When CoachingOurselves was founded 15 years ago, we were one-of-a-kind in the marketplace. For years, we spent a lot of time and effort educating people and explaining the workplace benefits of social learning from peers. Thankfully, organizations have finally caught on and peer learning is coming of age.
A recent article in HBR, “How to Get the Most out of Peer Support Groups” by Groysberg and Halpern, explores the increasing popularity of peer learning and outlines best practices and strengths. Phil LeNir, co-founder of CoachingOurselves, was interviewed for this article, as was our long-time connection, Professor Kentaro Iijima, who used CoachingOurselves early on to great success at Fujitsu Social Laboratories in Japan.
What makes peer learning (referred to as “forums” in this article) so compelling? Extensive interviews of participants and leaders by Groysberg and Halperin, in addition to analysis of forum material, illuminate key factors for successful peer forums. These include a small group of participants meeting for regular, reflective conversations. The conversational structure must be carefully defined to ensure depth, encourage multiple perspectives, and provoke insight.
The article does a great job of summarizing different types of peer forums, providers (including themselves), and best practices. If you are still unsure about the potential impact of peer forums/learning, read the HBR article here.
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Would you like to learn more?
Contact Warren Cohen from CoachingOurselves!
Warren is a pioneer in the field of peer learning with over 15 years of experience helping HR professionals think through how to use CoachingOurselves in all kinds of organizations: small and large, profit and non-profits included.
Try out a 90-minute session with your team or create a program—we have almost 100 peer learning topics written by experts in management and business including Professor Henry Mintzberg of McGill, Professor Linda Hill of Harvard, leadership coach and author Marshall Goldsmith, and many others.
Contact information: warren@coachingourselves.com
