7 Tips for Social Learning from CoachingOurselves

Version 4.0Dealing with thePressures of Managing www.CoachingOurselves.com

Session and Original Content Copyright(c) CoachingOurselves International Inc., 2012 1

www.CoachingOurselves.com

Session and Original Content Copyright© CoachingOurselves International Inc.Version 4.0Dealing with thePressures of Managing www.CoachingOurselves.com



Session and Original Content Copyright© CoachingOurselves International Inc.

7 Tips for Social Learningfrom CoachingOurselves

A Henry Mintzberg Program









About CoachingOurselvesCoachingOurselves has designed and deployed hundreds of

peer coaching programs in eight languages around the world.

We are happy to share here some important lessons learned. You may wish to inject elements of peer coaching into your management and leadership interventions or create your own peer coaching program.

We believe peer coaching to be one of the most effective methods to develop leaders and managers. It allows colleagues to learn from and support each other, promoting the self-developing organization.

Co-FoundersHenry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University in Canada, is an internationally renowned speaker and author on organization and management. His work has focused on the work of the manager, and how managers are trained and developed.

Mintzberg’s body of work includes fifteen books and over 150 management articles.

Phil LeNir is managing partner of CoachingOurselves. He developed CoachingOurselves following a new approach to management education implemented in the International Masters Program in Practicing Management (IMPM).

Through CoachingOurselves he has worked with hundreds of organizations designing and delivering learning and organizational performance solutions and delivered numerous workshops throughout Canada, US, Japan and Europe.







A Definition

Peer coaching is a process through which colleagues act as both coach and coachee. Peer coaching involves working collaboratively to reflect on current practices; build new skills; share ideas; and solve challenges in the workplace. It focuses on the mutual development of colleagues, increasing trust while encouraging experimentation, and cooperation.

Research has shown that peer coaching is an effective method to facilitate the transfer of learning, align teams, and break down silos. It can increase community-ship, becoming an integral part of your workplace culture.







The StatisticsIn 2015, Deloitte gathered information from over 3,300 organizations in over 106 countries for their Human Capital Trends Survey. This report is one of the largest longitudinal studies of talent, leadership, HR challenges, and readiness in the world.

The top rated challenge plaguing organizations? Culture and engagement, followed closely by leadership and learning and development. Conversely, there was a wide gap in organizations’ readiness to deal with these challenges.







Survey Results







Where to Start?

“Every program in HR must address issues of culture and

engagement: how we lead, how we manage, how we develop, and how we inspire people. Without

strong engagement and a positive, meaningful work environment, people will disengage and look

elsewhere for work.”

“Ultimately, the issues of culture and

engagementare driven by leadership.”

“This year is the time to reimagine and redesign your

learning experience. Look at your LMSs and content strategy, and expand your thinking to create

an environment that attracts and encourages people to learn.”

*Human Capital Trends 2015 Survey | Deloitte

“Softer areas, such as culture and engagement,

leadership, and development, have become

urgent priorities.”







Two Different ViewsTo adress these organizational challenges, Jane Hart, international speaker and writer on workplace learning, states that the L&D world is splitting in two:

The Traditionalists The Modern Workplace Learning Practictioners

The Traditionalists think the old ways of training are still valid

and sufficient for today’s workforce.

The Modern Workplace Learning Practitioners understand the

realities of the new world of work.

• Focused on classroom training or e-learning.

• Fit new ideas into old practices: informal learning becomes informalized training and social learning is seen as adding social media to courses.

• Believe they know what is best for their people. They are the gatekeepers of knowledge. They track and manage it all in the LMS.

• Reject the wisdom of the crowd; social is something to be controlled.

• Build or purchase short flexible content people can access as needed.

• Encourage the development of employee generated content.

• Understand that the way people learn is as important as what they learn.

• Help their organization become “self-developing”.

• Help managers develop their people on the ground. Success impacts job performance.

• Help individuals take responsibility for their own learning.







This is NOT Management Development







The CoachingOurselves peer coaching model uses 90-minute management and leadership modules developed by leading management thinkers as a platform to share experiences, deepen self-reflection, and increase collaboration. Each peer coaching module contains content and exercises to guide reflection and discussion around a theme, such as accountability, negotiating styles, or culture change.

Here, we capture the seven most important lessons we have learned designing and deploying peer coaching programs. We feel they are important whatever peer coaching model you are using. We hope you find opportunities to use these tips in designing and deploying your own leadership programs for your organization.

The CoachingOurselves 7 Tips for High Impact Learning







7 Tips for High Impact Learning

Tip #1: Mintzberg’s 50-50 rule!A trainer/facilitator should never talk more than 50% of the time and this includes answering questions. The 50-50 rule is the first step towards creating programs in which participants truly dialogue and learn from each other. The facilitator only intervenes when the group really goes off focus.

Tip #2: Provide leadership development for groups, not individuals You can teach individuals about leadership and management but your organization really needs people to become better at leadership and management. Management and leadership are best learned through a reflective social learning process.







Tip #3: Create groups of 4-6 peopleThis allows for a diversity of opinions, fosters intimacy, and ensures no one is left out. Larger than six typically results in serial monologues, rather than the group dialogue needed for peer coaching to emerge. It is also more challenging to establish honesty and trust.

Tip #4: Groups should have no more than one level of difference in hierarchy.

This promotes honest, open communication. Having a senior leader with his/ her team will benefit the leader greatly as they will learn about the coaching dynamics and the team context. A peer group without a team leader is also an effective structure. Finally, a cross-functional group is a potent way to break down silos and increase collaboration.








Tip #5: Offer short and focused sessions.Learning in large blocks results in poor learning. Longer than 90 minutes, people start to lose concentration; shorter, and they are rushed. Ensure retention by focusing attention on one issue/concept.

Tip #6: Focus on storytelling and reflection in the 1st personEnsure participants talk about their own experiences and reactions. By collaboratively engaging in storytelling, participants can increase trust while learning from their colleagues. Peer coaching emerges when people have opportunities to talk about their own experiences.








Tip #7: Try a pilot or beta testL&D teams should always be the first to “beta test” a learning and development program. If you do not experience increased performance in the L&D team after the “beta test” go back to Step 1!








A Peer Coaching ProgramAre you overwhelmed and unsure how to start your peer coaching initiative?

CoachingOurselves is an approach to management and leadership development for the organization through leader-led peer coaching groups. CoachingOurselves programs promote a creative and agile way of working called “community-ship”. Here, the focus is on managers engaging throughout the organization - up, down, and across - through participatory processes to create a culture of communication and collaboration.

► Better Managing ► Stronger Team ► Revitalized Organization

Peer Coaching Sessions

Peer Coaching Modules around a management or leadership theme.







How it WorksGroups get together for 90-minute sessions, either in person or virtually, overseen by the manager-facilitator. Reflections, discussions, and actions for change are guided by the high quality content, questions, and exercises within the modules. Through dialogue and experience sharing, participants unravel a management theory or novel concept to stimulate reflection, learning, and action.

There are over 80 CoachingOurselves modules written by leading management and business thinkers. This provides the flexibility to deploy CoachingOurselves programs with a curriculum targeted for the participants’, and organizations’, unique needs.

Discussion Modules:

Being a Catalytic Leader

Crafting Strategy

Dealing with the Pressures of Managing

Engagement: Beyond Buy-In

In Praise of Middle Management

Managing Cultural Change

Silos and Slabs in Organizations

Understanding Stakeholders

and over 60 more modules...

Authors Include:

Henry Mintzberg

Edgar Schein

Marshall Goldsmith

Philip Kotler

David Ulrich

John Boudreau

Nancy Adler

Jean-Claude Larréché

Ricardo Semler

and 30 more thought leaders...







Getting Started

Implementing CoachingOurselves in your organization is easy.

Step 1: Train Manager-Facilitators• 1 day in person or virtually

Step 2: Launch and Monitor• Manager-facilitators coordinate

and run sessions for participants

Leader-Led Peer Coaching

Program

Contact us at [email protected] or (+1) 514-419-1849 for more information or to get started.




Leadership & Management

7 Tips for Social Learning from CoachingOurselves