As an Action Learning Team Coach how would you handle the following situation:
During an intervention you ask “How are we doing taping all the knowledge in the room?” A participant says “We are asking questions and (s)he is answering them – isn’t that the rule?”
Because this was question put out to the whole group, I would mirror back what the person said, i.e. “OK, we are asking questions and they are being answered. What else are we doing to tap into the knowledge in the room?” And I would continue around the room allowing everyone to respond. If, based on the answers, it seemed that a follow up question was needed, I might ask: “What could we be doing better to tap into the knowledge in the room?”
As coach I would acknowledge that questions were being asked of the problem owner and that they were being answered. And then ask something along the lines of “what other expertise is in the room”; and if necessary…”what questions could the team members ask of each other to leverge their expertise. “
I would reiterate the rule that “anyone can ask a question of anyone at anytime.” Then I would repeat the question again: “How are we doing taping all the knowledge in the room?” and continue with “How can we integrate knowledge in the room?”
I agree with Gail and make the distinction between the activity of engaging the problem owner with questions and what else might be in the room in terms of knowledge.
I agree with what’s been said and would also reiterate that the rule is that we ask questions of the problem owner but also that we can ask questions of each other. It seems like, in my experience so far, it’s easy to forget that part.
The observation that we are reponding to questions restricts access to the knowledge in the room. The coach could intervene and check that all the participants feel that all the knowledge in the room is being shared. In other words the AL Coach is checking that asking questions, or responding to questions, frees up all the possible knowldege in the room. A learning intervention could be ‘…is there knowledge in the room that we could access that is not presently being accessed?’ This is non-judgemental, but allows all participants to engage. John Thompson
Great responses! Usually, I keep quiet for a moment and someone eventually states or asks – o, we can ask questions of each other. If I get that strange look that indicates that they aren’t sure what I am asking, I’ll rephrase it – Who are all the questions being directed to? … How could we draw in the knowledge that other members of the team have? … What is the impact of drawing on the knowledge of all team mebers?
Typically, when they start doing this we noticed a marked increase in the energy in the team. Given this has happened in another intervention I’ll frequently follow up to reinforce the behavior, – We had indicated we were going to ask more questions of each other – How are we doing with that? … What did we notice about the energy in the team when we started asking each other questions?
I think this rule is the part of first ground rule. Doing this might be reduced the Thinking collision, This situation is that, we don’t willing to see.
Gail Finger
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Because this was question put out to the whole group, I would mirror back what the person said, i.e. “OK, we are asking questions and they are being answered. What else are we doing to tap into the knowledge in the room?” And I would continue around the room allowing everyone to respond. If, based on the answers, it seemed that a follow up question was needed, I might ask: “What could we be doing better to tap into the knowledge in the room?”
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Deborah Keene.
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As coach I would acknowledge that questions were being asked of the problem owner and that they were being answered. And then ask something along the lines of “what other expertise is in the room”; and if necessary…”what questions could the team members ask of each other to leverge their expertise. “
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Philipp Werenfels
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I would reiterate the rule that “anyone can ask a question of anyone at anytime.” Then I would repeat the question again: “How are we doing taping all the knowledge in the room?” and continue with “How can we integrate knowledge in the room?”
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Cleo Wolff
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I agree with Phillip. Other question could be: How can we be aware of other team members’ point of view?
Cleo
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Ruth Camp
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I agree with Gail and make the distinction between the activity of engaging the problem owner with questions and what else might be in the room in terms of knowledge.
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Becky
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I agree with what’s been said and would also reiterate that the rule is that we ask questions of the problem owner but also that we can ask questions of each other. It seems like, in my experience so far, it’s easy to forget that part.
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DrBea
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From John Thompson
The observation that we are reponding to questions restricts access to the knowledge in the room. The coach could intervene and check that all the participants feel that all the knowledge in the room is being shared. In other words the AL Coach is checking that asking questions, or responding to questions, frees up all the possible knowldege in the room. A learning intervention could be ‘…is there knowledge in the room that we could access that is not presently being accessed?’ This is non-judgemental, but allows all participants to engage. John Thompson
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DrBea
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Great responses! Usually, I keep quiet for a moment and someone eventually states or asks – o, we can ask questions of each other. If I get that strange look that indicates that they aren’t sure what I am asking, I’ll rephrase it – Who are all the questions being directed to? … How could we draw in the knowledge that other members of the team have? … What is the impact of drawing on the knowledge of all team mebers?
Typically, when they start doing this we noticed a marked increase in the energy in the team. Given this has happened in another intervention I’ll frequently follow up to reinforce the behavior, – We had indicated we were going to ask more questions of each other – How are we doing with that? … What did we notice about the energy in the team when we started asking each other questions?
Happy Coaching
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JIXIAOPENG
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I think this rule is the part of first ground rule. Doing this might be reduced the Thinking collision, This situation is that, we don’t willing to see.
Reply