Peer support power hour

Got a problem you can't crack alone? Problem-solve with your Circle.

Before You Start

Goal: Learn how to use Appreciative Inquiry to reframe challenges as opportunities, and practice solving a real problem together using your Circle's collective wisdom.

Pre-Meeting Prep: Encourage each member to come with a personal challenge she's facing. It should make her feel excited, anxious, or fearful.

Meeting Agenda · Approx. 60 mins

  • Member Updates · 10 mins
  • Icebreaker · 5 mins
  • Key Takeaways · 5 mins
  • Activity: Peer Support Power Hour · 15 mins
  • Apply What You've Learned · 10 mins
  • Wrap-Up · 5 mins

👋 Member Updates · 10 mins

Go around your Circle and share personal updates. Keep them brief and focused on significant changes or important decisions since the last time you met. It's OK not to have one every month. If you have a One Action update from last time, share that too.

🧊 Icebreaker · 5 mins

Invite everyone in the group to share. Keep answers to one or two minutes per person.

The insights of my peers are important to me because…

💡 Key Takeaways · 5 mins

Appreciative Inquiry is a framework for solving problems that uses positive questions to uncover strengths and opportunities instead of focusing on shortcomings and barriers:

  • DISCOVER: "What are my strengths?"
  • DREAM: "What might be?"
  • DESIGN: "What will it take to get there?"
  • DELIVER: "What actions will get me started?"

Here's how Appreciative Inquiry helps you reframe a challenge as an opportunity:

  • Instead of "What is the biggest problem here?" ask "What is going well right now?"
  • Instead of "Why did I make that mistake?" ask "How have I handled this type of situation successfully before?"
  • Instead of "How can I get out of this mess?" ask "What possibilities exist that I haven't thought of yet?"

🏋️ Activity: Peer Support Power Hour · 15 mins

Step 1 — Select one personal challenge to tackle (5 mins, small groups)

Break into small groups of three or four. One by one, share the challenge you came prepared with. After each member has shared, pick one to focus on. We recommend picking a challenge that will call on thoughtful input from the entire group. The person whose challenge is selected becomes the "owner."

Step 2 — Apply Appreciative Inquiry to the challenge (5 mins)

If you are the owner, answer the following out loud for the group:

  • Restate your personal challenge.
  • DISCOVER: What personal strengths can you apply to this situation? What core strengths have helped you succeed in the past?
  • DREAM: Imagine the future. What does success look like in this situation?
  • DESIGN: What steps—big and small—will help you get from your current situation to the desired outcome?
  • DELIVER: What actions will get you started on that path?

Step 3 — Ask clarifying questions and collect your thoughts (5 mins)

After the owner completes Step 2, other members spend a few minutes asking clarifying questions. Resist the urge to offer suggestions at this point.

Step 4 — Discuss the challenge as a group (5 mins)

One by one, other members offer suggestions and words of encouragement. If you're the owner, thank each member after her turn. Focus on listening rather than responding.

🏋️ Apply What You've Learned · 10 mins

Step 1 — Decide on a course of action (5 mins, individual)

Everyone should write down how they plan to tackle their personal challenge using insights from the group discussion.

Step 2 — Share your plan with your Circle (5 mins, full group)

Bring everyone back together. One by one, complete these prompts and share aloud:

  1. My challenge is:
  2. One insight I gained using Appreciative Inquiry is:
  3. I plan to:

🎯 One Action · 10 mins

Commit to one concrete action — big or small — you'll take before next meeting. Go around the Circle and share (1 minute or less per member). Vocalizing it helps hold each other accountable.

Based on today's discussion, what's one specific next step you'll take to address your challenge before the next Circle meeting?

📅 Wrap-Up · 5 mins

Before you break, plan your next meeting and close on an energetic note. Go around your Circle one by one and finish the sentence:

After our Peer Support Power Hour, I am feeling… (choose one word).

  • Set the day, time, and location
  • Choose the next topic or resource
  • Confirm who's leading the discussion
  • Decide how you'll stay in touch in between