Scenario: Story time

As an Action Learning Coach how would you handle the following situation:

The problem presenter asks the team to suggest some solutions. The team members start telling stories of their experience. These stories aren’t answering the question – What are some potential solutions.

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

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Comments (22)

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    bkknox

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    As a coach, I would say:
    I noticed we are telling lots of stories. Has any one else noticed that?
    I wonder what question we are responding to.
    Can we all take a few minutes and write down the question?

    Reply

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    Angela Chen

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    I will ask the team “what is the question here we are trying to address”?

    Reply

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    s.manjunath

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    As a coach i will do timely intervention and Ask the group ,Do we have agreement on the problem ?

    Reply

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    naveen

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    i will ask the team ” Which question is the team answering”

    Reply

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    s.manjunath

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    Direct group to write down their problem statement

    Reply

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    EnzoArmo

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    Team, have we been answering the question of the problem presenter?
    (If no) How do you think this affects the progress of the group?..
    What do you suggest that we do to move forward?

    Reply

    • Avatar

      EnzoArmo

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      *suggest that we do in order to move forward

      Reply

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    lynwong

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    As an Action Learning Coach, I will say:
    1) “Team, do you remember what was the question the problem presenter asked just now?”
    2) “Are we answering to the question so far?”
    3) “What can we do better as a team?”

    Reply

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    Sweety Burrows

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    I will intervene ” How are do doing as a team ?” / “What are we doing well ?” and “What could we do better?” someone should come up with Long statements , disengagement. At that point move on ” Now who has the next Question?

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    yanquiloca

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    I might shift things by asking, “How are we doing with offering solutions?” or “How are we doing with staying on task?”

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    lumpking

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    I would remind the team of the ground rules. Statements can only be made in response to a question. Therefore I would ask, “What question are we answering.?”

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    MNicholas

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    After noting that we were asking for solutions, I would ask all members of the group to please write down one or two strategies that in their view would address the problem. When everyone has written I will ask them to read out their strategies in turn. After they have read out the suggested strategies I would ask the problem presenter to indicate what actions he would take as a result of the session.

    Reply

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    Freddi

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    “What question are you answering?”, could pull some people back to the process. An alternative – I would start by noticing: Seems there are a lot of stories coming about. I would like to review the groundrules again. (repeat groundrules) and then ask them how they are doing as a group around this.

    Are we in agreement? Yes, no, sort of. If no or sort of…., what needs to happen to get to agreement (again)? Let the group work, and remind them to use questions with each other. Realizing that this will take them off the current problem, I would let them “work” for about 3 or 4 minutes and then see if we can get them back to the original problem – How are you doing with the original problem?

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    ksculver

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    I would ask the group: “what is the quality or creativity of our strategies?” to prompt critical reflection of what is happening in the group. I would then ask the group “would you like to hear what I am observing?”

    Reply

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    lpwooten

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    As the action learning coach, I would conduct an intervention and maybe comment on the storytelling. However to redirect the group or encourage reflection, my focus would be on asking the following questions:

    -Do we have clarity and agreement on the problem?
    -What is the quality of our questions?
    -What is the quality of our ideas? Our strategies?

    Also, I might ask the group to write several solutions for the problem presenter’s question and have them share these solutions.

    Reply

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    BobvdWoerdt

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    I intervene and tell: “I noticed we are telling experience and not answering to the question so far.”
    And I ask: “who is the first one who have a question to the problem-presenter?”

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    DrBea

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    I would start with the standard 3 questions – How are we doing as a team on a scale of 1 – 10? What are we doing well? What can we do better?

    If this didn’t come up –
    How are we doing with JUST answering the question that was asked?
    Why is it important that we focus on answering the question that was asked?
    How will we hold each other and ourselves accountable for JUST answering the question?

    Happy Coaching
    Bea

    Reply

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    Linette

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    I would remind the group of the ground rule that they should be making statements only in response to a question. And ask which question they are answering when they share their experiences?

    I could also ask the problem presenter or the group – how is this personal sharing of experiences helping to address the problem presenter’s problem?

    Reply

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    AgataRD

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    Back to the ‘what is the problem we are trying to solve’ intervention.

    Reply

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    Tiffany Maurycy

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    I see the value of the standard check in to see if the team self identifies this behavior. It would be most powerful if someone from the team raised it to awareness. I appreciate the AL coach giving that space for the team to reflect and articulate behaviors.

    Reply

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    Shuk-ha, Jennifer CHAN

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    Intervention: ask problem presenter “Do team answer your question?” After answer, I will ask team (incl. PP) “How do we doing in suggesting solutions?”. Give team a learning opportunity to do self-reflection.

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    Ng Sin Ain

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    I will intervene in using the SID frame.
    S: Team, I noticed members are sharing your own experiences when the PP was asking for some possible solutions to the problem. On the scale of 1-10, 1 being not helpful at all, 10 being these experiences are very relevant to the suggested solution, how are we doing in providing solutions?
    I: How do these sharings impact on the commitment to the action stage of the process?
    D: What does the team committed to doing in responding to the PP’s question on suggesting solutions?

    Reply

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