How can you create a successful peer learning network?

1 Define your purpose

The first step to create a peer learning network is to define your purpose. Why do you want to learn with and from your peers? What are the common goals, interests, or needs that you share? How will you measure the success of your network? Having a clear and shared purpose will help you attract and retain the right members, align your expectations, and focus your activities.

2 Identify your members

The next step is to identify who you want to invite to your peer learning network. Ideally, you want to have a diverse and balanced group of peers who can offer different perspectives, experiences, and insights. You also want to consider the size, location, and availability of your members. How many people can you effectively facilitate and interact with? How will you communicate and collaborate across different time zones and platforms? How often and for how long will you meet?

3 Establish your norms

Once you have your members, you need to establish some norms for your peer learning network. Norms are the rules and expectations that guide how you work together, such as how you communicate, respect, and support each other. Norms help you create a safe and trusting environment where everyone feels comfortable to share, learn, and grow. You can co-create your norms with your members, or use some existing frameworks, such as the Chatham House Rule or the Liberating Structures.

4 Plan your activities

The next step is to plan the activities that you will do in your peer learning network. Activities are the ways that you exchange information, provide feedback, solve problems, and generate ideas with your peers. Activities can be formal or informal, synchronous or asynchronous, structured or unstructured, depending on your purpose and preferences. Some examples of activities are peer coaching, action learning, case studies, peer review, brainstorming, and storytelling.

5 Facilitate your sessions

The fifth step is to facilitate your sessions in your peer learning network. Sessions are the specific times and spaces that you meet with your peers to do your activities. Sessions can be online or offline, depending on your availability and resources. As a facilitator, your role is to guide, support, and empower your peers to learn from each other, not to teach, direct, or control them. You can use various facilitation techniques, such as active listening, open questions, paraphrasing, summarizing, and appreciating.

6 Evaluate and improve

The final step is to evaluate and improve your peer learning network. Evaluation is the process of collecting and analyzing feedback from your members and yourself to assess the effectiveness and impact of your network. Evaluation helps you identify what works well, what needs improvement, and what actions you can take to enhance your network. You can use various evaluation methods, such as surveys, interviews, reflections, and testimonials.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?