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Roger
Greenaway's Active Reviewing Tips 10.1 ~ ISSN 1465-8046 A free monthly publication from Reviewing Skills Training ARTips
10.1
Active Reviewing for Leaders
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The
previous issue
'Reviewing for Teams' is now at
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~ 1
~ EDITORIAL: SHORT AND SWEET If you have ever
wondered what 'active reviewing' looks like, you
can take a peek at
three short and sweet videos (soon to be four)
on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/rogerreview
I will soon be starting
a blog which will overlap a little with
this newsletter and
will provide you with more frequent glimpses
into the world of
'Active Reviewing'. I receive so many questions
by email that some of
my answers to individual enquiries will be
reappearing on my blog
(in a suitably anonymous form).
The 'Short and Sweet'
theme morphs into a few training tips on
the same theme -
following this week's main article on 'Reviewing
for Leadership'.
Enjoy!
Roger Greenaway roger@reviewing.co.uk Reviewing Skills Training <http://reviewing.co.uk> PS Comments, Feedback.
Enquiries are always welcome - as are any
offers of short
articles on the theme of 'Reviewing for Peace'.
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~ 2
~ ACTIVE REVIEWING FOR LEADERS
~ 2.2 ~ 10 Strategies for creating more leadership experiences ~ 2.3 ~ 10 Ways of reviewing leadership experience ~ 2.4 ~ Extras: stories, sources and links one essential
ingredient is experience in a leadership role.
I have been astonished
to find that some experience-based
programmes for
developing leaders provide very little experience
of leadership. Even on
a multi-day programme, participants may
only get one
opportunity to be a leader. And what learning can be
reliably generalise
from this one opportunity? What are the
chances that such a
participant will return to work as a more
effective leader? Even
worse, what if a participant does not
perform well on their
only opportunity to lead? What will that do
for their development
as a leader. (In the example I am thinking
of, the trainee leader
who messed up their one chance did not
even receive any
feedback!)
If you want to use the
full power of experiential learning for
developing leaders you
need to provide plenty of opportunities
for leadership
experience. The challenge is to create a programme
that produces a variety
of leadership experiences for each and
every person taking
part in programme. I have described some
solutions to this
challenge in my article on 'Maximising
Leadership
Opportunities on Leadership Training Programmes' at:
The 10 strategies are
summarised below...
1. Dividing a group
into two subgroups
2. Using co-leaders
rather than solo leaders
3. Using three or more
leaders for each project - either passing
the baton at different
stages of the project or each leader
having a special
responsibility throughout the project.
4. Working in pairs -
taking it in turns to be lead partner
5. Leading reviews (why
not? - see No. 9 in the next list)
6. Reviewing
experiences of leadership that have already happened
7. Using
mini-leadership projects of less than five minutes.
8. Creating a
leadership challenge in which each individual has
the opportunity to step
up and try out a different leadership
strategy.
9. Exploring the
definition of leadership in a way that makes
people realise that
everything they do and say in a group
influences others
whether or not they are an assigned leader.
10. Making links
between leadership and the transfer of learning
and setting up transfer
as a leadership challenge.
Use just some of these
10 strategies and every participant should
have a variety of
leadership experiences on which to reflect or
receive feedback. Each
strategy is described in more detail at:
If you are able to
create plenty of opportunities for each person
to experience a variety
of leadership roles, then you will also
be able to make good
use of these ...
1) Feedback using the Active Reviewing Cycle 2) SEQ: Style, Effect, Questions 3) Storyline 4) Horseshoe Spectrum 5) Sim Survey 6) Warm Seat 7) Moving Stones 8) Action Replay of Critical Incidents 9) Participants leading a review 10) Reviewing tools for leaders There is little point
in providing feedback if people are
resistant to receiving
feedback. Resistance is usually less when
feedback is more
factual. Resistance is most likely to exist when
a person is being
judged or is being given advice. You can use
the cycle to work out
(or discuss) the kind of feedback that will
be most useful and
effective. Resistance also tends to be less
when the receiver of
feedback is in control of the process. For a
full explanation
including links to specific techniques see:
SEQ is one of many
alternative ways in to giving feedback. A
particular strength of
SEQ is that it tends to focus on what many
people want to hear:
what they were like, what effect they had,
and how well they
communicated - plus an opportunity to ask their
own questions to the
group. It is particularly suitable for
providing feedback for
leaders, as well as providing a useful
framework for you to
receive feedback on your facilitation. You
will find a full
description in the success section of the Active
Reviewing Guide.
Part of being a leader
is influencing the feelings of others
(feelings that will
lead to effective action). So it is useful
for leaders to find out
the extent to which their efforts to
motivate did motivate,
whether their actions inspired confidence,
whether people felt
noticed / respected / involved / appreciated.
Each person creates a
storyline (using pen and paper or a rope)
based on one of these
themes. For example, a motivation line
would show how an
individual's motivation changed during the
period of their
leadership. One person's storyline may show that
their motivation moved
from high to low, whereas another's may
show the opposite. Or
each person's storyline may show much the
same story. Peaks and
troughs in a storyline may not have been a
direct consequence of
what the leader said or did, but the leader
can obtain useful
feedback by asking questions about cause and
effect. Also, the
leader can create their own storyline and show
it to the group (or to
a partner) to talk through their own ups
and downs and how these
affected (or were affected by) their
leadership role.
This an instant survey
method in which the leader can get quick
responses from the
whole group in answer to their questions for
feedback. Questions
might be:
* How do you rate my
overall performance as a leader?
* Do you think I should
have been more directive or more
responsive?
* How well did I handle
the time pressure / the conflict / the
unexpected?
* Was I too
task-focused or too team-focused?
Questions can be
derived from any leadership or communication
models that have been
introduced as part of the course.
Questions can also
emerge from other questions. For example, an
initial question about
overall performance can bring out other
factors that can, in
turn, be explored on the spectrum.
Questions can also be
generated from a group brainstorm at the
outset - providing a
handy menu from which each participant can
choose the question
they most want to ask.
As for Horseshoe, each
participant has questions on which they
want feedback. Limit
each person to the one or two questions they
really want to ask.
Each person then carries out their own survey
throughout the whole
group, reflects on this feedback and reports
back to the group on
what they have learned and/or on what they
want to try doing
differently in future. This process can only
work after everyone in
the group has had at least one leadership
opportunity. Everyone
should announce their questions before the
survey begins. This
serves the dual purpose of giving people
advance warning of
questions they will be asked as well as
providing a quality
check (and the opportunity to change
questions).
Warm Seat works best
towards the end of a leadership programme
where everyone has
witnessed each other in 2 or 3 different
leadership roles. For a
group of 10 people, Warm Seat takes 100
minutes. The Warm Seat
generates ideas for action points for the
seated person. Unlike
the 'hot seat' where individuals are put on
the spot and face
questions from others, the 'warm seat' is a
comfortable seat from
which the seated person asks the questions.
The most important
feature of this reviewing method is that the
seated person is in
control: if they feel 'too hot', 'too cold'
or in any way
uncomfortable, they leave the seat to stop whatever
is being said. Sim
Survey (No.5 above) is quicker, but Warm Seat
is more open and allows
people to adjust what they say in
relation to what others
have said. Sim Survey used 40% of the way
into a programme is
good preparation for Warm Seat used 80% into
a programme.
Each person, including
the leader, makes an arrangement of stones
or other objects
showing their view of how they worked together
and of the leader's
role in relation to the group. (Each stone
represents a person.)
The leader views all arrangements asking
questions for
clarification (if needed) and then voices their
conclusions and what
they might try differently. This final stage
is important not only
because it leads to action but also because
it is an opportunity to
check whether any 'messages' from the
stones have been
misinterpreted.
In some leadership
tasks there may be one or two moments of
special interest - such
as a moment where a poor decision was
made, or where a
critical turning point was the key to success.
Much can be learned
from restaging critical events and
interviewing people to
find out what they were thinking or
feeling at the time.
Restaging (much like reconstructions of the
scene of a crime)
brings back people's feelings and memories from
the original incident
and makes for a more interesting and
focused review.
What kind of reviewing
can participants be asked to lead? Maybe
their organisation has
a protocol for reviewing such as 'After
Action Review'. If so,
they can simply practise the review style
required or preferred
by their organisation. But do not assume
that participants are
only capable of leading discussions: there
are many other
reviewing techniques that participants can quickly
learn and apply. For
example, most people developing their
leadership skills
should be able to rise to the challenge of
directing an action
replay - whether or not you are able to
provide them with a
film director's chair! If participants do
take lead (or shared)
responsibility in a review, ensure they
have the opportunity to
self-assess and to receive feedback.
Taking part in a
leadership programme is one step in a lifelong
journey of developing
leadership skills. Participants can benefit
from thinking about how
they will learn from future experiences
as a leader. How will
they reflect? How will they obtain
feedback? Will they
keep a diary? Will they hire a coach? Will
they re-use or adapt
any of the reviewing methods or principles
that they have
experienced during this leadership programme? If
time is short, perhaps
you will present them with a ready-made
reviewing toolkit to
help them with their future development as a
leader? But with more
time you can talk through the options as a
group and encourage
each person to adopt a strategy that best
fits their preferred
learning style and that is also realistic to
sustain in their
current workplace. An individualised plan for
future learning from
experience as a leader is one of the most
powerful tools people
can take away - because it helps to ensure
continuing development
as a leader.
ideas are always very
welcome - whether or not they are offered
for publication. Please
write to: <roger@reviewing.co.uk>
For more sources, links
and research-based findings about
feedback see my
recently updated page at:
|
Would you call three
training videos of just over one minute each
'Short and Sweet'? You
can view my briefings for Action Replay,
Moving Stones and
Talking Knot at:
Each briefing includes
video clips showing people trying out
these techniques. If
you are inspired to spend a total of 4
minutes viewing these
video shorts, please spend an extra minute
and send your feedback to roger@reviewing.co.uk
A more ambitious 4th
movie is on its way!
|
Ken Blanchard's 'One
Minute Manager' is short and sweet. What
could be shorter and
sweeter than a one minute conversation
including positive
feedback and appreciation?
Active Reviewing can
also be short and sweet. Sometimes
environmental
conditions (such as outdoor programmes in the
middle of a British
winter) require that reviews should be short
and sweet. But even in
a British summer (the warm dry bits) or in
air-conditioned rooms,
'short and sweet' can be more effective
than 'long and
balanced' reviews.
Here's
why SHORT can be more effective:
1. It is easier to
maintain attention and interest for short
periods.
2. People get to the
point more quickly if time is short.
3. It is easier to stay
focused on what matters most.
4. See 'Quick Reviews'
Here's
why SWEET can be more effective:
1. Positive feedback
helps people learn from what they do well.
2. Positive feedback
highlights good examples worth emulating.
3. A positive climate
creates the energy, desire and support for
further learning.
3. See 'Reviewing
Success'
Short and sweet reviews
can be used at almost any time on a
training programme -
whether as quick process reviews during a
meeting or as a
refocussing exercise in the middle of an
activity. You also
catch events while things are 'hot' or
'fresh'. This helps to
keep people tuned in and sharpens their
awareness. As a 'One
Minute Facilitator' you will be catching
people doing things
right and encouraging participants to be
doing this for each
other.
'Short and sweet' is a
handy strategy but it is not a total
philosophy. Edward
Tufte warns us that not all knowledge comes
conveniently wrapped in
bite-sized bullet points. Just as there
is a limit to what (and
how) you can learn from a Powerpoint
slide, so there is a
limit to what (and how) you can learn from
short and sweet review
sessions. So don't remove those longer
review sessions from
your programme just yet - they can also be
wonderfully valuable
opportunities for learning!
And it takes time to
follow a full sequence ...
|
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Reviewing
Skills Training
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If you would like to
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or arrange for an
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please get in touch.
Write to: <roger@reviewing.co.uk>
|
NEW REVIEW: TEAMS FOR A
NEW GENERATION
Teams for a New
Generation: A Facilitator's Field Guide
Robinson, G, &
Rose, M. (2007)
My review of this book
is published (with permission from AJOE)
in the reviews section
of the Active Learning Bookshop at:
Please support SAVE THE
CHILDREN by buying your books (and any
other Amazon goods) via
the ACTIVE LEARNING BOOKSHOP.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
EVALUATION AND TRANSFER
LEARNING TO LEARN
REVIEWING AND REFLECTION
TRAINING GAMES AND
ACTIVITIES
FULL INDEX
Roger's
Active Learning Bookshop has raised £893 for
Save
the
Children since January 2006 -
thanks to everyone who has been
shopping at the Active
Learning Bookshop.
If you have other
purchases you want to make at Amazon please go
there via <http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews>
Not
only do you get a
good deal, so do
children around the world who need our help.
I worked for Save the
Children for 4 years so I know about the
value and quality of
the work they do.
|
~ 9 ~
NEXT ISSUE: REVIEWING FOR PEACE
'Peace' includes topics
such as conflict resolution,
reconciliation, healing
relationships and working with volatile
groups. Your offers of
paragraphs or short articles are welcome.
FUTURE ISSUES: READERS
LIKE YOU
What would make you
think of a future issue as 'Reviewing for
Me'? or 'Reviewing for
the People I Work With'? Your answer will
help me to extend the
'Reviewing For _' series by writing for
readers just like you!
Please send your answer
to Roger at: <roger@reviewing.co.uk>
|
~ 10
~ About Active Reviewing Tips
EDITOR: Dr. Roger Greenaway, Reviewing Skills Training 9 Drummond Place Lane
STIRLING Scotland UK FK8 2JF
Feedback,
recommendations, questions:
roger@reviewing.co.uk
phone (UK office
hours): +44 1786 450968
The Guide to Active
Reviewing is at http://reviewing.co.uk
'One of the best
training sites I've ever seen' Training Journal
COPYRIGHT: Roger
Greenaway Reviewing Skills Training
POSTSCRIPT Are there any ideas in this issue about REviewing for Leaders that you can use in your work? Do you have other good ways of reviewing leadership or providing leader feedback? Please share your thoughts. |
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