a structured learning process

The first individual starts by outlining (concisely and briefly) in two or three minutes the challenge they wish to discuss. This topic must be something that they are personally involved in and have some responsibility for changing/solving/improving.

The rest of the cohort then ask questions to identify any pertinent facts they feel might be useful. These will often be closed questions (i.e. requiring one-word answers).

The cohort members will then follow this with questions to probe, clarify and expand the issue, with these likely to be open questions. It is human nature to want to offer help and advice so the facilitator will encourage you to avoid asking questions that are really a solution in disguise (e.g. “why don’t you do xxxxx”). They will also be quick to spot when a question has become an anecdote and will bring everyone back to asking probing questions. As you get used to the action learning approach, we expect that all members will monitor the process and encourage great open questions, avoiding suggesting solutions or sharing anecdotes. It is the questioning process that is most likely to help the issue-owner identify any gaps in her knowledge, question assumptions or provide alternate interpretations.

The issue-owner chooses how to answer the questions but may also choose not to respond immediately and to give further thought to the question – in which case, it is useful to write the question down and pass it to them for further reflection (‘post-its’ are useful for this purpose).

There is no requirement on any individual to follow the line of questions of any other cohort member. The purpose is to empower the issue-owner to be the architect of the next actions and, ultimately, to identify a solution to her problem.

In the last few minutes of the allotted time the issue-owner will be encouraged to identify three actions that will move the issue forward (not necessarily solve the whole issue); these actions should be achievable in the next three to four weeks. Simple one-step actions are preferable to complex multi-step ones. The actions are written down by the issue-owner who agrees to undertake the actions in a reasonable time scale.

The process is repeated for each member of action learning cohort.

Full details of the action learning process and the cohort roles can be found in the Guide to Action Learning in HE.