ABSTRACT
Most action learning sets begin life with a facilitator who is there to enable the learning process to take place by helping to create those conditions which make it possible for set members to learn from their own experience and from that of their colleagues. The creation of a 'meta-set' comprising facilitators alone, whose challenges relate to the work of facilitating other sets, can be a powerful means of continuing development, as well as providing a means of professional supervision for facilitators. Although action learning provides a great opportunity for lively and engaged learning, there can also be pitfalls which facilitators need to be aware of. Some of these relate to the operation of the set, while others relate to the facilitator's behaviour. The most common pitfall is for the focus on action and learning to be lost. Facilitator's behaviour pitfalls typically derive from the facilitator mistaking their own needs for those of the set members.
