“Can we take notes?” is a question often asked in our Action Learning facilitator training.
It won’t surprise you that there’s no clear answer.
We did a straw poll with the ALC team to check out our current practice. Some felt that historically taking notes has been a big “no no” that got in the way of listening so we wondered if things had changed in practice? Is there a broader range of delivery styles, in the purpose of Action Learning (AL), in approaches? And what does note taking add or take away?
Some of us think with a pen in our hands. It’s an aide memoire. We feel we more accurately record issues and actions. This becomes a resource to the issue holder and the group for future reference.
Others think it is distracting and gets in the way of listening. Issue holders don’t feel heard properly as heads are down, scribbling, disengaged and the issue holder has no-one to look at. This can be uncomfortable and disconcerting, more so when working virtually.
So what’s the purpose of taking notes?
Recording issues can provide a running theme through the AL meaning everyone remembers the top line issue they presented and could see the themes emerging over time.
Other times writing might include capturing the questions asked as part of a process to support learning about powerful questions. It can also be in speed AL where questions are written either facilitator or a set member, then handed to the issue holder for further reflection.
But what are we writing down?
For some this means recording each issue presented and the actions. This is sometimes put on flipchart, photographed and circulated which set members have found useful. These notes are short, specific and agreed by the issue holder.
It was also noted that set members might be scribbling away taking essentially private notes for their own learning. The issue here is to differentiate between personal insights for oneself and listening / supporting the issue holder for their own development.
This led us to ask - who are the notes for?
An underpinning theme from our sharing is the need for transparency and agreement about the process in the group; clarity about who is taking notes, why, and what happens to them.
It is important that everyone feels safe, secure, listened to. And to beware of what might potentially get in the way no matter how well intentioned.
One approach is for the facilitator to write down the issue and actions agreed then email these out to the Set after the session or with the next session reminder email. This leaves the issue holder and set members to be free in the process.
Another way is to have a set member volunteer to write down the action points agreed during the session then hand them over to the issue holder thus leaving the issue holder free to just talk and think.
Conclusions
We can all benefit from reviewing our practice and the culture we are developing in our Sets around note taking.
Which of these practices do you favour? Is it in the best interests of the issue holder and Set?
Are you taking copious notes as facilitator and setting up a precedent for the group?
Do you include discussing note taking in the group agreements?
Do you check with each issue holder to see if they are ok with notes being taken? (might be ok in some sessions, but difficult where they are sharing particularly sensitive information).
Have you tried a session when no-one takes any notes to see how that feels?
Could the issue holder be their own note and actions writer and read out to the group once completed? The possibilities are endless.
There is evidence from our discussion that there can be real value in capturing the issue and action points for each issue holder in the session - as a reminder. But this process needs to be co-created with the group and regularly reviewed.