As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation:
The team has reach consensus on the problem and the goal but is having trouble transitioning to the solution phase.
As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation:
The team has reach consensus on the problem and the goal but is having trouble transitioning to the solution phase.
In this case, in my personal opinion, the problem statement is not good. The problem statement needs to be reviewed.
I will ask the team again:
On a scale of 10, how confident are you with the problem statement?
Or I will apply SID to get the team’s opinion
– Hello team: I see that we are having difficulty coming up with a solution, what happened?
– How does this affect the team?
– What can we do to improve?
I would share my observation first by asking, “I noticed we have sunk in this topic for a period of time, but we didn’t get any conclusion or decision yet. I guess we may have some trouble now for our discussion, do you agree with me?”
If the team also think so. I would ask, “What hinders us to get the solution effectively?”. based on the information shared by the team, I would make further intervention by asking SID question, specifically questions involved influence and decision.
If the team think they are right on the way, I would ask, “What can we do in order to have a better team discussion and output?”
In my opinion, as a coach, you can intervene by having the team ask questions using the selected leadership competencies to reach a solution.
In this case, I would apply SID to intervene:
– Team, I have observed that the team has arrived at an agreement with the problem statement. However, it appears that we are still in the conversation on what the problem is.
– How is this affecting the team in coming up with action steps?
– What is the team’s decision?
I would intervene: with the problem and the goal having been defined and agreed, how could we best use the time left so that the PP /or we as the team had clarity about the next steps? What is the importance of … [depending on the answers…] e.g. having actionable solutions at the end of the session?
In this scenario, I would take a structured approach to help participants recognise that they are stuck in a loop and not progressing toward a solution. I will guide the team in shifting their focus from identifying the problem to generating solutions.
I would start by asking:
“How are we doing as a team in terms of moving from identifying the problem to generating potential solutions?”
This question encourages reflection and helps the group realise they haven’t moved toward solutions.
Next, I would ask:
“What do we need to do as a team to start exploring solutions?”
This approach raises awareness while steering the conversation toward solutions, ensuring the team takes ownership of the process.
I would ask:
– Hello team! you as team has reached consensus of the problem and goal however you are struggling with transition to the solution. Do you notice the same?
– What is happening to you all at the moment?
– What are you team still looking for for the past few minutes?
– What do you think you need to do before moving forward?
– Is there anything you think you need to make team go to explore solutions?
– What do you as team can do better to go to the solutions?