USING ACTION LEARNING STRATEGICALLY

TO CREATE BREAKTHROUGH CONVERSATIONS

                              

a three-day train-the-trainer program

  

Management trainers and organizational development facilitators often use initiatives, games and other experiential activities to deepen the learning process and enhance the openness to change. The key to individual or organizational change is awareness. When people learn how to catch themselves being themselves and observe the impact that has on their work they arrive at a place of choice. Awareness and insight open new possibilities.  Both with individual and in groups the ability to make conscious decisions is the foundation of constructive change.  

 

Helping people open up to a new set of possibilities is one of the key jobs of the corporate trainer or facilitator.  One sign of a skilled facilitator is the ability to work strategically with action learning activities to help people achieve their learning objectives. And even more important, the facilitator helps the group take what they learned and apply it at the office or plant.

 

In any corporate programs the “moment of truth” when the light bulbs go off and a shift occurs is wonderful to observe. Often these moments come when least expected.  But “teachable moments” are more likely to arise if the facilitator has laid the groundwork. This groundwork will be more solid if it is designed and facilitated strategically. That means keeping the overall objective of the program in mind so that each component supports and enhances the final results.

 

Instead of “telling” the skilled facilitator sets up the learning experience so that the learners discover for themselves what they need to learn. This new knowledge becomes wisdom when it is tied to action. It is not enough, especially in a group setting, to gain a significant insight. That is half the battle. The next step is to take that learning home and apply it so the impact is not lost or overcome by events.

 

Text: The text is: Indoor/Outdoor Team Building Games for Trainers, published by McGraw-Hill. It is suggested you order a copy from Amazon.com and review the activities before the course. To receive a copy at the course please enclose additional ninety dollars to the course fee. The text has 70 team building activities in seven categories. These categories are presented in the sequence that a facilitator would use when conducting a program. They are: warm ups for large groups, icebreakers for small groups, trust building activities, communication initiatives, problem-solving initiatives, multi group problem-solving initiatives and finding closure. The participants will have the opportunity to develop their strategic team building skills using the activities in this book.

 

Format: This three-day course includes lectures, group discussions, action learning activities and practice and feedback in designing, framing, conducting and debriefing action learning activities using a strategic approach. The course is for trainers and facilitators who are new to action learning and are seeking to gain a toolkit of activities and to develop the skills needed to use that toolkit successfully.

 

Presenter: The program is led by Harrison Snow. Harrison has been leading team-building and leadership development programs since 1988. He is the author of three well-received books in the field including the course text.  He teaching is enlivened with a sense of humor and the experiences that come from working with dozens of different organizations in government, industry and overseas.

 

 

Course Content:

 

Use of Action Learning In Team Building and Leadership Development

History, Theories, Models

Three Different Types of  Programs

The Socratic Method that Socrates never used

Building the Strategic Framework

Strategic Questions – You can see a lot by Looking

Strategic Listening- the Importance of What is Not Said

Defining Success – there is always more than one client

Designing Single Team Events - Facilitating the Single Team Events

Designing Multi-team/Large Group Initiatives      

Facilitating Large Group Initiatives

Learning Objectives versus Teachable Moments

Use of Action Learning in Leadership Training

Facilitating Leadership Training – the Difference in Focus

Team Skills versus Leadership Skills

Maintaining Objectivity - Dealing with your own Butterflies

Dealing with Individual Resistance

Dealing with Group Resistance – Getting them on your side

Dealing with Conflict

Fostering the Learning Leader - Fostering the Learning Team

Elephant Hunting and the Breakthrough Dialogue           

Assessing the Capabilities of the Group

Making Adjustments to Agenda

Trusting your Instincts

When to Risk as a Facilitator         

Maintaining Physical and Emotional Safety

Starting a Program - Sure fire Ice Breakers

Framing an Initiative

Adding to your Facilitation Toolkit (70 activities)
            Skill practice sessions
with coaching and feedback
       
  Building your Facilitation Skills - The Use of Metaphor

Sequencing Activities

The Usefulness of Failure

Collaboration versus Competition

Turning knowledge into Wisdom    

Action Planning that Works

Take-A-Ways and Follow Up for a Lasting Impact

Assessing Results