Amazon lists over 100,000 books about coaching. If you were to read only one title on this subject Time to Think by Nancy Kline would be a great choice. It’s a simple, effective, radical and highly compassionate approach. There’s plenty of research to back up the assertions in the book but I really like that her approach arose through her observations as a teacher and coach.
At its simplest, the Time to Think approach involves enabling someone’s best thinking by listening intently to them and using ‘incisive questions’ to remove any blocks that might be limiting that thinking. It sounds simple – and it is which I really like. But this simplicity can also be very powerful. The principles of this approach have application way beyond 1-2-1 coaching into leadership, parenting, education, politics etc.
Kline believes people do their best thinking when we create what she terms a ‘Thinking Environment’; and she identifies ten ‘components’. You don’t have to adopt the model in its entirety. Instead I see the Thinking Environment as a useful checklist in my work as a coach and facilitator. If you are involved in supporting others to develop and perform well then I think there’ll be something on this list you will find useful.
Her book offers a whole chapter exploring each component. Below I’ve briefly summarised each one to offer a taste of the book (go read it!):
Attention
Listening to others without interruption or judgment and with keen interest in their thought and perspective.
The power of being really listened to, and the impact of not feeling heard, is hard to convey – it has to be experienced. If you’re interested in experimenting with ways of listening then try this short Liberating Structures exercise Heard, Seen and Respected.
Incisive questions
Noticing the assumptions which might be limiting thinking and replacing with a freeing alternative. For example, if you’ve always seen yourself as shy and unable to speak up in meetings ask yourself ‘if I had all the confidence in the world, what I say?’. If you only try one thing from this book make it use a few incisive questions. The number of times I’ve seen individuals and teams completely transform their thinking when I’ve asked these beautiful hypothetical questions….
Equality
Treating each other as peers. In the workplace we have been conditioned to listen to those other power, as if their ideas are better. When I’m facilitating a group I like to highlight and challenge this assumption head-on when we talk about how the group wants to work together.
There’s a fun acronym I picked up from Henry Stewart for one such assumption – the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion). I suggest to a group that there is no evidence that suggests people in more senior positions have better ideas than their junior colleagues, so invite them to banish the HIPPO.
There are some very simple techniques Kline uses with groups to encourage equality. These include turn-taking where everyone is invited to speak at the start (and again at the end) of any meeting. Interestingly, recent research at Google has shown that equality of contribution in meetings was a feature of the highest performing teams.
Appreciation
Kline states her research suggests a minimum ratio of five pieces of appreciation for every critical comment is needed to avoid defensiveness and encourage our best thinking.
One practical way to keep things weighted in favour of the positive I sometimes use in a review situation is to invite people to identify 3 things they like about an idea or situation, and only 1 thing they would improve or do differently.
Ease
Kline added this condition later, noticing the festishisation of busyness and urgency in many workplaces and how this was the enemy of creative thinking. As an endurance runner, I am reminded of the importance of pace – if we set off too fast we crash and burn. Trying to go too fast is a mistake at work too – resisting the pressure to rush, to do too much is important to ensure we perform at our best.
Encouragement
Again this runs counter a common but unhelpful assumption that competition produces the best outcomes. As has been thoroughly documented in Daniel Pink’s book about motivation Drive, competition is only useful in a very limited range of situations and in most workplace scenarios will produce worse results. For complex and creative situations we need collaboration not competition. Encouraging, rather than trying to beat, one another will serve us better.
Feelings
Counter to the prevailing attitude (in Yorkshire at least) that tears and emotions more generally have no place in the workplace, Kline suggests acknowledging emotions enabling better thinking. Shutting down emotions, seeing them as unhelpful, can prevent clear thinking and anecdotally I have seen many times a coachee suddenly come to a new realisation after a short episode of tears – as if allowing themselves to acknowledge their feelings has shifted their thinking.
There’s a great, very simple, exercise I build feelings into group conversations – using the 4F review framework in which a group considers Facts, Feelings, Findings (implications) and Future (plans) in turn. The simple inclusion of feelings as part of the data gathering helps generate better quality thinking.
Information
If someone doesn’t have the facts, or they have incorrect information, then this will prevent their best thinking. On the whole we are often too quick to offer solutions to others and Kline cautions against offering information unless we’ve fully understood the situation. As a coach you only rarely offer information to a client, but sometimes it can be very helpful. Recently in my coaching I shared a simple framework with a client to help him generate a fresh perspective on team dynamics, for example.
Diversity
When I think about the big steps forward I’ve made in my own thinking or development it has been when I’m working with someone whose style, perspective and experience has been very different to my own. Difference can make things tricky at first, and be unsettling, but our best work happens when we can find ways to embrace rather than stifle or avoid it.
Place
If the physical space in which we’re working says to us ‘you matter’ then this is helpful. Reading stories online of how people who’ve been forced suddenly to work from home have transformed their corner of a room into a better space to think seems to underline this.
What I love about this book is the simplicity of the model and the ability therefore for anyone to put into practice things that will contribute to creating better outcomes across all areas of society: work, home, community action. Part two of the book is filled with practical examples of how to put these principles into action in organisations and teams, as well as 1-2-1 conversations. Anyone with any kind of leadership role – whether a coach, manager, team leader, parent, teacher – can take away some useful tools from this book.
Maybe this list has whetted your appetite to find out more and read the book for yourself, or given you a few pointers about how you could best support someone else’s best thinking?
When I first trained as a Relational Dynamics coach over a decade ago, a key principle of this programme was that we learn a huge amount about coaching from being coached ourselves. Therefore in that training model trainee coachees are coached and reflect on their experiences as coachees throughout as a core strand of their learning.
At first I would notice little things which might undermine trust, for example of the coach glanced at their watch – probably just to check the time – I’d wonder if they were really listening to me, or was I boring them? Next time I coached someone else I’d make sure my watch was easily visible to me so I could avoid that mistake. Another time a fellow coach asked me to complete a short questionnaire before our first session that included some interesting and powerful questions that really made me think – so (with permission) I adapted those questions and created my own preparatory questionnaire.
As coaches we can learn a huge amount through being coached
Even after qualifying as a coach, I still think it’s valuable to continue to experience first-hand being coached on a regular basis when you work as a coach. Yes I go on courses and read books about coaching, but most of my learning as a coach comes through direct experience of coaching (and reflection about it). As a coach I keep a reflective log and work with a supervisor, but I also take regular steps to learn through being coached. Over the past 12 months I have worked with a life coach on parenting; a running coach to help me prepare for a new challenge; and with fellow member of my local coaching network via their paired ‘co-coaching’ scheme on developing my business. I’ve also been a member of an Action Learning set (arguably a form of group coaching) for nearly a decade.
I don’t believe there’s one best way to be a coach…
…and hopefully any good coach will adapt how they work to their client anyway, so I enjoy experiencing a wide variety of coaching styles and seeing a range of professionals in action. So when I was reflecting recently about how I want to develop my coaching I started by thinking about some of the brilliant coaches I know and have worked with, and which of their qualities I would most like to grow more in my own work.
My first coach was a local legend and his athletes were legendary too
The first coach I remember was my very first running coach when I was around 12-13 years old. Roland was a bit of a legend at my running club because his group of athletes were by far the best around and also they worked notoriously hard. So when I was invited to ‘move up’ to his group I was equally intimidated by the hard work I knew would be involved and flattered that he had confidence in my potential. At that time I was very much a middle of the pack club-runner, but he trained people who won races and ran for the country. Surely enough within two years of working with R I was transformed as a runner: I had won several cross -country races and been selected to run for the county.
Looking back now as a coach at this, what I’d like to take from Roland’s example is the power of accountability. I’m not suggesting I want coachees to be afraid of me as coach (and let’s be perfectly clear he was a lovely chap – hard as nails but good-hearted), but that combination of encouragement and challenge captures something fundamental about the coach-coachee relationship for me. When a coach helps you to aim high you don’t want to let yourself down. At times that can feel like really hard work and the *fun* bit is that no-one else can do that work for you (and just look how much the younger me is trying in that photo!). The running coach literally stands at the side of the track cheering you on and observing how you are doing, but they aren’t the ones gritting their teeth!
Be more Isabel
At the other end of the spectrum is S, my current life coach, with whom I’m working on parenting my teenagers. She will challenge me to be clear, to focus on what’s in my control and not just talk about what I’m finding hard – but she also, very skilfully, offers encouragement because she can see that a lot of the time I’m being highly critical of myself as a parent. In doing this she enables me to notice my judgment is ‘off’ and I’m being too hard on myself at times. Her interventions help me see my own bias in how I’m interpreting and handling situations, which in turn means I can generate more options once those I’ve taken off those blinkers. In this she very much reminds me of my friend and associate Isabel Mortimer from whom I’ve learned a huge amount about encouragement in coaching ‘(be moreIsabel’ I regularly urge myself when I can feel I’ve over-done it on clarity and challenge with a coachee!).
Sports coaching isn’t actually always that different to leadership coaching
It is often said about coaching that the coach doesn’t need to know about the content to coach you on it – because they are not advising, they are helping you to think it through for yourself. And I’m struck that whilst I do most of my coaching with people working in charities and the arts I’ve actually learned a lot about coaching from coaches working in other disciplines: notably sports coaching. On the surface sports coaching is very different to life or business coaching because sports coaches are often eminent sports people in their own right and do offer advice at times. But many of the best sports coaches also use non-directive techniques and approaches – for example they encourage you to set your own goals and whilst the running coach I’ve worked with most recently, Kim, might offer advice about training plans she encourage me to make decisions about how best to schedule my training in a way that will fit in around my other commitments.
One of the things that has most impressed me about Kim’s coaching is how her calm focus on helping me develop a very detailed plan for the wildly ambitious things I sign up to gives me confidence I will be able do it, so long as I manage to follow the training plan. With her help I managed to complete my first 50-miler in 2019 (that big smile below is because I had finished after 12 hours in the rain and could finally have a cup of tea, a shower and a nice lie down).
There’s no judgement when I turn up to a coaching session declaring I’m going to try and do something way beyond what I’ve achieved before (like a 100 mile race 😳), just a calm ‘down to business’ conversation about how I am going to make that happen. Once or twice that’s enabled me to realise I may have bitten off more than I can chew so I might change my plans. But I decide to change my plans myself, I’m not cut down to size by someone with more experience. And more than once or twice that’s also enabled me to achieve new levels of performance. That focus on the very practical action planning side of coaching isn’t the most glamourous part of the job, but good plans build confidence, commitment and lead to success.
So, in addition to supporting me to achieve new levels of success in my running and work life, and happiness in my parenting, being coached has really helped inspire me to think about how I can be a better coach to others – focussing in 2021 on enabling high levels of motivation through accountability; offering encouragement when needed and supporting clients to develop their own world-beating plans.
Being clear about your values, as an individual or an organisation, can be a very effective way to provide direction. It can also keep you on track: by guiding decisions about what you do and how. Values are like a compass – a simple navigational device you can consult when in doubt about which way to go. As someone who loves wandering in the hills, I always take a compass in case I wonder if I’m on the right path.
So as a consultant I use values with teams wanting to develop a shared purpose and way of working. And they can be using when working as a coach too, particularly around decision-making and careers planning. Values offer an inspiring and simple framework for long-term planning and day-to-day decisions. But sometimes talking about values can feel wishy-washy. There’s nothing less inspiring than having a set of nouns than feel meaningless, or worse still hypocritical, to stakeholders.
In my experience values-based models need to be authentic, accountable, clearly defined and inclusive. Below I’ve set out some of the tools I use with coachees and organisations wanting to use their values.
Authentic: values aren’t invented, they are surfaced
The first step is to identify the values and for individuals a simple way to do this is a questionnaire.
For groups the process needs a little more structure to ensure all voices are heard. For example, this week I’ll be using Appreciative Interviews with a client team to surface their values with by sharing stories.
I’ve noticed that certain values seem to be fashionable with arts organisations (e.g. Creativity, Excellence and Diversity). But it’s important to be honest about what really matters, what defines your organisation, what guides your decisions, what is your bottom line? When you’ve drafted a short-list double check: does this capture our essence? Is there anything missing? If the list is more than 4-5 values then ask yourself – which are the key ones?
Clear: values need to be defined and embedded
Linguistically speaking values are abstract nouns, so not surprisingly the words alone can be somewhat… abstract! At worst values can be open to interpretation and mean nothing or are so vague they don’t guide you. So values need be defined – we need to ask ourselves ‘what does this value mean for how we work’?
Once you have a shortlist I suggest drafting a 1-2 sentence definition of what that value means in practice. It can also be helpful to include some of the core behaviours that demonstrate that value in action.
For example – one of my personal values is ‘Challenge’ and I define it like this: ‘wanting to create positive change, actively challenging inequality, constantly seeking to improve’.
In terms of my behaviours I think embody that value that are relevant to my work, I came up with: Not being afraid to challenge those in power. Working with clients that embrace learning via mistakes above playing it safe.
You can download my guide to defining values, which includes an example from Ripon Museum Trust, an independent museum I supported to define their values a few years ago.
Inclusive: everybody needs to be involved, and the values need to make sense to everyone
If you’re developing a values-based approach within an organisation, especially if you’re using values to inform change, then it’s crucial to involve everyone in shaping the values.
At Ripon Museum Trust, a task group of volunteers, staff and Trustees created a first ‘draft’ which was shared and refined by the wider organisation. This ensured the values resonated and could be usefully applied across everyone’s role. The kind of questions we asked were: do these values sum up what is special about RMT and important about what the organisation does? What examples can you find of these values in action now? Where do we fall short – and what would living the values more fully look like to you?
Accountable: values can be aspirational, but we need to work at ‘living’ them
It’s OK for not to be living your values 100% of the time yet. Values need to be credible but they can be aspirational too. In fact articulating your values is a great way to approach organisational change.
A good exercise for noticing whether you’re on track as a team is a simple ‘As Is/ To Be’ analysis. This involves describing together where you are now (‘as is’) and where you aspire ‘to be’, taking each value in turn. Once you’ve shared your collective wisdom as to how you’re doing, and discussed any differences of view, you can start to generate options as to how to improve.
In a coaching context, I often suggest looking at values as part of career planning if clients are faced with competing options or not sure whether the path ahead is the right one for them. I’ve developed this simple tool to help.
So – am I walking the talk? How have I used my values recently? I tend to look at them anytime I’m reflecting or planning. For example, when I was thinking about my budget for 2021 my value of Care led to the decision to continue to offer Pay What You Can coaching and also to make available free resources and tools online.
At the end of the day though, just like my compass, I think our values really come into their own in a crisis or when you’re feeling really unsure about your ‘path’. In the hills I mainly use my compass when the mist comes down and I can’t see the way ahead. And in times of massive disruption to how we normally work values can help us make bold and creative decisions too – as this blog post about Slung Low’s focus during CV19 shows.
Action Learning is a highly practical peer-learning model that enables you to find solutions to real issues whilst developing skills and insights. This factsheet offers a short introduction to the principles and practices involved to assist those considering joining a ‘set’. As an accredited AL facilitator I can also help you establish a new set, facilitate meetings or train your group to run their own sessions.
When the world of work moved online very suddenly last Spring, I quickly brushed up my virtual facilitation skills and did some training. I ran my first online event in March and by May I was back facilitating regularly online. Around that time I shared some early reflections and tips aimed at others facilitating online via a blog post. Pulling together an online training session for a new group in a few week’s time I was struck by how much has changed since last Spring, so it feels like a useful moment for me to revise and refresh these top tips.
1. Make sure everyone can participate fully and equally
Participants are getting more comfortable working online but let’s not assume everyone is comfortable able to participate online – psychologically or practically. These days people largely know how to use the kit and are familiar with the etiquette – they arrive in a room and put themselves on mute; they have their name displayed on the zoom handle. This makes things a bit quicker all round – but I still provide basic joining instructions that cover the tech we’ll use (with links) and make sure we quickly test the kit before starting the main discussion (eg through a warm up exercise).
2. Don’t pretend there isn’t a pandemic happening
On a practical level I suggest this means keeping things as short and focused as possible (see tip 3) but psychologically I think we also need to adapt how we work. Often I find myself facilitating conversations about change – for example a Board strategy day considering the impact of CV19 on future plans or a training sessions about leading change – and there’s a short exercise I’ve used a lot that seems to help people ‘arrive’, check-in and connect with the topic. Very simply, at the start of the session, I invite everyone to select an object near them that says something about their experience of CV19 – then we take turns to briefly hear from everyone. It’s a great way to support participants to share as much of their reality as they want to with the group – and I’ve heard stories about sadness, loss and struggles, as well as hope and joy, which people have wanted to share before getting on with the task at hand. I use this in full group if we are less than 12-15; and break into smaller group of 4-5 if larger – allowing everyone to be heard.
We can’t ignore context: I was struck how on the first day of online teaching in January some schools went straight into lesson 1 as if nothing had happened, whereas others had a form time discussion or assembly which acknowledged the disruption. I am pretty sure I could guess in which schools more learning happened that day, even if 10-15 mins of the day had been spent ‘checking in’ rather than getting on with business as usual.
3. Keep it short and simple as possible
Fact = our capacity to listen to someone talk is a lot shorter than most talks and presentations. Present for less than 10 mins, less than 5 mins ideally. If there’s a lot of facts to share find another way to do it that doesn’t involve listening or reading huge volumes of texts on a slide. Share things before a meeting or make a short video and send it round. Please don’t talk at people in meetings, meetings are for working things out together.
Also keep the sessions as short as possible without rushing – just because something might have taken a day previously don’t assume you need a day now. Many people are struggling for time at the moment, not least with home-schooling, so don’t assume longer is better – quite the opposite,
4. Mix it up, but don’t get too fancy
We know from ‘brain-friendly learning’ research that variety stimulates the brain, so sticking with the same tools and formats dulls our thinking – the brain likes difference, sounds, colours, interactivity, games. But don’t let’s get carried away and over-complicate things for people who are struggling to engage right now. Unless you are working with huge groups, or need anonymity, then inviting people to use hand signals (eg thumbs up/down, voting on a scale of 0-5 using fingers) is usually easier than using polls and buttons in Zoom.
I know a lot of people are bored with Zoom calls and making things more varied is important, but I’m wary of taking time from working on the issues to explain the latest technology to do something we could have done with pen and paper. Or worse still, for some participants to be left out because they can’t get the software to work or are struggling to arrange their screen to see a document and a Zoom window.
5. Use Zoom and Google Docs
Boring but important.I remember having a long debate with a client which wanted me to use MS Teams for delivering training back in the summer. Fortunately, Zoom has become a synonym for online meeting, for good reason in my opinion. Having spoken with other professional facilitators I’ve not heard anyone prefer other platforms – except for very large events or specialist applications. So whilst I’ve not thoroughly tested all the options – I have found one that works reasonably well which I’m sticking with.
BTW if you’ve not yet figures out a new update means people can select their own Break Outs rooms then check out the Zoom tutorial. That was my main bugbear with Zoom, and now it’s fixed.
The tools I’m currently using with groups, or rather usually setting up for groups to use for themselves in break out spaces are:
The simple ‘Google Doc’, where anyone with a link can write in and edit a shared doc.
The Google sheet
The ‘Jam Board’ the virtual equivalent of the flipchart and pens.
NB – always check the permissions before sharing the links and make sure ‘anyone with the link can edit’ (learned through painful experience).
No, I’m not sponsored by Google, but these are free to use, simple tools that mimic the MS Office tools and flipchart pad most people have used before – meaning they don’t need much explaining and most people can use them.
6. Be more structured than ‘in real life’
I can’t decide whether this is due to me still – for now – finding it harder to adapt a virtual session as responsively as in real life, but it feels like virtual workshops work better when there is more of a structure. The open group conversations you might have in plenary seem less productive online. Taking turns, smaller groups, more focussed sections of the meeting, more exercises all help. I’m really interested to hear other views on this and how people are balancing planning with responding live online – as this feels like an area I’m still wondering about.
7. Keep learning new techniques and don’t worry about mistakes
If I’m keen to try a new technique I’ll usually introduce it with a group I know well, rather than a new group, so I can judge better whether it’s likely to work for them. But I’m also trying to embrace a bit more risk – we’re trying new things and there will be hitches. I think most participants understand this so I’m more relaxed about the occasional error and therefore more willing to go beyond the tried and tested. When things haven’t gone completely to plan I’ve found people to be patient and understanding.
8. Join in and experience other people’s sessions
Participating in sessions like Metaphorum, the annual gathering of Clean Language practitioners led by the highly experienced virtual facilitator Judy Rees, and the Happy Workplace Conference offered me first-hand experience of a variety of tools and techniques I can consider using in my own events. The Happy Workplace Conference was very playful in the use of what I’d call ‘brain friendly learning’ techniques to keep us engaged – lots of interaction; short sessions; music and movement and it was fun. Metaphorum was a highly ambitious international 12-hour event run as an Open Space conference, using Quiqochat as a wraparound conference experience, with Zoom rooms used for individual sessions. Other tools like Mentimeter were used throughout to enable interaction.
Finally, I’m also learning a lot from other facilitators on Twitter; International Association of Facilitators and Liberating Structures both have very active user groups online sharing tips, answering one another’s questions about everything from software to etiquette. I’ve also enjoyed many informal chats with other facilitators about specific sessions to think through options and reflect on our learning and experience. I hope these tips are useful – and I’m keen to hear your thoughts and your own tips.
It does feel like we’re all getting better working online and I’m interested to see whether this is going to mean some sessions that previously would have happened in real life will stay online. I do hope so because there are many benefits to online working: it can be more inclusive, it costs less, time isn’t wasted travelling to/from meetings and it reduces the carbon footprint of our meetings. But if we are to maintain virtual meetings after Lock Down ends then that means learning how to do them well.
Recently I was asked to participate in a research interview for a project the British Council has commissioned around peer-learning, and the consultant sent me over some interesting questions she wants to discuss, that led me to ask my own questions about this topic…
So firstly, what is peer-peer learning?
In my experience, it can be informal, like for example the conversations I’ve had with lots of fellow facilitators of the past few months about their experience of working online, or formal, like the Action Learning set I’ve been part of for many years where we meet approx. 6 times a year for a day to learn together. Reg Revans, the founder of Action Learning, described it in terms of ‘comrades in adversity’ who come together to support one another and learn from each other’s failures and challenges, rather than from ‘experts’.
Peer-peer learning is often part of training too, whether that’s a simple as inviting explore and idea together in small groups, or practice a skill or technique in pairs during a session. Sometimes participants are ‘buddied’ during longer training programmes, and recently I was part of a learning ‘pod’; a group of 5 of us doing the same course who met for 45 mins a week to support one another’s learning.
So who’s a ‘peer’?
I think this is a really interesting question – in the (distant) past I’ve certainly been guilty of being a bit reluctant to participate in peer-peer learning as I wondered whether people had enough in common that we could learn from one another. But I’ve realised from my own experience that I’ve often learned most from people whose experience or perspective is very different to my own. Some of the most important insights I’ve had came from hearing from people with a very different experience to me – for example as a Clore Fellow, it was talking to a theatre professional, Chris Stafford, that I realised what I wanted to do/be in the visual arts sector – as the Executive Director role didn’t (yet) exist.
As a trainer who includes peer-peer learning as a tool within the courses I design and deliver, I often read in the feedback forms that participants highly value these opportunities to work with others on the course. However, as a participant I’ve also had less than brilliant experiences of this kind of learning when it’s felt that maybe the experience level in the group has been too unequal, particularly when that’s been about practising a skill or technique together or the other participants haven’t been as committed to the group.
What are the benefits of peer-peer learning?
Cost – maybe it’s because I’m a Yorkshire woman, as we’re known for being natural frugal, but one thing that appeals to me about peer-peer learning is that it’s very cheap! For the Action Learning set I’ve been part of for nearly a decade, we met (pre CV19) in one another’s homes, bringing our own ‘pot luck’ lunch so the only cost was our time, and local travel.
Relevance – peers’ experiences are likely to be similar to yours, so they can offer examples that resonate to you. If you’re asking ‘how do I…’ and the person offering advice has a much bigger budget or set of values to you, then their suggestions are less likely to be appropriate.
Safety – the founder of Action Learning, Reg Revans, described this approach to peer-peer learning as ‘comrades in adversity coming together to support one another, and learn in the process’. Peers can be supportive, and understand the challenges you face so it can be easier to share your doubts and concerns with them.
We can also embed our own learning though teaching others. A primary school teacher friend of mine explained that it is current practice to encourage pupils at different levels of skill to work together, with the ‘stronger’ pupil supporting their classmate. I asked her, wasn’t this unfair on the more able pupil? But she explained that explaining a concept to someone else helps your own learning. Whether that’s through embedding via repetition or how the brain processes information when explaining it, I’m not sure. But what she said rang true with my own experience of training coaches for several years; I would find my own understanding improved by explaining the principles, techniques and skills to others.
What kind of learning works well on a peer-peer basis?
We know from cognitive psychology that there are many different ways to learn, and we learn information or concepts differently from how we learn self-awareness or a skill. I’ve not (yet) read anything that suggests what types of learning are best-served by peer-peer models, but I have some hunches from my own experiences as a trainer and learner.
I think peer-peer learning is particularly useful in developing emotional intelligence and specifically self-awareness. A supportive peer-peer environment can be a safe space to notice and ‘un-learn’ our limiting beliefs or recognise behaviours and attitudes which might not be serving us well.
Peer-peer learning is also incredibly useful when it comes to applying concepts or techniques to real-life situations. Because peers are often able to offer their experience, this means examples are more likely to ‘fit’ our world and resonate. This is incredibly useful in training when having understood a concept, to be able to convert that learning into action there is a step of processing ‘how can I use this information’.
Most recently, as part of a learning ‘pod’ on an online course I was doing, I also experienced the benefits of accountability via peer-peer learning – we each had to read a chapter of the training book and talk about it together the next week. Not wanting to let down the others, helped motivate me to do my individual ‘homework’.
As a trainer, I’d add peer-peer learning can be useful when the participants are sceptical about the content or the learning opportunity. When ‘conscripted’ onto in-house training courses, I find participants are less resistant to learning from one another than an external ‘expert’ who has been foisted on them!
However, I wouldn’t necessarily expect to be able to learn foundation skills or concepts through peer-peer learning. To me, it feels like a follow-on from core training, rather than a replacement for it.
What makes for great peer-peer learning?
A clear agenda – even if I’m having a 60 min informal check-in with another professional, then it can be helpful to clarify what we want to get from one another and agree the best way to do it. It’s not just a chat, it’s important to have mutually agreed aims!
Structure – can be helpful. I’ve mentioned Action Learning which can be an incredibly powerful model over time, but it takes a certain degree of skill and familiarity with the process (and/or a very experienced facilitator). I often used the Troika Consulting model as a simpler peer-peer format on courses I run – as it takes less time to set up or practice and participants can easily continue to use this format after the course finishes if they enjoy it.
Equality – I don’t get hung up on titles and some variety of experience on the group is helpful, but it’s important we can see one another as peers and all learn ourselves as well as support one another. If the experience levels are too diverse then I find this can tip into more peer-mentoring than peer-peer learning, and that can impact commitment too if some people ‘gain’ more than others – especially when time is unpaid.
Diversity – different perspectives are often where biggest learning happens, so opportunities to learn from other sectors, other countries, people with a very different ‘style’ to me – all of these are valuable – so long as we have shared interests or values (there has to be some commonality).
Ground rules – confidentiality is often important, to be able to share openly, especially those things that are not going well. I value being able to be really open with my peers and I’m willing to share information widely, if we’re clear about the boundaries. Personally I like to ‘contract’ that we balance support with challenge – it’s a learning space, not a support group!
So, I’m a big fan of peer-peer learning and intend to keep doing it, formally and informally, and including it as part of my work as an Action Learning facilitator and trainer. Peer-peer learning isn’t a panacea though: I see it as one type of learning, but not the only one I deploy as a trainer or seek as a learner. It’s suited to some types and stages of learning, and requires a bit of support or structure to be effective.
I would love to hear other experiences and views on these question though – as well as find out more about research in these areas… so get in touch!
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