Getting an overview about mentoring

Source

Why to mentor

• Rewarding and Empowering
• Grow and Learn
• Challenge yourself
• Improve interpersonal skills
• Wider understanding of industries, organisations and departements

Introduction meeting

To set expectations. Recommendation for 1h timeframe.

• How often to meet
• What is my experience the mentee can pick up
• How can I help
• What is the mentee seeking - Key and big goals the mentee might have

Tips for effective mentoring

• Treat each mentoring relationship in a unique way tailored to the mentee
• Share experience but do not dictate actions
• And also don’t take control of their action or them. Instead help the mentee to navigate their own challenges.
• Be an active listener
• Raise concerns and provide clear boundaries for areas I can support as mentor and what is outside of that boundary

My role as a mentor

• Offer advice and support, playing off your existing experience and skills.
• Make it clear to the mentee if I don’t have experience in the area the mentee is looking for help
• Be respectful and maintain confidentiality.
• Support the mentees best way for development (and not insist on my how I have done something in the past)

Red flags - What to watch out for

• I’m not a counsellor or manager. So raise when a conversations shifts too far in that direction.
• Manage realistic expectations
• When engagement is draining, check for either changing frequency or bringing the mentoring to an end

How to end

• Align on endurance in the beginning
• Make the call when you think that it is time to end the mentoring meetings

In a final session:

• Check in of goals & objectives
• Reflect on developments
• Request for feedback

Reflection and Takeways

Reflect on:

• improved interpersonal skills
• improved understanding of different roles
• and how I might transfer that to other industries and situations
• learn from face challenges and conflicts

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