Family &Youth Information Services Conference Action Learning in a Nutshell! 28th March 2014

Institute of Public Care For well led, evidence-based public care Oxford Brookes University Social care, health, education, youth offending, housing Analysis, implementation and development Performance management, commissioning, managing practice quality and change Central, regional and local government, NHS, private and voluntary sector 2

Purpose of this Session Welsh Government support for continuous shared learning and improvement through action learning: Families First Flying Start Accredited ‘Team Manager Development Programme’ SSIA Support for Directors Different approaches, common interests IPC action learning methodology 3

What will we Cover? Why action learning? IPC methodology - how does it work? Structured conversation Key roles and skills Components of successful action learning Some ground rules The methodology in practice 4

What are the Benefits? An opportunity: Individual learning and growth Valuable feedback and support Better managerial solutions Adopt different styles and processes Take risks, learn from mistakes as well as success Action and progress on problems 5

Developed by Reg Revans as a method of management and organisation development Learning by doing: working on real problems, focusing on learning and implementing solutions Based on premise that “there can be no learning without action” People work in small groups/sets with a facilitator to tackle important organisational issues or problems People learn from their attempts to change things Involves doing something other than what you are currently doing What is Action Learning? 6

Some Things to Consider People learn best when working on real problems People learn best when they share feedback People get stuck on perceptions, values and feelings Finding the right problem is as important as solving it The person with the problem is the real expert 7

The Learning Cycle Experience Space to reflect and question Re-frame problem or new idea Action 8

Key Roles Facilitator Issue holder or presenter Set members 9

Successful Action Learning Sets Project self-management - people take responsibility for own actions and learning Consistent, committed membership: commitment to own development, to the set, and to taking action Members’ problem tasks act as main vehicles for action and learning by individuals Clear ground rules: agree early on to govern behaviour inside and outside the set Support people: a good set builds up its ability to offer members support and challenge to their existing views and perceptions 10

Suggested Ground Rules Confidentiality Punctuality Attendance Listening Non judgemental Minimum number of members 11

Key Facilitation Skills Holding boundaries Maintaining the agreed ground rules Listening for emotions Reflect and summarise Good questions 12

Each Discussion ‘presenter’ talks through issue individuals ask questions of clarity individual reflection individuals take turns to feedback suggestions and comments feedback from ‘presenter’ 13

In Practice … In small groups: ‘presenter’ talks through issue – 5 mins individuals ask questions of clarity – 5 mins individual reflection – 5 mins individuals take turns to feedback suggestions and comments – 10 mins feedback from ‘presenter’ – 5 mins 14

In Practice … Your reflections? Next steps? How can you use this approach at work? 15

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