Virtual Action Learning offers a supportive, structured peer-learning environment. Using simple group coaching techniques, Action Learning enables fresh thinking and builds confidence. It involves a small group of peers coming together regularly, for a finite period of time initially, to support one another to work through their work challenges and reflect on their learning: typically around 6 people, for 6 months every 4-6 weeks.
What’s on offer?
Starting in September I’ll be offering an opportunity to join a new virtual set. Sessions are facilitated by me – Claire Antrobus. I’ve been involved with Action Learning as a trained facilitator and participant for over a decade. No previous experience is necessary – in our first session we’ll cover what Action Learning is, how it works and you’ll have an opportunity to try it out and meet the rest of the group.
If, after the first session, you decide Action Learning is not for you then you are under no obligation to continue.
Participants will be asked to sign up to the principles of action learning, which include working in a non-judgmental, supportive and confidential learning space, and to attend a minimum of five of the six sessions. In return we offer you:
Access to a regular safe and creative space to think through your own challenges in a reflective and solutions-focussed way
Opportunity to practice and develop your reflective learning techniques and coaching skills to improve your own and others’ performance
A supportive community of practice working together over a six-month period
Support from a highly experienced Action Learning facilitator/ trainer, including advice and resources about how to set up your own set after this series.
Pay What You Can rate for anyone earning less than UK average wage (or self-employed equivalent).
I’m interested – what’s involved?
A three-hour introductory training session covering the foundations of Action Learning and opportunity to practice the core skills of active listening and open questions.
Four x 2hr follow-on monthly Action Learning sessions via Zoom.
A final 3hr review session, covering self-facilitation to enable to group to continue self-supporting after this initial period.
A PDF Action Learning handbook to support you during and beyond the sessions.
By the end of the sixth session the group can decide to complete its work together – or may choose to carry on independently, self-facilitating using the skills and experience you will have developed.
Previous sets have included people with a wide range of experience from across the cultural and wider non-profit sector including self-employed coaches, artists, CEO/ senior leaders from arts organisations, creative consultants and producers and those working inside organisations in a variety of roles.
What have previous participants said about it?
Feedback from recent AL participants includes:
‘It’s a great way of creating space for your own reflection with a group of supportive peers. But there are also huge benefits in developing your active listening skills and the ability to ask questions that help unlock insights for others in the group.’
‘I simply can’t recommend it enough. It was a rare opportunity to step off the treadmill to reflect, learn, listen and share challenges and ideas with a fantastic group of people. The structure of the Action Learning Set creates a space for exploration, idea generation and action. The facilitation of the group ensured that there was a really, warm, caring and human touch – where people felt able to share challenges with authenticity, vulnerability and generosity. It has really developed my active listening skills and given my working practices a reboot. Brilliantly organised, robustly managed and a great take away handbook that I’m referring to regularly.’
‘It’s a brilliant chance to connect with peers you might not otherwise meet, to practice the skills of group action learning, to have your challenges heard and to help others, with a concrete accountability framework that’s also easy to stick to and access.’
‘I joined the action learning set at a point of transition in my career and immediately found a supportive group of individuals willing to share their wealth of experience. During busy times attending the session felt like coming up for air.’
Action Learning is also very cost effective and I include training as part of the sessions so you’ll be equipped to run your own sets after this initial period, should you wish to continue. In 2021 I hosted two new sets, both of which have continued to self-facilitate and now function independently.
When recent studies have shown reflective practice – at the heart of Action Learning – can improve performance by 23%, the real question is how can you afford not to do it?
How do I find out more and what are the dates and costs?
A lot of us at this stage in the pandemic are – frankly – knackered. We have very little energy left – so we need to use it wisely.
So I’m going to offer five tips and ideas about the small things that I think can make a big difference. Small can be beautiful, but better still, small is do-able!
1. Treat yourself to a 15 minute review
One recent study found that as little as 15 mins a day refection can increase your productivity by 20%. Put another way, unless you find an hour to review how things are going Mon-Thu, you’re wasting your time working on Friday!
As well as generating learning I also find reflection motivating. Whether things have gone well, or been a bit of a disaster, working out what I got right and what I’ll do differently next times always means I feel better.
And it can be as simple as asking yourself a short set of reflective questions like these.
2. Prioritise with the impact/effort matrix
Too many ideas? Don’t know what to do first? Then look no further than the impact/ effort matrix.
Use the 4 boxes on the grid to sort all your options and ideas into impact they could have (high or low) and the effort it would take to achieve (high or low). Focus on what’s in the high impact/ low effort box first. And think very carefully before embarking on any of those high effort ideas….
3. Set yourself up for success
One of my highlights of this month has been conversations with my fellow coach Isabel Mortimer with whom I’m co-designing two new short courses around leadership, teams and coaching – you can find out more about these here.
We’ve been discussing what underpins successful leadership and how the principles and techniques of coaching can be used by line-managers and teams. It struck me that in coaching we’re much more explicit about boundaries, expectations and ways of working than is often the case in the workplace – maybe some of these coaching questions would help you be clear about what you’re doing and how and help you be more productive?
Taking 5-10 minutes to ‘contract’ in our meetings with others can help ensure we get off to the most productive start with new projects, or review and realign those already underway.
4. Shake up your brain
It might seem counter intuitive if we feel tired, but a bit of physical activity actually perks us up when energy runs low. It’s really easy when we’re busy to chain ourselves to the computer – but our brain functioning has been proven to increase if we take short breaks.
Anecdotally I have noticed that if I’m stuck with work going for a run or walk often leads to fresh thinking – I like to imagine the movement shakes up my brain, but I’m sure there’s probably a proper scientific reason why this happens. I’ve also learned a huge through being active – as I’ve shared before in my post about how lessons of endurance sport apply to getting through Lock Down.
5. Get into some good habits
I was unfortunate to catch COVID at the end of June (despite being fully vaccinated) and I’m still feeling very tired as a result, so one thing that’s been on my mind a lot this month is recovering full health. Wellbeing is a topic that comes up plenty in coaching too, and I wrote a short blog post to share some tips about creating habits. Whether you want to create some good work habits, or some healthy habits for wellbeing these tips can help embed new ways of doing things.
Recently I had an enquiry about help maintaining commitment of a team through a period of long-term incremental change.
Creating a big change can be dramatic and our excitement can provide the energy needed to make it happen. Incremental or ongoing smaller changes are just as important but need resourcing in a different way – excitement can only get you so far.
I’ve been involved in helping people create change for over a decade and one of the lessons I’ve learned is that it usually takes (a lot) longer than you think. And sometimes we run out of steam to fully complete what we started. So how can we keep going, how can we maintain our momentum?
This question about maintaining energy for change struck a chord with me. Not only as a coach, but also as someone involved in endurance sport I often find myself helping others keep going, literally and metaphorically. Yesterday Facebook reminded me it was 3 years ago this weekend that I ran alongside my friend Miyako through the dark on the last leg of a 60-mile ultra to help her keeping going. Later this evening I’ll be packing my kit to support another friend on another endurance adventure in the dark this weekend. So before I go and look for my head torch and compass, here are some of my favourite resources around keeping going professionally.
Be clear what you want to achieve (and why)
Research tells us a clear and exciting goal is more likely to happen than a vague or bland one. The ExACT goal-setting model is a great way to generate clarity and energy. Write your goal down, look at it often, and make sure what you’re doing every day contributes to it.
Give yourself some feedback on how it’s going
Reflecting on how things are going has two main benefits: it helps us learn about what works (and doesn’t) and therefore improve in future, but it also can help with motivation.
Reflection needs to focus on what’s within your control, to be honest, appreciative and future-focused. The questions I use most often with coachees to help them reflect can be found here. I also regularly ask myself these same questions and without fail I find they help me feel more motivated and confident.
Pace yourself
Endurance requires us to move at a pace we can sustain. In a work sphere that means not trying to achieve too much, too quickly. This sounds simple but by Monday 5pm each week I’ve usually forgotten this and worn myself out….
A very simple tool we can use when we have too much on the ‘to do’ list is to prioritise: what needs to happen today; what can wait until tomorrow, or next week or month; what could wait until next ‘term’. Try listing out each task on a separate Post It note and moving them into different time zones on a big sheet of paper.
Get some peer support
Finally, whilst there is a lot we can do to motivate ourselves – we can do more when we support and are supported by others. Mutual support is part of the ethos of long distance running (like the Bob Graham Round that I’m supporting this weekend).
For anyone looking for peer support (and learning) you might be interested in joining an Action Learning set. I offer ‘open’ Action Learning sets about 3 times year, and the next one will be starting after Easter 2022 – sign up to my newsletter to hear more once dates are fired up, or get in touch.
Right – I’d best go and pack. In the meantime there’s only a few weeks now until we launch the first of the new courses I’ve co-designed with Isabel Mortimer so if you’d like some new tools and skills to help you a great manager or be a great team leader don’t miss these courses.
Seasoned runners know that whilst sometimes it can be hard to motivate yourself to get out of the door, you never regret making the effort.
I think the same applies to making time to reflect and review how things are going. It often feels like THERE IS TOO MUCH TO DO and not enough time. When I’ve been brought in as a facilitator to help a team reflect or review I often encounter resistance, irritation and impatience about stopping doing things to step back and think about how they are going. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say, after we’ve done a review, that it hasn’t been a good use of their time.
Maybe those who don’t find it useful are being polite and keeping quiet. But research has consistently shown that regular 15 min a day reflection on performance increases productivity by around 20%. So the real question I find myself asking is how can we afford not to make time for review?
I can be as guilty of this as everyone else. I rush around doing, doing, doing – not making enough time to sit still and really look and reflect. I run up and down mountains (literally, sometimes) but it’s sitting by the lakeside in the valley (like Wasdale above) or next to a summit tarn, like this cracker (below) on Haystacks, that we can find the calm and beauty we’re really looking for.
So assuming you’re not already regularly reflecting on your work (and if you are then please get in touch and share your tips – I’d love to hear them) you might be thinking – but how can I do it? And when can I fit it in?
There are three times when I’ve found it’s helpful to reflect, both for myself and with the individuals and teams I coach:
1) Post-event: the positive post-mortem held soon after significant events/ incidents when it is important to learn from experience – this might be when something went wrong or after an important new project.
2) Weekly – personally I try and find at least 30-45 mins each week to jot down notes on what I’ve discovered and might do as a result.
3) Termly – I plan my work in three terms each year and at the end of each, before I take a break, I spend around half a day undertaking a more thorough review of the past 3-4 months.
Below I’ve shared some of the tools and techniques I like to use in each of those scenarios…
1. The positive post-mortem
I regularly use two sets of reflective questions: both work for individuals or groups.
The longer version takes approx. 10-15 mins and comes from an RD1st exercise. I regularly use these questions when coaching, as well as for myself. They are beautifully simple:
It is important when doing this exercise to do two things:
Focus on action the focus on what you did rather than what happened, or what someone else did. That’s because we can only control our actions so we are only responsible for what we did or chose not to do.
Focus on the positive – many of us tend to focus on what went wrong but don’t overlook what you did that worked well. We can learn just as much from what was successful as what was less successful and yet we repeatedly focus on learning (only) from mistakes. This framework encourages you to consider both aspects: what worked well, and less so. We start with successes because then we are often more resourceful and honest about the failures.
If you’re short on time, the first-aid or 2 min version of this is Here, There, Everywhere:
1) What is my key learning here?
2) How can I apply this learning in the near future?
3) Where else could I use that learning more widely in future?
The added benefit of doing a positive post-mortem is that I have always felt better after completing it, even when what I’m reviewing went seriously tits-up.
2. The weekly Learning Log
Over a decade ago now I was fortunate to benefit from the brilliant development opportunity that is the Clore Leadership Fellowship. During my first two-week residential course I felt like I was learning so much useful stuff I didn’t know how to retain and use it – and so I created a ‘learning log’.
This began life as a simple table with two columns: observation and action. Each nugget of learning I entered into the log had to have an implication or action. Rather than take copious notes from talks or books I read which I never re-read, I started capturing the key learning points instead.
I create one document per month and save them – sometimes re-reading the logs on a quarterly or annual basis to check if there’s anything I’ve forgotten to action.
That I have been doing this fairly religiously for over a decade now probably tells you how useful I find this (here’s the proof – look at all those folders full of learning!).
Being a bit of a geek – as you can probably tell from these folders – I’ve since moved this simple table online to a Toodledo list which means I can add to it from my smart phone anytime, without needing to access my laptop to write up a learning point.
3. The termly review
I plan on a termly and annual basis, usually April-March. Three-four months is a good horizon for coaching goals – and being a coach I create goals as the backbone of this planning. This gives me direction, and also something against which to evaluate progress.
I like to set aside a whole day at the end of each ‘term’ for this kind of review. I often start by looking at the data – including financial data (have I achieved my target income, what has been my average day-rate, how many days have I worked, how many new leads did I get etc), before moving onto more reflective questions.
Sometimes I’ll use the positive post-mortem questions for that review, other times I might use the 4 Fs model. Both of these are frameworks I use when facilitating team reviews for clients – they can work even better then colleagues discuss and compare their perspectives on these questions. Sometimes I might draw my responses to the questions too, rather than just write them.
There are many other tools and frameworks you can use – I like these ones because they are simple and quick to use. Using them well by being honest, making time to collect data and using them regularly is what is most important. Doing little, but often – that’s why it’s called reflective practice.
Virtual Action Learning offers a cost and time effective way to develop your skills and improve your impact at work. In Action Learning, a small group of peers come together regularly, for a finite period of time initially, to support one another to work through their work challenges and reflect on their learning. Using simple group coaching techniques, Action Learning enables fresh thinking and builds confidence.
When recent studies have shown reflective practice – at the heart of Action Learning – can improve performance by 23%, the real question is how can you afford not to do it?
No previous experience is necessary – in our first session we’ll cover what Action Learning is, how it works and you’ll have an opportunity to try it out and meet the rest of the group.
Participants will be asked to sign up to the principles of action learning, which include working in a non-judgmental, supportive and confidential learning space, and to attend a minimum of five of the six sessions. In return we offer you:
A three-hour introductory training session covering the foundations of Action Learning and opportunity to practice the core skills of active listening and open questions.
A PDF Action Learning handbook to support you during and beyond the sessions.
Five 2hr follow-on monthly Action Learning sessions via Zoom.
Support from a highly experienced Action Learning facilitator/ trainer, including advice and resources about how to set up your own set after this series.
Access to a regular safe and creative space to think through your own challenges in a reflective and solutions-focussed way
Opportunity to practice and develop your reflective learning techniques and coaching skills to improve your own and others’ performance
A supportive community of practice working together over a six-month period
Pay What You Can rate for anyone earning less than UK average wage (or self-employed equivalent).
If, after the first session, you decide Action Learning is not for you then you are under no obligation to continue and will just be charged £25 for the intro session.
By the end of the sixth session the group can decide to complete its work together – or may choose to carry on independently, self-facilitating using the skills and experience you will have developed.
Previous sets have included people with a wide range of experience from across the cultural and wider non-profit sector including self-employed coaches, creative consultants and producers and those working inside organisations in a variety of roles.
The workshop will be facilitated by me – Claire Antrobus. I’ve been involved with Action Learning as a trained facilitator and participant for over a decade.
“Action Learning really is a gift – when work and life become chaotic, difficult or disrupted – having structured support, time and space to reflect and share, warmth and connections has made a significant difference. It has really developed my active listening skills and given my working practices a reboot. I’ve created new and lasting connections and I’ve learned so much from the other people in the group.” [current set member]
Practicalities
Intro session: 2-5pm Wednesday 26 January
Set meeting dates: 3-5pm on Tuesdays 1 March; 5 April; 3 May; 7 June & 5 July
Cost: £175 (or PWYC for those on less than UK average wage or self-employed equivalent)
To book your place or discuss whether this is for you please contact Claire directly.
For a while I’ve had this book sitting on my ever-growing ‘to read’ pile, and earlier this week I finally picked it up and – my goodness – am I glad I did!
In the way I recommend Nancy’s Kline’s ‘Time to Think’ as the most inspiring, simple and practical read for those wanting to understand coaching; ‘The Art of Gathering’ has that status of ‘if you read one book about…’ for facilitators or people organising public events.
Priya Parker’s book is a deceptively simple set of principles about how to create effective meetings or ‘gatherings’. It’s the kind of simple I like: a master practitioner takes a complex topic and breaks it down into the core principles – richly illustrated with great examples. These principles apply as much to work meetings or conferences as they do to artistic and public events, or social and family gatherings. Proving this point, Parker’s book draws on examples ranging from high level diplomatic conferences, to social events, theatre performances and stag dos.
I’d highly recommend reading the entire book itself. It only took me two long train journeys (about 6 hours) to read cover to cover; so there’s no excuse not to read the original. But to whet your appetite here is a quick précis of the headlines– set out under some of the key pieces of advice which each form a chapter:
Decide why you’re really gathering
The first question we need to answer when designing a meeting or event is why? What do you hope to achieve? Why are you meeting now? What’s your purpose – what do you want to be different as a result of the meeting/ event? Is it about making decisions, generating ideas, creating better trust between people?
The answer to this question needs to be as specificand asexciting as possible. Ideally we need to start with an ExACT coaching-style goal – so help yourself to my ExACT worksheet folks, if that’s helpful.
The clearer and more compelling the answer – the better.
In a later chapter Parker drills deeper into creating compelling events (‘Cause good controversy’) with tips about how best to surface the conversations that need to happen. The bottom-line is this takes time before an event. This reminds me we need to resource that preparation and make time for it, rather than expecting the magic to happen just on the day itself. I think clients and facilitators alike can underestimate this.
And as Parker says a meeting ‘category’ – such as Board awayday, team meeting, networking event – is not a purpose. You need to dig deeper – what’s the desired outcome of that Board awayday? Keep asking why until you get to the heart of the matter.
Purpose must come first and inform every decision about form that follows.
Close doors
If you say you’re for ‘everyone’ or ‘anyone’ there is a serious risk you’re end up serving no-one well. Being clear about who needs to be involved, or who and event is for, means deciding who it is not for, including who might inhibit others or get in the way.
Practically, there are limits to how many people can be involved in conversations. Parker suggests this is around 12-15, and fewer still for difficult conversations or decision-making.
‘Closing the doors’ is also about creating boundaries – making a space feel safe so that we can be honest, take risks etc.
I’m going to quote from her directly here because I found what she says about defining who the event is for deeply resonated with some of the conversations I witness around purpose and audience strategy in cultural organisations:
‘… when you don’t root your gathering up front in a clear, agreed-on purpose, you are often forced to do so belatedly by questions of membership that often arise. This is what happened in [EXAMPLE] We didn’t think about what it was for until we found ourselves in an argument about who it was for. To be clear, I don’t recommend backing into purpose through the question of whom to invite. But the link between the two issues illustrates that the purpose of the gathering can remain somewhat vague and abstract until it is clarified by drawing the boundary about who is in and out. When you exclude, the rubber of purpose hits the road.’
Time and again I see cultural organisations internally debating the ‘who’. What this quote highlights for me is that this is really an indicator that there’s confusion around purpose that’s showing up when we get to the question of the guest list….
The other critical question about metaphorical ‘doors’ is location or venue. When I’m invited in to facilitate a venue has already been chosen, often on grounds of convenience or cost, and I find myself trying to salvage a way to make the space work for the purpose of the event, rather than hindering it.
Logistics and cost need to be considered, but choice of space can be a powerful enabler of a successful meeting or event. The venue should align with and enable the purpose – for example, if you want people to think differently and work in new ways that less likely to happen if you call them in to meet around the table they normally sit around for day-to-day business….
Don’t be a chill host
As the host – the person responsible for bring people together – you have power and responsibility. What are those responsibilities? Parker suggests a good host will:
Connect guests or participants with one another
Equalize guests or participants
Protect your guests (including, from one another – imagine the garrulous Uncle pinning someone in the corner at a family wedding with his dull anecdotes)
Parker notes hosts sometimes abdicate that power through a mis-placed sense of modesty. But when we abdicate our power as hosts you don’t eradicate power – we create a vacuum that causes anxiety and confusion, or worst still allows someone else to take that power and that rarely serves the whole group. Instead a host needs to be comfortable with ‘generous authority’: the strong, confident hand that imposes rules on behalf of others.
Create a temporary alternative world
This chapter is full of fantastic examples of how temporary rules for a meeting or event can encourage different behaviours. Inviting playful and imaginative behaviour can create memorable and useful meetings and events, although it is important participants know what to expect before they arrive. Therefore, part of the role of the invitation is to prime the guests so they understand what they’re signing up to by coming along.
There’s a whole chapter about how we can encourage the authenticity needed to have productive conversations (‘Keep your best self out of my gathering’) packed with various examples ways to enable this.
The other very helpful distinction Parker makes in this section is about assumed and explicit norms of behaviour. When we don’t make our expectations about how to behave in a group explicit we are excluding others, especially those who might have different background of experience to the majority. By contrast when we spell out (and agree) how we want to behave then we enable equal participation.
Never start a funeral with logistics (and Accept that there is an end)
The start and end have more impact than any other part of a meeting or event. Yet Parker notices how often we miss an opportunity to set the tone or engage participants by starting with a logistics announcement (‘before we start, in the event of a fire….’ Or ‘We would like to thank our sponsors…’). Why not start with a bang?
She also reminds us that an event actually starts the minute participants hear of it – usually some time before they arrive in the room. It starts when the meeting request email is received for a team building event or the papers are sent out for a Board meeting.
The mindset or mood in which participants arrive has a huge impact – for good or ill – on the event. Yes, a skilled facilitator can warm things up, but this then takes time which eats into the meeting or event; how much better people arrive ready and excited to contribute?
Therefore Parker advises us not to miss that opportunity to ‘prime’ the participants, suggesting 90% of what makes a great event is put in place beforehand. This can be a simple ‘pre-game’ such as answering a few questions in advance or bringing along a small object as a talking point linked to the theme of the day. For events with high stakes or a need to shift the prevailing dynamic then Parker often uses a structured pre-event dinner designed to connect participants as people and enable them to be vulnerable and honest with one another.
There are some brilliant examples in this section about how to prime and start events with a swing from naming, pre-games and use of metaphorical passageways.
Similarly she advises not to allow events to fizzle out – clear structured ending that allow processing of what has happened and preparation for follow-up after the event need to be carefully planned.
What I love about this book is that it has helped me understand better what enables some events or meetings to really connect and reminded me of some pitfalls to avoid as a facilitator. It also provides examples of some very creative and simple formats or activities that can be used in a variety of contexts for meetings and events.
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