Peer Assist – There Is Nothing Like It

As part of my consulting work for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, I have been bringing people together to do Peer Assists. Here below is a version of what I just posted on an internal FAO blog on Peer Assist, to tell people about it, and create conditions for them to reflect on whether they can use Peer Assist in their work.

Peer Assists: Can they be useful?

In organisations that are bureaucratic, hierarchical, silo-ed and with little trust, it can be common to be faced with a problem and to not know whom to turn to for advice and solutions. It can also be common to know whom to turn to yet find it difficult or impossible to approach them. Not fun, right?

In such situations, Peer Assists are a simple way via which to reach out to others we need the advice of. Peer Assists can break down organisational barriers creating conditions for what we know to be accessed by those who need it and when. Peer Assists can be useful, yes!

Peer Assists: What are they, really?

Some of you would already know about Peer Assists: Peer Assist is a knowledge sharing technique which can be used within and across organisations, groups and teams. Central to a Peer Assist is that a peer (i.e., a colleague, a team-mate, a friend) is faced with a problem to which she/he can not find a solution. (Sounds familiar …?) This is why a Peer Assist is organised during which a group of assisters (ideally not more than 8-10) brainstorm perspectives and solutions to the problem of their peer. Simple, right? Yes, it certainly is not rocket science, just common good sense. Then why not do more Peer Assists …? Here is how:

Peer Assists: How to do them?

• Do you have a problem that seems unsolvable? Do not despair. First, articulate your problem clearly. The more specific you are, the better.
• Discuss the problem with your peers and/or your informal network. Be practical in whom you approach. Explain that you need to find people who may have perspectives and/or could be able to offer solutions to the problem. Is it about putting together an intranet for your department? Or is it about creating a newsletter for your network? Or is it about training your staff in and/or sensitizing your managers to a particular skill/approach?
• Search for people (in other departments, and partner organisations) who may have tried something similar (be it successfully, or not). Use your judgement yet also heavily lean on your intuition in who would be a good assister for your to consult. Be proactive, ask for help, and listen.
• Once you have found and approached your assisters, find a facilitator for the Peer Assist. (It is important that this is not you!) Anyone who has had experience facilitating and/or is a good facilitator can facilitate the peer-assist. They would just need to be familiar with the process. One key thing for them to know is give all assisters a voice during the peer-assist discussion. (A good description of the process is given by this short video:www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObmQyW3EiiE
• Bring everyone (yourself, assisters, facilitator) together at a particular time. Do not allocate more than two hours for the exercise (maximum time for people to stay focused and contribute).
• Do the Peer Assist: At this point, the facilitator will take over from you. She/he will ask you to explain your problem, after which she/he will enable a discussion take place among you and the assisters on how to possibly approach and solve the problem. If all goes well, you will get a lot of practical ideas and suggestions, energised by the fact that all assisters have been discussing their approaches and perspectives not only with you, but also among themselves.
• Ok, you’ve done it! Now implement the ideas and suggestions that are best for your case.

Peer Assists: Examples? 

Here are a few examples of Peer Assist being used at the Food and Agriculture Organisation:

1. In May 2008, a group of colleagues from FAO assisted the Right to Food team in whether and how to organise an e-conference prior to the Right to Food conference.
2. In October 2008, a group of colleagues from FAO, FAO RAP, ILO, CGIAR, and external consultants, assisted colleagues in the FAO Trinidad and Tobago regional office on how to go about organising a knowledge fair.
3. In November 2008, a group of colleagues from FAO assisted the EasyPol team on how to market the EasyPol service to interested users.
4. In January 2009, a group of colleagues from and outside of FAO assisted the Cashmere Forum team on how to go about enabling and sustaining a geographically distributed knowledge community. This happened during the Share Fair: http://sharefair2009.blogspot.com/search/label/peer-assist

Peer Assists: More information

A concise yet full description of Peer Assist can be found on the ks toolkit wiki, here: http://www.kstoolkit.org/Peer+Assists

 

Now go Peer-Assisting/Peer-Assisteeing!!