Scenario: Door

As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation: At the start of the session a participant gets up and closes a door.

Tags: Action Learning, ActionLearning Coach, Team Coach, WIAL, WIAL Action Learning, WIAL Talk

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Comments (14)

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    Liliia Bilous

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    The most probably I would wait for a second to give the space for one of group members to react ( the very usual reaction is a humor), or I will ask «if the closed door means that nobody goes out before clear solution will be found». Light joke can be good icebreaker.
    Or will build on the story on analogy that any door we encounter can lead to a story, an opportunity, a solution and how it is important to choose the good door to open for new opportunities, the same as identify the good problem to find clear solutions.

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    Liang CHen

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    I would say: I see that the partners have closed the door to create a safe environment for us, and in our next action learning meeting, I also hope that we will leave the whole content of our discussion in this room, trust each other, be open and honest, and produce efficiently

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    Tomasz Stangret

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    Interesting but I don’t think I would do anything. This is not against any of AL rule.

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    Artur Kuligowski

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    I would wait for the reaction of the rest of the group first. At a laterna stage, I would ask: “How does this affect our group?”, “What does this situation mean for us?”. I would try to find an agreement.

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    ZHAN FUHONG

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    As a coach, I would not turn a blind eye and would handle it according to different situation:
    (1) If there was noise outside the door at that time, I would express my gratitude to the participant, thank him for giving us a better learning environment.
    (2) If there was no disturbance outside the door at that time, I would ask the participant the reason for closing the door, then respond according to the reason.

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    Shiran Lin

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    I will wait for the participants to return and ask: I am concerned that a partner just left the team to close the door, how does similar behavior affect our action learning and how should we respond or manage similar behavior. I want everyone to realize the importance of the team staying together and giving their full attention.

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    Cuong Phung

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    If I don’t see any impact, I’ll ignore the situation.
    If I see an impact, I’ll use SID intervention. For example: “I observe that the light in our room is darker after a door is closed. Have you seen that?” This question will help team to realize the Situation.
    Then I’ll ask team about the Impact: “What is the impact of the light in our room now to our taking note?”
    If team agree with the impact, I’ll ask: “What should we do to avoid the impact?”, then back to the team after they have a solution.

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    Nguyen Son

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    The door closing action should be an implication for coach to intervene only if it associates with noticeable signals such as: door is closed very hard and makes big noise, the member has shown his uncomforted behaviors earlier in the session…If those has not been detected, no action would be needed from coach

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    Binh Thanh Ta

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    For me, as a coach in this situation, if closing door action had no impact on the session, I would do nothing and let the session go on. If closing door action create an impact, I would intervene, such as making question: How are the team feeling now? Then after one or two replies from members, I will ask if the team could concentrate with the door open? or do they prefer to let the it closed for better confidential sharing.

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    Monika Gawanowska

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    Closing the door can be due to many reasons. If the group didn’t respond, neither did I.

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    Tran Thuy

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    This member’s action of closing the door may have good intentions to make the coaching session quieter. The Coach should only intervene if the Member goes out and closes the door, or the sound of the door closing is too loud, causing noise and interrupting the coaching session. In case it does not affect the session, the Coach should skip it and continue the session.

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    Aleksandra Serafin

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    In my opinion this situation isn’t something that should need my strict attention.
    I would simply thank the participant that he/she thought of our atmosphere just to work and hear ourselves better.

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    Piyanut Sangpattarachai

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    If all team members are already present I would thank the team member by saying “Thank you for closing the door to make everyone feel safe and able to speak freely and can focus on the session without outside distractions”.

    If not all team members are present, I would say “Thank you for closing the door. I believe not all team members are present yet. Would you mind leaving the door open so they can see we are still waiting for them?” Then I would smile.

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    Tomasz Tawkin

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    In this situation, I would observe the group’s reaction first. If it seems to affect the session, I might ask, “How does the action of closing the door affect our group dynamics and focus?” This could open a conversation about the group’s preferences for the working environment, such as the need for quiet or privacy. If the action appears to be insignificant and doesn’t disrupt the session, I would continue with the agenda without intervention.

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