Authentica develops team performance and leadership capabilities with Action Learning

Authentica mission is : Coaching teams building fast results. We help organisations achieve results through: Coaching intact team(s) - specific business or project team(s) - to help improve their performance and leadership skills Coaching learning teams - typically composed of peers - to help improve their leadership and/or managerial skills Delivering leadership development programs focused on teams building rapid business results

What is Action Learning ?

Action Learning is a team process based on the learning by doing principle. It has three objectives: 1. helping teams solve all sorts of dilemmas, particularly complex ones, that usually trigger off defensive behaviours 2. enhancing collaboration, creativity and courage in teams that face complex problems for their organisation 3. developing leadership capabilities of every team member: communications, coaching, collaboration, self awareness, feedback and focus on action Action Learning enables solving problems and developing effective teams and leaders simultaneously. Thanks to its simple principles and rules, Action Learning leads participants to think critically and work collaboratively. The groups coach or Action Learning coach assists the members of the team in reflecting, not on the problem itself, but on possible improvements of team functioning and on the effectiveness of their leadership and communications skills. Action Learning participants become more effective leaders as they solve real life, difficult issues. Since Reginald Revans first introduced the concept to coal miners in Wales and England in the 1940s (25% productivity increase in 2 years), Action Learning has emerged as a prime method for companies large and small, global and local that want to improve quality, cut costs, create new products and services, and change the culture of their organisations. Companies as diverse as GE, Eli Lilly, Microsoft, Heineken, Siemens, Nokia, Cisco, advertise publicly their use of Action Learning to solve complex problems, build teams and develop leaders.

How does the Action Learning process look like ?

Action Learning involves one (or more) team(s) working on their real problems, taking action, and learning both as individuals and as teams. This can be an intact team or a learning team: An intact team using Action Learning meets typically over a period of minimum 6 months, every 3 to 6 weeks for 2 to 4 hours. All team members commit to specific tasks that foster better understanding of problems and/or to enable testing solutions between every session. A learning team, for example in the context of leadership development programmes or corporate-wide improvement initiatives, meet with a large variety of durations and frequencies. Often, only a subset of the participants are problem owners and do commit to actions between sessions. 1

The Action Learning process is most effective when all six of these components are working together: A Problem assigned to an Action Learning team The problem (project, challenge, opportunity, issue or task) should be urgent, significant, without easily a-priori identifiable solution. The team, composed typically of 4 to 8 people, should be responsible to resolve the problem. A process of insightful questioning and reflective listening. The simple rule of using open questions forces participants to use insightful questioning and reflective listening. The resulting interactions between the team members build group dialogue and cohesiveness, generate innovative and systems thinking, and enhance learning results. A team alignment before moving to solutions / actions Action Learning tackles problems through a process of first asking questions to clarify the exact nature of the problem, then reflecting and identifying possible solutions, and only then taking action. The process helps the team to manage explicitly its own alignment across all phases. Action taken on the problem. There is no real meaningful or practical learning until action is taken and reflected on. Action Learning requires that the group be able to take action on the problem it is addressing. If the group limits itself to make recommendations, it loses its energy, creativity and commitment. The process asks also concrete action commitments at the end of every session. A commitment to learning. Solving an organisational problem provides immediate, short-term benefits to the company. The greater, longer-term multiplier benefits, however, are the learnings gained by each group member and the group as a whole, as well as how these learnings are applied on a systems-wide basis throughout the organisation. An Action Learning Coach. The Action Learning coach helps the team members reflect on both what they are learning and how they are solving problems. The coach enables group members to reflect on how they listen, how they may have reframed the problem, how they give each other feedback, how they are planning and working, and what assumptions may be shaping their beliefs and actions. The Action Leaning coach also helps the team focus on what they are achieving, what they are finding difficult, what processes they are using, and the implications of these processes.

How does Authentica help its clients reap the benefits of Action Learning ?
Authentica delivers Action Learning coaching, consulting and training (including train the trainer and certification) services focused on pragmatic business results. Some of our references in the field include: management team performance (Bayer), multi-team business improvement programme and Action Learning training (Fortis) targeted leadership development initiative (EFQM).

Authentica and its associates are certified Action Learning coaches by WIAL (World Institute for Action Learning www.wial.org ). Authentica is becoming a WIAL affiliate to be able to certify Action Learning coaches. For more information and/or to set up a live demo with one of your teams, contact Serge Pegoffi. Authentica 49 rue des trois ponts 1160 Brussels Belgium Mobile:+32 475 27 34 62 e-mail: spegoff@gmail.com www.team-building-results.com

Serge Pegoff has 25 years experience in consulting and coaching: helping more than 60 leaders to obtain lasting results for the performance of their teams. As a Partner at Arthur D. Little and then KPMG Consultants, he has created and managed their Change Management practices and led multicultural projects in 9 countries on 4 continents. He is an accredited management coach with SFCoach (Socit Franaise de Coaching) and a certified Action Learning coach with WIAL (World Institute for Action Learning, Washington). Serge is an independent coach for business teams and senior managers, sharing his insights at www.team-building-results.com . You can reach him at spegoff@gmail.com