The importance of collegial case consultation for teams and their development
- guidarakp
- Sep 4
- 4 min read
Executive Summary
In many organizations, challenging employee situations are resolved through external consultants—often at high cost and with questionable benefit. Yet, valuable know-how frequently already exists internally: peer case consultation offers a structured, low-threshold, and cost-efficient way to reflect on and resolve problems together as a team.
This whitepaper demonstrates how peer case consultation not only contributes to problem-solving but also strengthens the learning culture, cross-departmental understanding, and the sense of belonging. It provides a scalable method with clear roles, defined phases, and minimal resource requirements.
For leaders and HR departments, the call to action is clear: instead of relying on expensive external consulting, internal experience and resources should be deliberately activated. Peer case consultation fosters accountability, strengthens leadership skills, and creates sustainable value for organizations of all sizes.
Introduction
That one can learn from colleagues and superiors—or benefit from their experience—should not be a secret. But is this actively encouraged and supported by leadership? In the following whitepaper, the author highlights the positive aspects of peer case consultation. It provides scalable learning effects, strengthens the sense of belonging, and fosters cross-departmental understanding. The paper is both an appeal to leaders and HR, as well as a valuable source of insights for aspiring managers.
Challenges
In difficult situations, people are often relieved when they are not directly involved. As a leader, however, one can rarely escape responsibility, since employee challenges inevitably become management challenges. Problems are often addressed in isolation with a “tunnel vision” approach, which reinforces silo thinking.
Leaders themselves often lack alternatives, as their own superiors have little time to act as mentors. HR departments typically address such issues by organizing workshops with external consultants under the motto: “fresh perspective, fresh solution.” While this can sometimes help, it usually generates significant costs, takes more time than necessary for effective resolution, and is frequently experienced as disruptive.
Analysis & Insights
As a practical example, the author refers to his current employer. As noted, consultants are often brought in to address issues. Their tasks span a wide spectrum—from “running smarter meetings” to conflict management or one-on-one coaching for situational challenges. While new ideas and neutral perspectives can certainly be helpful, consultants always come with significant costs.
Such expenses should be reserved for topics that cannot be solved through internal knowledge. In practice, however, frameworks often follow the same pattern:
Problem goes to the direct supervisor.
If the supervisor cannot solve it, the case is escalated to HR.
HR attempts to address it internally using various dialogue models.
If this fails, external consultants are hired—often at CHF 200–300 per hour.
From a business perspective, this represents a very high cost for disputes that could often be resolved bilaterally, if the organization tapped into existing knowledge. This requires, however, that HR is aware of such resources and able to organize them effectively.
So, how can we reduce costs, increase efficiency, and at the same time foster a sense of community?
Solution Approaches
Peer case consultation provides an effective solution to the mentioned challenges on multiple levels. Let us take a closer look at this approach.
The concept, developed by Torsten Brandenburg, focuses on resolving challenging situations through consultation with an internal group of colleagues who have faced similar experiences. The process is structured around five roles:
Case Presenter: brings forward the issue, reflects within the scope of their role, and shares personal perspectives, difficulties, and feelings.
Consultants: reflect on the description, share ideas, hypotheses, impressions, and feedback—aiming to provide the case presenter with a broad spectrum of suggestions.
Moderator: ensures that phases are followed in the right sequence and time frame, and that roles are respected.
Note-taker: documents as many statements as possible—not focusing on final results, but on collecting hypotheses, ideas, and approaches.
Process Observer: does not actively participate but observes group interaction and provides feedback afterward.
Key success factors:
Appropriate infrastructure
Well-prepared cases
Trust in the consultation team
Clear role separation
No lecturing the case presenter
Openness to new perspectives
Discipline in following the process
Respect for time limits
Agreement on concrete next steps
Suggested peer Consultation Process:
Such exchanges foster reflection and expand awareness of one’s own thought patterns. They have a relieving function and can also strengthen networking across departments.
Fazit
Peer case consultation not only reduces consulting costs but also delivers multiple benefits beyond problem-solving: applying in-house expertise, building a cooperative learning culture, and fostering leadership development. The approach is simple, flexible, and scalable—making it well worth a trial in any organization.
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