When I worked in a large fashion organization, we would have yearly company meetings. All the managers from all over would fly into New York City with the intent to educate, train, prepare and share information, merchandising and product knowledge about the upcoming season and seasons. It would typically be in June or July. So you can imagine about 90 people from across the U.S. would descend upon NYC. Then when the day’s activities ended, so began the evening’s festivities. As you can imagine, M A N Y things happened. Many were in their twenties. 2+2=4, get it? The one thing that always struck me was that it was after hours and despite any effort to avoid talking about work, we talked about it…incessantly. We couldn’t help it. We were all in the same boat, working though the same challenges, facing the same issues. And we had to share, as if it were an absolute imperative. We were peers.
Part four is about The Peer. It will investigate or maybe even question the importance of establishing and maintaining a peer network. I am not implying you need a New York moment to accomplish this. The challenge will be to see how it might work daily or weekly or monthly within your own organization. To provide a snap shot of this concept, when I deliver a workshop within an organization, obvious to both me and everyone else, there will be these groups. One might call them cliques. How are they formed? The answers can range from friendships, region or geography, tenure (history), background or ethnicity or even common belief in what they do and who they work for. The positives of these groups can be things like trust, comfort, fun, openness to one another and loyalty. The negatives can be exclusivity, inability to easily share with others outside the group, “their opinion and their way is better” and maybe even a pack mentality. Now these are obviously generalities, not absolutes.
So as a trainer, I simply mix these groups up and put them with other people. In some cases, I choose learners who may have completely different characteristics than the clique member. That is easy. We must explore how this peer concept can work within an organization and, more importantly, away from a clique mentality. We will look at four opportunities.
First, if you have a selection of stores who are in close proximity of one another, geography may provide an opportunity. Let’s say you have three or five stores within say 30 to 45 minutes of one another, plan to have regularly scheduled meetings. Pick a topic and go have pizza and discuss the business, the current scene, a regional challenge or a staffing issue. Perhaps it is a bi-weekly or monthly requirement. Each manager will rotate being both lead and recorder of the outcome. This outcome or best practices would then be shared with the greater group.
Second could be established problem solving groups. This could be a cross-section of people; even including supervisors. It also could meet on a consistent targeted time frame. If geography works, make it face to face. If not (which would probably be the case more so than the previous), communicate through conference calls. Also the topic could be the same as above or much larger given the business scale or need. There would also be a lead and recorder, only this time the group changes after a period of time, thus allowing everyone a chance to part of the process.
The third opportunity could be designed as peer support groups or a buddy system. It would be very similar to support groups that have 12-step programs; like AA. Each manager will be assigned a buddy. This pair now relies on one another. At any given time as an issue or question arises, one has the other to contact and work through whatever may be needed. It doesn’t have to be two. It could be three or four with the objective of sharing an ear when needed.
I have saved for last the infamous conference call. Whether you are large or small, I bet you have these. I also bet they are regarded with a hint of “Oh great another call…same ole, same ole.” Simply put, why not assign or make everyone share one best practice in driving the business, or better recruiting, or selling warranty. Just one success story to share to the group.
If you want to interchange any word with the word peer, make it friend. You see friends have affinity or common ground. They understand one another. They come to the rescue and have one another’s back. They care.
So are you just part of a clique or a peer within a team?
Cheers