Organizational Learning
Question Bank
The Question Bank is a companion resource to Achieving Greater Impact By Starting
with Learning: How Grantmakers Can Enable Learning at the Grant Application Stage.
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Guidelines and tips
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Question Bank for Identifying Learning Organizations: A Guide for Grantmakers, Exercises of Communication
A question bank for grantmakers to assess the learning culture of potential grantees. The questions are categorized into three broad areas: organizational habits & behaviours, leadership & strategic direction, and organizational capacity & resources. By focusing on learning relationships during the grant application stage, grantmakers can support organizations that effectively adapt and communicate.
Typology: Exercises
2021/2022
1 / 29
This page cannot be seen from the preview
Don't miss anything!
Related documents
Partial preview of the text
Download Question Bank for Identifying Learning Organizations: A Guide for Grantmakers and more Exercises Communication in PDF only on Docsity!
Organizational Learning
Question Bank
The Question Bank is a companion resource to Achieving Greater Impact By Starting with Learning: How Grantmakers Can Enable Learning at the Grant Application Stage.
Table of Contents
- Background
- Using the Question Bank
- Organizational Habits & Behaviours
- Makes time for sharing and reflecting
- Engages outside stakeholders
- Values evaluation
- Handles setbacks well
- Is highly adaptable
- Has strong communication processes
- Leadership & Strategic Direction
- Develops learning goals and processes
- Provides opportunity for input
- Promotes and rewards learning
- Organizational Capacity & Resources
- Systems and Processes
- Staff Expertise
- Financial Resources
- Sample Template
- Summary of Questions
- Acknowledgements
The questions in this question bank fall into three broad categories that emerged out of our research on the key qualities of learning organizations.
Learning-oriented organizational habits and behaviours (i.e., formal and informal day-to-day practices, processes, and attitudes) that bring a learning culture to life.
Strong leadership and strategic direction that supports, provides guidance, and prioritizes learning for staff and organizational processes.
Organizational capacity and resources to support learning, including tools for analyzing data and reflecting on it, time and space devoted to learning, and good communication processes.
Within each of these categories, the question bank offers subcategories and indicators designed to provide further clarity and to bring the elements of a learning organization to light in practical and operational ways.
Questions can be like a lever you use to pry open the stuck lid on a
paint can...If we have a short lever, we can only just crack open the lid
on the can. But if we have a longer lever, or a more dynamic question,
we can open that can up much wider and really stir things up...If the
right question is applied, and it digs deep enough, then we can stir up
all the creative solutions.
— FRAN PEAVEY Found in The Art of Powerful Questions: Catalyzing Insight, Innovation, and Action
In order to develop a deeper understanding of the culture within an organization and the way it approaches learning, users of the Question Bank should feel free to draw from questions in each category. Not all subcategories may carry the same importance in every context. Similarly, not all questions within each subcategory need to be asked. Instead, the subcategories can be seen as a guide (think of it as being similar to a keyword search) to help determine the type of questions to be asked.
Each category consists of a few descriptor sentences (indicators) intended to operationalize what a subcategory could look like in practice at its ideal. For example, under the subcategory: “Makes time for sharing and reflecting”, the indicator is “brainstorming and reflection are seen as important and time is set aside for each.” Therefore, it could be said that an organization that has regular meetings to debrief on recent events, for example, is partly satisfying this particular indicator or quality that is present in learning organizations.
Some of these questions can be used in a grant application template or in a more informal conversation with a potential grant recipient. They may also be useful internally for discussing or reviewing a grant application. Users should also see this guide as flexible. It can be adapted to meet your needs. Potentially, with use and testing, those questions that are identified as being more useful for your organization could be highlighted and prioritized to make it easier to create useful templates.
A sample template is provided at the end of this question bank to give an example of how you may use this tool.
Using the Question Bank
Indicators
Brainstorming and reflection are seen as important and time is set aside for them.
a. How does your organization reflect on recent work?
b. In what ways do learning, brainstorming, or sharing take place within your organization (e.g., dedicated meeting agenda item, staff encouraged to block off time for brainstorming, etc.)?
c. What are the main opportunities for staff to share and reflect on their work with others?
d. Can you provide an example of a time when you or your staff made time to pause and reflect on a program or project? What was the reason? What was learned?
Add your own:
Makes time for sharing and reflecting
Sometimes, our day-to-day work is too focused on continually doing. Organizations with strong learning cultures realize that pausing, sharing, and reflecting with others can lead to new insights.
Here are some question ideas
Indicators The organization seeks to learn from and test assumptions with the help of others outside the organization.
a. In what ways does your organization involve others in gathering feedback or input (i.e., funders, other nonprofits, clients/service users, community members, board members, etc.)?
b. Does your organization have an advisory group or committee for this project or program? If yes, how does this advisory group help to inform your work?
c. In what ways does your organization engage with project or program partners (e.g., do you have monthly meetings)?
d. Does your organization participate in relevant communities of practice or networks?
Add your own:
Engages outside stakeholders
Learning happens in interaction, not in isolation, and often the best insights can come from conversations between those who have different experiences or points of view. Organizations with strong learning cultures involve outsiders in their learning process.
Here are some question ideas
Indicators Failures, mistakes, or setbacks are openly discussed in constructive ways within the organization.
Failures, mistakes, or setbacks are communicated to external partners.
a. How does your organization deal with setbacks or disappointment?
b. What does your organization do with results that you were not expecting? How do you decide what to do next?
c. How does your organization create a safe space for staff to share dissenting opinions?
d. Can you give an example of a time where something didn’t work as planned and what was learned from that experience?
Add your own:
Handles setbacks well
Programs or projects — particularly new ones — rarely go exactly as planned. When setbacks occur, the
4 real test of an organization with a strong learning culture is how well they handle them.
Here are some question ideas
Indicators Implements changes based on what was learned.
Uses evidence to inform the type of change needed.
Change is embraced and supported.
a. What has your organization learned in the last year about its work and the impact of that work?
b. What, if anything, is your organization doing differently now as a result of what it has learned? (May include changes to the delivery of existing programs, creation of new programs, or adapting them) What do you plan to do differently in the future?
c. How do you create space in your organization to experiment or try different approaches?
d. How are decisions made when it comes to deciding next steps or revisions?
e. Can you share an example of a recent pilot project that your organization has run?
Add your own:
Is highly adaptable
Organizations with strong learning cultures recognize that they are often working on complex issues and in rapidly changing environments. They understand that what worked one, two, or five years ago may not be
5^ the solution that they need today and are able to be responsive to what they are learning as they go.
Here are some question ideas
Leadership &
Strategic Direction
Leadership and strategic direction refers to the ways in which
executive directors, board members, or senior managers inform
and guide the direction of the organization as a whole or their
department. It may also include the specific policies, strategic
plans, or staff structures put in place by leadership.
Strong leadership is crucial to the long-
term success of any organization. The
decisions and leadership style of executive
directors, board members, or senior
managers goes a long way to influencing
how other staff function and by extension
the degree to which learning is enabled and
encouraged in the organization as a whole.
There are three categories of questions in
this section.
An organization with strong leadership and strategic direction:
Develops learning goals and processes
Provides opportunity for input
Promotes and rewards learning
Indicators Learning strategies are evident.
Staff job descriptions or work plans include evidence of learning priorities.
Key learning goals are identified.
a. As an organization, what are you most interested in learning right now? What are your organization’s learning goals or processes (e.g., in a strategic plan)?
b. How does your organization (i.e., board, staff) use evidence when making decisions?
c. How do you keep learning goals front of mind? How often does your organization review strategic priorities?
d. How do you make people aware of and committed to the mission of the organization?
Add your own:
Develops learning goals and processes
Learning goals are different from outcome or impact goals. For example, “reducing youth homelessness” is an outcome goal, while “developing more meaningful ways to engage youth in our decision making process about our homelessness work” is a learning goal. Developing learning goals and processes helps
1 an organization to build its learning culture.
Here are some question ideas
Indicators Managers or leaders support staff in conversations using evidence.
a. In what ways are staff members supported to participate in data analysis, provide feedback, share new ideas, etc. (i.e., by building expectations into job descriptions, allowing staff time to focus on this, focused meetings, etc.)?
b. How do you celebrate learning accomplishments (e.g., project goals, final reports completed, etc.)?
c. In what ways does your organization support staff to improve their skills?
Add your own:
Promotes and rewards learning
Providing incentives for staff to engage in learning is an important part in creating strong learning cultures. Incentives don’t necessarily refer to financial benefits, but can also include positive reinforcement or
3 allowing for specific staff time to be focused on learning.
Here are some question ideas
Organizational Capacity
& Resources
An organization that values learning puts tools and
procedures into place to support learning. Organizational
capacity and resources refers to the technical, physical, and
financial resources in place to promote a culture of learning.
A well-run learning organization
has the right tools and expertise
at its disposal and is continually
looking to create the conditions in
which those tools and expertise
can be leveraged to enable
learning. There are three categories
of questions in this section.
An organization with strong organizational capacity & resourses has:
Systems and processes
Staff expertise
Financial resources
Indicators Staff are comfortable with data collection, using databases, asking evaluative questions.
Evaluation and learning are part of some or all staff responsibilities.
Staff support one another (mentoring).
Staff are trained in learning from mistakes.
a. How often do staff participate in networks, events, or forums for sharing information (e.g., relevant listservs, conferences, roundtables, etc.)?
b. In what ways are staff cross-trained to perform various job functions?
c. In what ways does your organization create a culture of learning among staff?
d. Do (relevant) staff have training in data collection or using databases?
e. Who is responsible for learning and evaluation in your organization and what are their qualifications? If you do not have dedicated staff, do you foresee a need to hire someone with this expertise?
f. In what ways are staff being continually developed for future roles in the organization?
Add your own:
Staff Expertise
Having the right staff in place is often easier said than done. However, being deliberate about how learning will be prioritized starting from the hiring phase, to supporting professional development, to potentially supporting staff advancement in the organization or in the field is important to creating the
2 conditions for individual staff learning to transfer up to organizational learning.
Here are some question ideas
Indicators Professional development opportunities are available to staff.
Staff are supported to learn and develop their skill set.
Funding is allocated to support evaluation.
a. In what ways does your organization support staff to improve their skills?
b. How does your organization invest in evaluation (in terms of money, staff time, technology, or other resources)?
c. How much or what percentage of your organization’s/program’s budget is dedicated to professional development?
d. What kinds of professional development opportunities does your organization see as most valuable?
Add your own:
Financial Resources
Creating a strong organizational learning culture requires intent and planning. Making learning a priority requires investment. This can be a significant challenge for nonprofit organizations. However, talking about the ways an organization invests in learning can be a great way to open up discussion.
Here are some question ideas