North West HE Cross Institutional Action Learning Welcome & intro. I am going to quickly run through the action learning process that we will be adopting, so that you have an understanding of what to expect. When you actually form as sets you will spend time today practising this approach and over the next few meetings you will become more familiar and comfortable with it as an approach How many of you have had previous experience of action learning? (hands up)

Welcome

A few words from Professor Sue Wray, Director of Athena Swan University of Liverpool

How sets work “The essence of the set is to create the conditions and use processes that stimulate learning from action. The actions take place outside the set meeting and often away from the other set members.” McGill & Beaty - Action Learning: A Practitioner's Guide 2001 For those of you who have experienced Action learning before – do you recognise this as an explanation of how the set works? I am going to break this down into more detail but essentially action learning is a process that enables the presenter or problem holder to learn through a process of reflection, developing a wider understanding of the issues with the help of set members and then taking action outside of the set that they will then review at the next meeting.

How sets work Ground Rules Confidentiality Set members “bid” for time Facilitator Schedules slots Presenter tells their story Set members formulate questions Groundrules – we have identified a common set of groundrules that Tracy will go through shortly. We will then revisit these within the individual sets to agree how they will work in practise. Confidentiality is a key ground rule –action learning needs set members to be completely open and honest so they need to be confident that what is discussed stays with the group Set members “bid” for time: We set up the expectation that people are active rather than voyeurs Facilitator Schedules slots: Number of presenters / time available Presenter tells their story: Issues should not be trivial or hypothetical or requests for information A topic or issue can be anything a set member wants to work on in order to generate action points. The individual must really want to work on the issue. The facilitator listens out to check whether this is a manageable issue or whether there is a need to focus on a particular aspect of the issue. Set members formulate questions: part of the rationale behind the use of post-its is that it requires set members to formulate concise questions.

How sets work When the presenter has “finished” the facilitator invites set members to offer their questions to the presenter Each question is read out and handed to the presenter Questions are offered on a round robin basis to allow all to contribute When the presenter has “finished” the facilitator invites set members to offer their questions to the presenter Each question is stated and handed to the presenter Questions are offered on a round robin basis to allow all to contribute: questions may be for clarification (questioners need led) or to develop insight (presenters need led). As facilitators we may seek to try and encourage the latter. Members can write addition questions as the presenter starts to respond to the questions.

How sets work Presenters may choose to answer clarification questions immediately The presenter may group, categorise or discard questions as they see fit. The presenter will answer the questions in the order they choose Set members may probe and follow up as interesting data emerges Presenters may choose to answer clarification questions immediately The presenter may group, categorise or discard questions as they see fit. The presenter will answer the questions in the order they choose Set members may probe and follow up as interesting data emerges: the facilitator should be wary of probing questions that are attempts to direct presenters to a question a set member has asked but that the presenter has not chosen to answer. Facilitators should be vigilant to look out for questions that are “advice” dressed up as questions, leading questions or multiple questions.

Set Member Is “present” throughout Recognises the presenter is the “expert” Takes responsibility for self Empathises Asks helpful questions These are all useful points to run through with the set members prior to the set business commencing. They provide a good refrence point for the facilitator if any unhelpful behaviour is presented. This also includes unhelpful non verbal behaviour. Avoid telling and advising. They will really want to!

Set Member Trusts Listens “Learns” to give support and challenge “Learns” to work through the layers of the problem These are all useful points to run through with the set members prior to the set business commencing. They provide a good refrence point for the facilitator if any unhelpful behaviour is presented. This also includes unhelpful non verbal behaviour. Avoid telling and advising. They will really want to!

Closing The presenters time always closes with “action” Allow time to reflect on the session – “How was it for you?” Celebrate what went well Monitoring and recording Bring your action points to the next session The presenters time always closes with “action”: The clue is in the title. Allow time to comment on the session “How was it for you?”: the presenter may provide insightful feedback to the group as to their behaviour Celebrate what went well Monitoring and recording: Facilitator should keep brief notes of agreed actions as a prospective starting point for the next session

Skill Development - Interpersonal Skills Listening and attending Reflecting back Empathising Giving and receiving feedback Avoid ‘Shoulds’ and ‘oughts’ and generalisations Specifying actions Skill development for set members

Skill Development - Attentive Listening Capturing the message Non verbal cues Internal checks Suspending own judgement

Skill Development - Support & Challenge Empathise appropriately Ask challenging questions

Skill Development - Suspension of judgement Trust the presenter to find their own way Work to ensure focus stays with presenter Check if questions are judgemental Use own experiences appropriately Attend to non-verbal cues

Facilitator Role Allocates and manages time Facilitates the questioning process Intervenes when necessary Helping the presenter to identify the learning emerging from dealing with the issue Helping the set members to reflect on their learning about their own behaviour Intervenes if presenters are bombarded, interrogated, or when unhelpful behaviour is evident

Ground Rules To create an appropriate level of security and support within an action learning group it is important to establish at the beginning of the process a set of ‘ground rules’ i.e. a set of behavioural norms which will guide the working of the group. It is important to discuss the issue within the group to both adapt and add to this list.

1. Confidentiality All members (including the facilitators) will consider the content of discussions, which take place within the action learning group as confidential. This will also extend to discussions involving any third parties mentioned during the meetings. No disclosure of the identify of individuals or Institutions mentioned during the Action Learning Groups will be made to other Groups or other parties (unless express permission has been given)

2. Structure of Meeting In structuring the action learning session each member will normally be allocated the same time for their work unless otherwise negotiated. Typically members tend to use one-third of the time to outline the issue and the remainder for discussion.

3. Approach Members will seek to be sensitive to others’ approaches to problem solving and should seek to assist the individual to resolve the dilemma/deal with the problem, rather than advise on a solution (unless invited to do so by the person outlining the issue under discussion). When presenting, members will respect the right of the person outlining the issue to limit their level of disclosure. Participants will actively contribute to the meetings and will allow each person in the group to contribute. The overall tone of each meeting/discussions should aim to be open and supportive.

4. Logistics Each group will decide how they will communicate absences from the group. Each group will decide how they will continue meeting after the scheduled set of meetings, or otherwise.

Getting to know each other (Ice breaker)

Set Meeting