ABSTRACT
The form for action learning might be a group of people meeting at their own initiative or a large organisational programme with many groups linked together in a complex network. An organisational programme will probably have four main components: sets, sponsors, facilitators and conferences. Set meetings focus on members' problems or tasks – these form the agenda and the vehicles for action and learning. Sponsors may be focused on specific projects or act more as mentors with a broader career or life-centred focus. Some programmes offer mentoring as a separate and additional opportunity. Advisers encourage people to share ideas and concerns each other, and who facilitate the development of the set as a powerful learning system. A conference is an opportunity to get together, often with senior people, to share with other sets and to report on the action and learning. This chapter presents a case illustrating the structure of an action learning programme in a large engineering company.
