Action Research
Although my journey toward implementing a blended learning system is not yet over, I will “pull off to the side of the road” and reflect upon how this vehicle of Action Research has transformed me at the personal, organizational and scholarly levels.
Personal Transformation
I have learned that collaboration is the most effective way to create processes that need to work in an environment with multiple stakeholder groups. Since performing the Action Research Cycles, I have learned that more collaboration early in the design phase of a system saves time and promotes acceptance of the new system. In the process of collaborative design stakeholder issues and problems are revealed early and can then be resolved to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.
I have also learned that one should strongly consider having a subject matter expert for a new process writing the first draft. Afterwards, the expert could then open the design for collaboration. I discovered that this sequence allowed me to reap the benefits of multiple perspectives and multiple collaborators but also ensure that critical elements of the design were not discarded. Every process has critical nodes that, if discarded, render the process useless.
During the Action Research, others involved in the process viewed me as open minded and creative. During the process design phase, I would respond to their concerns with multiple suggestions and showed a willingness to creatively merge solutions. The nature of collaborative problem solving that is a vital part of Action Research produced a positive impression of me by others. I had learned to be extremely flexible toward modification suggestions toward portions of the process that were not critical nodes.
Another transformational attribute that Action Research affords is the opportunity to align my values closer to that of my work. One of my deeply held values is that, in business, one must make sure that customers clearly understand what a service can and cannot provide. This value was what first drew me to corporate training. My current Action Research is seeking a way to improve our company’s ability to educate customers. This end result is in direct alignment with my values.
Finally, the written reflection component of Action Research triggered in me a most extreme swing of emotions. At first, I dreaded the thought of having to write my reflections in my Action Research Journal. I hated the experience. In my world, reflection happens instantly, constantly, consciously and subconsciously. Reflection of my actions is ingrained in every movement that I make. I steamed at the thought of having to slow my normal stream of consciousness down so that I could capture it in writing. I felt like I was being forced to sip from a fire hose. Only after forcing myself to reflect in writing did my emotions toward the practice begin a journey that started with hatred and ended with satisfaction. Imagine my surprise when I realized that reflection would become my most enjoyable experience with Action Research.
Writing my reflections allowed me to slow down and think deeper about how I responded to situations. By asking, “Why?” multiple times, I uncovered root causes for my behavior and for my approach towards situations. Once uncovering these root causes, I could then decide if my course of action was really appropriate for these new situations. Many times, I discovered that I was applying solutions that I learned many years ago. I also discovered that the reflective process allowed me to see that my applied lessons from the past were always a step in the right direction but often fell short because no two situations can ever be the same. Reflection made me aware that checking for the effectiveness of any action solution is vital for success in Action Research.
Organizational Transformation
I have observed that the members of our training department who participated in the Action Research learned how to collaborate on designing a new process. This new skill will help them in future projects as we continue to adapt to business environment changes with new and improved processes.
During this journey, I also learned that my department sits at a crossroads through which every stakeholder group in our company travels. Each member of our department is well served by learning how to collaborate on process creation and improvement with different stakeholders.
Scholarly Transformation
The practice of performing a literature review prior to presenting a proposed solution to a problem is new to my work group. I believe that this practice will become very valuable to others within my work group as we adopt new technological solutions. The literature review allowed me to fill in gaps of my knowledge regarding the strengths and weaknesses of e-learning, classroom training and blended learning. By having shared the literature review with my colleagues and having shared how blended learning can compensate for the high incomplete rates of e-learning I contributed to a higher understanding in my department training capabilities.
What was also fascinating to experience was the willingness of a participant engaging in the very process of Action Research. During cycle 3, I took a subordinate role as the Training Manager actively managed a two week test. During that cycle, I watched as she performed the Action Research and reflected upon the results.
My work helps to reinforce the view that Action Research is an effective vehicle for lasting change within a group. Action Research brings together all stakeholders affected by a problem and invites them to work together to design processes, test processes, and then modify the processes for further testing. When we add to this subject matter experts who have reviewed the literature and can protect critical nodes in a process, the end result is a uniquely adapted solution for the environment from which it sprang. No number of outside consultants or experts designing a solution can replicate the effectiveness of such a continuously evolving “home grown” solution.
I have come to realize the great value of Action Research. With just one problem solving instance, the process of Action Research had tremendously positive impact in a work unit with improved team member interactions, and an increase in collective knowledge building and problem solving ability.
For leaders within a corporate or other hierarchical organization, I hope to relay this very important learning: To leverage the benefits of Action Research, an organization should have practitioners in all departments. However, as I have learned, humans tend to dismiss new process and program roll-outs. To implement widespread use of Action Research within a corporation or school district, I would recommend that leaders perform their own Action Research to discover how to best implement the practice of Action Research within their organizations.
PREVIOUS: Research Cycles
NEXT: References
Personal Transformation
I have learned that collaboration is the most effective way to create processes that need to work in an environment with multiple stakeholder groups. Since performing the Action Research Cycles, I have learned that more collaboration early in the design phase of a system saves time and promotes acceptance of the new system. In the process of collaborative design stakeholder issues and problems are revealed early and can then be resolved to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.
I have also learned that one should strongly consider having a subject matter expert for a new process writing the first draft. Afterwards, the expert could then open the design for collaboration. I discovered that this sequence allowed me to reap the benefits of multiple perspectives and multiple collaborators but also ensure that critical elements of the design were not discarded. Every process has critical nodes that, if discarded, render the process useless.
During the Action Research, others involved in the process viewed me as open minded and creative. During the process design phase, I would respond to their concerns with multiple suggestions and showed a willingness to creatively merge solutions. The nature of collaborative problem solving that is a vital part of Action Research produced a positive impression of me by others. I had learned to be extremely flexible toward modification suggestions toward portions of the process that were not critical nodes.
Another transformational attribute that Action Research affords is the opportunity to align my values closer to that of my work. One of my deeply held values is that, in business, one must make sure that customers clearly understand what a service can and cannot provide. This value was what first drew me to corporate training. My current Action Research is seeking a way to improve our company’s ability to educate customers. This end result is in direct alignment with my values.
Finally, the written reflection component of Action Research triggered in me a most extreme swing of emotions. At first, I dreaded the thought of having to write my reflections in my Action Research Journal. I hated the experience. In my world, reflection happens instantly, constantly, consciously and subconsciously. Reflection of my actions is ingrained in every movement that I make. I steamed at the thought of having to slow my normal stream of consciousness down so that I could capture it in writing. I felt like I was being forced to sip from a fire hose. Only after forcing myself to reflect in writing did my emotions toward the practice begin a journey that started with hatred and ended with satisfaction. Imagine my surprise when I realized that reflection would become my most enjoyable experience with Action Research.
Writing my reflections allowed me to slow down and think deeper about how I responded to situations. By asking, “Why?” multiple times, I uncovered root causes for my behavior and for my approach towards situations. Once uncovering these root causes, I could then decide if my course of action was really appropriate for these new situations. Many times, I discovered that I was applying solutions that I learned many years ago. I also discovered that the reflective process allowed me to see that my applied lessons from the past were always a step in the right direction but often fell short because no two situations can ever be the same. Reflection made me aware that checking for the effectiveness of any action solution is vital for success in Action Research.
Organizational Transformation
I have observed that the members of our training department who participated in the Action Research learned how to collaborate on designing a new process. This new skill will help them in future projects as we continue to adapt to business environment changes with new and improved processes.
During this journey, I also learned that my department sits at a crossroads through which every stakeholder group in our company travels. Each member of our department is well served by learning how to collaborate on process creation and improvement with different stakeholders.
Scholarly Transformation
The practice of performing a literature review prior to presenting a proposed solution to a problem is new to my work group. I believe that this practice will become very valuable to others within my work group as we adopt new technological solutions. The literature review allowed me to fill in gaps of my knowledge regarding the strengths and weaknesses of e-learning, classroom training and blended learning. By having shared the literature review with my colleagues and having shared how blended learning can compensate for the high incomplete rates of e-learning I contributed to a higher understanding in my department training capabilities.
What was also fascinating to experience was the willingness of a participant engaging in the very process of Action Research. During cycle 3, I took a subordinate role as the Training Manager actively managed a two week test. During that cycle, I watched as she performed the Action Research and reflected upon the results.
My work helps to reinforce the view that Action Research is an effective vehicle for lasting change within a group. Action Research brings together all stakeholders affected by a problem and invites them to work together to design processes, test processes, and then modify the processes for further testing. When we add to this subject matter experts who have reviewed the literature and can protect critical nodes in a process, the end result is a uniquely adapted solution for the environment from which it sprang. No number of outside consultants or experts designing a solution can replicate the effectiveness of such a continuously evolving “home grown” solution.
I have come to realize the great value of Action Research. With just one problem solving instance, the process of Action Research had tremendously positive impact in a work unit with improved team member interactions, and an increase in collective knowledge building and problem solving ability.
For leaders within a corporate or other hierarchical organization, I hope to relay this very important learning: To leverage the benefits of Action Research, an organization should have practitioners in all departments. However, as I have learned, humans tend to dismiss new process and program roll-outs. To implement widespread use of Action Research within a corporation or school district, I would recommend that leaders perform their own Action Research to discover how to best implement the practice of Action Research within their organizations.
PREVIOUS: Research Cycles
NEXT: References