Some of the most powerful learning and development support comes when people use the learning space to tackle real organisational challenges. Rather than hypothetical scenarios or case studies, the things they apply the learning to are live, complex and often require the type of lateral or creative thinking that learning environments strive to create.
That’s the principle behind action learning in the workplace. Small groups come together to work on real problems, ask structured questions, challenge assumptions and support each other to take meaningful action. The result is profoundly practical learning that immediately embeds and prompts progress on genuine operational priorities, rather than staying theoretical or simply ‘interesting’.
Why do organisations use it?
To learn more about the practicalities of action learning, check out another one of our blogs on the subject. To understand why it’s become such a popular part of workforce development programmes, you simply need to appreciate that it:
- Connects training and development directly to day-to-day work.
- Encourages reflection, critical thinking and creative problem solving (and develops the associated skills).
- Promotes accountability and follow-through.
- Strengthens collaboration, communication and psychological safety in teams.
Beyond this, organisations often find that action learning helps shift behaviour with a consistency that more traditional learning formats struggle to achieve…
Because participants are working on real challenges -> there is a natural sense of ownership.
Because peers are involved -> there is both support and constructive challenge.
And because actions are revisited over time -> a mechanism for momentum and progress is built-in.
It also creates a culture where asking better questions becomes just as important as having the ‘right’ answers.
How do we support it?
As an experienced L&D provider, we help organisations harness the power of action learning in several ways:
Action Learning Facilitation
Our expert facilitators can support a range of action learning formats for your staff and teams, either virtually or at your premises:
Traditional action learning set (ALS) methodology, with one participant at a time benefiting from informed questioning from peers.
Co-coaching and co-mentoring, where participants bring topics and colleagues volunteer to help create solutions using coaching/mentoring skills.
Participant-led, ad-hoc leadership development – participants pre-select a challenge topic and the facilitator introduces, or re-introduces, tools for immediate application.
Light-touch social learning – participants complete interactive pre-learning around a chosen topic and then come together to apply tools to current challenges.
Each of these approaches can be tailored depending on your organisational context, the experience level of participants and the outcomes you’re aiming to achieve.
Action Learning Skills Development
We deliver skills workshops and short programmes that teach individuals or teams how to use action learning techniques themselves, enabling them to run and facilitate their own action learning sets with confidence. This is a great way to instill action learning as an ongoing approach, rather than a one-off intervention.
Participants build capability in questioning, listening, facilitation and reflection, alongside developing the confidence to hold productive, challenging conversations.
Action Learning within Programmes
When we design in-depth development programmes, we almost always advocate for the inclusion of action learning sessions at key points in the journey.
Run at regular intervals, they help participants reflect on progress, test ideas and connect new knowledge and skills directly to their workplace challenges.
Ensure your workplace learning is turning insight into action
When people are given the space, structure and support to think together and challenge one another, learning becomes deeper and positive workplace impact becomes much more likely.
Action learning strengthens teams, builds trust and creates a shared commitment to improvement. Over time, it can help establish a more reflective, collaborative culture where learning is part of how work gets done.
If you’re exploring ways to make development more practical, reflective and consistently impactful, action learning can be a powerful addition to your approach.
Get in touch
If you’d like to explore how action learning could bolster your L&D support, through any of the methods detailed above, get in touch with our friendly and experienced team now: