What do people like best about working with peers?

• “It is the most natural and least threatening way of gaining information, insight and support.”
• “Collaboration typically leads to better results.”
• “Promotes collegiality and gets stuff done.”
• “It amplifies learning and better decisions/work output.”
• “There are no parent/child relationships thrust on you and accountability isn’t ever about blame or being defensive. It’s about staying on track.”

These are just a handful of the write-in comments about the benefits of collaborating with peers from the recent peer practices survey Connect Consulting conducted in August.

The point of the survey, as described in the blog post Practice the power of peer-to-peer, was to get a handle on the prevalence of various peer-to-peer practices in organizations, and what work environments best support them.

The big headlines from the survey are:

• Peer practices are popular, and mostly informal. The most common formal program was peer recognition. Just 32% said their employer offered it.
• Of those who use peer practices, 78% said they believe peer practices help them do their job better. They are able to tap into the wisdom of their colleagues to get quality ideas, information and support quickly in a low-risk setting.
• In the write-in comments about what could be better about peer practices, many respondents requested more structure and support around using peer practices of recognition, coaching, feedback, idea-sharing, training and serving as an ambassador. For instance, they’d like more encouragement and support, training on how to give feedback and better technology options.

The results show the power of peer-to-peer practices at work.

What are the implications for employers?

You can score a double win—improved performance and increased engagement—by being FEARLESS with your current peer practices.

Being FEARLESS means:

1. Frame peer practices as a foundational way to do work.
2. Endorse the value: Tapping into the wisdom of peers is a fast way to get practical, quality ideas in a low-risk setting.
3. Acknowledge employees who use peer practices.
4. Remove barriers to make it easy for peers to help one another.
5. Learn what works best in your organization and share the findings.
6. Educate people on how to ask their peers and use peer-to-peer practices well.
7. Spotlight results, including featuring success stories.
8. Support managers to embrace peer practices.

To learn more, join me for the webinar Be FEARLESS: 8 Ways to Unleash Peer Power and Energize Performance on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 11 am PT (2 pm ET). During this webinar sponsored by Powernoodle, I’ll highlight the survey results, share three peer-to-peer case studies and explain how to be FEARLESS to power up your peer-to-peer practices.

If you’d like to read more about the survey results, download the highlights, Peer-to-peer practices: Survey results show the power.

By being FEARLESS, you’ll be helping employees help each other as well as yourself.

There’s no need to introduce new formal programs. Instead, accept, tweak and support what’s already out there.

Through your actions, you’ll be contributing to a vibrant, resourceful and productive community inside your organization.

How’s that as a great place to work that gets results?