As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation:
A norm that the team set is not working for them. For instance, they decide they must check with each team member if they want to respond to a question before moving to the next question. They discover this is slowing the process to a painful pace.
It sometimes happens that a team establishes norms which initially seem helpful for collaboration, but ultimately become blocking and create confusion. This is a valuable moment to reflect on the consequences of our decisions. There is no room here to blame others, as it was the team that introduced the rule. It becomes an excellent learning opportunity and space for reflection.
At that point, I introduce an intervention by giving the team time to consider: “Does the rule we introduced at the beginning help or hinder us?” and “What do we want to change in our team norms?”
This becomes a moment for developing critical thinking.
At the end of the session, during reflection and feedback, we can return to this moment and consider how to establish team norms more effectively—what criteria to include and what questions are worth asking before introducing a rule into practice.