PURCHASING LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

Introduction to Peer-Coaching

 2013 Maastricht University School of Business and Economics Material from this publication may not be reproduced and/or published using print, microfilm, electronic media or in any other way without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.

Purchasing Leadership Programme and Peer-Coaching The Purchasing Leadership Programme advances your leadership capabilities, challenges you with the latest thinking in (purchasing and supply) management and leadership and invites you to experiment with and reflect on new behavioural strategies and leadership styles. The peer coaching process is focused on developing your personal effectiveness as a business leader. You will be systematically working on improving your leadership skills in small groups and guided by a coach. This document will outline what peer coaching entails, how it works, how it is structured, what you can expect from it and the effort you are expected to put into it.

What is Peer-Coaching? The aim of peer coaching is to facilitate (future) purchasing leaders - especially those for whom collaborating and communicating with colleagues, customers, top management, and suppliers plays a key role - in a specific and systematic way in learning how to improve their skills in this area. Instead of on purchasing processes and practices, the central focus of peer coaching lies on the purchasing leader. Peer coaching will be focussed on real-life cases that are submitted by the participants (peer-to-peer coaches) themselves. The cases, that they themselves consider important for improving their personal and professional performance, will be used as the main input for the peer coaching sessions. At the start of the peer coaching sessions, participants will be asked to formulate their professional learning needs. The peer coaching session will revolve around these needs. Guided by the Program Coach, the session will focus on the more personal backgrounds to the professional performance. The Program Coach in particular will, as the person best equipped for that, see to it that the way in which the participant's case is handled will produce a productive learning experience. A successful peer coaching session will lead to insights into links between professional issues and (backgrounds to) personal skills.This experience with how peer coaching works, will also give participants a method they can use within their own professional dealings with colleagues.

Structure of Peer-Coaching Peer coaching takes place in a small group of four to five persons and is spread out over five three-hour sessions. Prior to these sessions, there will be an introductory session during the first module of the Purchasing Leadership Programme. This introductory session will cover the following:  explanation of peer coaching;  enabling conditions for productive peer learning;  experiment with peer coaching methods;  splitting participants up into peer coaching groups;  agree on an initial “psychological” contract.

The actual peer coaching sessions, which will be organized in between the modules, will be structured as follows:  entry and run-up;  look back on previous session based on reflection report;  case study (individual learning need);  evaluation;  agreements for next session. After each session, all participants will be asked to write a reflection report outlining their personal learning from the session (0,5 – 1 A4). The last session will close with a final reflection, in which each individual participant will try to extrapolate a common denominator from the various themes that were covered during the sessions. This final reflection report marks the completion of the peer learning sessions. During this final session, the peer learning coach will also assess the participants' overall performance. The section about the assessment protocol will provide further details about this.

Peer coaching can lead to:     

Insight into one's own “behavioural” patterns Clarity on personal motives Awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses Support, acknowledgement (≠ “agreeing”) Peer coaching = sharing

Peer coaching happens as follows:    

A participant explains the situation that he or she is struggling with The program coach offers a learning experience The peer coaches ask questions - respectfully - to get a clearer idea The peer coaches come with suggestions on “how to do it differently”

Nature of the communication: dialogue     

Objective: more/deeper insight Product: consensus = we know more together than any of us individually Modus operandi: asking each other questions, linking to specific personal experiences Knowledge & skills: listening/summarising Rhythm: silences, reflecting on and feeling what is being said

Peer coaching is not:    

A mental ‘dissecting table’ “Deadly” criticism Polite informality “You must…” or “You have to...”

Peer coaching will fail if:   

Members are forced to speak about things they would rather keep to themselves The person submitting a case is pushed to think or act differently (brainwash) The session does not move beyond facts and superficial information sharing

Nature of the communication: no discussion     

Objective: winning an argument Product: compromise = you can't have it all Modus operandi: arguing, theorising, hypothetical cases Knowledge and skills: speaking/rhetoric Rhythm: lots of talking, barely ever letting others finish

Preconditions for successful Peer coaching During the peer coaching process, participants will often disclose more of themselves than they would normally do in their professional life. Prior to the sessions, the participants will therefore agree to treat all information covered during the peer coaching sessions as confidential and make sure it stays within in the group. Needless to say, successful peer coaching hinges on an atmosphere of respect and trust within the peer-coaching group. It is up to the Program Coach to foster a group climate in which members adopt an open, assertive and constructive attitude towards each other. Aside from that, the Program Coach will regularly discuss progress with the Program Director of the Purchasing Leadership Programme.

Your effort The effort you are expected to put in is made up of:    

Participation in the five peer coaching session (including travel) Preparation of personal case (professional learning need): 15 minutes per session Writing reflection report: 30 minutes per session Writing final report: 60 minutes

The assessment protocol At the end of the peer coaching sessions, participants can only be assessed within the context of their individual development process as observed by the Program coach during the peer coaching process. What may be a major step for one participant, may be an insignificant step for another. Although results will to some extent not be measurable objectively, they will be noticeable. This is largely down to the fact that peer coaching and learning happens more in the affective domain than in the cognitive domain. Assessment based on normative professional requirements is much less relevant. Participants' progress will, however, still be viewed against the backdrop of these professional requirements. This all leads to the following assessment protocol. Assessment of peer learning uses a number of quantitative and a number of qualitative criteria. Quantitative:  Sufficient attendance (100%)  Compensated for missed attendance (maximum of one session)  Submitted a professional learning need  Reflection reports for all sessions (0,5 A4)  Handed in final report (1 A4)

Qualitative:  Peer learner has showed an ability to engage in a learning relationship with fellow peer learners and the peer learning coach.  Peer learner has the ability to submit a professional learning need that offers learning opportunities.  Peer learner has the ability to reflect on personal behaviour and that of fellow peer learners and derive learning experiences from that.  Peer learner is open to feedback and takes responsibility for own learning process.  Peer learner has the ability to give feedback and adequately go into feelings and experiences of others with a view to contributing to the learning process of others. If the abovementioned criteria are met, the peer learning coach will award a positive assessment (a ‘PASS’).

Program Coach Tom Twisk is a trainer, coach and sparring partner with a focus on personal growth and development of leadership. Tom has extensive experience in sales and managerial positions, including at Hespa, Canon Benelux BV, BrinckStaete Adviesgroep, Twisk Groothandel BV, Sense of Communication and RedFoxBlue. Director/Owner of Innerland