For individuals
Working for a voluntary and/or community organisation is both
enjoyable and rewarding: it can develop personal skills and extend
your range of social contacts as well as deepening your
understanding of particular social needs and how they can be
relieved. However, workload and funding mean that you don't get
much opportunity to communicate and share learning with other
people in the sector doing similar work.
Being part of an action learning set gives voluntary sector
workers the opportunity to share challenges and issues with others,
confidentially, and learn from each other. In particular it helps
develop the generative leadership skills around decision making,
relationship building and creative problem solving. Some of the
benefits to your personal effectiveness that you may get from doing
action learning include:
- Skills development
- Personal growth
- Enhanced self-confidence
- Greater self-awareness
- A new way of solving problems
- A clearer understanding of how you learn
- Support, challenge and motivation
Specific benefits vary according to the roles and context of
those individuals in the action learning set.
For organisations
- Providing informed direction on policy
- Showing enhanced strategic and operational vision
- Identifying opportunities for partnership working, better taken
and executed
- Improved networking
- A more self aware, confident member of staff working with
greater impact
For service users
The organisational benefits described above have a knock on
effect in terms of the quality of service delivery. However action
learning is also an effective tool to use in the field in
situations such as workforce development, community development,
economic regeneration, and business support. The key skills of
action learning: active listening, and asking powerful focused
questions can be exported into many different day to day situations
to good effect. Action learning is an empowering process - because
it utilises what people already know through personal knowledge and
experience it encourages people to value their own experience and
ability to solve problems. This increases confidence, co-operation
and the ability to find creative and enterprising solutions.
What does Action Learning share with the voluntary and
community sector?
- Values the individual and their perspective
- Shows commitment to equality of opportunity and
diversity
- Creates networks and breaks down barriers
- Uses listening, questioning and challenging skills
- Has no unnecessary hierarchy or bureaucracy
- Often works in conditions of confusion and risk
- Responds to and creates change
- Operates flexibly and considers new ways of doing things
- Supports and empowers individuals, groups and
organisations