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James Paterson explains the principles of Action Learning – an important tool for improving effectiveness at work and developing your leadership capability.

How many internal audit conferences have you attended over the years and thought, at the end, that while some of the presentations were good, the most valuable parts were the informal discussions and networking breaks? I suspect that is a not uncommon reflection. It’s worth thinking for a moment about why that might be the case, and what it tells us about our personal development needs as professional internal auditors.

There are several reasons why an informal discussion or a networking chat can be so valuable, and they all centre on one fact: most experienced internal audit professionals know the theory of what is needed in any situation, but realise there are is also the business context, as well as practicalities, and personalities to take into account to get a solution that works. Indeed in the most judgemental areas of internal work (e.g. key business risks), they recognize that practical and political factors have a significant influence on what can be achieved.

Informal networking discussions allow for a more specific and practical focus on challenges at work. Those involved will often select other colleagues with a mutual interest in the same area; with fewer people taking part, there is time to explore the specific points of detail that one would often feel awkward discussing in a larger group; smaller numbers also provide the feeling of safety needed to discuss more sensitive matters on a confidential basis.

The specific and tailored nature of these informal discussions makes it more likely that they will generate insights of real value that can be applied “back at home base”. Given the value of such discussions, I think it is worth putting some effort into making them happen on a regular basis, rather leaving this to chance. That is why I would recommend trying Action Learning techniques, something I have been using for a number of years.

Learning techniques

Action Learning techniques are effectively a more structured way of getting the best from informal discussions and building on them so that real learning takes place. Action Learning meetings provide a way for the people involved to discuss issues of judgement and complexity in depth. They are an ideal way of exploring such issues as: “I’m getting resistance to accept this audit recommendation from a very senior leader, who thinks we are being too risk averse”; “I’m having difficulty managing my boss”; and “I want a manager to show greater leadership on a governance matter, but am having difficulty persuading them.”

I joined my first Action Learning Group (ALG) ten years ago when I was a head of group financial reporting. I got together with a group of colleagues from other parts of my organisation for one day every four months or so. Each of us would take about an hour to talk through a work challenges we had. The other members of the group would ask me questions about “what is really going on” and – during the hour we would “unpeel the onion” to give me new perspectives on the challenge. At first these perspectives might be practical tips, but over time, they would be about how I was ‘framing’ the problem in the first place and about assumptions I was making without realising it. As a result, I got a “breath of fresh air” on my work challenges and – at every meeting – I would get some “ah ha” moments that would enhance my ability to tackle the issues I faced.

When I first joined the group I was rather uncertain whether it would really help me. I felt rather guilty about taking this “time-off” and was unsure how much value I would get from helping my colleagues with their business issues. However, I soon learned that I got as much benefit from helping colleagues with their challenges as I did from getting their views on the things I was trying to deal with. If you take time to think and reflect its amazing how often (apparent) short-comings in another are actually reflections of short-comings in yourself!

I have now been in three different ALGs over the past ten years – first solely with people from my own organisation, and then subsequently with some members from other organisations. Now I can’t imagine not belonging to one.

If you are interested in setting up your own group, let me share some thoughts about how to go about it, and how to make it work. Getting started Setting up an ALG is all about getting together with a group of colleagues that you can trust, and that have sufficient experience for their support to be grounded in deep experience, rather than just a desire to be “nice”. They need to be able to challenge the opinions and arguments of their fellow group members, but in a constructive and insightful way, with a focus on practical improvement. For example, “I think it you take course of action A your finance director is going to react badly because he will think….” Or “Why don’t you practice what you are going to say at that key meeting (say an audit closing meeting or presenting a plan to the audit committee), and I’ll give you my honest reactions around how I would respond”?

It can help if some of the people in the ALG know a bit about your organisation, but it’s not critical, and it can be problematic if you try to form a group with close work colleagues unless you trust them a lot and have very strong ground rules around confidentiality. It can be helpful to hire an independent facilitator to run the group, with members sharing the cost.

Once you have worked out who will be in the group, the most critical ingredients for success are:

  1. Get regular meetings in the diary, with a commitment from all the participants to make the agreed dates.
  2. Where possible, especially at the beginning, meet over a drink or dinner the night before to do your personal catching up, before the business discussions the next day.
  3. Be honest with each other about how well the group is working, so that it can improve and become more useful.
  4. Recognise that the group will usually have a limited shelf-life; be prepared to move on after a year or two, unless it is going exceptionally well.

Making it work

I’d recommend that at each ALG meeting, every group member brings a live business challenge for discussion. The member would then explain the situation and gather perspectives on how to deal with it from others in the group. As members get to know each other, they will begin to see patterns in each other’s practice. That should help them to edge towards deeper insights and enable them to give advice at a more personal level. For example, they might detect that a member is continually avoiding the challenge of trying to influence a colleague.

I’d encourage all finance professionals and others in risk audit and compliance to look into the principles of Action Learning and, if you are not doing so already, to give them a go.

If you select the right group you will find it gives you some incredibly powerful insights about your effectiveness and how to improve your leadership capability and influencing style.

The power of this approach can be nicely summed up by a quote I used to use when working in leadership development “There is all the difference in the world between knowing the theory about leadership and influencing and actually being an influential leader”. The former is very much an academic exercise – the latter involves opening yourself up to the insights of others and being committed to work on your personal effectiveness, which is not always a comfortable experience – but its worth it if you want to realise your full potential.

-James was Chief Internal Auditor for AstraZeneca from 2002 to 2009 and also worked for two years in leadership development and executive coaching.
-James Paterson now a risk, assurance and audit consultant and coach. He is a non executive director of the UK & Ireland IIA. His website is at: http://web.me.com/jcpaterson/James_Paterson_consulting/Welcome.html
-He is also a co-founder and director of Bvalco Ltd., a board effectiveness consultancy www.bvalco.com
-This article is up-dated from one originally published in the June 2010 edition of the UK Internal Auditing magazine.