Voluntary sector organisation action learning development of organisation and services responding to needs

Voluntary sector organisation action learning development of organisation and services responding to needs

Action Learning describes the process by which a group of learners come together to solve real work issues. Members of the group, known as the action learning ‘set’, identify problems through reflection and questions, and come up with solutions that will have a real world impact. The beauty of Action Learning, if taken seriously, is that it gives members of the set the space to gain a deeper understanding of the challenge and come up with new and creative ways to solve existing problems.

This method of working relies on having a diverse range of people in the set. Team members drawn from different backgrounds will bring a range of perspectives, which is essential to any group committed to coming up with results that are tangible and long lasting.

How Action Learning works:

1. A member of the set presents a work challenge to their peers
2. The set listens and asks probing questions to enable the presenter to better understand the challenge and gain insights into why it exists
3. The set, which can comprise between four and eight people, each of whom possesses a variety of skills, competencies and experience. They are given the task of utilising their individual skill sets to solve the problem. They may have a facilitator who co-ordinates the activities
4. 4embers of the team offer solutions which are carefully considered, actioned and then reflected on

Action learning is designed to benefit individuals participating in the learning, the team and the clients or customers. With its emphasis on reflection, the idea is that action learning provides workers and teams with insights into more effective ways of delivering a service or product, or completing a task. When done wholeheartedly, it can even benefit the individual on a personal level.

The benefits of Action Learning
Action learning takes the decision-making process out of the sole hands of senior managers making the process more democratic. The merits of a suggestion are valued over rank and seniority. By inviting a range of views on any given subject and engaging in a period of enquiry, members of the Action Learning Set open themselves up to having their awareness broadened. It makes sense that when you bring together a group of people from different backgrounds and with a range of expertise, each individual will have their own unique take on a course of action. For example, if a team of architects has been tasked with redeveloping an area, the way to achieve an outcome that is beneficial to members of the public is to bring together a team who have an appreciation of what would make a successful living space. Those people might be:

• parents with small children
• parents with teens
• single people
• team members with an understanding of the needs of
  • people from different socio-economic groups
  • people with disabilities
  • the very young and the very old
  • people from different cultural backgrounds

Action Learning in the voluntary sector is – in theory, at least – a perfect fit. Voluntary sector employees can often be attracted to jobs that allow them to support the very communities they come from. They know about the challenges faced by their service users and can provide practical insights into how best to solve the problems faced by the people they are serving.

Action Learning allows teams to address the actual rather than the perceived needs of the community in which they work. When council officers and health professionals develop their five-year plans, it is essential that they are drawn up with the user in mind. What looks good on paper doesn’t necessarily work in practice. One hand can’t clap and ideas generated in an echo chamber are bound to fail if they are not subjected to careful and constructive scrutiny by a healthy mix of people who are empowered to disagree and present solutions that work. And this is where voluntary sector organisations come in. They are the voice of the too often unheard residents.

NOPA has taken the reflective aspect of Action Learning a step further: their work is informed by Action Research, which is tied to social justice. Following the success of our Creative Therapy Service, first rolled out in a school in Lambeth, we developed a methodology that allowed us to respond effectively to the more complex needs that resulted from economic hardship and austerity cuts. In the spirit of Action Research, our work has enabled us to support families coming out of domestic violence, households facing poverty and those living in overcrowded conditions and in poor housing.

To learn more about the origins of Action Learning, visit Action Learning – Introduction by Reg Revans – Bing video.