CIO OPINION
CIO
opinion
“
PEER-TO-PEER
LEARNING ISN’T JUST
ABOUT THE EXPERT
OFFLOADING THEIR
EXPERTISE.
//////////////////
Mandla Mbonambi, CEO of Africonology
Peer-to-Peer Skills
development redefined
A survey conducted by
Harvey Nash and KPMG – The
CIO Survey 2019 – revealed
a market gasping for people
with the right skills in
emergent technologies and
solutions. And According
to Mandla Mbonambi,
CEO of Africonology, skills
development is a critical
issue, particularly in South
Africa, that can be addressed
through ongoing professional
development and peer-to-
peer training.
P
eer-to-Peer training empowers
people to share their expertise and
hard-earned professional skills with
their colleagues. It’s a powerful way of
engaging with people and recognising
their talent and their ability to share their
knowledge with others.
Peer-to-peer training has become one of
the fastest-growing trends in the training
and skills development market for good
reason. It bypasses some of the usual
problems associated with traditional
training methods in that employees
feel more relaxed and more inclined to
absorb new skills. Having a peer educate,
inform and train, removes some of the
barriers that impact on how people
respond to formal training and improves
collaboration and communication
throughout the learning process.
What peer-to-peer training does is
remove the sense of formality from the
38
INTELLIGENTCIO
process, allowing people to become more
engaged with the information and the
process. This immediately puts them on
a more even footing, giving them the
freedom to ask questions and really drill
down into the details. Something they
may not do when they feel that they’re
suddenly back in a classroom setting.
A successful peer-to-peer training
programme should embrace informality
and engagement. It should allow
participants to feel comfortable
asking any questions they may have
in embracing the ability to build their
understanding of product, service and
solution. If anybody feels that the
environment is judgemental or lacks
mutual respect, then they won’t respond
well to the process.
There has to be an agreed stance of open
learning and information sharing that
works both ways.
www.intelligentcio.com