Tag: Action Learning Sets

Our final online Aurora session was a self-organised Action Learning Set (ALS) that we arranged with our previous group from Aurora Day 4. We had to do some rearranging of the date and for various reasons only three of the original group could take part. This was a shame, but we all agreed that three should be the minimum to use this technique as it meant that the questioners could still take turns.

Pros and Cons of Action Learning Sets

Reflecting on the process of ALS, it does push you to think outside of your existing way of thinking and helps you address points of view that you hadn’t already considered. However it is not useful when we are so engrained in our own thinking that we can’t even picture the outside view. In these cases I’d suggest that it is more helpful to take a step outside the ALS process and switch to a more conventional discussion.

One of the other issues I’ve found with ALS that I have struggled to take accurate notes whilst also talking and thinking about the questions I’ve been asked. I’m not sure that I’d be able to summarise everything we discussed afterwards even with 10 minutes of reflection time. I would be uncomfortable about recording the session but that is probably the only way I can accurately capture everything.

What next?

Whilst I see the limitations of the technique, I’m happy to continue using the approach to see how it develops over time. After all – I’ve only done it twice! Our group has agreed to meet again at the end of August so we can keep up the contact and the momentum now that the Aurora programme has finished.

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Update from September 2024

Whilst our ALS did try and arrange a follow up session in late August, it wasn’t possible to get enough people together due to leave and other commitments. I will try and reach out to people later in the year, as the start-of-term rush dies down. If that doesn’t work, I plan to reach out on the Aurora Connect network to see if anyone else is interesting in joining a group.

Most of our fourth Aurora day was spent in breakout rooms, but to help us prepare, at the start of the day we were given some guidance and tips about techniques to make the most of the sessions. Action Learning is a problem solving methodology that involves using a structured series of roles, steps and questions to help address the issue that the participant brings to the group. I’m not going to go into full detail about the process as I won’t do it justice, but it was very methodical and process driven.

Perhaps as a result of that, parts of the methodology felt somewhat at odds with more naturalistic group work. Asking questions from a set list felt a little clunky at times and I admit we sometimes tweaked the questions in our group. It was also hard to simply listen whilst the participant answered, and not because we wanted to talk over or digress from the topic, but more that we wanted to reassure and encourage the person. I found I replaced it with a lot of emphatic nodding, and what I hoped were sympathetic facial expressions!

Having the support at the start to say “you might find this bit tricky” was useful as it meant we all knew that it may feel counter-intuitive, but sticking to the format is the way to make the most of the activity.

After the questions came the reflections and action-setting which was rather lovely, as all of our group had supportive and/or complimentary observations for each other when we were feeding back to our participant. It did feel rushed though, with <25 mins per person in total and only 5 minutes for 4 people to sum up and offer advice.

The question list we were given seemed designed to widen your perspective and challenge your mindset. Some were expected – “Who can help?”, “what will you do next?” but others were more surprising. They allowed you to explore things by looking at them in a different way – “What happens if you do nothing?”, “what would you like do be saying about this in 6 months?”, “what would someone you respect do in the circumstances?”.

As we all had the opportunity to ask the questions and to answer them, with minimal interruption, it felt very equitable, with no room for egos. I would have loved more time to reflect, talk about solutions with people (both when on my topic, and on other peoples) and make copious notes on my take-aways.

Whilst it wasn’t really covered in the plenary part of the day, it would have been useful to note how these techniques have been used in a work environment. Reflecting on it now here’s what I can see:

• Supporting colleagues and mentees – Allowing them to develop solutions themselves and empowering them – after all “you came up with these ideas yourself”
• Teams needing a solution – asking teams to find a way forward on a stuck issue
• Self support – Asking yourself these questions when you’re struggling to see a way forward.

Please do respond in the comments if you have any other ideas as to how Action Learning Sets could be used in the workplace.