Peer Learning Circles What it Is A Learning Circle is a peer-facilitated group of professionals with a common interest who come together to confidentially share their challenges and opportunities and to provide support to each other. The Learning Circle will start out facilitated by Steve for six weeks (eighty minutes per meeting) and will transition into peer-facilitated, with instructions and coaching from Steve before he drops out of the group. Meetings can be done in person, by conference call, or in combination. In addition to the regular meetings, the group can support each other through e-mail and one-on-one connections. Besides the group led by Steve below, the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee creates Learning Circles in the Milwaukee area. For more about this, contact Susanne Vella at 414-344-3933. Learning Circle facilitated by Steve Please contact Steve with your interest. We'll schedule a new group when we have enough people interested. The Learning Cirlce costs the same as Group Coaching. For costs, see the sliding scale pricing page. Calls into the conference call number will be at your standard long-distance rates. For an additional fee, Steve can be invited back in for consultations, group coaching, or conflict resolution. Sign up here. The Role of the Facilitator The facilitator is responsible for keeping the group on time, takes care of logistics, and encourages members to share. The facilitator may also take primary role in leading someone in their sharing piece. The group could decide to break up these roles. The First Meetings The first meeting or two will be spent getting to know each other, getting clear about how meetings will be conducted, and building trust. We may want to meet in person to start. There may be time for doing some "work" during the first meetings. Work means sharing a challenge or opportunity, and getting coaching, feedback, or other support from the group. The Start of a Meeting Meetings will start promptly. Please arrive on time or ahead of time. Meetings will begin with a welcome to everyone from the facilitator. Those who shared last week can check in with any updates. For those who made commitments in the prior week, this would also be a time for the group to hold them accountable in a good way. Any conflicts in the group should be resolved before doing the work part of the meeting. See conflict resolution. Getting to the Work There will usually be time for between two and four people to do work. Members are expected to come to the call with a clear idea of what they want to get out of the meeting, how important it is for them to do work in the meeting, and how long they expect their work to last. We’ll use a rating system of 1 to 10, 10 being “I really need to work on this” and 1 being “I’m passing.” The facilitator will ask if there are any 10’s. If none, then we’ll see if there are any 9’s and so on. If there are a lot of 10’s, then members will be asked to briefly share the subject matter of their work and the other members will vote on the subjects to be worked on. The Work Piece The one doing the work, the “Sharer,” will briefly share the situation – no longer than five minutes to start. The facilitator (or anyone really) will ask “What do you want to get out of the work? What do you want to walk away with?” and also "Do you want coaching or counsel from the group?" The Sharer can get coaching or counsel from the group, or some of each. Members are encouraged to ask clarifying questions and open-ended questions of the Sharer, and to allow time for the Sharer to process and answer fully. Mirror back or acknowledge what you hear. If the Sharer Wants Coaching The best learning is usually that which the Sharer comes up with on their own. Here are some possible questions that facilitators or members can ask the Sharer, depending on the situation:
There can also be an opportunity for the Sharer to receive others’ perspectives, resources, sharing of similar experiences, or other feedback. Members should be wary of giving unsolicited advice, and can use the language of “you might consider…” rather than “you should.…” The member can also ask, “Are you open to suggestions?” The Sharer is responsible for setting boundaries and letting members know when they are not getting what they want. When a member feels it important to share a similar story, they should consider how the story benefits the Sharer and the group. We don’t want the meeting to degenerate into a complaining session or a series of long, unhelpful stories. The facilitator or a timekeeper should let the Sharer know when their time is almost over. The Sharer will hopefully come to some sort of resolution, and then the facilitator will ask the Sharer if they want to commit to any action steps. Ending the Meeting At the end of the meeting, the facilitator asks if anyone else wants to make commitments for the coming week. The facilitator asks someone to step up to lead the next meeting. The meeting ends with a poll of what members got out of the meeting. Between Meetings Members are encouraged to use e-mail for announcements and to check-in with the group around commitments they made, or for any other use that seems appropriate. In addition, members are encouraged to pair up between meetings to provide additional support. Pairings can be member-initiated or assigned. |
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Steve to set up your free coaching session: 608-572.0084
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