in order to accomplish the ‘Vision 2012’ aimed at making them for ‘the most effective oil refi nery and marketing company in South Korea’. The company is using a coined word, Let’s (Learning by Executing Together for Solutions), which is a new brand name for action learning since 2006. Action learning in the company has undertaken approximately 100 to 150 teams and four projects per year, and 2,000 projects total until 2009 from its inception, and delivered profi ts of 250 million U.S. dollars. As for compensation, the company throws an annual action learning conference to reward and share best practices, while three percent of fi nancial gains (up to 50,000 U.S. dollars) are given to teams with outstanding performance.

In order to detail how to make action learning more explicit, the company produced a handbook for Let’s participants to speak the same language in the problem- solving process. The contents of the Let’s hand- book include: the company’s own defi nition and purpose of action learning, the Let’s process, project selection, tools for problem- solving process (e.g., SWOT Analysis). Using ceremonies for project selection,

Action learning is no ‘magic bullet’. It works best when it is well understood by its sponsors and when it is integrated into their strategic agenda. In the Hyundai Oilbank case (Box 3.3) the company was under severe pressure to change because of both internal and environmental factors.

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48 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Designing action learning

The objectives of senior management are obviously a major infl uence on any design for action learning. Once the strategy has been understood and the level of support assessed, there are various design issues to consider.

• introductory or preparatory workshops; • recruiting set members – people willing to ‘have a go’ and who are

open to learning; • forming sets with regular members which focus on members’ prob-

lems or tasks – supporting action, refl ection and learning; • recruiting clients with problems, challenges or opportunities with

which they want help; • fi nding sponsors who support set members in tackling these prob-

lems, challenges or opportunities and who help with accounta- bility and evaluation of outcomes;

• choosing and developing action learning advisers or facilitators; • holding conferences to link the sets with the whole project; • evaluation.

How each of these happens – or whether it happens at all – depends upon the scale and sophistication of the action learning initiative. However, they are all questions which the action learning adviser as accoucheur can

sponsors and learning teams reach consensus on output images of an action learning project while sponsors make it clear what they want to get from the project. In addition, team leaders are mandated to become a learning coach so that they can enhance facilitative leadership in the team.

As a result of these orchestrated efforts, Hyundai was ranked the number one energy company on customer satisfaction in 2007 and, more importantly, the company has hugely improved its management performance from 2002 to 2009 including: (1) their credit rating has been enhanced from BBB to A0, (2) debts have decreased from 430% to 186%, and (3) accumulated profi ts have increased to 1.68 billion U.S. dollars. The head of the Performance Enhancement Team aptly witnessed, ‘All of these performance indexes may not be the results of action learning only. Organizational employees, however, could improve problem- solving skills, collaboratively worked with other divisions, precisely spotted customer needs, and swiftly responded to competitors’ moves through action learning.’

Source: Used with permission from Cho and Bong (2011)

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 49

expect to be asked. This list, which is by no means exhaustive, shows how considerable the element of design is in the initiation role. There are many resources available on these design elements, on the web and in various workbooks – see for example Pedler (2003), Edmonstone (2003) and McGill and Brockbank (2004). In this account we focus on the more strategic aspects of design and in particular raise awareness of the way action learning is crafted to fi t particular situations and contexts.

Who should be the set members?

This is an important question. Sometimes members are drawn from a particular strata, grade or profession; sometimes they are deliberately mixed across professions, departments or units; sometimes there is an open choice – anyone who wants to join and give it a go.

A key design parameter is: is there enough diversity of participants to give rise to fresh questions? This is a matter of judgement. There are many sources of diversity amongst people to be considered in any action learning design. As seen in the John Tann case in the previous chapter, managers from the same company, all similar in their personal characteristics: male, middle- aged, white etc., might provide enough diversity if they come, for example, from different locations. Some of Revans’ early experiments with action learning involved colliery managers and deputies from adja- cent mines meeting together to discuss productivity levels, accident rates and maintenance issue with each other (1982: 39–55). On the other hand, Revans also conducted projects in hospitals, where the full range of staff, including doctors, porters, auxiliaries, nurses and managers met together under action learning ‘rules’, e.g. equality of voice, listening to all etc. Such diverse sets worked on problems such as length of stay rates for particular illnesses, infection control and the training of student nurses (1982: 250–86).

As well as diversity, there is a need for commonality. Suitable partici- pants may include people who share a responsibility for introducing new ideas or systems, who are experiencing or handling organizational restruc- turings or whose jobs share a high level of complexity especially in terms of relationships with customers, suppliers, communities, government departments etc. Other obvious sources of commonality are new starters, mid- career (and possibly stuck) professionals, anyone needing to inno- vate or learn something new, and anyone experiencing turbulence and ambiguity in their work. What is common about these situations is that they tend to be those in which people are open to learning; the diversity comes from the varying situations, contrasting personalities and differing life experiences.

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50 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

The voluntary principle

Whatever their predicament or challenge, it is important that any partici- pant should want to improve the situation they fi nd themselves in. This is the most important aspect of commonality. Action learning needs willing participants with issues that they wish to tackle, and when this condition is met it means that all present are there as volunteers.

No one can be instructed to join in action learning. They can be commanded to present themselves at a certain time and place, but this is not at all the same thing. Any ‘invitation’ to take part in action learning should be accompanied by an escape route, to which a person who does not feel ready or who is already overburdened can have recourse without loss of dignity or approval.

This principle cannot be overstressed; it is the fi rst and most vital. Learning (and action of the sort intended in action learning) are volun- tary efforts that can only be undertaken and achieved through free will. If there are any ‘pressed men’ present this will soon be revealed, probably to the loss of all those concerned.

How should be challenges and problems be selected?

Problems and puzzles

Action learning is not for puzzles but for problems. Some people like to use the word ‘challenge’ or ‘opportunity’ instead of problem, which they see as being negative, or at least not positive enough. This does not matter – whatever works in the particular setting is fi ne – but what Revans signi- fi es by the word problem is the situation for which there is as yet no known solution or obvious way forward. In other words, it is problematic.

Filling out a tax return, creating a school timetable or even building a new school may be experienced as problems but they are actually all puzzles in Revans’ terminology. They all have right answers, and there are experts who can provide them. On the other hand, motivating a disaf- fected staff member, building a business or getting the most out of a merger, are all problems – there are no right answers. Though many books may claim the contrary and though there may be many who claim exper- tise, these are all problematic situations in which the best guarantee is careful experiment and learning.

Revans (1982: 716) made his own suggestions for the choosing of suit- able problems:

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 51

A manager may study some changing aspect of:

i A familiar task in a familiar setting ii A familiar task in an unfamiliar setting iii An unfamiliar task in a familiar setting iv An unfamiliar task in an unfamiliar setting

This prescription has often been presented as in Figure 3.2. It might be argued that the effort and power of action learning is not really needed for ‘own job’ situations, which might not move people out of their comfort zones. If people are to choose problems or opportunities from this box, then that might call for some scrutiny, perhaps by fellow set members, to see whether there is enough challenge in what is being proposed. A good reason for choosing such a project would be if that person has not been doing this part of the job, for whatever reason, and now wishes to try.

These options are based on Revans’ own experience where managers were sometimes seconded and exchanged between units or organizations and asked to tackle projects outside their areas of expertise. This creates a high degree of challenge but it is demanding to organize. It is again a question of what is possible in a particular situation; multi- organizational sets as in Figure 3.2 below, where projects are defi ned to require exposure to different perspectives in order to progress them, allow for some thinking outside one’s own corporate experience without the requirement to actu- ally go and conduct a project in another organization.

Figure 3.2 Some options for challenges and problems

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52 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Do an organization survey?

One way to arrive at problems or challenges is to collect a list of issues in the organization or department. These can be collected by interviewing people in the department or unit concerned and asking them questions, such as:

• What opportunities do you see for improving what we do here? • What goes wrong here and why do you think this is? • If you could change one thing around here, what would it be?

It does not take long talking to a small but representative sample of people to come up with a list of potential issues for action learning. One such survey in a printing company produced a list from which the various set chose their issues for action and learning (see Box 3.4).

Box 3.4 Case example: Tomlinsons

Tomlinsons, a specialist printer, had various striking characteristics. Despite being very profi table, it had no managers, no trade unions and a fl at but high wage rate for all employees irrespective of their varying skill levels and experience.

Like many small companies, the fi rm took its unusual character from the views of its owner and managing director, Mike Tomlinson. The vision and values for his own company came about as a conse- quence of his previous experience as the managing director of a much bigger printing concern. Here he had felt that managers and trade unions had been jointly responsible for the complex and convoluted wages system and for many of his other problems. His view was that it was better to pay people well, to have no designated managers, but to expect everyone to play a part in managing the plant.

Despite its high level of success, Tomlinsons had various issues and problems to be resolved, some of them as a result of these company policies. For example, if Mike was not around there were obvious diffi - culties in decision making. As the main contact with customers he was often out of the plant. Some of these gaps would be fi lled in an informal way by various people who would otherwise have been obvious candi- dates for supervisory and managerial roles.

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 53

As part of an Investors in People initiative facilitated by outside consultants, it was agreed that all 60 staff be offered the opportunity of being involved in action learning groups. The consultants spent two days talking to everyone in the plant and collecting issues for action. This resulted in a list of about 30 issues, problems and opportunities, including:

• computerization of the cutting list; • redesign of job card; • plan and supervision of new storage facility; • redesign of a work process; • improve relationships between work stations; • strengthen relationships with customers; • improve decision making; • reduce waste of materials and improve recycling; • reduce energy use; • create a training programme for engravers.

One purpose of the programme was to promote an awareness of the whole system in which they were working, and to include the customers with whom most people had very limited contact. Sets were therefore formed by mixing staff from the eight different work stations in groups of four or fi ve. Despite its size and the relatively simple fl ow process from design and initiation of fi lm through cutting and engraving to despatch, many employees had little idea in detail of what their colleagues did.

Each set picked a joint problem from a list. Once they had chosen an issue, they had to get sign off from Mike Tomlinson, who also gave them some guidelines and his success criteria for the particular task. They had two hours per week of the fi rm’s time over three months to work on these issues. Each set started with a training workshop on ‘How to work as an effective group’, but otherwise worked in a self- managed way without external facilitation (although one of the consultants made almost daily visits to the plant and did much informal coaching of teams).

As necessary, each set could meet with Mike Tomlinson to make proposals for action, which, if approved were then given back to the set to implement. In fact, Mike Tomlinson eventually approved all proposals but one, although it was not unusual for them to be sent back fi rst for re- working. This was a crucial element which could not be faked or avoided, on either side.

At the end of the three months the fi rm was shut for the day and

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54 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

the staff convened in a local hotel where each set reported on (i) their actions and (ii) their learning. At the end of that day, Mike Tomlinson hosted a celebration dinner and thanked people for their efforts. Over the three months, many of the issues had been resolved or moved on. Of the 13 sets, 10 or 11 were judged by the consultants to have worked as planned in terms of successful action on tasks and learning from the process.

The Tomlinson case illustrates a situation well known to consultants: the problems and opportunities in the fi rm are well known – but not necessarily to senior managers. The difference in the action learning approach is that the insights gained from talking to staff around the organization are given back to them for investigation and action – and do not just adorn a consultancy report presented to the top team.

In talking about both the origins of action learning problems and the supportive assemblies needed to progress them, Revans talks about the importance of bringing together those who know about the problem; those who have the power or those who can do something about it with those who want to do something about because they care about it. As he says:

. . . faced with the need to change a complex system of which the dynamics and the inertias are imperfectly understood, it is prudent . . . to consult those involved . . . the key people both supporting and acting upon the trial decisions, or opposing or resisting them, and it is these who must be assembled.

(1971: 84–5)

An action learning programme

The ultimate aim for the accoucheur as the designer of any action learning programme is to establish the basis for the development of a learning community of the system in which the sets are working. This learning network will help the sets with their actions as seen above, but is even more important for the purpose of organizational learning, which is the focus of Chapter 5. This is often done by combining the small group work of the sets with larger conferences to bring people together to share learning and grasp the wider picture. In a study of organizational learning in a health authority (Nicolini et al. 2004), this principle is described as:

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 55

Sets = ‘structures that refl ect’ Conferences = ‘structures that connect’

Sets are principally concerned with their own members and their goals, and there is a tendency for them to become rather inner focused, with little interest in the wider picture. A good programme design can help here by enabling sets to grasp the signifi cance of their relationships with the whole system and become better connected. In one discussion of the learning community idea, Revans estimates that the 21 managers in his Belgian Inter-University Programme infl uenced over 200 other managers in the participating enterprises (1971: 81–2).

If there is only one action learning set, then they are the programme and must be encouraged to make their own connections with those who know, care and can. But if there are two sets or more then the accoucheur as designer can build in meetings to share what has been done and learned. Bringing several sets together can produce some inter- group rivalry, and again this can be part of the fun as long as it does not interfere with the learning. At these meetings, if it seems appropriate, sponsors and clients can also join in, although they must come in these roles and not as the people in charge. If there are a number of different organiza- tions participating in the programme then bringing representatives from these enterprises together with the action learners is another possible move.

Obviously, the right form for an action learning programme depends on the situation, and upon who is involved and what their purposes are. Programmes can be entirely internal to the organization, as in the Tomlinson case, or they can be done in consortia or partnerships. Any organizations seeking to develop networked ways of working with one another may fi nd that appropriately action learning sets are a good way to practise collaborative working. All this said, action learning programmes tend to have a number of similar components:

• sets of participants meeting every few weeks, over months and even years;

• often with a set adviser or facilitator – although they can meet successfully without them, in self- managed action learning mode (SMAL) as in the Tomlinson case above;

• clients and sponsors, the former to pose problems and opportuni- ties, set expectations and success criteria; the latter to be a source of support, guidance, advice and perhaps some facilitation of action in a particular setting. Clients and sponsors can be the fi rst port of call for reporting back fi ndings and to help with evaluation;

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56 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

• face- to-face conferences to start up programmes, to share learning at various points, to be part of evaluation and to celebrate successes. Conferences are opportunities for linking action learning sets with each other and with the wider ‘learning community’ in the organization or network of organizations concerned;

• electronic networks for up- to-the- minute reporting and connecting on issues. Sets can maintain contact with one another, store infor- mation and make decisions through private pages on a website. Organization- wide bulletin boards can be used to post matters of interest to all concerned. One multi- organizational community project agreed at the outset that each set would post a monthly report of actions and also questions – so that other sets could be involved in their work and infl uence each other’s thinking.

The structure of the action learning programme in Figure 3.3 comes from a pharmaceutical company, where a major reorganization of the R&D division had recently taken place. This had created new teams, and the new team leaders took part in this programme with the help of external advisers. The problems addressed by the team leaders were essentially the same: ‘How do we make this new job/team/structure work?’ Each leader was responsible for taking action on this challenge as it was manifest in their own patch, and it was also made clear from the outset that they had a

Figure 3.3 Structure of an action learning programme in a pharmaceutical R&D division

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 57

wider responsibility for making known any new understandings at the divisional company level.

The eight action learning sets of team leaders came together in three conferences over ten months. The start- up conference featured the CEO and Chairman of the parent company, who presented what they hoped would be achieved and promised to take a personal interest in the progress of the initiative. They also returned to the fi nal conference to hear evalu- ation reports and join for dinner.

Following the formal end of the programme, half the sets continued to meet without external facilitators whilst selected streams of work were taken up for further development by project groups.

Planning for emergence

The term ‘action learning programme’ can be misleading, because it implies an ordered and predictable sequence of events. Action learning rarely works in this way and tends to be emergent, with new priorities developing over time. It is a mistake to try and specify every last compo- nent and pin down every last detail so that all spontaneous life is extinguished. The aim of the programme designer is to achieve a minimum critical specifi cation, that is, the minimum – not the maximum – of structure, rules and procedures needed to make the collaboration work.

A programme like the one depicted in Figure 3.3 is likely to raise a number of issues and confl icts. These may range from questions about the logic of the new structure to arguments about the priorities of senior managers to suggestions for new initiatives. The appearance and voicing of these issues and confl icts may well be an indicator that the programme is working well. These questions, suggestions and disruptions are poten- tially the basis for new ways of working, so they are to be hoped for and expected, and need to be handled well when they emerge.

Examples of handling them badly include ignoring them, ridiculing them, suppressing them and protecting the boss from them. As this may be a kneejerk reaction for some managers, it is important to predict this possibility and to plan for it. This is also a key role for the accoucheur as designer, but it also the crossover point where the adviser moves from an initiation to an organizational learning role as in Chapter 5. This is a prompt to share the programme design and maintenance role with a wider group.

Action learning programmes should be part of a sequence of other activities for planning and learning in the organization. Any organization aspiring to be a learning company will have a regular cycle which looks

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58 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

at learning strategically in the context of planning future goals and direction. These ideas for ‘learning architectures’ are taken further in Chapter 5.

Evaluating action learning

The greatest danger is not that our aspirations are too high and we miss them; but that they are too low and we meet them.

Attributed to Michelangelo

Evaluation is a critical activity and should be planned in from the outset. Data from evaluation is a prime source for learning, and one rule of thumb is that you should devote 10 per cent of your time and resources to this activity. Whole books are written on evaluation and that is not part of our purpose here, although activities for evaluation can be found in various chapters of this book. For example, The Organisational Readiness Questionnaire here used as a pre- measure can also serve as a post- measure. the set meeting review sheet in Chapter 4 is a means of checking progress in the set and various ways of assessing learning at the organizational level are discussed in Chapter 5.

To evaluate something means to place a value upon it. Easy enough to say, but frequently hard to do. It is easier to assess learning in individuals and in the set than to measure the wider impact. What is the organiza- tional benefi t of the action and learning that happened in these sets? How can we know that this departmental or organizational shift came about through the actions of this group? There are so many intervening varia- bles, so much else going on, that calculations such as these must usually be either left to consensus or be matters of speculation.

Yet, in parallel with this diffi culty in assessing systemic outcomes, sponsors will often have big aspirations for action learning:

• ‘I want people to ask for less permission and to take more initia- tive and risks.’

• ‘How can we compete with lower- wage competitors? Only by shifting up, only by developing more of a culture of innovation.’

• ‘We have lost the public service ethic that is so important to us, we must regain that, or re- invent it.’

And even

• ‘I don’t know, I just know we need something new . . . surprise me!’

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 59

Good evaluation need not be elaborate, but it can be a struggle to keep it simple and effi cient. Aside from any technical diffi culties as discussed above, this is because evaluation is also a political activity. Evaluation is about making judgements which are value based and involve fi ne distinc- tions between good and bad, better and worse. These judgements change depending on where you stand. Not everything is intensely political, but all organizing situations are political to some degree.

One response to this is to adopt a stakeholder approach to evaluation and ask all the interested parties what they want. This is good practice in many action learning situations. It means asking people for theircriteria for measuring value: what are your ‘success criteria’? The simple outline in Box 3.5 can be used – with suitable adjustments to the wording – with individual action learners, sets, sponsors, clients or senior teams.

Box 3.5 Success criteria for action learning

Looking at the situation which the action learning is intended to improve . . .

1 How would you recognize progress? How will you know when the situation has changed? (Be as specifi c as possible.)

2 Who are the main stakeholders in this situation? How would each of them recognize progress?

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

etc.

3 What do you think will be learned as a result of tackling this situation?

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60 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Having said something about the diffi culties, it needs to be empha- sized that evaluation is both a necessary and vital activity in action learning. Improving the ability to self- evaluate is a key aspect of critical thinking (see Chapter 6) and an important learning outcome in itself. It is a mark of maturity when people, groups and organizations evaluate their own actions and learning. Carrying out a more formal evaluation, for example, by interviewing stakeholders and assessing how far their expec- tations have been met, can be a good task for an action learning set to do together. As a collective review of their work and learning it can be an excellent way to ‘make a good end’.

A simple matrix (see Figure 3.4) can be used to collect success criteria from all the stakeholders to an action learning process and this forms in turn a basis for evaluation. Telephone conversations or interviews with those concerned can be used to fi ll out the matrix, which then becomes a useful aid to learning and future direction.

The adviser as accoucheur does not necessarily conduct the evalua- tion themselves, but they will have an important say in its design. Evaluation is an activity which every action learner should do as part of their efforts at action learning. In some circumstances specialists might also be engaged to provide an external view.

Before moving on to the next chapter on set advising, make some practice notes on your approach to the accoucheur role.

Stakeholder Success criteria Evidence needed

1 Customer

2 Manager

3 Team Y

etc.

Figure 3.4 A stakeholder evaluation matrix

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 61

My practice notes 3

The accoucheur

Make some notes on each aspect of the action learning adviser’s role as it relates to your current practice. You may want to consider such questions as:

• Is this a part of what I do now? Should it be?

• Which aspect of the accoucheur and designer role appeals to me most?

• Which aspects do I fi nd more diffi cult or questionable?

• What are my priorities for development in these aspects?

Considering the idea of organizational readiness

Gaining support and commitment from the top

Designing action learning including recruiting set members and problems/opportunities

Designing action learning programmes

Evaluation

Refl ection on My practice notes 3: Reading through what I have just written on these aspects of the accoucheur/designer role, what does it say about me and my practice?

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62 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Deller Business Services

A case study in advising on action learning

Introduction

Deller Business Services is a case study in three parts. These parts follow on from one another and appear successively at the end of Chapters 3, 4 and 5.

The case depicts an action learning intervention in a large enterprise and simulates the three roles of the action learning adviser – accoucheur, set adviser and developer of organizational learning. The purpose of the case is to bring this model to life and to help you refl ect on your own practice in these roles.

The case is based on an actual one, but includes data drawn from a number of projects. In each part you are invited to look at the informa- tion given and decide how you would act in the situation. You can then fi nd details of what happened next at the end of the following chapter, where you will also be invited to respond again. Obviously, there are no right answers!

Background

Deller Business Services provides managerial and outsourcing services to companies, public agencies and government- regulated industries. It began as a private sector provider which, in 2008, acquired LGC, a company specializing in offering outsourced services to local govern- ment, since when it has expanded considerably into the public sector.

Much of the company’s work is in the UK but it has worldwide contracts, including in Ireland, China and Australasia. In this highly competitive business environment, Deller was awarded ‘Top 20 Best Big Company to Work For’ status in The Sunday Times rankings in 2008 and also achieved

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 63

Three Star accreditation for an ‘outstanding level of employee engage- ment’ from Best Companies.

LGC was set up as a business in 1997 to provide outsourced services including information technology, building maintenance, estate manage- ment, traffi c and transport planning and business processes (pensions, payroll, human resources and training). At that time LGC consisted mainly of staff transferred in from the councils where it held contracts, and it operated in a very similar way to the previous set- ups, retaining many of the structures and with a predominantly local government culture.

Six months before the action learning programme was proposed LGC was closed down when it was acquired by Deller Business Services, and all the staff were transferred to the new organization.

* * *

Deller Business Services

A case study in advising on action learning

PART 1

Part 1 – Design

The Head of Organizational Development for Deller Business Services sends you the following email:

Dear Chris

Thank you for agreeing to present a proposal for an action learning programme to support our managers through a period of transition for the organization.

As you know, Deller Business Services has recently acquired a new company to add to our portfolio to supply outsourced services to the public sector.

This acquisition is populated by highly specialized areas of fi nance, property, human resources, information technology and business and people services. Many are typifi ed by chartered and professional qualifi cations and specialized knowledge. A silo based approach to the organizational structure has

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64 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

dominated for many years. In the past there has been little attention given to developing management thinking, leadership and collaborative working.

As a result of the acquisition we have now established a new team of six senior directors, drawn equally from the acquired company and parent company. The 60 managers who work to this team have all retained their previous posts.

The programme we wish to commission should be a process of business improvement which:

• creates a paradigm shift in management thinking and refl ection; • promotes joint working/collaboration/partnership thinking; • provides a highly cost effective process for continuing (and enduring)

management development and self- managed learning; • encourages innovation and prompts creative solutions for business

problems; • challenges and stimulates our people, and nurtures competitive

thinking; • facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience and ideas; • accelerates organizational and personal learning; • is real work related and action focused.

The Directors were impressed by your presentation on action learning and we would like to hear further your thoughts on a design for a programme that supports our objectives.

On behalf of the Executive Team we look forward to meeting you and hearing your proposal on Wednesday.

Kind regards

Mike

* * *

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The accoucheur: initiating action learning 65

Task 1

Using ideas from Chapter 3, your task is to propose a design for an action learning programme for Deller Business Services to present at your meeting with the Executive Team.

Make some notes on:

(i) Likely features of the design, and the design elements that need to be addressed:

(ii) Further questions you need to ask before your presentation

(You will fi nd a response to this task at the end of the next chapter.)

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4 The set adviser

Chapter overview

The set adviser or facilitator is the most familiar role taken by action learning practitioners. Despite Revans’ concerns, most action learning sets employ such ‘supernumaries’ (as he called them). We use the term ‘set adviser’ in preference to ‘set facilitator’, although this is the term is most commonly used. We do this in order to emphasize the nature of the role as envisaged by Revans as advisory to the set. It is not an executive role and the adviser should beware of exercising too much infl uence and avoid taking too much of a lead. To take a dominant role is to take away the autonomy of the set, and make it less likely that it will mature to self- direction. The success of the set adviser comes when the set no longer needs their help – because they can do it themselves.

The set adviser can play an important part in helping others to become more effective in terms of their actions, refl ection, learning and ability to self- facilitate. To encourage set members to develop the skills of presenting issues, listening, questioning, refl ecting and acting requires facilitative leadership (Chapter 7) in keeping the focus on the set and helping members to support and challenge each other. Many set advisers aim for a gradual withdrawal from the set as the members grow in confi dence and take on the facilitation functions for themselves.

This chapter also includes a section on virtual action learning (VAL), which perhaps deserves a chapter to itself. VAL is an important new development in action learning, with new skill requirements and offering new opportunities, not only for action learning but also for the wider practices of organizing and leadership. This chapter concludes with the second part of Deller Business Services which appears at the end of Chapters 3, 4 and 5. The Deller case depicts an action learning intervention in a large enterprise, and you are invited to test your knowledge and skills in the action learning adviser’s role as the case develops.

This chapter contains:

• Introduction • Pre- set preparation

Chapter overview

This chapter also includes a section on virtual action learning (VAL), which perhaps deserves a chapter to itself. VAL is an important new development in action learning, with new skill requirements and offering new opportunities, not only for action learning but also for the wider practices of organizing and leadership. This chapter concludes with the second part of Deller Business Servicesf which appears at the end of Chapters 3, 4 and 5. The Deller case depicts an action learning intervention in a large enterprise, and you are invited to test your knowledge and skills in the action learning adviser’s role as the case develops.

This chapter contains:

• Introduction • Pre- set preparation

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The set adviser 67

• Creating space for the set meeting • Ground rules • Meeting process • Focus: how action learning differs • Support and challenge • Questioning • Refl ecting, reviewing, recording • Ending • Virtual action learning • My practice notes 4 • Case study: Deller Business Services – Part 2

Introduction

In Chapter 2, we noted how Revans was concerned to limit the role of set advisers, describing them as supernumeraries or ‘combiners’ needed only to help sets get started. Although he consistently warned against the dangers of undue infl uence from this ‘non- involved facilitator’ (Revans 2011: 10), surveys suggest that most action learning sets do have advisers or facilitators (Pedler et al. 2005), and some writers now see the role as central.

Various reasons are cited for this; set advisers are needed because of:

• a lack of understanding amongst set members about the process of action learning;

• a need for help or set members to get to know each other; • a need for someone who is responsible for helping the group in

their action and learning; • the lack of skills for set members to facilitate themselves; • the expectations of participants or sponsors.

There is perhaps now a general agreement amongst writers since Revans that good facilitation helps in creating successful action learning sets. The set adviser encourages the asking of questions and the sharing of informa- tion and ideas; helps make learning explicit; and helps deal with confl icts. This developed view of the set adviser role overlaps with, and also contrasts with, the general facilitator of groups, who usually takes a stronger lead in

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68 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

setting goals and prescribing processes. Figure 4.1 shows the views of three action learning writers (Edmonstone 2003; O’Hara et al. 2004; Casey 2011) alongside two writers (Weaver and Farrell 1997; Heron 1999) on general facilitation.

Action learning advisers share many skills with more general facilita- tors, for example: ‘Effective facilitators understand and encourage improvement of group dynamics. They know how to use their presence to help a group accomplish its task and become more productive’ (Wilson 2010: 292). Yet, there are important differences: in action learning the adviser helps the set to become a powerful system for action and learning, via ‘questioning insight’ and the developing potential for learning, refl ec- tion and problem solving (Lowe 2010: 85–7; Wilson 2010).

A study of an action learning programme for NHS leaders reveals a large number of ways in which set advisers can add value by example and practice (Pedler and Abbott 2008 – all quotes are from set participants)

1 Personal conviction and commitment to action learning

Advisers have to be carefully selected – there is a difference between facilitation and training. They have to be very confi dent and really believe in action learning. This adviser had not really bought into action learning, I don’t think they knew how to manage the process and to steer a diverse group on action learning.

Figure 4.1 Some views on the roles of the set adviser and the group facilitator

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The set adviser 69

People felt very confused and wanted to be given a task (but, in a previous set with a strong adviser) . . . he would have said ‘make a strong steer and task for yourself’.

2 Sense of purpose

The adviser was very clear in terms of purpose . . . that purpose- fulness drove us on through diffi cult times.

When things are diffi cult, as they were last year in the NHS, many people in the set did not even know if they would have jobs to go to, it is very diffi cult to take a day out of work. Without a sense of purpose and no clarity around the task we could not go on. [The adviser] quickly instilled a sense of purpose and vibrancy.

3 Structure and discipline

We had the structure of describing what happened from the actions of the last meeting; being clear about the evidence from what happened; discussing the impact of what happened; then exploring the alternative courses of action.

. . . was from the independent sector, he was very powerful and very committed to action learning, he knew how to use the language. . . . He said things like ‘How do you want to handle the next session?’ He always made it clear that it was our set, and he always made time for us personally.

4 Support

She listened to the problem discussions and helped us to think them through and crystalise our thoughts.

Showing that they really care about you and your project – that sounds a bit soppy but it mattered.

5 Challenge

She was a critical friend.

She also challenged us to challenge the opinionated person more. She felt that we were a bit ‘fl uffy’. We did challenge but in a nice supportive way. Most of us were nurses by profession, all caring people. I think some members of the group did become more challenging.

6 Feedback

It’s like a one way mirror in that as participants we describe an experience and others give feedback on what they see and hear and refl ect that back to you. Behind the mirror the adviser helps

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70 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

you to feed back and make sense of what is happening on the other side of the mirror, what I am thinking, feeling, what I want.

We were encouraged to describe the situation then self- appraise it, and articulate the outcome we wanted. The group fed back what they had heard and we then individually agreed learning points.

7 Encouragement to action

Encouraging us to take action for ourselves. The set defi nitely infl uenced the actions I took, especially through the refl ection time away from everyday practice – you think on the way to meet- ings and on the way back – you think: ‘Hmmn, I might try that.’

8 Self- awareness

Our adviser was very aware of her own preferences and fi lters. This self- awareness so openly exhibited was an education in itself.

9 Learning about learning

I learned a new way of learning. I was sceptical at the beginning. I thought this is just talking for the day – we met in a beautiful place and often went for a walk – it felt indulgent! The adviser was crucial in making it happen – not just a talking shop but a learning experience. I am now far more likely to meet up with a colleague for coffee or go out for a walk to discuss action without thinking it’s a waste of time – I have become more purposeful in my conversations.

10 Accountability to the set

Our adviser gave the strong impression that it was the group he was accountable to. He was more of a participant in that he asked others for feedback on the process, and explored his own impact on others.

Pre- set preparation

There are a number of important matters that must be dealt with before any set meets, most of which have been dealt with in Chapter 3. However, there are practical and logistic aspects to preparing for meetings, including:

• arranging and checking the venue;

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The set adviser 71

• access for the less able; • transport and/or parking facilities; • arranging refreshments; • checking the times of the meeting; • contacting set members with the arrangements.

These are often best done by set members, for the practical reason that they might have the best access to local resources, but also because taking on these ‘housekeeping’ tasks is a small but signifi cant step towards self- management and self- facilitation. There are times when set advisers have to undertake this work, especially in the early stages, and there are aspects that cannot be delegated, for example contacting members before the meeting to encourage them to prepare themselves. The proforma in Box 4.1 is useful for this purpose.

Box 4.1 Action learning problem brief

These questions will help you to think through a suitable problem, opportunity or issue for action learning:

1 Describe your situation, problem or challenge in one sentence.

2 Why is this important?

(i) To you? (ii) To your organization?

3 How will you recognize progress on this problem?

4 Who else would like to see progress on this problem?

5 What diffi culties do you anticipate?

6 What are the benefi ts if this problem is reduced or resolved:

(i) to me? (ii) to other people? (iii) to the organization?

Source: Adapted from Pedler (2008: 47–8)

Box 4.1 Action learning problem brief

These questions will help you to think through a suitable problem, opportunity or issue for action learning:

1 Describe your situation, problem or challenge in one sentence.

2 Why is this important?

(i) To you? (ii) To your organization?

3 How will you recognize progress on this problem?

4 Who else would like to see progress on this problem?

5 What diffi culties do you anticipate?

6 What are the benefi ts if this problem is reduced or resolved:

(i) to me? (ii) to other people? (iii) to the organization?

Source: Adapted from Pedler (2008: 47–8)

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72 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Other essential preparation for the adviser includes reading notes from previous meetings (see below on Refl ecting, reviewing, recording) (page 77) and readying oneself emotionally and psychologically. To be ‘authentically present’, or to show up in good order both mentally and physically, may involve particular activities such as meditation (Owen 1997; Caulat 2006). This is a matter of personal practice: one of us likes to arrive early at any venue, sit in each chair in turn and look at the shared space from each perspective.

Creating space for the set meeting

Creating a good environment for a learning set is essential. As Edmonstone notes (2003) the consequences of a poor environment or of not protecting the boundaries of the set can destroy the quality of space needed. One participant reports:

We ended up using one member’s offi ce, which seemed like a good idea at the time . . . [but] . . . it may have been a false economy. We were at work after all . . . [and] . . . I couldn’t switch into learning mode easily. The person whose offi ce it was, was good about switching phones off, etc., but it didn’t stop people wandering in with ‘As you are here, could you look at this’. At breaks it was noticeable that we all rushed off to ‘just photocopy’, ‘just make a telephone call’, ‘just sort xyz out’.

(Pedler and Abbott 2008: 191–2)

Place and environment are keys parts of ensuring that the set becomes a ‘communicative space’ where ‘people can bring their spirit as well as their mind to work’ (Rigg in Mead 2006: 160). Without this quality of presence people are less able to undertake the ‘emotional labour’ of making sense of the tensions and the demands of their situations (Mead 2006: 159–61).

Ground rules

Ground rules are an action and learning contract agreed between the set members. They are ways of working together which enable the set to do their work well and that refl ect action learning values.

Each set should create its own ground rules to shape the way they will work over the cycle of meetings. What do we need as rules to create a supportive but challenging learning environment? Here are some examples from sets we have been in (Figure 4.2):

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The set adviser 73

Confi dentiality often comes at the top of lists, and can usefully be tested by the set adviser: what, exactly, do we mean by confi dentiality? For example: are people allowed to discuss what they learned outside this set? And if so, how, and with whom?

Asking these questions may highlight that what seems simple is not. In one case, a set member disclosed a fraud in the organization but claimed that the group had signed up to confi dentiality and that they therefore must keep this to themselves. This caused great unease from which the set never entirely recovered. There is perhaps no ultimate protection against such cases, but by testing assumptions and the limits of what is taken for granted, the adviser can usefully help the set to develop a shared understanding of the meaning of each rule.

Ground rules should be considered as provisional and open to change. They can be revisited at any meeting to consider whether they are still relevant.

Meeting process

Though there is no fi xed pattern and sets should create their own rhythms, a set meeting often includes these activities:

• Catch-up – a short round where members can share with each other the actions and developments since the previous meeting. This is a good way of starting because it serves to pull the set back together, but timekeeping can be diffi cult as catch- ups can easily run on. Sets operate with varying strictness on this, some even setting specifi c time limits.

Figure 4.2 Some ground rules

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74 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

• Setting the meeting agenda – including establishing a ‘batting order’ of turn taking; and while many sets have the ground rule of equal time for members, this may be modifi ed by agreement here depending on the urgency of individual issues.

• Turn- taking – presenting challenges or problems and receiving questions and feedback (see ‘Support and challenge’ below). This tends to take up most of the meeting time and may follow the pattern of each member reporting on their progress since the previous meeting, describing the issue as they see it now, being offered questions and feedback from other set members (see ‘Questioning’ below), considering their options and committing to any actions they will take before the next meeting.

• Learning review – where members review their learning, indi vidually and collectively as a set (see ‘Refl ecting and reviewing’ below).

Focus: how action learning differs

Refl ecting on the pattern and focus of communication is a useful thing for set advisers to do in the early stages. Once noticed, this awareness becomes second nature to set members. Whatever patterns of working are adopted by sets, there is a characteristic aspect of communication in action learning. Unlike in a discussion group where the rule is to follow the topic under discussion, the action learning set keeps its focus on the person and the problem (see Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3 Modes of discussion and action learning

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The set adviser 75

Figure 4.4 The system of person/problem/context

The focus on the person (or persons) is really shorthand for saying Person + Problem + Context (Figure 4.4).

Figure 4.4 is a way of representing Revans’ three systems of alpha, beta and gamma (1982: 625–51) as they appear in the ‘communicative space’ of the set. The power of the focus or gaze that action learning sets can develop spotlights the person (which can at times be hard or uncomfort- able to hold), but also illuminates the problem and the context in which the action takes place.

Support and challenge

Sets vary greatly in their effectiveness, both compared with one another and over time, and the set adviser can add value by encouraging members to aspire to what they cannot achieve without the set. A successful set, as judged by its members, clients and sponsors, requires a good balance of challenge and support. Ideally we want high support and high challenge at the same time (Figure 4.5).

A common error is to attempt too much challenge too early. Revans said that warmth comes before light, and to up the level of challenge in a set requires a higher level of support, from what he called ‘comrades in adversity’.

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76 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Nothing supports people more than being listened to; and nothing challenges more than a good question that makes you stop and think about what you are trying to do and why. Yet these are deceptively simple solutions; otherwise these opportunities would not be as rare as they are. A skilled adviser helps here, fi rst, by being aware of the current levels of support and challenge as vital signs in any set, like blood pressure in the person. As an adviser, one of the fi rst things you notice about a set is how warm or cold is it in here? Sharp or muddled? If these qualities are out of balance, the adviser can ask the group to score themselves on the two dimensions of Figure 4.5 and then ask them what they think about the consequences of the group climate and how it relates to their work.

Questioning

Questioning insight comes when new insight is gained through members being helped to question themselves and their situations, especially on that which they may not have previously considered. Revans’ three questions (1982: 715) can be asked in relation to any situation:

• Who knows about (understands) this problem? • Who cares about it? • And who can do anything about it?

These connect with three central processes of human action: thinking, feeling and willing (Figure 4.6).

Figure 4.5 The balance of support and challenge

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The set adviser 77

Thinking – about ideas, facts and theories – is traditionally thought of as being associated with the head, and is termed ‘cognitive’ by psycholo- gists. Questions which explore thinking do so by looking for information, assumptions and alternatives. For example:

• Can you tell me more about this problem? • What are your customers saying to you? • What makes this problem so exciting/important/challenging? • Who else is involved? • Who has the power to make it happen? • How important is it to them that this problem is resolved? • Whose help do you need? • Who has specialist knowledge? • How do you interpret all that data? • What sense are you making from the feedback you are receiving? • Is there a pattern in the way this set meeting is going?

Feeling – about sensations, moods and emotions – is traditionally associ- ated with the heart, and is termed ‘affective’ by psychologists. Questions which explore feeling do so by exploring feelings, responses, sympathies and intuitions. For example:

• Why is this so important to you? • How did you feel when you heard that? • If I was in that situation I would be angry – how about you?

Figure 4.6 Thinking, feeling and willing

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78 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

• How do you feel about the questions you have been asked in this group?

• Who else cares about this situation? • What do you think is blocking this situation? • You say that the others would not be interested – where do their

sympathies lie? • What does your intuition tell you about the issue? • How are you feeling right now? • How would you like to feel about this?

Willing – intentions, movement and action is traditionally thought of as in the hands and feet and is termed ‘conative’ by psychologists. Questions which explore willing do so by exploring action, direction, planning and goals. For example:

• Can you describe how things will be in one, fi ve and ten years’ time?

• How will you decide what action to take? • What help or support might you need? • How will you get that support? • What alternatives are there? • What will you do next? • If you plan is accepted how will you tell the team? • What can you do to make sure this happens next time? • You said last time that you were going to raise the issue with your

manager, and you haven’t! • What shall we do at the next meeting?

In action learning there is also the fourth dimension of learning, which is an aspect that the set adviser will pay particular attention to. The purpose of the questioning about learning is to promote taking stock, refl ecting, reviewing and evaluating:

• What have you achieved since the last meeting? • What made this happen? • What are the things you have learned from the experience? • What have we achieved as a group? • What has helped? • What could we do more/less of? • How could you create similar opportunities back at work? • What conditions have helped us/you learn? • How could we do things differently?

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The set adviser 79

The adviser may often model such questions, especially the last set, in the interests of all members acquiring this valuable skill. The more able the members, the more likely they are to self- facilitate, with each taking this role in turn or carrying it out collectively. As David Casey (2011) puts it most succinctly (see Figure 4.1 above), the set adviser’s role can be summed up in just four tasks: to facilitate giving, to facilitate receiving, to clarify the various processes of action learning and to help others take over tasks 1, 2 and 3 (our emphasis).

Refl ecting, reviewing, recording

In some occupations such as health and social care, reviewing one’s practice, refl ecting on it and recording learning points is a critical marker of professional development. Whilst less common in other parts of the vocational world, learning from practice so as to do better in the future is part of what it means to be a professional.

Marshall (2001) notes two arcs of attention in refl ective enquiry, the inner and the outer. The inner arc focuses on assumptions, patterns of activity, our response to others, the language we use and the way we make sense of what is going on. The outer arc focuses on what is going on around us, how we are affecting others, how we are maintaining or changing a situation, how we test our assumptions and how others are making sense of the same event. Both arcs of attention can be useful to set members in refl ecting on set meetings. This can be done by using a review sheet at the end of the meeting, to be quickly completed by each set member and shared with others, but also kept as a record and reviewed as preparation for subsequent meetings (Box 4.2).

An alternative approach adopts the ‘Thinking/Feeling/Willing’ model used earlier (Box 4.3, see page 81).

A learning diary is another means of developing the habit of refl ec- tion. This can be used both to record set meetings and to make connec- tions with the workplace, although it requires self- discipline and commitment to work well. An alternative to the individual learning diary is for members to email each other with weekly refl ections, perhaps on critical incidents at work.

In Chapter 8 we examine how set advisers can develop their own practice through self- refl ection. As an adviser you probably take some notes to keep a basic record and perhaps for future refl ection. This may include actions that set members have committed to, and actions you may need to take before the next meeting. A learning diary or log book might look like the one in Box 4.4 (see page 82).

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80 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Box 4.2 Set meeting review sheet

Spend fi ve minutes refl ecting individually on the work of the set and before sharing your thoughts with fellow members on:

1 MY PROBLEM/CHALLENGE The three key things I have learned about my issue today are:

(i) (ii) (iii)

2 MYSELF The one thing I’ve learned about myself today is:

3 ACTION My action steps before the next meeting are:

(i) (ii) etc.

4 OTHER SET MEMBERS The most interesting thing I have learned today about the problems facing each of the other set members is:

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) etc.

5 THE SET The thing that stands out for me today in terms of the working of this set is:

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Box 4.3 Set meeting review sheet – Thinking/Feeling/Willing

Spend fi ve minutes refl ecting individually on the work of the set and before sharing your thoughts with fellow members on:

Thinking – What do Feeling – How do Willing – What do I now think about I now feel about my I now intend to do my problem or issue? problem or issue? about my problem or issue?

Thinking – What do Feeling – How do Willing – What do I think about the I feel about the I intend to do more working of the set? working of the set? of or less of in this set?

One fi nal point on any notes in action learning: are these seen as strictly personal? Or can they be read by others? Agreements on this can be included in the ground rules.

Ending

Making a good end is the last step in the set’s work. Even where sets begin with a fi xed lifetime in terms of the number of meetings, there is still the question, explicit or not, as to whether they will continue at the end of that time. Committing to a number of meetings at the outset, say four to six, creates a natural review point, and should facilitate discussion in which members can speak freely about what they want. If the set decides

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82 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

Box 4.4 A log book

Date:

Place:

Present:

Summary of meeting:

Mark the scales below in terms of who did what at this meeting:

Climate: Adviser . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . set members

Questioning: Adviser . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . set members

Feedback: Adviser . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . set members

Support: Adviser . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . set members

Challenge: Adviser . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . set members

What can I do at the next set meeting to shift the responsibility more to the members?

When will the set be able to self- facilitate so that I can withdraw?

My actions for the next meeting:

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

etc.

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The set adviser 83

to continue then this is an easy place for the adviser to withdraw and for the set to draw up a new contract.

Where sets make a conscious decision to fi nish, this is an important opportunity for a celebration. Acknowledging what has been achieved can take many forms; from a glass of wine to the exchange of gifts, to the lengthy evaluation process including stakeholders, with which one set concluded their two years of work. Making a good end to a period of productive life and work together, and marking the occasion appropri- ately, is a valuable accomplishment in itself.

Withdrawing before the set has ended is a trickier business for the set adviser, even when it has been previously stated as an intention. Though many practitioners of Revans’ action learning hold it to be a mark of success to leave a set freestanding and self- facilitating, advisers also become friends. And there are other factors, such as Nancy Dixon’s insight, quoted in Chapter 2, on the diffi culty of relinquishing the attractive role of being ‘wise and insightful’.

Whilst this process cannot be avoided, there are some things you can do as an adviser to make withdrawing easier: you can . . .

• maintain awareness of the dangers of too much dependency on you as the adviser, and share this with the set as appropriate;

• make it clear to the set the outset that you intend withdrawing – and if possible at what point in the programme;

• offer a fi xed ‘budget’ of your time with the set, say four meetings if there is a committed to six, and let them fi x which meetings these are (which also promotes self- facilitation);

• continuously recognize the development of membership and self- facilitation skills in set meetings;

• encourage members to take turns in facilitating each other in your presence and receive feedback;

• be aware of your own feelings about leaving the set, and make these public if appropriate; don’t pretend it’s easy.

Virtual action learning

This chapter has so far proceeded on the assumption that action learning sets meet face- to-face (f2f). A few years ago that sentence would have engendered a double- take, but virtual action learning (VAL) is now emerging as an important new practice for the set adviser. The era of

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84 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

virtual living and learning via emerging technologies is transforming human interaction. Some see this as so signifi cant that they think that it is changing what it means to be human; we are becoming ‘digital natives’ who think differently: ‘They develop hypertext minds. They leap around. It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel not sequential’ (Winn in Shepherd 2011: 20).

VAL takes place in ‘a virtual environment, rather than f2f, via a range of enabling, interactive and collaborative technologies’ (Dickinson et al. 2010: 59), and is already an umbrella term, encompassing a number of alternative practices, with synchronous and asynchronous varieties:

• Synchronous varieties (real- time or simultaneous interaction) include instant messaging, webinars, audio and web- based confer- encing. Here parties listen and respond to each other in real time, as though they are in the room together.

• Asynchronous varieties (delayed interaction) include podcasts, recorded messages and discussion boards, where questions or responses can be posted at any time within agreed timescales. This helps people working in widely different time zones or with atypical work patterns.

Box 4.5 gives a case example of VAL in a global transport company.

Box 4.5 VAL in a global transport company

A global transport company employed action learning as part of its senior management programme. Whilst seen as successful, the programme relied on managers arriving from all parts of the world for one week modules, where the action sets met on days 1 and 5 with a three day training workshop in between. This was expensive, tiring and time consuming and when the workshops went online as e- learning, it was an opportunity to try VAL.

To be honest we thought it was a no- brainer – we would just do action learning through the company web meeting soft- ware. We didn’t think there would be a problem and in fact managers would appreciate the fl exibility not having to travel and we would save money and time. It didn’t occur to us that this was not just a ‘shade of the same colour but a new colour altogether’.

Box 4.5 VAL in a global transport company

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The set adviser 85

An external set adviser facilitated the action learning sets via the company system, supported by a discussion board. After the fi rst year a website was created for the programme with a ‘people wall’ where photos and biographies were posted by set members. There was also a set meeting wall with a private area for each set where details of meetings, protocols and ground rules were posted, and a communication wall where sets could post anything they felt would be helpful to other sets.

A year after the end of the programme the action learning programme was evaluated and included the following comments from participants, the adviser and the sponsor:

Comments from participants:

Asynchronous Synchronous

• It relied on a strong disci- pline to participate.

• Easy to opt out or leave early – the signal could get lost when I got fed up!

• I could contribute when and how I found appropriate – so from my computer, i-phone etc.

• The quality of presence was not discussed.

• I found it diffi cult to under- stand the tone of the ‘conversation’. Culturally it was diffi cult, e.g. exclam- ation marks are aggressive in my culture whereas in another it marks humour.

• It was great not having to travel for a day activity.

• I was really careful about what I wrote – it would be there for ever and could be used out of context.

• I liked the change of venue – leaving work behind – with this it was hard to get prepared because at my desk one minute I was working the next minute I was ‘in’.

• As a refl ective person I was really able to spend time thinking about a response.

• The meeting relies on reliable technology – fi ne if you are in Europe or the States but Angola?

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86 Facilitating action learning: a practitioner’s guide

• Working in another language I could spend time getting the translation right.

• Time zone differences meant as the only person in the USA I was getting up in the early hours of the morning!

• It was disciplined and the conversation more focused.

• It felt more focused.

• It was easy to ignore someone!

• It was easier to self- facilitate.

• Being challenged was harder – I had no idea about the context in which I was asking the question.

• I could focus on listening rather than getting distracted by the visual.

• Face to face we met at each other’s workplace and this meant we had a feeling for each other’s work context – I missed this.

• I didn’t feel confi dent that it was not being recorded or that someone else was listening in and monitoring performance.

• Harder to opt out because there was a written record of participation.

• I couldn’t tell whether people` were really listening.

• I was constantly looking at the forum for a reply to something I had posted – I found this very stressful.

• It was diffi cult to remove myself from work – even if I just moved to the conference room I was still there.

• Easy to self- facilitate – i.e. each person opened the forum was holding the space.

• I don’t speak good English and have a strong accent – I found it hard to understand others and be understood. f2f I could manage better.

• I found myself over- engineering questions and responses. In some ways this activity helped my ques- tioning skills, on the other hand it was very time consuming.

• I liked the anonymity of the set – I could choose who I was – create a character and act it out.

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The set adviser 87

Comments from the adviser:

• I found it hard to keep up with the discussion board, whereas I can book time out for a set meeting, discussion boards feel as though you have to be forever present (asynchronous).

• I found it hard when participants made derogatory remarks about the programme on the discussion board (asynchronous) – if it was f2f I could manage that – but in writing it hurt!

• I was defi nitely behind set members in using the technology (synchronous), because it was their organization’s system we were using they were way ahead – so I often fumbled at the beginning and felt stupid as they got impatient with me.

• I found it really focused the meeting (synchronous). • When we introduced a website with the various walls – it created

the sense of community that was missing before and started to create a shared meaning for the activities in the set meeting.

Comments from the sponsor:

• There was no doubt it saved money from the training budget, but managers said that they could have justifi ed the cost by doing other business at the headquarters, or that there was a richness of just being with others and again experiencing at a deeper level the headquarter environment.

• The groups didn’t build the same affection for each other as the face-to-face groups who also ate together, drank together, went to a ball game etc. (the website in year two helped with this).

• The programme refl ected the way we work – many meetings are now held through the internal webinar technology.

• Managers who had taken part in the VAL appeared to be more confi dent and skilled in virtual business meeting, both internally and externally – that’s important because it’s how we do business.

In this case, it is obvious that the ‘actor network’ of the interrelated people, processes and technologies that are created in VAL raises some new profes- sional issues for the action learning adviser.

In Table 4.1 these are considered under the three headings of design, facilitation and organizational learning.

Comments from the adviser:

• I found it hard to keep up with the discussion board, whereas I can book time out for a set meeting, discussion boards feel as though you have to be forever present (asynchronous).

• I found it hard when participants made derogatory remarks about the programme on the discussion board (asynchronous) – if it was f2f I could manage that – but in writing it hurt!

• I found it really focused the meeting (synchronous). • When we introduced a website with the various walls – it created

the sense of community that was missing before and started to create a shared meaning for the activities in the set meeting.

Comments from the sponsor:

• The groups didn’t build the same affection for each other as the face-to-face groups who also ate together, drank together, went to a ball game etc. (the website in year two helped with this).

• The programme refl ected the way we work – many meetings are now held through the internal webinar technology.

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