Scenario: Refusal to participate
As an Action Learning Coach how would you handle the following situation:
A member of the team does not want to participate.
Tags: Action Learning Coach, WIAL Action Learning, WIAL Talk
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Comments (19)
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Paul Duncan
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I’ve observed someone not wanting to participate. Did anyone else notice this? What is the impact on a team when all the members aren’t participating? How do you want to handle that?
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Cynthia Kitagawa
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I would do a check-in. If the team doesn’t identify this issue when asked “What could we do better?” I would ask “How is the balance of participation?” then, if necessary, “What can we do to ensure that everyone participates?”
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Barry Rush
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I would do the “I have observed that some in the group seem unwilling to participate, has anyone else observed that? What is the impact on the team? What can we do differently?” Their response would tell a lot. Are those who are being “helped” seeing the impact on the team or are they used to staying zoned out in a meeting with no one checking in? So the group would need to identify action to take.
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Alex Wong
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It may be useful to define what that participate mean, as a person who is not talking may actually be thinking internally. It would be more useful to address the observed behaviour – e.g. not talking, not willing to do something that the team has agreed to, etc.
I will address the observed behaviour – e.g. not talking
– Does everyone contribute to the conversation equally?
– What is the impact of one person not talking?
– What can we do better?
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DrBea
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I was seeing this one during the learning checkin the participant said they didn’t want to participate but i can easily see the other interpretations.
Assuming it came up during the checkin, i would ask them – what would the impact on our problem solving be if we had everyone’s participation. I would wait a second or two then open it to the team. Team – what would the impact on our problem solving be if everyone was full engaged? How do we want to insure full participation from all team members.
Happy Coaching
Bea
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Tracey
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I would check in with the team and ask how they feel it is going. I would ask how we could improve as a team. If it doesn’t come up but still continues I would share my observation of not everyone participating and ask the team the impact on the group.
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Ben Sparkman
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During a standard check-in, if this issue of non-participation doesn’t come up in the “What could we do better?” part, I would ask: “How is the balance of participation?” If this is missed again, I would say that I’ve noticed some are not joining the discussion and then ask, “What’s the impact on our problem-solving if some members are not involved? What can we do to improve participation of the whole team?…..Who has the next question?”
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qiuyue Wu
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I would check in with the team by asking “How do we feel about the participation during discussing”,and if the team still do not notice that, I would share my observation, and then ask “What is the impact if some members do not join the discussion, what can we do to improve as a team”.
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Michal Weyna
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I would address it through a standard check-in by asking the team about the team performance overall (what are we doing well? What could we do better?). If this issue is not directly mentioned I would add a learning question: how is the balance f participation?/why is it important?/how will we make it happen?
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Darren Tan
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I would ask at the first check in, “Team, what have you noticed about the weight of the conversations?” If the team doesn’t pick it up, I would ask, “What would be the impact of team members not being part of the conversations?” I may do a learning moment intervention if I notice that the culture interferes, “What would be some reasons why a team member doesn’t speak up in a work group?”
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xin liangxin
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I would ask “How do we feel about the participation during discussing?”.After the team pick it up, then ask, “What could we do better?”
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marc rutter
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I would ask the group: How do you feel about the groups level of participation? Is there a way to insure that everyone is contributing?
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Francine van der Jagt
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I would share my observation with the team that not everyone is participating. If that does not help, I would ask how everyone is feeling. I would preferably use the check-in for the intervention.
However, if the participation would still be lacking, I would have a conversation with that particular member (outside the session).
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Wu Yanmei
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I would like to ask the team the following questions:
1、Did everyone join the discussion?
2、What‘s the impact that someone does not want to participate？
3、What can we do better ?
By answer the questions, the team will find the problems and do better.
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guangwei zhou
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I will intervene and say”I noticed that not everyone participated in the discussion. What is the impact of doing this?”
After the team pointing out the impacts, I will ask “What can we do better?”
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jefferson Cua
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This has happened to me many times. I have inherited a wisdom from one of the coaches I have observed and I have done the technic.
During the first check point, I would ask if everyone has asked or answered a question. The person who has not participated will hopefully be honest enough to admit that he or she has not yet asked or answered a question.
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Lois Parkes
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I would intervene and ask the team to rate the level of participation of team members. Once it is established that the level of participation is unequal, I would then follow up by asking the group what is the impact of non-participation in the action learning process, and how does the group wish to proceed. This has happened before, and by approaching it this way, the group member who was not participating usually starts participating once the group establishes that expectation of full participation by all group members
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liang jie chen
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I would check in with the team and ask how they feel it is going. And I would ask “I have observed that some in the group seem unwilling to participate, What is the impact of one person not talking? What can we do better?”
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Roberta Gamboa
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I noticed that we have a member that is not participating. Does anyone else noticed it too? What is the impact, for the group, of not having everybody in the discussion?
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