The power of peer learning for organizational growth!
Don't underestimate the power of peer or collaborative learning: the collaborative process where people learn from each other through group work, role play, intervision sessions, ... .
When training and coaching employees in our upskilling programs, we typically devote a lot of attention to peer learning. The reasoning behind it is that the best learning happens when you can explain or teach it to someone else.
Sadly, in many organizations, peer learning remains an untapped resource. According to an HBR article (How to Help Your Employees Learn from Each Other (hbr.org)), only a fraction of companies have formalized peer-to-peer learning initiatives. Shockingly, some organizations lack any systems in place to foster the sharing of knowledge among employees.
We are currently working with a diverse group of European sales managers as part of our Commercial Leadership Academy with them. Peer learning is an essential part of that program as in addition to some essential knowledge building e.g. on coaching models, the use of more data, the changing customer, … essential learning kicks in when learners are able to translate this to their own challenges in their day-to-day-job.
We organized role play sessions as it’s very powerful technique to learn by doing in a safe environment. It has the crucial elements of a Learning Loop: you gain knowledge, you apply the knowledge by practicing, you get feedback, and you reflect on what you learned.
A couple of elements are important to make role play exercises successful:
1?? You need to prepare well by selecting scenarios/challenges that relate to the real context of the participants (e.g. changing customers, more available date, team members that are resistant to change, …)
2?? You need to have a neutral/objective facilitator which can encourage reflection, provide tips, ensure application of some concepts/principles to stretch the learning, moderate discussions and last but not least maintain an energetic pace to ensure everyone moves forward
3?? Establishing a safe environment is crucial: you often see (and it’s very normal) that for many it feels like it is out of the comfort zone. That is one of the reasons why we really believe it pays off to do role play without use of ‘actors’ and thus by your own people. Not only does it make the situations more realistic and ensures people can relate to it but it also enhances the feeling of bonding among each other. A true sense of relatedness kicks in.
The benefits to your organisation are real:
? Employees open up their minds and feel more capable because of the suggestions they heard or because of suggestions they gave
? There is an increased sense of belonging & solidarity among the group (a sense of: we are working towards the same purpose and really share comparable challenges)
? Smart (also known as soft) skills improve: active listening, showing empathy, …is essential in role play
? It opens up the whole group to new perspectives and new perspectives is what keeps us all fresh and resilient
We were impressed by this group of sales managers, not only because of their problem-solving solutions but also by how they applied some coaching model principles we had earlier on discussed. And foremost: we also discovered some remarkable acting talent in the group ??.
It left Elke Cabooter , Elio Keko and myself also very energized.
PS: with regard to the picture: the Lion King played a quite important role in the role play…hence the Hakuna Matata (the problem-free philosophy) ??