The document discusses the benefits and considerations of virtual action learning, highlighting advantages like reduced carbon footprint, time and cost savings, and enhanced diversity. It emphasizes the importance of effective listening and communication techniques, particularly in virtual settings, and shares insights from practitioners on the nuances of facilitating virtual learning compared to traditional face-to-face interactions. Key factors for success in virtual action learning include meticulous setup, positive positioning, and a focus on voice data, with the aim of helping participants access their own insights.

1. Virtual
Ac+on
Learning
in
Prac+ce

2. Discuss
with
the
people
near
to
you…
What advantages do you think
there might be in virtual action
learning?
How do you feel about working
virtually?

3.
Carbon
footprint
reduced
Time
and
cost
savings
Encourages
diversity
–
new
perspec+ves
Gives
access
to
local
knowledge
–
cultural,
regional,
na+onal,
linguis+c…
Expert
listening

4. The
Voice
• What
the
voice
reveals
–
Guardian
experiment
April
2007
– People
become
beIer
lie
detectors
when
they
listen
– When
was
someone
lying,
when
telling
the
truth?
• Watching
television:
less
than
10%
accuracy
• Reading
newspaper:
64%
accuracy
• Listening
to
radio:
73%
accuracy
• Pace,
tone,
volume,
intona+on,
speed,
silence,
breath,
content,
inten+on,
emo+on
• Tuning
in
deeply
–
in+macy
-­‐
imagina+on

5. ‘The
pictures
are
be7er
on
the
radio‘
‘Most
of
all,
I
liked
the
fact
that
listening
to
a
match
on
the
radio,
alone
in
my
bed,
it
was
possible
to
feel
in@mately
involved
and
incredibly
close
to
the
ac@on
–
to
really
picture
what
was
happening
-­‐
despite
being
in
my
pyjamas,
in
the
dark,
hundreds
of
miles
away.’
‘…
we
tend
to
think
that…
hearing
something
is
somehow
a
secondary
ac@vity.
And
we
assume
that
moving
images,
which
demand
our
immediate
focus,
are
more
powerful.
But
radio
takes
concentra@on…
it
has
an
inherent
in@macy‘

6. Exercise:
Focusing
on
the
voice
• Exercise
instruc@ons:
– Non-­‐English
speakers
to
listen
for
emo+on.
What
emo@ons
do
you
hear
in
the
voice?
– For
English
speakers,
split
into
2
groups.
One
group
listens
for
content,
one
group
listens
for
inten+on
(i.e.
what
is
the
speaker
conveying,
what
is
behind
the
words?
Use
your
intui@on.)
– Make
notes
– For
all:
what
else
do
you
no@ce?
• h7p://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02jmlW

7. What
prac@@oners
say…
• ‘…
we
used
Google
Hangouts
–
they
all
wanted
to
use
video.
We
quickly
got
rid
of
that
–
they
all
found
it
very
distrac@ng.
They
preferred
the
audio
[only].
We
checked
in
at
the
start
with
video
so
that
everyone
saw
each
other
and
then
we’d
switch
it
off.’
• ‘[In
face-­‐to-­‐face]
I’m
more
aware
of
how
I
present
rather
than
what
I’m
understanding
or
clarifying
about
what
I
presented.’

8. So what do we need to pay
attention to in order to create
effective and successful virtual
action learning sets?

9. Key
messages
from
prac++oners….
• VAL
is
neither
more
nor
less
effec+ve
than
face
to
face
AL….
it’s
different!
• VAL
is
not
a
conference
call
• Factors
contribu+ng
to
successful
VAL
programmes
include:
– Me+culous
set
up
– Posi+ve
posi+oning
– Experienced
facilita+on
– ‘Fana+cal
focus’
on
the
technology
– The
data
in
the
voice

10.
• ‘The
func+on…
is
not
to
give
advice
or
“fix”
people
from
the
outside
in
but
rather
to
help
people
remove
the
interference
so
that
they
can
discover
their
own
wisdom
from
the
inside
out.’
• (from
The
Clearness
Commi7ee:
A
Communal
Approach
to
Discernment,
Parker
J
Palmer).