Scenario: Oops
As an Action Learning 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”.
Tags: Action Learning Coach, WIAL Action Learning, WIAL Talk
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Comments (19)
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bkknox
| #
As an AL coach, I might say, “I apologize. I meant to ask if each person understands the rules. Can we respond to that question first?” I would wait for each person to respond.
“Thank you. Now I would like to ask, what rule is causing some discomfort?”
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Michael
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As an A/L coach, I would ask, “What issue do you have with the rules?” in order to gain clarity and move forward.
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Freddi
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I would start over and re-emphasize or restate the rules. “My mistake, let me start this again”. If I get a “no” to understanding the rules, I would ask “what is it that you do not understand?”
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Freddi
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Michael, That is a nice way to keep the dialogue going. Instead of dancing around it and starting over, you could just put the issue right on the table…with this suggestion.
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Hans van Buijten
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I would ask the person what it specifically is he/she is not ok with. I would shortly explain the why of that ground rule and ask if he/she has understood this. If the participant would still not be ok, I would ask him/her as many open-ended questions as possible to show the team the impact of open-ended questions.
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EnzoArmo
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Pardon me. I would like to rephrase my question: “Are the required rules understood by each participant?”
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ksculver
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I would say “thank you for your honesty; you have shown me how changing one word can have a huge impact on the potential outcome of this session. I would like to take the group back to the beginning”. I would then take the group through the purpose, the process and the two ground rules. For ground rule #1 I would ask “does everyone understand the ground rule” and for ground rule #2 “does everyone understand my role” and then move into identifying leadership skills.
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Kathleen
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I would say, “I apologize. When I said are you ok with the ground rules, I meant did you understand them. Do you understand them?”
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lpwooten
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I would rephrase the question to the group and emphasize that the focus is not agreeing upon the rules, but understanding the rules. Then, if there were issues with the understanding of the rules, I would explain the theories and pedagogy that supports the rules.
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BobvdWoerdt
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I will say: “My apologize. I meant if each person understands the rules. So do everyone understand the rules?”. If everyone say “yes”, I will say: Ok, let’s start with the session.
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DrBea
| #
I would simply say – I misspoke – my question is actually do you understand the ground rules?
Happy Coaching
Bea
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AgataRD
| #
“which part is unclear so we can go over it again for the benefit of all group members/”
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Tiffany Maurycy
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I laughed at the simplicity and ease in Bea’s response.
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Ismady Norsyam Ishak
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It is important that the team clarify the rules. If there is a member who does not understand or seeking clarification, I will direct to him ” Pardon, Which of the rules you do not agree? Why?
Ask the team “Why do we need to follow rules?”.
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Hans Ploeg
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I would keep it simple and rephrase my question. The script is the script and to be successful I stay follow the script. So by rephrasing the question, ‘Do they understand the rules’, we are able to start. If they do not understand I would start again explaining.
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Jos Martens, MBA
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As an Action Learning coach, I will offer my (sincere) apology for raising the incorrect question. My question is: Which conceivable question, or questions, do you want to raise concerning the guidelines (more formal would be code of conduct) of the Action Learning process? Furthermore this possible answer, even when it deals with a closed ended question where such a reaction is possible, shouldn’t be necessary when it is about team-members who are familiar with Action Learning and who are heavily committed.
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Michelle Gagui
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Definitely I will apologize to the group. I will reiterate the rules and ask everyone again if they’ve understood it and humbly ask them if they would be willing to move forward in the session.
If that person still says no, I will ask him directly “which part of the rules that the team can support you with and make it more understandable? “
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Noppachat Anuson
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As I am Coach I would say “Fine, never mind, just understand and follow the rules is enough”
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MARISTELA GORAYB
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I’m sorry, I made a mistake. According to the action learning script, the question I should did, different from this one is:
has everybody understood this basic rule?
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