Creating Peer Support Groups (CAL126, S6, E20)
If you are curious about how to set up your own peer support group, inspired by what Johanna Stadlbauer shared about what Uni Graz are doing, then this episode might get you started. I walk through some of the ‘things to think about’ when setting up peer groups such as the group’s purpose, the focus, and who that would involve, also the group size, meeting frequency and commitment, and choosing between structured or informal formats and related roles. I then walk through two examples of more structured formats: action learning sets which take more of a coaching approach, and peer mentoring models that take more of a consulting or advising approach. I also give some examples of more informal peer groups. Regardless of approach, good listening, confidentiality and a commitment to genuine participation are key. I also refer to some resources and links for further reading and more detailed overview of steps, as well as some related podcasts. Whether you're looking for mutual support, expert guidance, or simply a sense of belonging, there's a group format that can work for you. Give it a try!
00:00 CAL126 Exploring Peer Group Support Models
00:29 Introduction
01:36 Purpose
03:03 Focus
05:03 How Many
06:17 How Often
07:45 Format
08:24 Roles
09:44 Critical Ingredients
11:38 Walking Through Some Examples
12:35 Example: Peer Coaching Groups - Action Learning Set
20:39 Example: Peer Mentoring Groups
25:04 Example: Informal Peer Support Groups
28:23 Recap
30:07 Do What Works for You - Suggestions
33:07 Closing Call and Pointers
36:36 End
Related Links
Action Learning Sets guidance by Caroline Doherty via the UK NHS Action Learning Sets page
Action Learning Sets at Uni of St Andrews as example in an academic context
Graz Call for participation in their Collegial Development Programme
Kollegiale Beratung in sechs Phasen (Collegial Advising in 6 Phases)
Descriptive Consultancy with protocol description
The No Club book and No Club Guidance
Related Podcasts
Michael Bungay Stanier on the power of curiosity and taming your advice monster
Asking good questions, empowering good people (Solo 'Related Work' episode)
Oscar Trimboli (Part 1) on being better listeners
Oscar Trimboli (Part 2) on how to listen deeply
Johanna Stadlbauer on boundaries, agency and community building
Transcript
Welcome to Changing Academic Life.
2
:I'm Geraldine Fitzpatrick, and this is
a podcast series where academics and
3
:others share their stories, provide
ideas, and provoke discussions about what
4
:we can do individually and collectively
to change academic life for the better.
5
:Collegiality, community building and
peer support are some of the themes that
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:we've heard a lot about this season.
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:And this was a particular focus too in the
last episode with Johan Stadlbauer from
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:the University of Graz, and Johanna talked
a lot about the peer mentoring group
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:programs that they have in place there.
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:You might also have noticed from our
discussion that there are different
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:forms of peer support groups.
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:But would you know what sort of peer
support group you'd be interested in?
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:Or if you were in research development
or you just wanted to help set up a peer
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:support group in your own institution,
would you know what sort of things to
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:think about or how to make it happen?
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:What I thought I would do in this
solo episode is to walk through some
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:of the aspects of peer support groups
that you might think about if you are
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:making a decision around what sort of
group and who's going to participate
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:and how you're gonna run it, and so on.
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:So the first thing to think about is why,
what might be the purpose of a peer group?
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:It could be as simple as just about
mutual support and sharing experiences,
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:feeling like you're not the only one
going through something or sense checking
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:with others, and that's just really
about generating deeper connections and
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:a sense of belonging and being seen in.
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:You could also use a peer group as
a space for reflection and learning.
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:And this might be as part
of a reflective practice.
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:, And in learning, developing, building
skills in a collegial environment.
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:You could also have a peer group
that's much more focused on
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:seeking expert advice from others
and focused on problem solving.
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:And you could have a peer group more
for accountability purposes to hold
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:yourself to commitments that you've
made or to keep you on track with tasks.
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:I'm sure there are others
that you can think of as well.
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:The key point is though, being clear
about your why and what role the
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:group's going to serve is really
important for thinking about who will
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:be part of it and what sort of format
or structure might work best for that.
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:So then it's useful to think about and
what might be the focus of the group.
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:And this will also particularly point
to then who would participate in
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:the group, or who you might invite,
or who you might put out a call
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:for to participate in such a group.
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:For example, for the collegial development
circles that Johanne Stadlbauer has
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:run at University of Graz, their call
for participation states a possible
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:focus on issues around career steps
with in or beyond academia and also on
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:work and life balance related topics.
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:So you could imagine them bringing
together a group of people
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:interested in those topics.
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:And they'd be fairly open, wouldn't
they, for who could participate.
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:It could be more targeted.
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:For example, it could be around
particularly early career support or for
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:people who are all on a tenure track path.
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:Or it could be for people who are all
immediately post-tenure and going through
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:that post-tenure funk and redefining
who they are and what they want to do.
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:Or it could be for people who are in
later career path late career support
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:as they start to think about what their
legacy might be and how they might
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:transition to their next phase of life.
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:An issue I'm familiar with.
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:And it could be about navigating
promotion processes more generally.
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:You could have a peer group
that's focused particularly
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:on people in leadership roles.
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:It could be people who are heads
of departments or heads of groups,
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:or could be project leaders.
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:And it could also be focused,
for example, on supervision.
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:And indeed Johanna talked about
their supervisors network that
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:runs as a peer support group.
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:So thinking about what might be the
particular focus and then who you
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:would get together is really important.
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:The next thing to think about
is then how many people would be
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:part of a group, and this is where
you can find a lot of variations.
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:So in Johanna's call for the Collegial
Development program for:
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:put a link to this on the webpage.
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:They say that a group can consist of
up to 15 participants drawing, from
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:interdisciplinary and mixed gender areas.
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:For many other forms of peer groups,
though the ideal is often talked about
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:more in terms of about four to six to
eight people, and usually no more than
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:eight people and no fewer than four.
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:Four is maybe even a bit too low,
I think in case you have people who
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:occasionally can't attend or who drop out.
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:'Cause you really do need some critical
mass in the group to make it work.
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:So you may want to think about what's
a sweet spot number for your group.
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:I'd probably suggest that six is a
good number to aim for if you can,
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:but of course you can make any number
work with some thought and care for
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:how you engage people in the group.
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:So there's no fixed rule on this.
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:The next thing to think about is
how often you're going to meet at
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:what frequency and what sort of
commitment people are expected to make.
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:So again, using the Graz program
as an example, they were looking
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:for a commitment of a year.
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:In other programs, it might be a
commitment of, say, six sessions
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:that you'll meet for, and that could
be over a semester, for example.
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:How often to meet?
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:Usually a monthly cycle is a
common frequency that you'll find.
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:And then there's also thinking
about what level of commitment
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:you want people to make.
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:Do you want people to commit to
coming to all of the sessions as a
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:priority so that you can build up
trust and deepen connections over time?
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:Or are you happy for
people to drop in and out?
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:My own advice would be, ideally,
as committed as people can be
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:to attend, although we know
that things can always come up.
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:So you could also decide that you just
meet ad hoc, whenever people decide they
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:want to meet or when someone has something
in particular they want to discuss.
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:So no a priori commitments to how often
or how many times you're going to meet.
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:So that could also be an option
rather than it being more of
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:an upfront set of commitment.
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:The next thing to think about is what
sort of format do you want to have?
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:And there can be a whole spectrum here
from quite a structured format to a very
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:freeform, open, conversational format.
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:Again, it's up to you to decide, and
that would really go to what might
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:be the why that could influence
what sort of format works best.
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:When I walk through some of the
examples later on, you'll see two
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:different ideas for more structured
formats, and also I'll give some
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:examples of more unstructured formats.
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:The next thing to think about, and
this will definitely depend on the
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:format that you've chosen, is what
sort of roles need to be played.
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:In the more structured format
there's always someone who
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:plays a facilitator role.
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:Now this can be a trained facilitator
or it could just be someone from
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:the group who steps up and plays
that role for that group meeting.
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:If people are unfamiliar with having
more structured formats, someone
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:who is a trained facilitator can
be useful in the beginning to bring
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:people up to speed and then the
people in the group can take it on.
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:And again, what Graz have done is have
their training sessions for people
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:about how to run these sorts of groups.
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:So whichever way you go,
there'll be a facilitator role.
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:There's the role of the person
who brings the issue to the group
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:to be discussed, and that can be
decided in advance or on the day.
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:And then there's everyone else
in the group who plays the
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:role of the group members.
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:Some models also designate a note
taker to capture ideas that come up
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:when it gets to the discussion point.
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:I think there are also some
critical ingredients regardless
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:of format and structure.
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:I think it would go without saying that
a commitment to confidentiality is really
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:key if people are gonna share honestly.
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:I think there also needs to be a
commitment to show up as your real
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:self, not as your idealized CV version.
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:And that's, having good and bad days.
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:Someone who doesn't know it all,
someone prepared to be a learner
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:because that's what we are, aren't we?
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:We're all learners and we're all humans.
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:And I think it's also important to
recognize that we're all different.
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:And so what might seem like a trivial
challenge for you might be a big
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:challenge for someone else, or to
realize that a solution that worked
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:for you might not work for others.
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:So that takes both some humility and
some sensitivity, and a commitment
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:to no judgment and not imposing
your own view or values on others.
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:I think participation in peer groups, peer
support groups also requires a commitment
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:to develop good listening skills.
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:And this isn't just listening to
the words that are said, but how
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:it's said, body language and so on.
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:It's listening to what's not said.
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:It's listening to your own reactions.
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:Because whether you're asking good
questions or giving good advice and we'll
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:talk about that soon, you can't ask good
questions or give good advice unless
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:you have really deeply listened to the
person and understand what's going on
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:for them and where they're coming from.
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:And here too, curiosity can really
be a key superpower to develop
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:in support of good listening.
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:They were just some key
aspects to think about.
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:Now to help bring it to life a bit more.
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:I'm going to walk through a more
detailed process for a couple of
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:the different approaches here.
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:I'm going to start off with more
structured formats and then talk about
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:more, so a couple of informal formats.
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:With the more structured formats,
these can tend to fall into
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:one of two broad categories.
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:One category of approaches tends to
take more of a coaching type approach.
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:So it's much more of that supportive
listening, asking good questions.
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:The other style, the other approach
tends to take more of a mentoring,
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:consulting expert advice type of approach.
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:So let's start with action learning
sets as an example of how a coaching
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:type approach might play out.
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:An action learning set is usually
defined as a small group of people,
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:usually of about four to six people,
who have contracted together to
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:meet about five or six times at
some sort of regular frequency.
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:Normally once a month, as I said.
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:The focus of a set is creating a space
for a person to bring a real situation
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:or challenge, and then facilitating
a process that enables them to
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:think through that with the support
of peers and to eventually get to
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:trying out some new ideas at the end.
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:So it's very much a supported,
reflective learning approach.
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:It is based on the assumption that
we learn best by reflecting on our
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:own experiences and being challenged
to think outside of the box, if
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:you like, and to expand our ideas
and explore options and experiment
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:with just trying different things.
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:It is also based on the assumption that
the person themself is the expert in
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:their own domain, in their own context,
in their own problem area, and that they
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:can be really resourceful in solving that.
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:The cycle of meetings normally starts off
with a trained facilitator because it is
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:quite a structured process and it does
require some skills to facilitate well.
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:And then over time, as I said, this is
an example of whereas the group gets
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:to know the process, the facilitator,
the trained facilitator can step back
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:and maybe even step out of the group.
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:And then different people will take
on the role as the group decide.
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:So then how to run a meeting
or it's called a set then.
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:Normally these sessions will last
for about an hour and a half.
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:An hour maybe, but I think
an hour and a half is better.
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:People will come to the group.
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:And there's usually a check-in round
just checking in how everyone's going.
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:There might be reporting back if someone
had committed to some actions last time.
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:So just checking back in,
that accountability piece.
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:Then there's a round where people
are invited to say what problem or
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:issue they could bring to the group.
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:And then there's a process facilitated
by the facilitator to decide which one
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:or ones they might focus on that day.
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:So it's up to the group to decide
whether you have, say, two cases per
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:session, or use the whole session on
one case or have three cases, whatever.
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:It's up to you.
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:Often a case, typical case could
be given about 20 to 30 minutes.
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:But there'll be some sort of round
anyway where all of the potential issues
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:to be discussed are put on the table
and there's the decision process about
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:which one or ones will be discussed.
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:So the next step is the person who has
the case or has the problem situation,
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:presents that to the group as precisely
and as concisely as they can, and.
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:They try to draw out the key
thing that they want to think
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:through in this process.
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:Note the language here of the key thing
they want to think through or think
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:about rather than the key thing they
want to ask advice about or talk about.
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:Then there's a short phase where the rest
of the group can ask clarifying questions.
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:So this isn't giving advice or
starting to dig into anything.
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:It's just much more if they don't
understand the exact problem.
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:It just helps ensure that
everyone's on the same page.
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:And then once everyone is clear that
they understand what the problem is
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:that the person is bringing and what
about it they want to focus on to think
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:about, then the rest of the group members
move into a coaching style process,
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:and this is where the group members
play the role of thinking partners.
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:They are thinking partners with the
person who's brought the problem
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:and their role is to ask good, open
questions that encourage the person
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:to think through their issues.
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:And note, this shouldn't be advice
couched as a question, have you thought
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:of doing X my favorite solution?
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:But rather it'd be something much
more of the options that you've
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:thought about so far, which ones are
standing out for you most, or what
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:do you feel most uncomfortable about,
or what you feel most challenged by?
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:Or can you give an example of something or
what else matters for you on these issues?
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:And we can have a whole other session
on different types of questions and
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:good questions, good thinking questions,
but that can be for another time.
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:So the role of the facilitator
here is just to keep an eye on the
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:question flow just to check that
they're all still kept quite open.
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:So they might ask someone to
reframe a question if they thought
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:it was too closed or leading.
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:And the key thing about this approach
too is that the person who has brought
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:the case is also totally free to say
that's an interesting question, but I
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:don't think it's going to help me so
much now and invite another question.
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:So they don't have to answer a
question, just because it's been asked.
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:Or think through a question.
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:So they can really take control over
what they want to think through,
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:what's useful for them at that time.
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:So then at some point, depending on what
time you've decided to allocate to discuss
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:the case, the facilitator will move to
close the open question part and then
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:invite the case presenter to review what
they've heard, talk about what connected,
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:and to start to get to some decision about
what action they might take as a result.
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:And then as a final move, the whole
group in closing will reflect on what
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:they think was useful about the process.
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:Now, note, this isn't about the content
of what was discussed, but the process
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:of how the group worked together to
facilitate that thinking process.
255
:Were there particular styles
of questions that seemed
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:particularly helpful and so on.
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:So it becomes a mutual learning
as well about the process.
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:So that's the broad structure
of an action learning set.
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:It can be particularly useful say for,
say, leadership development or reflective
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:academic practice and problem solving
,solving research challenges and so on.
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:It's very much about putting the focus
on the person with the problem or
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:the issue, and it's about helping to
build their problem solving capacity.
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:And there's the added value, I
think, of the focus on action and
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:accountability that comes with it.
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:And for the other people, I think it's
really great practice at developing
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:really strong listening skills and how
to be a good supportive thinking partner.
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:If I think about it, how often have
we been to courses or been offered
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:courses about how to speak or how to
give a presentation, but are we ever
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:offered courses about how to listen?
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:And yet listening is a great skill
and in developing this skill here,
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:you can also take that skill back and
apply it to all sorts of different
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:relationships you have, especially in
some leadership or supervisory situation.
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:Or just informal peer discussions.
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:And it's interesting to reflect on
how it's actually not an easy role
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:to be a good thinking partner and
to listen well because we are really
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:primed to be the experts and be the
problem solvers and jump in for people.
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:But this often isn't the most
helpful thing we can do for them.
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:And there's a whole lot of research
supporting the value of such a coaching
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:like mindset in helping people develop.
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:To be honest, I also clearly have a
particular bias towards this model
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:as a trained coach and also a trained
action learning set facilitator.
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:So moving on to another example,
this is also of a more structured
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:approach, but this time it's
taking more of the expert oriented,
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:mentoring, consulting type of approach.
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:And this is what Johanna talked about last
week in the Graz Collegial Development
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:Program and the model that they work with.
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:Johanna also talked about a
German model called Kollegiale
288
:Fallberatung, which literally
translates to collegial case advice.
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:I will provide a link to this model and
it's a lovely webpage that has a good
290
:description of the process and the steps.
291
:If you're not a German speaker, you
could do a translation on the page
292
:and it sets out the steps very nicely.
293
:Johanna also talked about a similar
French Canadian model, There's also a
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:model called Descriptive Consultancy.
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:And again, I'll put a link to
Descriptive Consultancy on the webpage.
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:And that link also points to
a nicely elaborated set of
297
:steps that you could follow.
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:And Johanna talked about the Balint
Group model, although that's used
299
:within, as she said, a psychotherapy
context, but also more generally for
300
:professional client relationships and
exploring the emotional aspects of that.
301
:So while all of these different
models that I've just named have a
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:slightly different flavor and slightly
different interpretation in their
303
:process steps, in general, they all
have a very similar sort of approach.
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:And as Johanna describes in their
latest call for participation, these
305
:approaches are generally based on,
to quote this call, "the assumption
306
:that each of the group members has an
advantage of knowledge, skills, and
307
:experience in a specific domain that
they can make accessible to the others."
308
:So what are the steps in this more
structured advising, consulting process?
309
:They have a similar setup phase to what
we discussed for action learning sets.
310
:There's the check-in and usually
an update from the last session.
311
:Then there's a process of deciding
what roles people will take on.
312
:There's usually the facilitator role,
the person who's presenting the case,
313
:maybe a note taker, and then the
rest of the group take on the role
314
:of consultant or expert or advisor or
mentor, whatever language works for you.
315
:You can hear how that's quite different
to the coaching type model where the other
316
:members play the role of thinking partner.
317
:Then the person who's coming with the case
again will present their case and this
318
:time they talk about, presenting the key
question or challenge they want input on.
319
:And again, note the change of language
here versus the action learning set
320
:approach where we asked, the key thing
that people wanted to think about.
321
:So this might seem like a trivial
difference, but it's actually a
322
:really important one 'cause it points
to who's doing the thinking work.
323
:In the peer mentor approach
here, it's the group members.
324
:As Johanna explained, once the person
has presented the case and everyone is
325
:clear on it, then the presenter sits back
and stays silent and they just listen
326
:to the rest of the group who then walk
through the case and talk about it,
327
:brainstorm ideas, offer their advice,
offer their suggestions, and so on.
328
:And then again, at some point the
facilitator closes the discussion,
329
:brings it back to the person who
presented the case to pull out what
330
:was new or useful or what ideas
they're considering, and eventually
331
:moving to what solution they want to
take forward, what they might act on.
332
:And again, there's an accountability
thing built in where they can
333
:report back the next time.
334
:So two Structured methods quite
different in the role of the person
335
:who brings the case and the role of
the rest of the members of the group.
336
:In the action learning sets, the
person is the thinker and the group
337
:members of the thinking partners.
338
:In the more of the consulting style,
the person is the case presenter
339
:and the rest of the group are the
experts, advisors, consultants.
340
:And then there are many examples of more
informal peer support groups and you can
341
:probably already think of lots of these.
342
:So they're not so structured and
not being so structured, they're
343
:not gonna have such a strong notion
of roles, nor of a strong notion of
344
:how the conversation should flow.
345
:So some examples.
346
:You could think about writing groups,
the shut up and write groups that are
347
:becoming increasingly popular as one
form of peer support group focused on
348
:committing to a writing practice and the
accountability for showing up and the
349
:accountability for working on what you
said you're gonna work on in that session.
350
:And yes, of course there may be a
couple of simple roles there, like
351
:facilitator there, who's keeping an
eye on the time , or the person who's
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:brought the cookies, the cookie bringer.
353
:You could also think of an informal
peer support group where a group of
354
:you decide to be critical friends for
one another around a particular role.
355
:For example, you might decide that you all
will take a turn where your other group
356
:members will sit in on your lectures,
a couple of your lectures, and then
357
:you might get together to discuss what
worked well and what could be improved.
358
:And, repeat that for all
of the group members.
359
:So that could be something
like a critical friends group.
360
:And there's another lovely example of
an informal peer support group in a
361
:book that I would highly recommend,
and the book is called The No Club.
362
:Putting a stop to Women's Dead End work
by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lisa
363
:Westerland, and Laurie Weingart, and I'll
put a link to that on the webpage as well.
364
:And they connected together because they
were realizing that they was spending
365
:so much time on what call non-promotable
tasks, service tasks in their faculties
366
:that they were not having time to do
the research that they wanted to do.
367
:So I'm just going to read from
page six on the version of the book
368
:that I have about them setting up
this club, this peer support group.
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:"During the dreariest time in Pittsburgh
winter in:
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:inaugural, I just can't say no club.
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:Meeting at a cozy restaurant where we
could get a meal and $10 bottles of wine.
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:Really.
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:We went around the table
sharing or actually confessing.
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:We each described the things we
had agreed to when we were asked.
375
:This turned out to be a lengthy list
for all of us and then contrasted
376
:that with what we had said no to,
and these were very short lists.
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:We asked one another for advice on how to
say no since we found it so hard to do.
378
:Wanting to get a better handle on
our workload, we knew the extra
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:support from the group would help.
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:So we agreed to meet every few weeks.
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:We left the meeting feeling
unburdened and exhilarated.
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:None of us realized what a
transformative experience this
383
:would become for each of us".
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:So in summing up, I hope that you can
find ways to connect with peers and
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:have transformative experiences as well.
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:In this short episode, what I've tried
to do is walk through some of the
387
:things to think about, like why you
want to get together as a peer group
388
:or what people would want to get out
of it as a peer group, and then what
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:might be the particular focus which
also points to who might be part of it.
390
:And then we talked about how many
should ideally form a group and deciding
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:how often you want to meet, what sort
of frequency, and if there's gonna
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:be some sort of minimum period of
commitment, or whether it's going to be
393
:some more informal group ad hoc group.
394
:And then thinking about what sort of
format you wanted to have, whether it
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:was more structured or unstructured,
and depending on the format, what
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:sort of roles need to be played.
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:And then the process of how your meeting
together might play out in a session.
398
:And I walked through a couple
of structured examples.
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:Looking at both an approach that takes
more of a coaching model where the
400
:members of the group help the case
person as thinking partners or whether
401
:it's more of an expert consulting,
mentoring approach where the members of
402
:the group, discuss the case on behalf of
the person and come up with solutions.
403
:And then we talked about some sort of
more informal unstructured approaches
404
:where people are just getting a
commitment to get together in more
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:of a mutual support type of style.
406
:You'll find some links on the webpage
that actually elaborate some of
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:these more structured processes.
408
:And I think in closing I'd just
say, do whatever works best for you.
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:Despite my personal bias here
for more of a coaching approach,
410
:there's no right or wrong way.
411
:And of course, it just depends what
works best for you and what works for
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:the why of why you're meeting together.
413
:What works for the person and
the issue that they're bringing
414
:and what works for the group.
415
:So if you've not done this before,
you could start off just trying
416
:to follow one of the structured
descriptions as it's laid out.
417
:And these often also provide
suggested timings as well.
418
:And then as you become more comfortable
with it, you could start to adapt it.
419
:And I could imagine combining
aspects of different approaches.
420
:For example, you could start off with
more of a coaching approach, from
421
:the position as the person being
the expert in their own problem.
422
:So you start off with more of that,
helping them think through and
423
:prompted by good questions from
the group as thinking partners.
424
:And then you could decide to have
a phase, for example, where you
425
:might move into an advice phase.
426
:So all of those things that everyone's
been sitting on, and the person who
427
:brought the case might say, I now I would
be interested to hear what advice you
428
:might suggest, or what options I could
think about that I hadn't thought about.
429
:So you're doing a bit of a mix of both
the coaching and the expert consulting.
430
:Or you could have just a more open
structure and the person who's
431
:presenting the case is the one who
also takes ownership of saying what
432
:would be most useful for me right now?
433
:Because you know that for some
particular sort of cases, you could
434
:imagine that I don't have a lot of
expertise, for example, in whatever this
435
:new challenge is that I'm taking on.
436
:So at this new phase, I'm really
interested in hearing what other
437
:people have done, what have they
found works what would be the
438
:pitfalls I should be looking out for.
439
:So I might want more of an
advice consulting model there.
440
:But if it's something where, I don't
know, it's a particularly complex
441
:leadership challenge with the group
or with particular people where I
442
:understand, the dynamics and a lot
of the interpersonal issues, and I'm
443
:not gonna be able to explain all of
those complexities to the whole group.
444
:It may be much more useful just
to have thinking type questions.
445
:Because if people move into advice mode,
they may start going down rabbit holes or
446
:be making assumptions or not understand
exactly how what they're saying doesn't
447
:fit the situation that you're bringing.
448
:So you could leave it up to the
person bringing the case to say
449
:what would be useful for them right
now, whether it's advice and hearing
450
:other people's experiences or getting
good thinking questions and so on.
451
:Whatever you decide to do,
it's just a useful reminder.
452
:We never do academia alone.
453
:We build on the work of others.
454
:We work in social contexts.
455
:We're all often dealing with similar
sorts of issues, and we all have
456
:enormous expertise that we can bring
to each other and that we can share.
457
:And just knowing as well that there
are other people who have similar
458
:experiences can be so important
to feeling like we are not alone.
459
:So I encourage you to think about what
might be ways that you can connect
460
:with peers and what might be some
supportive structures that you can
461
:put in place to set up peer support
groups, whether they're more in the
462
:coaching model or more in the mentoring
consulting model, or more informal model.
463
:And you could also think about what
other things that you need right now.
464
:But it also could be what could I do?
465
:What are the problems and needs that
I'm hearing about in my context and what
466
:could be useful to set up for them now?
467
:So have a think about it.
468
:Connect, support.
469
:We can do this together.
470
:And finally, just as a reminder, you
can find links to some descriptions
471
:of action learning sets, the Graz call
for participation in their collegial
472
:development program, the Kollegiale
Beratung in six phases, the descriptive
473
:consultancy, and the Balint method.
474
:And they all will walk through, some
steps for how you might actually
475
:run the session with suggested
timings, as I said, many of them.
476
:I'll also have a link to
the book called The No Club.
477
:And on their webpage they have, what
they call No Club Guidance, which
478
:gives you some questions that you might
think about if you do come together
479
:for that sort of peer support group.
480
:And you might be interested in
listening to some of the podcasts that
481
:have previously been released here.
482
:There's one with Michael Bungay
Stanier on the Power of Curiosity
483
:and taming your Advice Monster.
484
:There's another follow up I did after
talking with Michael about asking
485
:good questions, empowering good
people, and there's a two part series
486
:with Oscar Trimboli on being better
listeners and on how to listen deeply.
487
:So all of those might be nice compliments
if you are thinking of actually trying
488
:to set up and run a peer support program.
489
:And I'd love to hear what you do if you
decide to do anything and how it goes.
490
:And feel free to reach out if I can
help in any way in supporting that.
491
:You can find the summary notes, a
transcript and related links for this
492
:podcast on www.changingacademiclife.com.
493
:You can also subscribe to Changing
Academic Life on iTunes, Spotify,
494
:and I'm really hoping that we can
widen the conversation about how
495
:we can do academia differently.
496
:And you can contribute to this by rating
the podcast and also giving feedback.
497
:And if something connected with
you, please consider sharing this
498
:podcast with your colleagues.
499
:Together we can make change happen.
