Say YES to Peer Coaching... But Don't Wing It!

Sam and Sarah and Martha and Brendan work on the same client team. They work together every day. They see one another in client meetings. They coordinate strategies in pre-call planning meetings. They hear one another on the phone talking to prospects and clients. They know stuff about one another. Some of what they know and observe can make the team better and make the client happier. But none of them feels comfortable enough to say anything. Uh oh. That’s not good.

In fairness, Sam and Susan and Mary and Brendan are colleagues who kinda, sorta share their ideas and feedback, ya know, when something super bad happens… but not really. And not well. And not in a timely way. These teammates and cubbie-mates aren’t part of an official peer-coaching culture. And that means: it’s not expected that they share their insights about one another; and even if it were expected of them, they don’t know how. 

A lack of substantive feedback sharing among peers is a profound loss for companies. And while many leaders give generalized lip service to the importance of “openness” and “collaboration” and “candor,” these same leaders don’t create the kind of structure, accountability, positive model and skillfulness that are profoundly important to a Successful Peer Coaching Culture. And even worse than a lack of open sharing among teammates is when there IS open sharing among teammates and it goes badly; some teams can’t recover from a poorly delivered – if well-intended – coaching message.  

What’s A Leader to Do?

The Leaders’ Dilemma: To enlist peer coaches but risk upset on the team? OR… to NOT enlist peer coaches but risk losing the continuous learning that peer coaching supports?

The Leaders’ Dilemma Resolved: Do enlist peer coaches, but also teach them and show them how to be peer coaches. Create the structure that gives them time and permission to do it. And hold them accountable to do it often and well.

The keys to cultivating a culture of effective peer-coaching include the following:

1.    Structure a Formal Process: Your people need permission culturally to allow themselves to participate in peer coaching. Few people will start this process in earnest without a top-down mandate. And more importantly, rarely do efforts at peer coaching succeed on a sustainable level without the involvement (and accountability) of the team’s or department’s leaders;

2.    Teach Feedback Skills – Giving & Receiving: Helping your people to share feedback and take feedback in a healthy, collaborative way is critical not only to the learning; entire careers hinge on people learning to do this sensitive practice with finesse. Don’t let them wing it! There are simple principles and skills that help to make it safe and productive to engage in peer coaching; for instance, one mantra that I reinforce among peer coaches: you’re responsible TO one another, not FOR one another;

3.    Model Feedback Skills: Feedback is an always and forever thing… or it can be. And it starts with the leader showing how it’s done and doing it often and well.  I sometimes say, “Any time, any tone, any topic.” In other words, by modeling good coaching, you are saying to your people, “Hey team. You can expect me to share my insights with you regularly. We won’t be waiting around for formal performance review meetings (though they’ll be happening, too). Yup. My commitment is to give each of you the benefit of feedback as the occasion arises – both acknowledgements for things well done, as well as suggestions for going forward. And hey, I’ll invite you to share your insights with me – and with one another – as well.”

4.    Track the Impact: When your people make the effort and take the risk of being vulnerable with one another, let them know that you notice. Proactively appreciate their investment in one another’s growth. Be specific in reflecting to them the actions you notice and the positive impact you see coming from their collective growth. Of course, in order to credibly bear witness to the improved results coming from their commitment to peer coaching, you’ll need to track your team’s changed behaviors and, in turn, you’ll want to track the measurable results those changed behaviors bring about. This is the really fun part: letting your people know precisely how their willingness to coach one another is making a difference in the business!

Peer coaching is one way that busy leaders can increase their impact without increasing the pressure to be everywhere at once. It’s also a way for leaders to empower their people to become life-long learners whose results continuously improve as their skills continuously improve. I encourage you to consider this approach. If for no other reason (and there are plenty), cultivating a peer coaching culture will make your job easier while making your results stronger!

Happy coaching!

#Coaching #CoachingSkills #Leadership #Leader #PeerCoaching #PeersAsCoaches #Feedback #EffectiveFeedback #GivingFeedback #ReceivingFeedback #Collaboration #Teams #Empowerment #Sales #TrustedAdvisor #LeaderAsCoach #DynamicTeamProblemSolving #ProblemSolving