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12 Peer exchanges bring busy leaders and experts together in one place for a very short period. Time is at a premium, logistics are critical, and the exchanges are one-time events with no rehearsals. The success and value to all participants of peer exchanges is directly related to the level of care and forethought that goes into planning and executing the event. This section of the guide covers the most important aspect of peer exchangesâplanning. First, safety leaders should determine if a need exists that a peer exchange could help address. Once goals and objectives have been identified, the following steps will help safety practitioners perform pre-event planning (see Figure 2). 4.1 Determine If and When a Peer Exchange Is Needed States should pursue a peer exchange when they are fully ready to participate in and benefit from this type of event. States will need to consider a variety of issues to help them determine their readiness for a peer exchange. Consider the following questions: SHSP Questions ⢠Is our current SHSP effective, living up to expectations, and addressing the most pressing issues as dictated by data analysis? ⢠Are we having any particular safety concerns for which another State may be able to pro- vide assistance? ⢠At what stage is our current SHSP implementation effort (e.g., active, improving, standstill, plateau)? ⢠Are we reducing crashes proportionately to where we are placing our funding? ⢠Are we looking to revamp the current SHSP, or simply make a good process even better? ⢠Has there been a leadership change and does the new administration want a review of the SHSP? ⢠At what point does our State SHSP become outdated or require an update based on Federal requirements? Peer Exchange Questions ⢠What SHSP challenges, gaps, or issues do we hope to address with a peer exchange event? ⢠What actions or improvements do we expect the agency might implement as a result of the peer exchange? ⢠What circumstance or event is prompting us to request a peer exchange at this time? ⢠What other benefits may be gained by conducting a peer exchange? ⢠Why do we think input from peer organizations is the best way to address these issues? ⢠Is there leadership support and permission to move forward with planning? ⢠Do we want agency leadership to be involved in the peer exchange? If so, to what extent will they be involved? C H A P T E R 4 Pre-Peer Exchange Planning
Pre-Peer Exchange Planning 13 ⢠Are our Federal partners (e.g., FHWA, NHTSA) encouraging and supportive? To what extent will they be involved? ⢠What resources are available to support a peer exchange and what agencies (public or pri- vate; Federal, State or local) are willing to contribute? States can borrow from the questions above to determine their own readiness and commit- ment to a peer exchange. For example, a State may be considering a peer exchange event because they are revising their SHSP in the next year. They would like to learn from other States that have recently gone through this process. States should consider hosting a peer exchange when the peer exchange event will be helpful. If the State has experienced a recent change in top leadership or safety management at lead agencies, or if these changes are expected soon, the success of the event may be greater if held after manage- ment has had time to acclimate to their new positions. In a situation where a single host State is driving the schedule, the timing of a peer exchange event may coincide with natural milestones in the SHSP development and refinement process. Other driving forces may include performance review results, State priority adjustments, or leadership changes. With regard to timing the peer exchange, it is important to consider the overall status of major agency activities so as not to compete with planned events, including any changes in poli- cies or leadership. Maximum benefits are likely to be realized when agency leadership and staff can provide the necessary focus and energy for peer exchange events and post-event activities. 4.2 Establish the Peer Exchange Objective At this point, States have been through the SHSP development process at least one time and are now more focused on implementing and updating their plan. This coincides with the continuing SHSP process as identified in Figure 1. It is a continuing process of development, implementa- tion, and evaluation. Having identified where a State is in the process will assist in developing the objective for the peer exchange. This is a key step in moving forward with a successful event. One source of information to guide objectives development is the set of questions that States have asked themselves about their SHSP process. These questions, found below, can lead to developing the objectives that will drive the event type, delivery method, and speakers. They are categorized into the following five fundamental elements that support all SHSP implementation practices, as described in Section 2.3 of this guide.5 Step 1: Determine if a peer exchange is needed. Step 2: Establish a peer exchange objective. Step 3: Select the event type. Step 4: Choose the peer exchange topics. Figure 2. Pre-event peer exchange steps. 5 Federal Highway Administration, The Strategic Highway Safety Plan Implementation Process Model - The Essential Eight - Fundamental Elements and Effective Steps for SHSP Implementation, FHWA-SA-10-024, Washington, DC, 2010.
14 Using Peer Exchanges to Improve the Effectiveness of Strategic Highway Safety Plans Leadership ⢠Is leadership actively engaged in the SHSP? ⢠How do we gain leadership support? ⢠Have leaders been identified and engaged? Collaboration ⢠Do we have the correct safety partners involved in the SHSP peer exchange process? ⢠How do we encourage collaboration among partners to sustain momentum? ⢠Do individuals in our organization know their roles in helping us meet our goal? ⢠How can we improve collaboration among all SHSP stakeholders? Communication ⢠Does everyone in our organization know what our goal is? ⢠Are we actively promoting the SHSP to all stakeholders? Data Collection/Analysis ⢠Is the plan data-driven, current, comprehensive, and inclusive of all roads? ⢠Do we have a specific safety goal? Is it specified in terms of fatalities and injuries? Is it aggressive enough? ⢠Are we making meaningful progress toward our safety goals and objectives? If not, why? ⢠Have we identified the appropriate emphasis areas? ⢠Have we developed appropriate performance measures? ⢠What tools are available to assist in the evaluation process? ⢠Are we collecting and analyzing the right data to measure success? Leveraging Resources ⢠Are we taking full advantage of all Federal and other funding sources to implement our SHSP? ⢠Are our safety partners similarly taking advantage of all funding sources available to them? ⢠What are other States doing to advance their SHSPs? ⢠Are we struggling with implementing a proven strategy? ⢠Do we need assistance identifying new and effective strategies to pursue in emphasis areas? ⢠Are we properly allocating resources and getting the âbest bang for the buckâ? ⢠What activities and actions can be identified that work to effectively implement compo- nents of the SHSP? ⢠Which SHSP components have not been implemented as expected? How can we identify these and re-direct efforts that will accomplish the goals? Peer exchanges are a highly effective way to answer such SHSP questions and assist States in developing updates to and implementing their SHSPs. A peer exchange provides the host State with the opportunity to have an open discussion on strengths, weaknesses, key issues, opportunities, and planned actions. Peer exchange programs can include significant emphasis on developing and implementing SHSPs and can be excellent tools for improving the quality and effectiveness of the plan. Many of the questions confronting a host State are often of the same concern as other States. The peer exchange benefits all parties seeking answers to questions and fielding recommenda- tions for successfully moving forward. 4.3 Choose Peer Exchange Topics Examining the SHSP through a peer exchange opens the door to an inside-outside assess- ment of the current practices and programs. A wide range of topics is open for review. The host State may employ its SHSP steering committee and/or planning committee to brainstorm the
Pre-Peer Exchange Planning 15 issues facing the Stateâs plan and prioritize the topics to be addressed. This may include lessons learned, best practices, current issues and concerns, and challenges. The length of the peer exchange will dictate the number of topics covered. The modules included in the eventâsuch as a panel discussion, single presenters, breakout group discussion with structured reporting sessions, and conversation circlesâwill also affect the number of topics. Relevant SHSP topics include: ⢠Reviewing the history of the SHSP development process ⢠Changing the traffic safety culture ⢠Building regional or local SHSPs within the State ⢠Recruiting and sustaining partners in the process ⢠Recruiting nontraditional partners ⢠Engaging State leadership and identifying champions ⢠Sustaining the momentum during changes in administration ⢠Developing and applying marketing approaches ⢠Identifying best practices ⢠Refining strategies for a specific emphasis area ⢠Using the right data and analysis to select the most critical emphasis areas ⢠Mapping safety processes ⢠Examining performance measures and evaluation ⢠Reviewing a process to revise the SHSP ⢠Integrating the SHSP into related State plans ⢠Reviewing lessons learned ⢠Comparing the site specific vs. systematic application of countermeasures ⢠Examining countermeasures that work ⢠Obtaining political permission ⢠Working with creative funding and resource availability ⢠Funding SHSP projects ⢠Developing implementation and action plans ⢠Maintaining competent well-trained staff ⢠Improving multidisciplinary coordination and communication among stakeholders ⢠Aligning with agencies that have similar goals ⢠Creating a vision (e.g., Toward Zero Deaths) ⢠Comparing the effectiveness of evaluation techniques ⢠Developing State/regional/local coalitions to support the SHSP. 4.4 Select the Appropriate Event Type Based upon the Stateâs progress with their SHSP development update and implementation process, the type of event a State needs can vary. The most effective type of peer exchange in any particular situation depends on the objectives of the exchange. Four peer exchange event types are described in detail in this guide. 1. In-State Peer Exchange 2. Multi-State/Regional Peer Exchange 3. Peer Review 4. One-on-One Discussion In-State Peer Exchange As implied by the title, this type involves mostly agencies and individuals from within a State where the peers may be implementing agencies (e.g., counties, sheriffs, MPOs). In-state peer exchanges do not serve to compare or share best practices with State DOT peers from elsewhere,
16 Using Peer Exchanges to Improve the Effectiveness of Strategic Highway Safety Plans but rather to address best practices and approaches used by peers within the State. Agencies conducting in-state peer exchanges will generally be confident in the content of their SHSP, but may desire improvements in implementation or evaluation. In some cases, stakeholder peers may be within the same jurisdictional area. For example, the objective of an in-state peer exchange could be to identify methods to overcome bar- riers related to SHSP processes, or it could be to develop an updated SHSP with new goals, data, and strategies. In this case, outside experts may be invited to participate as well. See Chapter 5 for details. Multi-State/Regional Peer Exchange Multi-state/regional peer exchanges may be beneficial when multiple States experience simi- lar issues. These types of events often include agencies geographically surrounding a host State, which can help minimize travel time and expenses attributed to travel for all involved. The objective of a multi-state event is to bring practitioners with similarities such as geography, demographics, or crash types together. For example, the States of Alaska and North Dakota held a virtual peer exchange event in 2012. Even though they were not geographically close, many of their issues were similar (e.g., predominance of rural crashes, effects of the oil business), leading to a successful peer exchange and a mutually beneficial event. In other situations, adjacent State agencies hold peer exchange events because they share many of the same geographic, crash type, and cultural challenges. See Chapter 6 for details on multi-state/regional peer exchanges. Peer Review In a peer review scenario, an individual State seeks to improve and/or update a program, project, initiative, plan, etc., by organizing an expert panel from other States for an in-person or virtual event. SHSP leaders may elect an approach that involves one or more State counterparts that would serve as a mentor to the host State. This may include a senior, influential, trusted colleague who has significant experience and success in managing highway safety programs. In this mentor/mentee relationship, a less formal dialog and exchange of ideas and suggestions can be undertaken. It does require the mentee to accept an unbiased, third-party review from the invited safety experts. In this exchange, the host State arranges for program leaders and staff to meet with the panel over a predetermined period of time for technical review of the topic area. Host State repre- sentatives brief the review panel and provide supporting documentation for examination and analysis. Panel members may initiate an open discussion with host State presenters to answer questions or clarify an issue. One distinction between this and the multi-state/regional peer exchange is the addition of an assessment. The panel reviews the information and offers the State its recommendations in an oral and written format. In this case, the host State will often pay for travel and other associated costs for the peer States to participate. See Chapter 7 for details. One-on-One Discussion In this scenario, individual States hold one-on-one discussions with invited peers from other States. This may occur as a relatively informal teleconference, virtual discussion, or an In a Multi-State Peer Exchange event, several States focus on highway safety topics of common interest.
Pre-Peer Exchange Planning 17 in-person meeting. Specific information on safety needs and implementation barriers is sup- plied by the host both in writing and orally. At the conclusion of the exchange, the peer offers recommendations in a format agreed upon by the participants. See Chapter 8 for details. Answers to the questions in Section 4.2 of this guide can provide information that will aid organizers in selecting the appropriate type of peer exchange. Table 1 provides some guidelines for selecting the most suitable peer exchange type to fit the Stateâs needs and budget. PEER EXCHANGE EVENT TYPE DESCRIPTION BEST FOR EXAMPLES IN-STATE PEER EXCHANGE CHAPTER 5 Stakeholders from within the State come together to assess the goals, objectives, progress, process, best practices, and lessons learned to enhance the future eï¬ects and beneï¬ts of the SHSP. ⢠Assembling stakeholders ⢠Reenergizing stakeholders ⢠Identifying SHSP pros and cons ⢠Identifying future direction ⢠Educating stakeholders and leadership State SHSP Safety Summit. MULTI- STATE/REGIONAL PEER EXCHANGE CHAPTER 6 Two or more States come together to share lessons learned and best practices for SHSP update, implementation, and evaluation. States looking to update their plans with fresh ideas and successes learned from other States. ⢠Regional In- person Peer Exchange ⢠Multi-State Virtual Peer Exchange PEER REVIEW CHAPTER 7 Two to six experts from other States conduct an in-depth assessment and interview of the host State to analyze implementation process, emphasis areas, strategies, accomplishments and evaluation, and make recommendations for enhancements. States in need of an outside review and opinion looking to conserve costs and labor and time investment involved in an in-state or multi-state/regional peer exchange. 2011 FHWA- sponsored SHSP peer review in Iowa. ONE-ON-ONE DISCUSSION CHAPTER 8 Peer discussion of a speciï¬c topic area or issue common to both parties. Focused topical discussion. Brainstorming session between two States about a shared SHSP issue. Table 1. Peer exchange event types.
