There are plenty of good ways to learn from your colleagues,ranging from the informal (a shout or IM over the wall) to the extremely structured. In this week’s Learning about Learning post,we introduce a technique called “Peer Assist,” which provides a structured (and socially acceptable) way to 
steal the brains tap the insights of your smartest colleagues when you are wrestling with a sticky challenge or conceptualizing a new activity.
Peer Assists are simple but effective: a facilitated group discussion with folks who have experience doing what you’re trying to do. The structure is important because it exposes the learner (you) to different perspectives and advice without asking you to react immediately.
The basic steps:
1. Define the problem or question: the more clearly and tightly the problem is defined,the more
successful the Peer Assist will be at generating useful advice and learning. Send specific information about the issue and what you are hoping to learn out to the Peer Assist participants in advance.
2. Identify the right participants: Participants should have some experience and insight into the issue at hand, but they don’t need to have all the answers. They may not consider themselves experts, but may still have important lessons to share about what to try,read,do,or avoid. Participants can be from your own organization or from colleague organizations; it depends on what you’re trying to learn.
3. Facilitate a conversation: It’s best to have a neutral facilitator and a note-taker to free the learner(s) to concentrate on learning and the participants to speak freely. A suggested format includes:
- Advance reading to prime the pump
- A quick presentation of the issue and its context or history by the learner (or learning team)
- Discussion by participants: their own experiences and what they learned,what kinds of things will be important to know in order to successfully address the issue,and specific feedback and advice for you.
- Reflection on the conversation and what has been learned by both the learner and the participants
4. Develop a set of learnings or findings: This can be formal or informal,but it’s useful to codify what was learned from the Peer Assist for the use of the learner,the participants,and others.
So there you have it! It’s not rocket science,but if we all did more of it,we might avoid some of the wheel reinventing that seems so prevalent in philanthropy.
Want to learn more? Check out the following online resources:
- An animated video (you’ll be at the edge of your seat… will Bob get the knowledge he needs?!)
- Learning before doing:BP’s Peer Assist process –an article from Inside Knowledge magazine.
