As an Action Learning Team Coach how would you handle the following situation:
At the start of the session you ask everyone “if they are ok with the rules” instead of “if they understand the rules” – someone says “no”.
The first thing I would be finding out is what they are saying no to. I would probe further and understand what they have said no to. If it is no to not understanding the rules then I would explain them further. If it is no they are not ok with the rules, I would find out what component and gain an understanding of why they think this. Once I had understood their answer and explained the rules again, if they were not ok with following the rules then ultimately I would ask them if they wanted to continue to participate in the session.
I would inquire as to what they did not agree with, address the concern and explain the rationale for the few ground rules to generate alignment. I might also indicated that I mispoke and explain that the ground rules are fundamental to the proper operation of the program and ask the participant with the objection that they trust me enough to give the process a try as constituted.
In acknowledging the error, there is also an opportunity to highlight humility as a leadership quality as well as the impact in how questions are structured.
I agree with Annemarie’s reply and intervention. First of all, let us get clear what someone might not agree or not be comfortable with. We must remember we are not part of the team, we are coaches looking for learning opportunities for the team improvement. So, mistakes we can make, but asking for trust it means we are participating as members. If we make a mistake we need to know how to turn on the situation into new direction, without loosing our responsability for learning.
Gidday! I concur with Annemarie, as I feel a little bit of clarification can go a long way to assisting the process to continue in a free flowing manner.
Being genuine and admitting a mistake communicates to the team that we are also learning as coaches and frees members to participate without the burden of having to do it exactly right. I interpreted Erik’s comment as asking the member to trust the Action Learning process and his experience as a coach that the process works. However, I am not sure that asking the team to trust the process and me as the coach moves me toward becoming a problem solving team member. I believe the coach does need to establish trust with the team that she will hold members accountable to the ground rules in order to create a safe environment for learning to occur.
I agree with Donna’s statement to admit the miscommunication. Depending on the team’s previous Action Learning performances I would choose to dig deeper to learn what the participant meant when saying “he/she would not like the rules.” One has not necessarily to like the rules but it might be most effect to follow them. I would be careful about opening the doors that participants thought they could change the rules.
Yes, we all mis-speak at times. I agree with all the comments. My style would be to admit my mistake and talk about the fundamental importance of those ground rules and that they are really non-negotiable. I would also open the conversation to hearing what was troubling about the ground rules. If the person continues to resist the ground rules, I love Annemarie’s suggestion and would ask “Do you still want to participate in the session, given that these are the ground rules?”
I would start by assuming the person that said “no” was being ‘funny’ since I left the door open for them. I’d simply admit I had misspoke since these 2 rules are not negotiable. The said, I ask if the everyone understood the rules.
I will ask the team member, wo has understood the ground rule,to explain to others about the rules. When someone also say”no”, I would explain the rule until everyone understands the rules.
I will apologize, correct myself, and clarify that the 2 basic ground rules cannot be modified and will need to be followed in the Action Learning session. I will then ask the appropriate question if everyone understands the rules.
Annemarie Butcher
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The first thing I would be finding out is what they are saying no to. I would probe further and understand what they have said no to. If it is no to not understanding the rules then I would explain them further. If it is no they are not ok with the rules, I would find out what component and gain an understanding of why they think this. Once I had understood their answer and explained the rules again, if they were not ok with following the rules then ultimately I would ask them if they wanted to continue to participate in the session.
Reply
erik mazziotta
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I would inquire as to what they did not agree with, address the concern and explain the rationale for the few ground rules to generate alignment. I might also indicated that I mispoke and explain that the ground rules are fundamental to the proper operation of the program and ask the participant with the objection that they trust me enough to give the process a try as constituted.
In acknowledging the error, there is also an opportunity to highlight humility as a leadership quality as well as the impact in how questions are structured.
Reply
Cleo Wolff
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I agree with Annemarie’s reply and intervention. First of all, let us get clear what someone might not agree or not be comfortable with. We must remember we are not part of the team, we are coaches looking for learning opportunities for the team improvement. So, mistakes we can make, but asking for trust it means we are participating as members. If we make a mistake we need to know how to turn on the situation into new direction, without loosing our responsability for learning.
Reply
Janet Harradine
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Gidday! I concur with Annemarie, as I feel a little bit of clarification can go a long way to assisting the process to continue in a free flowing manner.
Reply
Donna Christophersen
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Being genuine and admitting a mistake communicates to the team that we are also learning as coaches and frees members to participate without the burden of having to do it exactly right. I interpreted Erik’s comment as asking the member to trust the Action Learning process and his experience as a coach that the process works. However, I am not sure that asking the team to trust the process and me as the coach moves me toward becoming a problem solving team member. I believe the coach does need to establish trust with the team that she will hold members accountable to the ground rules in order to create a safe environment for learning to occur.
Reply
Philipp Werenfels
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I agree with Donna’s statement to admit the miscommunication. Depending on the team’s previous Action Learning performances I would choose to dig deeper to learn what the participant meant when saying “he/she would not like the rules.” One has not necessarily to like the rules but it might be most effect to follow them. I would be careful about opening the doors that participants thought they could change the rules.
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David Feachnie
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I agree with all the comments and the reasons for saying them.
I guess this shows the importance of sticking to the “script” – it saves AL Coaches from problems caused by our ‘sloppy’ language use.
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Gail Finger
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Yes, we all mis-speak at times. I agree with all the comments. My style would be to admit my mistake and talk about the fundamental importance of those ground rules and that they are really non-negotiable. I would also open the conversation to hearing what was troubling about the ground rules. If the person continues to resist the ground rules, I love Annemarie’s suggestion and would ask “Do you still want to participate in the session, given that these are the ground rules?”
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DrBea
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I would start by assuming the person that said “no” was being ‘funny’ since I left the door open for them. I’d simply admit I had misspoke since these 2 rules are not negotiable. The said, I ask if the everyone understood the rules.
Happy Coaching
Bea
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LIXIAOXIN
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I will ask the team member, wo has understood the ground rule,to explain to others about the rules. When someone also say”no”, I would explain the rule until everyone understands the rules.
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Elmo Alforque
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I will apologize, correct myself, and clarify that the 2 basic ground rules cannot be modified and will need to be followed in the Action Learning session. I will then ask the appropriate question if everyone understands the rules.
Reply