Our friend and colleague Amanda Horne sent us an e-newsletter with an essay about a brilliant networker called Catherine Fitzgerald. The essay describes some of the ways that Catherine networks by helping others and sharing her knowledge and experience. One of her activities is to to set up ‘Collegial Consults’ that described as follows:

Catherine has also designed an approach to supporting colleagues during times of intense professional change, such as a new entrepreneurial venture or a new book that is really taking off.

She arranges a day-long “collegial consult,” to which she invites six to eight savvy, experienced, creative, and generous colleagues.

During that day, the person who is in transition describes his/her current situation and his/her hopes, concerns, and questions.

The group asks clarifying questions and brainstorms ways to help the transition be as successful as possible.

People who have had collegial consults have found the day-long attention of wise and supportive colleagues to be invaluable.

And, by the way, Catherine doesn’t charge for arranging and facilitating collegial consults for her colleagues.

The ‘collegial consults’ sound like a great idea and I know I could have used them many times in the past. In the knowledge arena we would probably call them Peer Assists (that we regularly use in Anecdote for new projects, ideas and for supporting our clients). One of the great things is that everyone in the ‘collegial consult’ learns as part of the process, not just the person being assisted.