"I Heard You Say ..."

Too often employees attend a training program which they find useful while in attendance but forget about it once they return to the job. Training is not successful until there is improvement in performance on the job. The workshop "Better Communication Equals Better Reference Performance" uses one strategy which has proven effective - Peer Coaching. In peer coaching, partners figure out optimal use of new skills and behaviors and provide one another with feedback. This article describes a series of events which led to the use of this strategy - peer coaching - and documents improved performance by one public library whose staff applied this strategy.