If you have people pulling in different directions, not communicating well or perhaps not co-operating with each other, the consequences are not good for business. Ingrained attitudes, perceptions, and even prejudices can be difficult to dispel.
It’s a challenging area, yet one where action learning has proven to be very effective at improving team cohesion and in delivering a long term return on investment.
Read our case study – action learning improving individual performance and team collaboration for a project at Swedish Engineering firm Sandvik Coromant.
In-house action learning programmes
With the help of a highly skilled action learning facilitator, we’ll bring your groups together for a positive experience of confronting their differences. Team members can begin to understand one another and work in collaboration to resolve issues and challenges within the business.
What happens in an action learning set? Our action learning sets create a safe environment in which all participants are fully engaged in the process. This may involve exploring team dynamics at the outset, to identify any known issues that need to be resolved before the team can really begin using action learning. Only then are they ready to make the most of the opportunity for change.
Objectives might include topics similar to the following:
- How to make your team meetings or away days more effective
- How to learn from each other
- How to have the important conversations that really matter
- How to build relationships and use your time together to focus on the ‘wicked’ issues
- How to address common concerns and take action to resolve them
- How to improve feedback skills and honesty in your team or partnership
- How to break down barriers that hold back co-operation
- How to ensure project delivery on time and on budget – Read our article on how we helped Technology firm Domino project manage a large and critical piece of work, where reputation was at stake.
By building confidence, allowing individuals to air their issues and frustrations, reflect on problems and question methods, you can expect to achieve:
- A team that works together, shares learning and whose members support each other
- Greater recognition and appreciation of skills in the team
- Motivation to work together to improve team performance
- Improved and faster project outcomes
- Team creativity and collaboration for resolving issues that had previously been seen as an individual’s problems
- A stronger, more proactive contribution to the organisation’s strategy
This approach is particularly pertinent to teams working across a number of different locations. Teams that don’t have the opportunity to meet and interact regularly find the process invaluable for creating team bonds that would otherwise be missing.
If logistically it is difficult to get your teams all together for face to face training, we have adapted our programmes to be delivered virtually, so that they can benefit from action learning without the need for travel. More details of how this works, and why it is equally effective are here.
Whether participating in action learning programmes face to face or virtually, your organisation stands to benefit from a stronger sense of purpose through its key employees. Participants acquire new skills, enabling them to communicate more effectively and gain support and co-operation from their peers.
For a conversation or more information, please get in touch.
You may also be interested in reading our article: Return on Investment in Action Learning