A buddy is a companion or colleague that you maintain a close relationship with. The buddy system helps one to grow and develop a networking and support system.

How do you connect to a Buddy?

Join a group of people who have an ideology similar to yours. In ALX there’s a virtual technical mentor that does this.

When you join a buddy group, do well to introduce yourself and tell the members what you can offer to help them reach a desired goal.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”-….

Schedule

Scheduling helps every member of a buddy group to be accountable. It makes members of a buddy group to be answerable to each other.

Stand-up

To ensure an accurate record of progress, routine stand-up meetings are necessary. The standard is 5-15 minutes of stand-up meetings, to share the previous day's goals, goals for the day and stumbling blocks that need to be overcome.

There are two types of stand-up styles and they analyze things differently. The Scrum and Kanban style.

Scrum

This stand-up style asks the following questions:

• What did I do yesterday that helped me achieve my goal?

• What will I do today to help achieve a goal?

• Are there any impediments that prevent me from achieving my goal?

Kanban Style

asks the following questions:

• What are the obstacles impeding my progress?

• What progress have I made?

In the US Air Force, the buddy is referred to as a Wingman, in the Armed Forces they are termed Battle buddies, in the Navy Shipmates.

Advantages of the Buddy System

• It helps the less experienced buddy learn quickly. When the pairing style of “Low achieving students with high achieving students” is utilized, tremendous results are recorded.

• It helps create a collaborative learning environment.