Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do with a sub group who really do not want to be a part of an Action Learning process, and who pre-prepare an agenda and leadership skills prior to the AL session?
Jane, Could you describe how this group behaves during the session and also could you discuss what interventions you and the group have tried so far? Also, is there a formal leader who is part of the team?
By the way, this sounds like a great issue to bring to an action learning session yourself as problem presenter. If you have access even by phone to some colleagues, you might try it. (smile…..)
Thanks Carol. Both me and the sponsor were new to AL and introduced AL to the graduate program of the organisation. The sponsor of the project was in the team as well as graduate coordinator however this sub group (the graduates) saw themselves as the project team. There remained confusion about roles and the group never found agreement as to what the problem was. It was a group problem presented by the sponsor. The graduates were not invovled in any contracting process – they felt that AL was put upon them and they just wanted to get on with the project at hand. All in all I have learnt lots through this process!
Jane – I was wondering if they have told you directly that they do not want to be part of an AL process? Perhaps pre-preparing an agenda and leadership skills prior to a session indicate an eagerness to get on with the business? Nonetheless, if I found myself in a similar situation I would be asking the team what they want to get out of Action Learning and then I would work with them to attain that. If it is simply not to participate then perhaps it is not worth flogging a dead horse! If participation is “mandated” within their organisation, then perhaps in your role as coach you can assist them to make the most of the opportunity – even if it ends up being something different to what the organisation had in mind.
I’ve had teams prepare an agenda and leadership skills before the process and more often than not found it helps the team to be more efficient with their time. As coach it also gives you the ability to ask questions along the lines – “You said you wanted to be to … point by
The other problem – of not wanting to use Action Learning, I have found I can get teams to try it, and once they do they love it. To that end i’ll ask – Can I ask you to trust the process – just for today?
So far, no one has told me ‘no’, and everyone recognizes the power of it fairly quickly.
Carole Shaw
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Jane, Could you describe how this group behaves during the session and also could you discuss what interventions you and the group have tried so far? Also, is there a formal leader who is part of the team?
By the way, this sounds like a great issue to bring to an action learning session yourself as problem presenter. If you have access even by phone to some colleagues, you might try it. (smile…..)
Reply
Jane
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Thanks Carol. Both me and the sponsor were new to AL and introduced AL to the graduate program of the organisation. The sponsor of the project was in the team as well as graduate coordinator however this sub group (the graduates) saw themselves as the project team. There remained confusion about roles and the group never found agreement as to what the problem was. It was a group problem presented by the sponsor. The graduates were not invovled in any contracting process – they felt that AL was put upon them and they just wanted to get on with the project at hand. All in all I have learnt lots through this process!
Reply
Deb Daly
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Jane – I was wondering if they have told you directly that they do not want to be part of an AL process? Perhaps pre-preparing an agenda and leadership skills prior to a session indicate an eagerness to get on with the business? Nonetheless, if I found myself in a similar situation I would be asking the team what they want to get out of Action Learning and then I would work with them to attain that. If it is simply not to participate then perhaps it is not worth flogging a dead horse! If participation is “mandated” within their organisation, then perhaps in your role as coach you can assist them to make the most of the opportunity – even if it ends up being something different to what the organisation had in mind.
Reply
DrBea
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I’ve had teams prepare an agenda and leadership skills before the process and more often than not found it helps the team to be more efficient with their time. As coach it also gives you the ability to ask questions along the lines – “You said you wanted to be to … point by
The other problem – of not wanting to use Action Learning, I have found I can get teams to try it, and once they do they love it. To that end i’ll ask – Can I ask you to trust the process – just for today?
So far, no one has told me ‘no’, and everyone recognizes the power of it fairly quickly.
Happy Coaching
Bea
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