Scenario: Open Answer

As an Action Learning Coach how would you handle the following situation:

You ask the team – “how are we doing on a scale of 1 – 10”, and get a response “I think we could be blah blah blah …”

Tags: Action Learning Coach

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Comments (12)

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    Cleo Wolff

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    I went through this situation some times. I immediately reminded the participant that it was just for giving a score, from 1-10. I also said: we will have a time to share what could be done better and what we are doing well. It worked and the participants became aware how they liked to talk much more than the situation asks for. It was a good experience for them and for me. We, as AL coach need to keep the process of learning effective.

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    Danny Slater

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    This one happens all the time in the groups I coach – particularly for those who have yet go through the action learning process. I repeat the question. The team member gets it. And (as noted in previous post), it is often commented on in post-set debrief how valuable the interruption is, contradicting a pattern the team member may be aware of but unable to self-edit.

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    Jo C

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    This is very common in our first time groups … I got pulled up myself the first time I did it. I usually say something like “At this stage, could I just have a number from 1-10 from each of you?” The ‘at this stage’ is meant to flag that they will get an opportunity for comment shortly.

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    Gil Flori

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    I’d agree that it is common and, like Danny, I repeat the question. I have had to repeat the question a couple of times on occasion but the team normally pick up on it straight away and respond with the 1 – 10 score.

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    Dr. Kavita Sethi

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    As the above responses indicate this is a common issue when working with groups who are not familiar with the process or who are not listening adequately. I would repeat my question by saying, at this point let us give a score on a scale of 1-10. This might stem the issue or there could be two alternate scenerios. First if some other member of the group picks it up (as has been indicated in the above posts) or if the scenerio gets repeated, I would elicit a learning opportunity on listening skills.

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    Chander

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    As this situation did happen in my session, I immediately repeated by saying to the team member “on a scale of 1-10” to set the process on track for the others to follow as well. Moving forward we may want to ask a question addressing our listening skills.
    “Team how well are we listening whilst being engaged?”

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    Sabreena Andriesz

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    I think we need to qualify what 1 means and what 10 means so that the scale is specific. For example, on a scale of 1-10 where 1o is excellent and 1 is exactly the opposite.

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    Sanjay Mehta

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    I have had this situation happen before. What I did was not to cut him off, but repeat my question when he was done and remind him that I needed him to rate on a scale of 1-10. However, it took a few reminders for him to get accustomed to it. But then he was reluctant to rate it and took some time to do it. I reassured him that the rating did not indicate good or bad but just our observation of how things are going so far.

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    David Troupe

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    Like the others, I might respond succinctly, “For now, let’s just identify a number. What was your number?”

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    Vishruta Mattu

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    Agreed. “For now, let’s stick to a number. How are we doing as a team on a scale of 1-10?”

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    Jill Bayly

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    I like the thoughts of Danny and Gil where repeating the question is the first option.
    Also the short response of David had real impact by getting straight to the point.

    Following the repeated question, I may add, ‘We will have time to share other thoughts later, for now a number rating would be good”

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    DrBea

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    Fantastic responses. I would cut the person off and repeat my question – On a scale of 1 – 10 how are we doing?

    Happy Coaching
    Bea

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