As the name implies, Cross-Functional Team members come from different organizational units. In contrast, an Action Learning group may be comprised of members from a single organizational unit. Cross-Functional Teams may be permanent or ad hoc, whereas Action Learning groups are always ad hoc. In contrast, Action Learning involves a cycle of meeting to generate solutions and returning to the work place to take action. Typically, two teams of five to seven people from diverse businesses and functions within GE work together on the problem.
Time is built in for the team members to reflect on the total learning experience.
FAA wanted managers to practice working with real world problems as a basis for learning. Senior managers identified critical concerns meaningful to the organization and acted as sponsors for the action learning teams. Three teams met over a 6-month period using the action learning methodology. At the end of that time, teams met with their sponsors and reported their results. Senior managers were astounded by the creative work accomplished by the teams and followed through on many of their suggestions.