detset.com | News

October 2014

This question is one I ask my clients, when we discuss th effectiveness of my seminars in developing Diversity & Inclusiveness in organisations. In seminars, the participants gain insights and learn skills for the development of competencies, which they then apply in their day to day jobs. Do you believe that participants can effortlessly apply what they have learned without any obstruction or resistance throughout years? Is that what effective learning is? You do not have to be a genius to answer these questions in the negative. Experience shows, that over time habit pushes what is newly learned to the side. It is therefore necessary to give participants the opportunity.....

.....after the seminar to exchange views with like-minded people – according to scientists this kind of exchange is vital to the learning process. In this regard, it makes sense to create forums, where participants can get together in a trusting environment to exchange their experiences of applying what they have learned in the seminar. Here, we are all in the same boot. Through these fair exchanges the participants reflect together. Here I can learn from the others, here I can be inspired, receive valuable tips and ideas on how to deal with certain situations better, or improve my inclusive behaviour. And vice versa: In a joint reflexion with other participants I can give others ideas and support. Through joint learning in these forums, the individual can be encouraged and motivated to rethink and refine his/her own path to attain his/her goal.

I offer my clients these types of forums that I call „X2 EXperience EXchange Club“, that enable the seminar participants to apply the skills they have learned to achieve their goals in a more self-reliant way. The X2-Clubs are not follow-up seminars in the conventional sense. This is not a forum where the participants are questionned childishly, whether they have learned some cognitive skills. Here he/she rather is challenged to jointly reflect with like-minded colleagues on how to apply what has been learned in the seminar, in their working environment and seek out solutions to adjust their methods in a way, that will enable them to reach their goals more effectively.
Without a doubt, a framework must be established, where participants open up and candidly speak and reflect. If trust exists, X2 Clubs can be carried out via Net-Meetings.

In the sequence of Seminar --> X2 Club a virtuous, sustainable workflow ‚Act -> reflect -> discuss -> plan -> act -> reflect -> discuss ->….‘ and the responsibility of the individual come into play. As part of this process, the seminar participant is not left alone to his/her own devices through the exchange of views with like-minded peers and through the mutal support.

It is a natural phenomenon that changes require time to mature. In the process described above, the seminar participants, the learners, are involved proactively and in a self-reliant way.

The figures in the picture symbolize individuals, who turn to one another in a forum and engage with them in discussions.
Foto: fotolia 1348534

News

Are two days of seminars enough? "X2-Clubs"