Experiences of action leaning in two SME business support programmes

Action learning sets are used by Lancaster University Management School's Institute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development to provide business support to owner managers of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper compares the experiences of participants and facilitator of two programmes: one part of a wider programme of business support, the other a standalone programme of action learning. The paper describes the format of the sets and looks at the benefits to participants. It examines some of the outcomes for the participants and the learning gained by the facilitator. It concludes with some reflections from the facilitator on his experiences and on the appropriateness of action learning sets for SME owner managers.