Have you ever been in a workplace situation where a supervisor has made a decision that you didn’t agree with? Did you wish that you could ask someone else what they thought of the decision; whether they would have done the same thing? The peer review process offers employees just that chance, using a formalized procedure.

At the end of this workshop, participants should be familiar with:

• What the peer review process is
• How employees file grievances and how management should respond
• How a facilitator and a panel is chosen
• What is involved in the hearing process, from preliminary meetings to the hearing itself, to the decision process
• What responsibilities and powers a panel should have
• Questioning techniques
• Why peer review panels fail and how to avoid those pitfalls

This workshop is intended to offer participants a general overview of the peer review process. Participants should be encouraged to customize the process and its application for their respective organizations.

Course Outline:

Introduction and Course Overview

You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

What is Peer Review?

To begin, participants will discuss what the peer review process is and is not.

Initiating the Process

This session will look at the first three stages of the process: filing a grievance, informing the defendant, and obtaining witness statements.

The Peer Review Panel

During this session, participants will learn who should be on the peer review panel.

Asking Questions

Next, participants will hone their questioning and probing skills.

The Peer Review Process

This session will introduce participants to the remainder of the peer review process: preparation, the hearing itself, and the decision making process.

Panel Walkthrough

The bulk of the afternoon will be spent role playing a peer review scenario.

Why Does the Process Fail?

To wrap things up, participants will explore common reasons why the peer review process fails and how to avoid or resolve these problems.

Workshop Wrap-Up

At the end of the day, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out feedback forms.