Peer Coaching

Coaching is a powerful tool for developing people and maximizing their potential. However, many organizations reserve external coaching for the executive suite, leaving other employees without access.

Peer coaching is one way to bring coaching to many more employees, delivering benefits such as proactivity, self-awareness, psychological safety, and wellbeing. [1] It is also an ideal forum for employees to practice and use coaching skills.

This article explores the concept of peer coaching, highlights its benefits, and shows how to effectively implement and participate in peer coaching programs.

What Is Peer Coaching?

Peer coaching (or peer-to-peer coaching), conceived by researchers Beverly Showers and Bruce Joyce in 1980 and updated in the 1990s [2], is a confidential process where two people of similar levels share knowledge, skills and experiences to enhance one another’s professional growth.

This approach minimizes power dynamics and hierarchies, while fostering openness and mutual support.

Rather than giving advice or suggesting solutions, peer coaches actively listen, serve as sounding boards, and help peers to find their own solutions.

While colleagues within organizations often use peer-to-peer coaching, it can also occur between peers who don’t work together, such as through networking or professional links.

Employees, managers and teams at any level can benefit from peer coaching’s versatility. Some specific examples might include:

• New hires: pairing them with colleagues can help them to acclimate to the organization's culture, processes and expectations.
• Career transitioners: for example, new managers, new leaders or returners after a career break can get up to speed with current organizational culture or processes.
• Employees from diverse backgrounds: peer coaching conversations can enable people of diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to better understand one another. Employee Resource Groups can also be used to build out peer coaching.
• Remote employees: peer coaching and the bonds it builds can help combat the isolation of remote work.

The Benefits of Peer Coaching

Research shows that the combination of coaching and collaboration in peer coaching is an effective way of improving learning in the workplace. [3]

Moreover, this experience encourages participants to empathize with anyone they coach and to adjust their approach. It also builds employee engagement and team spirit.

Personal Benefits of Peer Coaching

Peer-to-peer coaching gives people a chance to talk confidentially about their challenges and to offer one another encouragement and support.

Specific benefits for the individual include:

• Enhanced self-awareness: individuals can gain deeper insights into their strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations through reflective conversations and feedback from peers,
• Personalized skills development: tailored support with goals, needs, and challenges can provide a platform for professional growth. While targeted feedback and practice enhance skills and competencies.
• Accountability and motivation: in the same way that it's harder to back out of going for a run if someone else is going with you, so peer coaching fosters a sense of accountability and motivation, supporting all parties to stay focused, motivated and on track.
• Emotional support: peer coaching is built on empathy, understanding and trust, offering a safe space for people to express themselves and seek guidance.

Organizational Benefits of Peer Coaching

Peer coaching is a powerful tool for developing talent, fostering collaboration, and driving better performance. Organizational benefits can include:

• Improved employee performance: peer coaching can upskill teams and spread knowledge. Personalized support, feedback and guidance can identify performance gaps, develop skills and often lead to organic goal-setting. Additionally, it fosters a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
• Increased employee engagement: an organization that values employee growth through peer coaching can boost job satisfaction and retention.
• Enhanced collaboration and teamwork: fostering a culture of collaboration within and across business areas through peer coaching can produce more effective and cohesive teams.
• Cost-effectiveness: unlike formal coaching programs, peer coaching is often a zero-cost option. Companies don’t have to hire individual coaches for each team member, allowing many more people to benefit from coaching. According to Forbes magazine, it’s “an affordable investment that will yield lifelong dividends.”
• Boosts Innovation and creativity: developing a culture of continuous learning and experimentation, along with exchanging knowledge and ideas among employees, generates new solutions and opportunities.
• Improved communication and trust: given that peer coaching can embrace anyone and everyone, inclusion is an immediate and tangible benefit. Peer coaching’s more intimate conversations improve communication and build trust, enhancing relationships and reducing conflicts.

How to Structure Peer-to-Peer Coaching Sessions

Peer coaching can be informal or structured, depending on your goals. And, as with any coaching relationship, it can take time to establish.

As a manager, you could match team members with suitable peer coaches (e.g., complementary skills or workstyles). Or you might approach your HR team to help you to do this.

Peer Coaching in Pairs

In pairs, participants take turns coaching each other on issues of the coachee’s choosing.

A peer coach actively listens without judgment, reflects on what they are hearing, asks questions, and supports their peer coaching partner in deciding on a course of action.

Peer Coaching in "Triads"

A peer coaching session involving three people is known as a "coaching triad."

Each participant plays the role of "coach," "coachee" and "observer." The "observer" notes the coach's performance and provides constructive feedback at the end. The triad then rotates roles so that all participants play all roles.

Peer Coaching in Groups

This usually consists of between four and seven people discussing issues of personal or mutual importance.

These groups cover the specific needs of the members and require an agreed action at the end of each session.

Useful Questions to Structure Coaching Conversations

Here are some general questions that can be used in each session to guide the conversation:

• What improvements or successes have you had this week/month?
• How can we help one another in this session?
• Is there anything specific you are struggling with?
• What new challenges are you facing?
• What are your goals before our next session?

As well as asking these questions as a coach, be prepared to answer them as a coachee.

Tips for Effective Peer Coaching

Finally, here are six ways to set up your peer coaching for success:

1. Get everyone on board – encourage everyone to see peer-to-peer coaching as an opportunity to develop and improve themselves. Support from senior managers and leaders can help to embed a peer coaching culture in your organization.
2. Establish ground rules – when and how will participants meet? What expectations do they have? Create boundaries so all parties can choose what they are comfortable sharing. Ensure everyone respects one another’s privacy and preferences.
3. Set goals – what do people want to achieve? Use SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) for meaningful objectives. Committing to actions and regularly following up on progress also helps build accountability during peer coaching.
4. Use a coaching model – an approach such as the GROW Model is a straight-forward approach for inexperienced coaches to help structure their conversations. It starts with Goals, moves on to current Reality, Options, and often ends with what the coachee is going to do – their Will/Way Forward.
5. Keep practicing your coaching skills – improvement only comes with regular, consistent practice.
6. Celebrate success – promote and share the benefits of peer coaching with others, whether you have introduced a successful peer coaching program, or as someone who has benefited from peer coaching yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does peer coaching differ from traditional coaching methods?

In peer coaching, participants are typically colleagues at an equivalent level within the organization, and coach each other in pairs or groups. This creates a more informal and collaborative approach compared to traditional coaching, where the coach is often a manager, supervisor or external professional.

Who can become a peer-to-peer coach?

To be effective, a peer coach needs to be curious, listen actively, ask probing questions, and be willing to offer and receive constructive feedback. Empathy and patience are also important.

How effective is peer to peer coaching?

With the right structure and support in place, peer-to-peer coaching can be a cost-effective way to upskill employees, build engagement, and boost productivity and innovation in organizations.

Is peer coaching suitable for remote or hybrid teams?

Yes. Peer coaching can be an excellent way to break down silos, enable employees to share knowledge and skills, enhance accountability, and combat feelings of loneliness or isolation.