CASE ASSESSMENT: ACTION LEARNING.

CASE ASSESSMENT: ACTION LEARNING.

1. Based on the lessons drawn from the assignments it is worked on, one of the areas of weakness that require improvement incorporation and consideration of ideas of the team members from the workplace. The approach that is fronted by action learning requires that a solution to an organizational problem cannot come from one individual.it also emphasizes the fact that anyone’s idea from a colleague involves the input of another opinion from another colleague to make it better. This encourages teamwork. Another area is an emphasis on ethics and considering the concerns of others. In the course of carrying out a task, it is essential to be sensitive to the needs of colleagues and also put more consideration on the ethical impacts of the action taken. Another area of emphasis is the proper study of the external environment, learn how it affects the organization, and using the tools available within the –organization to solve the challenges brought about by the external environment. It is also important to note that improvement of an idea fronted by coworker results in the overall development of the organization; hence this should be another area to improve on.
2. From lessons learned in chapter one of Peddler and Abbot (2013), Action learning stresses that human beings possess the potential to learn from the challenges of the past and apply the experience gained in solving the emerging problems of today. This is in line with the definition of action learning as ‘an approach to individual and organizational learning, working in small groups known as sets to tackle important organizational or social challenges and learn from their attempts to improve things.’ With this in mind, Action learning can be applied in improving the areas discussed in the following ways;

• The development of the attitude of teamwork and a team approach is essential in solving the challenges of the organization. The team approach is developed by encouraging team members to make a personal decision and voluntarily join the set.
• It is encouraging the growth of individual management development. Members of an organization that are part of the management team develop skills that make them perform better. These include improved ability to take criticism, improved self-confidence and leadership, proper application of disciplinary procedures, better decision making, less defensive attitude, and ability to confide in their director.
• They support members of the set to develop a more critical look at a challenge or question being solved based on the ideas of members of the game. This can be done by encouraging the members to highlight their ideas, which can then be strengthened to solve an existing challenge.
• Increases productivity of an organization. The team approach ensures each member of the set is allowed to give their take. The collective effort of the collection manifests in the overall improvements of the organization’s output.
• Supporting each other within the set challenges members of the set to be more efficient and effective in their idea generation after learning from the experiences of past ideas that never worked.

3. My organization possesses the ability to implement an action planning program. The observation informs this that the top management is easily approachable and receptive to new ideas that can contribute to the organization’s growth. Because of this, the administration is in a position to whip the organization’s employees to embrace the new program. Another reason is that the employees of the organization are receptive to tasks that require teamwork. This makes it easy to create sets that will jumpstart the action learning process. Some of the limitations of action learning include the following;

• The action planning cycle is time-consuming—the processes and procedures required to be followed long and require programmed engagements. Furthermore, the fact that active learning involves team effort also slows down the process. Each member of the set is required to give an idea which should be listened to and improved on by the members, the entire process, though productive, will take a lot of time.
• Action learning might not work in an organization where the top management is uncooperative and are unreceptive to new ideas and suggestions. The senior management lacks support and denies an entry point for getting the help of the other members of the organization.
• The process of ensuring teamwork and engaging the top management team can be expensive.
• The outcome of the process of action learning might be to create a new culture in the organization that could be resisted by members of the organization who are resistant to change.

4. Following the guidance contained in Marquardt (2004), the process of designing an action plan for my organization would entail the following;

• It is gaining and maintaining the support of the organization head. This will involve explaining the head of the organization’s reasons why the adoption of action planning is essential to the organization. The head of the organization will also be taken through the benefits that would come as a result of implementing action learning outcomes. It will request them to facilitate this process by availing of resources in support of this program. The head of the organization will also be instrumental in whipping the organization members to support the process.
• Develop an action learning management team. This team will be composed of the heads of the department. This team will be tasked with defining the challenges the organization faces, especially how to cope with increased competition, how to involve junior members of the organization in decision making, and how to improve the profit margin of the organization.
• It is conducting an introductory learning action workshop to explain to the team members the need to have the action learning process and encourage them to support it and later hire the coaches that will facilitate the process of action learning.
• Select departmental members that will be part of the action learning team who will meet once a week with the hired coaches. The one week period will give the team members ample time to be deliberating over the identified challenges and provide ideas that can be discussed further with the coach. The duration will also be enough to enable the team members to improve on each other’s ideas.
• After six months of deliberation and exchange of ideas, the teams can then draw their strategy on how best to cope with the challenges that were identified and present them to the action learning management team who should take their time and keenly listen to each group and assess the feasibility of each presentation.
• The action learning management team can then settle on the recommendations of the best team and embark on implementing the recommendations.

At the end of the process, I expect the organization to have a more cohesive team and a team approach to solve the organization’s challenges. Upon implementation of the recommendations, expect the organization profits to increase and have more creative ways of beating the competition paused by other players in the industry.