Action learning 3: what are the drawbacks?
March 31, 2008
So I’ve been through what action learning is and how it can be beneficial to companies and employees, but as with most things where there’s pleasure, there has to be some pain! Here are the reasons why action learning can fail and how to avoid this:
The process of action learning really needs a lot of commitment and sponsorship within the company and in particular from the action learning set. The process will only succeed if all members commit to seeing it through, and have support from management in doing so. Action learning can have a high drop out rate or sporadic attendance as other company priorities will take precedence, especially in times of high pressure or time shortages. This is the same problem with many forms of learning, but here the problem is greater as the responsibility for making meetings and action plans happen is with the participants. It is really easy to see how action learning activities would be the first thing to be dropped in my organisation under pressure from management when times were busy – for example at the end of a month when targets needed to be hit! It is therefore vitally important that management understand the long term gains of action learning so that the activities are not pushed to one side. If this commitment is not going to happen, there’s not a lot of point wasting time and resources on implementing action learning.
The problem with getting management on side can be that there are no ‘quick wins’ – normally change, improvement and learning takes place over a long period and it can be difficult to sustain the motivation and enthusiasm levels required. This means that there is a need for strong facilitation – somebody who will champion the process, chair meetings, chase action points and ensure every step of the process takes place. The facilitator needs to encourage reflection within the group and challenge actions so as to create a better learning environment. Often, organisations use an external facilitator who has been briefed on the organisational culture, but is distanced from the issues being tackled. Other organisations will train up a facilitator or facilitators from within the organisation. Either way, this requires an up front investment, and this can lead to another problem.
As with many forms of learning, particularly those that are not traditional training sessions, it can be hard for learning and development professionals to gain investment without the possibility of being able to show a return on investment to the sponsor of the project. Whilst studies into action learning have found there was demonstrable benefit in using the method, it is, as with most learning and development initiatives, difficult to evaluate as the benefits are often intangible. Most studies into the evaluation of action learning have focussed on the perceived benefits to participants rather than bottom line output. It may be easier to measure this with some employees than others, e.g. those with targets such as sales people, however there is always the issue that it is very difficult to isolate the effect of the learning intervention from other factors that would also affect performance. However if the organisation has an effective performance management system then some of the improvements gained through action learning should be evident in the performance information and feedback generated through this system.
Action learning can be a very useful learning method for individuals and organisations, however, the need for strong facilitation, commitment, up front investment and a way of evaluating the impact are key factors in ensuring its success. Without these things, action learning is likely to become another failed ‘fad’ after a too short trial period.
Things to consider:Attachmate Reflection for Secure IT.
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