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SPRING 2016

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Distributor's Link Magazine Spring Issue 2016 / Vol 39 No2

42 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

42 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK FASTENER ADVISORY BOARD TIM O’KEEFE tokeeffe@huyett.com MARK SHANNON mshannon@towerfast.com DON NOWAK dnowak@falconfastening.com RON STANLEY rons@empirebolt.com PEER REVIEW BEST PRACTICES by Tim O’Keeffe A Peer Review is a very valuable process to professionals and organizations alike. A peer review is a process in which fellow professionals provide feedback and constructive criticism to one another. Most often such feedback is significantly affected by the personal successes and failures of the peer. Thus for the peer participant, they gain the value of collective experience from an array of persons, each with their own perspective. Because the feedback originates from actual experience, the value received is different than specific academic training. Academic training is valuable as well, but often professors and consultants that deliver such training lack the real world experience that peers do. In selecting peers, there are several qualifications one should assess before accepting as peers. Among such qualifications: • Perspective. Does the peer have a position and orientation that can add value to the input that you will receive? In assessing perspective, one should be conscious of the homogenous trap—if all peers have the same perspective, you may lose the opportunity to “think outside the box”. An ideal peer group consists of persons with similarities, but also with sufficient differentiation that participants can gain new perspectives from the experience. • Commitment. A successful peer group needs persons with commitment. The peers must commit to be present, not only from an attendance standpoint, but also a support standpoint. The peer must listen, participate, and offer advice to others. • Trust. In most cases, peer groups involve the dissemination of confidential information. Peers must come to trust one another that such information remains within the group. • Vulnerability. Peers must be prepared to make themselves vulnerable to one another. Vulnerability improves the delivery of information from one peer to another, and the quality of information received. • Conflict. Peers must engage in conflict to stimulate one another to step outside their comfort zones. As Peter Lencioni, author of the book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team notes, “the desire to preserve artificial harmony stifles the occurrence of productive ideological conflict”. • Disclosure. Peers must have the ability to disclose information. Some organizations prevent such disclosure with employment agreements and such, so consider reviewing such agreements prior to accepting a peer. Once the peer group is formed, there are some guidelines on how to format and organize reviews. First and foremost the mission of the peer group should be clarified and well defined. Peers should have defined responsibilities and expectations. There should be a regular reporting requirement so as to impose accountability and attention to results. Peers should be held accountable to complete such reporting, and if need be, terminated for failure to perform. Peers will gain better perspective if they witness the operation, and so a periodic on-site review is recommended. The review should be formatted and structured, and with each review, there should be notes and a set of recommended action items to deliver to the peer. A best practice suggests that the peer report on progress against the action items in future meetings, so as to further stimulate follow through and accountability. One danger to a peer group is irrelevance. If the peer group becomes overly social, or thin in the delivery of feedback, it loses value, and ultimately can lead to the demise of the group. Peers should periodically assess the value of membership, and if value is decreasing, changes should be made. In summary, a peer group can be a valued partner to the professional executive. Executive life can be isolated, and peers provide support emotionally, intellectually, and creatively. Peer groups entail commitment and as with any organization, you get out of the organization what you contribute. ASSOCIATION ARTICLE FASTENER ADVISORY BOARD

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