On 8th June 2017, the kick-off workshop on peer coaching was co-delivered by Carmen Wolf, Dr Deirdre Hughes and Pablo Franzolini in Tallinn, Estonia in close co-operation with Margit Rammo from Foundation Innove. In total 32 guidance practitioners from youth guidance centres and labour offices in Estonia were introduced to EmployID peer coaching.
The peer coaching process and delivery involved introducing peer coaching skills such as: active listening, powerful questioning, emotional awareness and growth mindsets. The theoretical underpinning was complemented by several practical exercises and opportunities for practitioners and managers to reflect on their own work experiences. In particular, the big exercise in the afternoon session where participants gained ‘hands on experience in practising a peer coaching session was extremely popular. For example, one of the participants volunteered to work on her own current challenge at work and another participant volunteered as a peer coaching facilitator. The rest of the group acted as advisors with one of the trainers undertaking the role of time-keeper. She also facilitated the process with guidance on each step within the EmployID peer coaching process using a structured guide for practice. Another trainer made notes on a flipchart to capture key words and possible actions. The positive reaction through body language during the “vision” phase was great to observe given that the participants could see the actual effect of this phase. Overall, the advisors produced examples of possible further steps towards a solution-focused approach to peer coaching. The client was then able to choose from the list of options and got inspired by the different ideas and experiences.
According to the evaluation results, the workshop was very successful and many of the participants now plan to actively use their new gained knowledge in their daily work. The EmployID peer coaching trainers learned about a new concept called “Covision” that is practiced by some Guidance Counsellors in all Rajaleidja centres across Estonia since 2015 which can be related to the peer coaching approach. The solution-oriented model was highly appreciated by all of the participants. The EmployID peer coaching team looks forward in further co-operating with Foundation Innove, working with the Guidance Counsellors and labour offices public employment service (PES) practitioners by introducing the Peer Coaching Online Course on the EmployID Academy and the Peer Coaching Online Tool. For more information visit https://academy.employid.eu
The EmployID Peer Coaching team which also includes Angela Rees, Christine Kunzmann, John Marsh,Teresa Schafer and Dr Andreas Schmidt will further roll-out examples of their ongoing work on 27th and 28th September 2017 as part of European Guidance Week 2017 to be held in Tallinn.
