Matching

Making good matches starts before you get your participants on board because who you match with whom depends on the aims, focus and objectives of mentoring.  The first step then, is to be clear about what you want mentoring to achieve for the organization and the participants. This allows you to specify who will mentor and who will be mentored.

Once you have identified your target groups, you have to choose the matching method and there are basically three choices:

1. Match-make – you, or your team decide who will be paired with whom;
2. Set and search – you help the mentorees find mentors for themselves;
3. Populate a pool – you select and prepare a number of mentors and mentorees choose the one they want

Or, a combination of all three.

The most common form of partnering involves a systematic sort through information submitted by potential mentors and mentorees to make the match.

Whether a manual system, where organisers physically review applications, or software is used to match, you’ll need to think through selection and matching criteria. Criteria depend on the purpose of mentoring, and the nature of the participants.

Here are some things to take into account when matching:

Mentoree’s needs = Mentor’s expertise/experience - it’s pretty obvious that you need to match a mentoree’s needs with the experience or expertise of a mentor. However, mentorees don’t always know what they need and sometimes what they think they want is not what they need. So, to make this work you need to: educate people about mentoring before they apply; help them determine realistic expectations; and, provide some ways for them to self-assess their needs.

Off-line - the mentor is usually not in a direct line of authority above the mentoree. This reduces conflict of interest and potential difficulties with the mentoree’s manager (you wouldn’t want the mentoree’s manager’s manager as the mentor for example). Someone a step away is better placed to be objective.

Location - people often say that being far away geographically is a problem because they want to meet face-to-face. Although there’s no doubt meeting is valued by participants, a lot of very successful mentoring happens without it. Technology allows people across the world to develop and maintain relationships.  I like to get people together at the beginning, middle and end of a program. Then if they can meet, great; if not, there are plenty of alternatives that will work if they are willing to make the effort.

Common/Different - it’s easy to build rapport when you have a lot in common with someone else but it’s working with people different from you that allow you to stretch and learn. Educate people to value diversity, facilitate some ice-breaking that allows them to find what they have in common. Make matches where people have some common ground and plenty of difference.

No matter how sophisticated your matching system is, these are the things that matter most:

• Desire- both parties genuinely want to be involved;
• Good will - they have positive intentions and want to make it work;
• Rapport- they have, or can find, enough in common. They have skills or attitudes that enable them to respect one another, regardless of difference;
• Communication - they both have the ability to listen well, ask good questions and to be open and share thoughts, opinions, ideas and experience;
• Time- they are able to make mentoring a priority. Commit to the relationship and give it the attention and energy it deserves.

Invest time in planning your recruitment, selection and matching of mentors and mentorees because you’ll increase the probability that the mentoring works.

Need to know more?

A succinct written version of all that was covered in the webinar is available as an ebook. Just $10.00 here.