Ann Rolfe's Mentoring Works Blog

When Mentoring Doesn't Work

2012-01-27T10:02:00.000+11:00

When Mentoring Doesn't Work

If a couple of mentoring pairs fail to thrive, there are lessons to be learned but if more than a few people involved say mentoring didn’t work, you have a problem you have to fix fast.

You’re not alone if you worry about poor results from mentoring. If mentoring doesn’t work, valuable resources have been invested without return and people feel disappointed and disillusioned. The failure of mentoring to deliver to expectations reflects badly on organisers and champions and may make it more difficult to fund and introduce future initiatives of any kind. That’s why using the experience to bounce back quickly is critical.

Mentoring does work. Evaluation usually reveals tangible evidence of results. People report a satisfying, even inspiring, experience and positive outcomes. Over the longer-term, the impact on retention and development of people is apparent and the organisation’s reputation is enhanced, making it more attractive to potential employees.

You’ll only get one chance to recover from a failed mentoring initiative, so you need to get it right. Here’s how:

Find out what went wrong;
Get your model right;
Start and continue a properly planned strategy.

What Went Wrong?

Investigate, don’t guess, what problems impeded mentoring. Being careful not to stir up blame or shame, ask participants about their experience. It’s usually not the people but the program that failed.

It’s not uncommon for first attempt mentoring to hit obstacles. The most frequent problems are:

Unclear strategic value
Insufficient lead-time and planning
Under-resourcing
Inadequate support
Not enough training
Lack of structure and follow-up
Ineffective monitoring, feedback and evaluation

The Right Model

Many first attempts at mentoring begin with good intentions and not much else. So model your strategy on what has been proven to deliver results. Four key elements must be addressed if your mentoring strategy is to be successful:

Planning – producing a blueprint that clearly ties the strategy to important outcomes and maps out how they will be achieved and measured;
Promotion - your ability to communicate so that the value of mentoring is recognized and welcomed by stakeholders;
Preparing – training and equipping participants to succeed in mentoring; and,
Program Support - a structured program that includes ongoing assistance, follow-up and feedback.

Start and Stay On Track

If you think through all the issues and develop a blueprint before you begin, you are off to a good start. Make sure that you have adequate budget, time and people allocated to follow through. Put a system in place so that daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly tasks get done. Look at what can be automated. Review the plan regularly and adjust as necessary.

You need to check in with participants and see how they are doing soon after the start and keep up two-way communication. Be creative in how you keep participants engaged. That’s how mentoring works.

Mentoring Works provides:

Consulting to help you plan and implement your mentoring strategy;
Workshops to enable participants to initiate successful mentoring relationships;
Resources - books, e-learning, Mentoring Tips, webinars and more.

Don’t wait! Book an appointment now so that we can discuss what it will take to make sure mentoring works for you. Email today or phone 02 4342 2610. Your first consultation is free.

Working Class Anthem

2012-01-25T18:28:00.003+11:00

Happy Australia Day! Enjoy Adam Hills do our national anthem to the tune of Barnsie's Working Class Man.
Perhaps we should all pay attention to the lyrics of the second verse (which most people conveniently forget) "For those who've come across the sea, We've boundless plains to share". 97% of us arrived, or descended from, people who came in boats, since 1788 and later in planes. As Australian of the year, Charlie Teo, calls for greater acceptance of refugees and migrants, it's a good time to remember that the best way to prevent terrorism is a safe peaceful environment and education.

Year Of The Dragon - What's it to you?

2012-01-23T12:53:00.000+11:00

The start of the luna new year is celebrated in many Asian cultures. To the Chinese, this is the year of the water dragon and very special. It signifies innovation and creativity. The lion dance that I snapped yesterday, is meant to scare away evil spirits and summon good luck and good fortune.

Maybe the joyful, family celebrations I saw will attract good luck. Certainly, I believe that you are likely to attract good fortune if you focus on what's good in life and business. I was delighted to find scientific evidence of this in Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's book, Positivity. Much more that "thinking positive", positivity is not simply affirmations, positive thinking, or feel-good daydreams.Increasing heartfelt positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, serenity,interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love has been shown totransform people and help them become their best.

You don't have to be Chinese or believe in dragons to choose to make this year one of innovation and creativity. Or, perhaps there are other words that you would to like to make the focus of your year? I chose three words for my business and three words for my personal life and say them like a mantra each day to help me stay focussed. If you were going to choose 2-3 words as your focus for the year, what would they be?

Mentoring for Graduates - Fulfilling The Promise

2012-01-13T09:55:00.000+11:00

Mentoring is high on the list of what graduates are looking for from employers. Organisations know it is attractive to graduates and frequently mention mentoring on websites, at interviews, in offers and during on-boarding. So expectations are high. The question is: is the promise fulfilled?

Recently, I asked graduate coordinators about mentoring in their organisations. Here’s a sample of their responses:

“We say we have a mentoring program but in reality we don’t.”

“Basically, we introduce grads to a mentor and leave it up to them.”

“We offer mentoring but it’s very informal and we don’t know how much actually happens.”

Organisations invest significant resources in recruiting graduates. They compete to get the best and make a commitment to graduate development. It is important to deliver on promises. So how do you ensure graduates get the mentoring they expect?

Basically, you need to:

Induct first – mentor next
Ask don’t tell
Plan and deliver

Induction

Graduates are usually more interested in bonding with their cohort in beginning. They may also benefit from a buddy, rather than a mentor, to welcome them and show them the ropes. Definitely sow the seeds of anticipation by having some previous graduates tell how much they gained from mentoring and outline how your mentoring program works. The goal during the first weeks is to build interest and excitement about the opportunities presented by mentoring.

Ask, Don’t Tell

Once they’ve been on board for a few weeks you can start to prepare them to get the most from mentoring. Graduates will want some input in choosing a mentor but you’ll need to educate them in what to look for. They need to understand the role of a mentor and their role as a mentoree. You want them to have realistic expectations of mentoring. Workshops that provide information but also ask them about their goals and aspirations and get them thinking and talking about what they need to do to achieve them, pave the way to successful mentoring.
Establish a pool of mentors – make sure you’ve selected them well, equipped them with the understanding and skills they’ll need and that they are ready and willing. Set up ways that the graduates can interact with potential mentors and then allow them to register their preferences so that you can finalise the matches.

Plan and Deliver

Planning should start before graduates join you. You need to have firmly in place the structure and support program that will ensure mentoring doesn’t fizzle out. Plan regular communication and activities to keep people informed and engaged in mentoring. You’ll need to have ways to keep mentoring a priority in the minds of everyone involved. Prepare a blueprint describing everything needed before you begin so that you can ensure your mentoring strategy has an adequate budget and resources.
When mentoring is properly planned and implemented, graduates value the experience and so do mentors. Both are developed and, as their skills and capabilities grow, so does the capacity of the organization. That’s how mentoring works.

Mentoring Works provides:

Consulting to help you plan and implement your mentoring strategy;
Workshops to enable participants to initiate successful mentoring relationships;
Resources - books, e-learning, Mentoring Tips, webinars and more.

Don’t wait! Book an appointment for the new year now, so that we can discuss what it will take to make sure mentoring works for you. Email today or phone 02 4342 2610. Your first consultation is free.

Back After The Holidays?

2012-01-11T09:09:00.000+11:00

This is my grandson Josh playing Santa when the family came to lunch - turkey and all the trimmings!

Are you:

· Easing into work with a bit less pressurebecause the rest of Australia isn’t back yet?

· Taking the advantage of quiet time for goalsetting and planning? Or,

· Sad your break is just a memory because you’reflat-chat already?

If you’re like most people starting back at work after theholidays, you’ve probably got a lot on your plate this year! So now is the timeto set some priorities - after all, there’s less than 350 sleeps before this yearwill be gone too.

If mentoring is on your agenda, I suggest you take a fewminutes, right now, to think about what you want to achieve and why that’simportant to you. If you’re serious about achieving that goal, post it below - or just share the most exciting thisyou did on your holiday!

Boxing Day Cricket – the secret of success

2011-12-26T13:00:00.000+11:00

Much loved former Australian captain andnow cricket commentator, Mark “Tubby” Taylor, discussing Ricky Ponting’s formand future in the current team, shared the advice one of his mentors gave tohim when he was going through a tough time. He said his mentor told him to takea break: “Go away and do something else. Come back when you are ready to enjoythe game.” Taylor concluded: “Enjoying the game is the secret to success incricket.” Sounds like good advice to us all at this time of year!

Enjoy your break, I’m going back to the cricket to enjoymine!

Ann

Happy Christmas Aussie Style

2011-12-21T10:38:00.000+11:00

We do it a bit differently, here is Australia. Usually no snow because it's summer and, while some of us wouldn't be without the traditional turkey and Christmas pud, we're just as likely to enjoy a platter of prawns and tropical fruit!

Here are a some of my favourite Aussie Christmas songs:

Tim Minchin: White Wine In The Sun

Paul Kelly's How To Make Gravy

Bucko & Champs Aussie Jingle Bells

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays,

Ann

What’s Wrong With Mentoring?

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000+11:00

I was recently asked about why mentoring sometimes goes wrong. In my opinion, most problems in mentoring are caused by lack of:

Focus - being unclear about, or having unrealistic expectations. Having no goals or not knowing what to do;
Skills - poor listening and questioning. Too much or not enough rapport. Inability to use both facilitative and authoritative communication styles; and
Structure - not having simple but effective models to apply within the relationship. And the organisation not providing a support structure to help maintain mentoring.

Ann

Mentoring for Career Starters

2011-12-16T13:50:00.002+11:00

Remember when you started out in your career? It can be a daunting task to find your way, especially when you are young, ambitious and keen to get going. For all their apparent confidence, many career starters find themselves in uncharted territory. Without a guide they may wander, waste valuable time or become disillusioned. You may lose them and that’s expensive.

However, just appointing a mentor for them can do more harm than good. If an appointed mentor relationship doesn’t take, it may turn off both parties and make them reluctant to invest time and energy in future.

Mentoring is high on the list of what in-demand potential employees, are looking for in organisations. You can’t afford to do it badly because word will get around - proactive candidates and social media will make sure of that!

Mentoring is a proven strategy for attracting, retaining and developing talent. Mentoring is popular because it works. It inspires people and makes them feel valued. It builds the knowledge and skills of those mentored and the mentors themselves. It breaks down barriers and builds cross-functional communication and networking.

To get good results you have to prepare people to make the most of mentoring. First, decide whether you will match mentors to mentorees or help individuals seek their own mentor. Either way, you will need to facilitate the early stages to lay a foundation for good mentoring. Give them some structure and guidance.

Next, help them understand their roles and responsibilities and equip them with the knowledge and skills that make mentoring work. Provide a framework for building and maintaining a relationship. Help them focus on goals and positive outcomes.

Then, ensure that you have a program of support in place including personal follow-up. Stay close to participants, be (or have) a mentor of mentors and a go to person for mentorees. Regular tips, updates and events help maintain momentum. Review sessions are also a good idea to keep people on track and enthusiastic.

Finally, monitor and evaluate mentoring. Gather feedback about what’s working well and what needs to be improved. Mentoring is not a set and forget activity. It is a strategy designed to produce positive outcomes for individuals and organisations. It is an investment that should produce a return. When you plan and promote mentoring well, prepare people and engage them with a program of support, mentoring works.

Mentoring Works provides:

Consulting to help you plan and implement your mentoring strategy;
Workshops to enable participants to initiate successful mentoring relationships;
Resources - books, e-learning, Mentoring Tips, webinars and more.

Don’t wait! Book an appointment for the new year now, so that we can discuss what it will take to make sure mentoring works for you. Email today or phone 02 4342 2610 before 20 December. Your first consultation is free.

Wishing you a safe and happy festive season!

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000+11:00

Our office will be closing for the Christmas break from 20 December 2011 and will reopen on 30 Janaury 2012.

You may contact Ann on her mobile for any pressing matters.

Wishing you a safe and happy festive season!

Facebook Competition Winner

2011-12-05T10:04:00.001+11:00

Thank you to all who participated in our Facebook Competition.

The draw has now taken place and the winner is HelenVillalobos.

Congratulations Helen, you will receive your copy of our popular webinar and flashbook combo, Evaluating Mentoring, shortly.

We hope to connect with you all on Facebook soon!

Ann.

Mentoring Has Changed

2011-12-02T10:19:00.000+11:00

Traditionally, a senior person identified the heir apparent and groomed them for power, handing down their wisdom. Now, many older, experienced just people want to “give something back”.

Optimistic “Baby Boomers” used to see mentoring as a way of getting ahead, a way of developing themselves and the younger generation. Now, ongoing personal and professional growth is expected for all workers and mentoring or being mentored is an ideal way of ensuring it happens.

Flexible and independent Gen X regard mentoring as a way to collaborate, build the team, learn from others and show their own credentials. Self-directed learning is a feature of contemporary mentoring.

Nurtured for success, raised in a digital world of information and shocked by the GFC, Gen Y want mentors who respect their abilities while helping them progress their career - fast. Mentoring feeds a lean, keen learning machine!

Yes, for those of us who are older, mentoring may mean leaving a legacy but it’s not about choosing successors and shaping them in our own image. Today, mentors will share their knowledge with those who ask in the right way.

Mentoring is not necessarily one-to-one or a formal program. It’s conversations, networks and relationships. It lasts a minute or a lifetime or may be intermittent over time.

Mentors no longer take others by the hand. Mentoring is driven by a seeker, one who is on journey, who knows enough to know they don’t know it all and proactively searches for knowledge.

Mentors don’t have all the answers, they’re still learning themselves! They facilitate. They listen. They ask questions. They stimulate reflection. They make you stop and think. Mentors help you figure out what’s really important to you. They help you focus on outcomes. Help you choose what you want and go for it.

Mentoring skills and indeed, the mentoring mindset, don’t always come naturally. The ability to mentor can be developed and must be nurtured. When it is, mentoring works!

Join the discussion here or in the Mentoring Network Online.

A Question From Doris

2011-11-25T10:40:00.001+11:00

Please I have a question . If you are given an essay to write on good communication skills as quality of mentorship. Do you need to go into details on the types of communication ?

thanks
Doris

I think you need to speak with your tutors, who set the essay, about the amount of detail they are looking for. It also depends on the length of the essay. My approach would be to write and introduction that briefly and generally outlines good communication for mentoring. Then, in the body of the essay, specify the types of communication shown to produce the best outcomes and detail those. Finally, write your own conclusions and insights based on the merits (or otherwise) of the types of communication you have described. However, as I said, your best results will come from talking with whoever set the essay, about their expectations. After all, being clear on outcomes and expectations is a crucial part of mentoring and other forms of learning and development.

Ann

Online Mentoring - what are you doing?

2011-11-17T14:27:00.001+11:00

I have received a request from an Australian government agency who is reviewing their pilot mentoring program. They want to find out what other government departments are doing, in terms of online mentoring. If you are able to comment or share, please do so below. If you are willing to talk with them about your program, please let me know.

Mentoring Program Support

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000+11:00

A lot of mentoring fizzles out because there is no structured program of support. People are busy, and after the fanfare of a mentoring launch dies away, enthusiasm can wane. So it is critical that you plan how you will:

Maintain two-way communication to keep everyone engaged;
Provide resources and activities over the life of the program;
Arrange networking opportunities for participants;
Ensure assistance is available for participants; and
Follow up participants, monitor their progress and gather their feedback

Communication
A well-designed support program provides a forum, online or face-to-face, for participants to ask questions, interact with their peers and get feedback. It continues their education and development by giving them tips, tools and techniques. I like to set up an automated email system that sends, on alternate weeks, a Mentoring Tip or a reminder of an upcoming event, support and resources available, and an invitation to ask a question or make a comment. As well as developing participants’ capabilities, two-way communication keeps them engaged.

Resources
Participants need guidelines, information and reference materials that are easily accessible over the life of the program. You can provide them with hard-copy books and additional resources online for downloading. Remind them regularly what is available and how to access it. I set up an online Resource Centre containing articles, checklists, worksheets and the Mentoring Code.

Networking
Separate gatherings for mentors and mentorees, are welcomed by participants. A mid-point review session that allows people to get together can re-energise mentoring and help participants to resolve issues or challenges. More frequent networking events can combine social support with practical activities. “Lunch n’Learn” sessions with a guest speaker, or informal gatherings organised by participants themselves can be useful. Where face-to-face networking is impractical I use webinars and/or an online community that hosts participant profiles and lets them connect, a Q&A forum and online chat.

Assistance
You definitely need a “go-to person” that participants can talk to if they have difficulties. This person should be readily accessible by phone or online, for quick answers, reassurance or an in-depth discussion.

Consider mentoring your mentors. Provide them with the support you want them to give to others. Ensuring that they experience expert mentoring for themselves will produce better outcomes. Mentoring of mentors can be done one-to-one or in groups with mentor mastermind sessions or a mentors’ network, face-to-face or online.

Follow-up
The coordinator or manager of your mentoring should regularly check in with participants. I recommend a phone call to see that pairs have had their first meeting within a month of initial match-up. More formal reviews, at six and twelve months, should be interspersed with personal contact at regular intervals. The coordinator should have his or her finger on the pulse of mentoring. They should be alert to potential issues and help resolve them, quickly. They can also facilitate a graceful exit from any mentoring partnership that doesn’t work out.

Allowing mentoring to fizzle out is dangerous. A failed mentoring program is worse than no program at all. It results in disenchanted and therefore disengaged staff. It reduces managements' confidence and the likelihood of investment in subsequent HR initiatives. When proper planning, promotion, preparation and program support is in place, mentoring works.

Secret 3 of Award-Winning Mentoring - Preparing Participants

2011-10-21T10:15:00.000+11:00

People will say: “I’ve been mentoring for years!” Or “It’s a natural process” Or “I don’t have time to come to training”. Yet both mentors and mentorees need education if mentoring is to be successful. People have very different ideas of what mentoring is and how to go about it. If their roles and expectations are not made explicit and if you don’t give them a framework for the kind of mentoring that will achieve the outcomes you’re aiming for, then you risk failure.

Even experienced mentors need an orientation to the objectives of a particular program and it is useful for them to meet and become part of the network of mentors and mentorees.

Participants also need the opportunity to raise issues and concerns and have their questions answered. It is particularly important for mentors to understand the strategic value of the program and that their contribution not only benefits the individual but also contributes to building the capability of the organization.

All participants need to know the aims mentoring will achieve, why it’s important to the organisation and individuals and what they, themselves, may expect to gain. Participants need to understand their roles and responsibilities, who does what? What are reasonable expectations to have of one-another? Where are the boundaries and what’s outside the scope of mentoring?

A workshop allows you to facilitate the first mentoring meeting and discuss expectations. It creates an environment that gives the best chance of mentoring relationships getting off to a good start and a productive relationship.

The biggest reason to train mentors is that although people understand, intellectually, the value of mentoring, they don’t know its real power until they experience an actual mentoring conversation. You can tell them and they can read about the process and techniques. However, until they experience being listened to without being judged or told what to do, see for themselves the amazing ability of people to find their own answers when given the space and support to do so, and feel the synergy that can occur when people are attuned to one another, they may not have the wherewithal to be the mentor they could be.

Preparing people for mentoring begins as you promote the mentoring strategy. It is critical once you match mentors and mentorees and continues as part of your program support. Most mentoring programs provide a workshop each for mentors and mentorees, separately then bring them together to get them off to a good start. Follow-up group sessions are a feature of best practice programs. If it is not feasible to get people together regularly, webinars can be very effective.

Training builds on people’s experience and natural skills. It focuses them on the outcomes desired of mentoring and equips them with tools and techniques to do it well. Training demonstrates a serious commitment to your mentoring strategy. Train people so that mentoring works!

If You Build It Will They Come?

2011-10-07T09:00:00.000+11:00

In the Kevin Costner movie “Field Of Dreams”, Costner’s character, inspired by a supernatural message: “If you build it, he will come”, builds a baseball field on his farm. In the movie, famous but ghostly, ball players do turn up to play on this field in the middle of nowhere. I won’t be a spoiler if you haven’t seen the film, suffice to say it has a heart-warming ending.

It’s a nice idea, if you build it they will come. It works for Apple, who have changed the world and amazed us with sleek personal technology that never existed before. Social media has sprung up that caters to our desire to connect and share. But there are millions of products, businesses and development initiatives, that are well conceived and well designed yet fail. Your mentoring program, no matter how well intended, can flounder because if you build it they may not come!

Although most people agree that mentoring is a good idea, not everyone will be instantly committed to giving it priority over conflicting demands. You will need to get your mentoring message across through promotion.

The purpose of promotion is to:

Communicate the strategic and personal value of mentoring to all stakeholders.
Attract and engage participants.
Keep managers informed and supportive.

Depending on your resources, promotion could include management briefings and staff information sessions, posters, brochures, information kits, an intranet page, online or audio-visual presentations to communicate the value of mentoring.

Once you have convinced senior decision-makers that mentoring adds value and have enthusiastic participants, your challenge is to maintain their commitment over the long-term. And, there’s a third group often forgotten, that you can’t afford to ignore. Middle managers and supervisors, who are not supportive, can derail mentoring. Non-participants who are disgruntled can be a problem too. So your promotion of mentoring must not be confined to pre-launch. A steady stream of communication is needed throughout the program. Senior and mid-management need high-level messages reinforcing the strategic value. Supervisors of participants must be kept in the loop. Participants need regular contact and two-way information to feel supported. Non-participants need to know that their development is not being ignored.

You need to set up a communication schedule that delivers the right messages to the right people at the right time. It is wise to develop, and even automate, some aspects of your communication before launching your mentoring strategy. Promotion is critical to ensure mentoring works!

Complimentary Webinar

2011-09-27T09:40:00.000+10:00

Webinar: Is Your Mentoring Program In Danger Of Fizzling Out?

24 October 2011 12-1pm Australian Eastern Standard Time

With more and more organizations expecting mentoring to achieve strategic outcomes, it’s never been more important to make sure you get it right.

Yet, as the fanfare of the initial launch fades, enthusiasm may wane and mentoring relationships can fizzle out.

Whether you have a mentoring program or are thinking about one, you’ll gain great value from this complementary webinar.

I’ve been helping organizations design and implement mentoring programs since 1994. I have worked with mentors and those who are mentored in Australia and overseas. I have reviewed many mentoring programs and seen what works and what doesn’t.

So register now to join me and learn about mentoring planning, promotion, preparing the participants and program support.

Secret One of Award Winning Mentoring - Planning

2011-09-23T09:39:00.000+10:00

Four key elements must be addressed if your mentoring program is to be successful:

Planning– producing a blueprint that clearly ties the strategy to important outcomes and maps out how they will be achieved and measured;
Promotion- your ability to communicate so that the value of mentoring is recognized and welcomed by stakeholders;
Preparing– training and equipping participants to succeed in mentoring; and,
Program Support - a structured program that includes ongoing assistance, follow-up and feedback.

A Planning Process

The first secret of the award-winning program is planning. My work with the NSW Department of Community and Family Services’ Aboriginal Management Mentoring Program began with facilitating a mentoring strategy planning process. They had researched the need for mentoring and a one-day planning workshop laid the foundation for success.

Mentoring strategy planning should engage stakeholders and result in informed decisions about how to implement mentoring to produce the outcomes you want.

Strategic planning means thinking about where you are now, where you want to be, how you might get there and what’s in the way. Workplace mentoring addresses these questions at two levels, organizational and individual.

From an organizational perspective, you need to consider strategic objectives that might be achieved through mentoring. Then think about where mentoring could provide the most leverage to contribute to those objectives. Exploring these questions allows you to determine the aims of your mentoring program.

When the strategic value of mentoring is clear, you can identify the people whose professional development will result in both personal benefits to them and strategic outcomes for the organization.

Engaging Stakeholders

A consultative planning process needs to include all the people who will directly or indirectly impact on the success of your program.

The people who are to be mentored are your first group of stakeholders. You must find out (not assume) what their needs are so that you can design mentoring that will make a difference. Gathering input from potential mentorees allows you to determine who will be in your next group of stakeholders - the mentors.

Having identified potential mentoring participants, you need to engage other stakeholders. Obviously, senior decision-makers need to be on board at a strategic level. You will also need a person and/or team responsible for mentoring at the operational level.

It is easy to overlook a group that, if excluded at any stage, may derail workplace mentoring – the managers of the participants. Mentoring produces a return on the investment of time and people but the managers of the participants have to deal with the immediate cost of their people being off the job. They may be more concerned about the short-term use of resources than the longer-term strategic gain. So they are important stakeholders to engage. Include them in the planning.

Informed Decisions

There is no “one-size-fits-all” in mentoring. There are many variables and many choices to be made. A consultative process that explores all the issues will deliver the best results.

Expert input about mentoring programs, plus the stakeholder’s knowledge and experience enables informed decisions to be made about how to implement mentoring.

Gather input from all stakeholders then facilitate a workshop with a representative sample of stakeholders to map out the mentoring strategy. The outputs can then be used to produce your plan. Document the blueprint that shows how mentoring links to organizational strategy, the outcomes expected and how they will be measured and the activities and resources to be used to achieve them.

This article has given a very brief overview of planning. Over the next few weeks, my newsletters will outline promotion, preparation and program support. In the meantime, the resources I’ve listed below will be of assistance if you are planning a mentoring program. I am happy to speak with you about your program, just call +61 2 4342 2610 or email ann@mentoring-works.com to set up at time.

Resources

Webinar and Flashbook Combo

For the tiny price of $20.00 you receive a flashbook – a concise written version of the topic covered in the webinar plus the webinar recording itself. Topics include:

Recruiting Mentors
How To Get The Mentoring Message Across
Evaluating Mentoring

Details here.

DIY Manual

How To Design and Run Your Own Mentoring Program
@ A$75 plus postage or A$55.00 e-book
Preview and purchase here.

Packages

The Designers Essentials@ A$160.00 plus postage or A$145.00 e-book
The Works@ A$215.00 plus postage or A$195.00 e-book

Details here.

Workshop

Plan Your Mentoring Strategy
Facilitated by Ann Rolfe
Contact me for details. Call +61 2 4342 2610 or email ann@mentoring-works.com to set up at time.

Mentoring - Online in Real Time

2011-09-12T11:00:00.005+10:00

I’m often asked: why, when mentoring already happens informally, should we put a structure in place?

Structured mentoring takes nothing away from informal mentoring but here’s what you add when mentoring is formalised:

Mentoring becomes more focussed on the strategic outcomes you want to produce;
Results become more tangible as you identify and measure desirable outcomes. You see return on investment over time;
You provide guidelines, set standards and put systems in place so that mentors and those mentored know what to do, how to do it and why it is important to them;
Mentoring quality improves because you build awareness and skills and provide structured support;
You demonstrate leadership and best practice in your field – mentoring is not yet the norm but is increasingly expected in the workplace and is an “employer of choice” criteria for many candidates;
As well as attracting potential employees, mentoring increases their retention and development; a well structured program will increase course completion rates and learning transfer;
Mentoring is particularly helpful to achieve equity objectives, so targeting and getting good results with non-traditional or disadvantaged groups becomes more viable;
People trained in mentoring skills build relationships in the workplace, improve communication and can reduce stress and friction;
Recognition and development is a benefit to mentors as well as mentorees and can be very motivational for them; and
Informal mentoring increases because you build a culture that values it.

Mentoring is a strategy for achieving organisational objectives while providing personal benefits to those involved. A structured program clearly demonstrates a positive commitment to development and prosperity. That’s how mentoring works.

Visit Mentoring Works at Brisbane Expo and Receive “A Minute On Mentoring” Audio-Visual Series

2011-09-09T11:02:00.001+10:00

Are you going to visit the LearnX Asia Pacific Conference and Expo, at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre 14 & 15 September?

I’m there to receive their award for Best Mentoring/Coaching Program, with my client NSW Department of Community and Family Services for their Aboriginal Management Mentoring Program.

Mentoring Works is also an exhibitor. Come and visit the Mentoring Works stand and receive our gift to you: six short audio-visuals designed to promote an understanding of mentoring and encourage people to mentor.

The A Minute On Mentoring series includes:

1. Conversations That Create Insight;

2. What Mentoring Can Do For You;

3. Benefits Of Mentoring; and

4. How To Mentor

5. What To Look For In A Mentor

6. How To Approach A Mentor

If you’re not coming to the conference you can visit the Expo for free. Register here

Electronic Media and Mentoring

2011-08-19T06:43:00.000+10:00

The internet is increasingly used as a key strategy for building relationships and communicating but is it effective in mentoring programs?

Electronic messaging is fast, easy to systemize and allows you to reach massive numbers simultaneously. Unfortunately, that means that most of us fight to keep on top of email. Text messages, abbreviated and devoid of non-verbal nuance are easily misinterpreted. Hasty words, broadcast in social media such as Twitter or Facebook can have negative repercussions. On the other hand, freedom, democracy and fast breaking news are spread globally by this media revolution.

So how can you harness the power of electronic media for mentoring? What do you need to do to build relationships and communicate effectively using text, email and social media?

Mobile Phones

Almost everyone has a phone in his or her pocket or bag. Indeed, younger people in the workplace do not remember life without mobile devices. They are considered vital part of life. Ways they can add value in a mentoring program include:

· Mentorees use text messages as a courtesy, to confirm appointments with mentors;

· Mobile learning through an “App”;

· Access to a mentoring blog, podcast or video.

Rather than fighting the inevitable try accepting and using people’s phone use. I have seen presenters actually encourage use during sessions by setting up a hash tag for tweets to stimulate real time discussion and questions. It’s hard to believe but people can appear distracted yet might really deeply engaged with your topic.

Email

Despite the deluge to the inbox, email is a preferred and powerful way to communicate. The trick is to get people’s attention and provide something worthwhile. If you are like most people there are newsletters you read and keep and others you ignore, trash or junk. So if you want to use email in your mentoring program make sure your communication is relevant, succinct and interesting enough to keep people engaged. Consider:

· Regular mentoring tips;

· Your own newsletter;

· Information about events.

Social Networks

Some organisations try to keep employees away from Facebook during work hours. Others provide computers in in the lunchroom for exactly this purpose.

A different approach is to have your own, social networking site for the exclusive use of mentoring participants. A password-protected website can provide:

· Networking - participants upload their profiles with photos. They can find colleagues with common issues and challenges, connect and share ideas and support;

· A resource centre - 24/7 access to audio-visual tutorials, ebooks, articles, checklists and worksheets.

· Discussion forums – questions or relevant topics explored.

There are successful mentoring programs where people never meet. Electronic media can connect participants across large geographic areas and reduce isolation by establishing supportive relationships with their mentoring partners and peers. However, most mentoring programs combine online and face-to-face communication. Successful use of electronic media involves an integrated strategy that develops relationships and communication. That’s how mentoring works.

Mentoring Works Wins Platinum at Learnx!

2011-07-28T17:16:00.000+10:00

The NSW Department of Family & Community Services engaged Mentoring Works in 2006 to help them design and implement their Aboriginal Management Mentoring Program. The program ran in 2007-2008 and 2010-2011. Now it has won the LearnX Platinum Award for Best Coaching/Mentoring Program!

We will be presented with the award at the LearnX Asia Pacific conference 14-15 September 2011, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. We will share the secrets of success in the "Award Winners In Action" session on 15 September.

Mentoring Works will also be exhibiting, so come visit our stand and say hello!

Measure Mentoring -- You Can’t Measure Everything But You Better Measure Something!

2011-07-06T10:36:00.000+10:00

With ever-increasing demands on resources, it is critical that mentoring is shown to have a positive impact on the organization that invests in it and the people involved.

Yet, evaluating mentoring only captures the tip of the iceberg, what is visible above the surface. Perhaps as much as 9/10^th of the value of mentoring may remain unseen because some outcomes are subtle or intangible, they may be very long-term, remain unknown or unconscious.

However, without evaluation your mentoring program is likely to wither and die. It will be pre-empted by new demands and other priorities. Budget will dry up and people won’t have time. Show that mentoring makes a difference. Demonstrate the value-add. Prove that not doing it will cost dearly and make mentoring thrive.

If you have committed to mentoring, you need to know:

1. How effective the mentoring program is;

2. Just what people are getting out of it; and

3. Whether there are ways to improve.

Program Effectiveness

You need to figure out right from the beginning what you expect mentoring to achieve. Why is mentoring seen as necessary? How will it benefit individuals and the organization? Solid reasons, that link to corporate strategy and personal benefits need to be identified. Success indicators, quantifiable measures and qualitative feedback are necessary. It won’t be possible to tie everything down to return on investment (ROI) but you can certainly describe how mentoring adds value … if you plan and implement a credible evaluation process.

Benefits and Outcomes

Whether you use sophisticated metrics or simply ask people, find out what people are getting out of mentoring. You can collect two types of data: quantitative and qualitative. Look for every opportunity to count in numbers, the outcomes of mentoring. Before and after measures examples include:

· Retention;

· Completion of a course;

· Return to work after maternity leave or injury

· Job applications

· Promotions

You can gather people’s opinions through surveys and you can turn some of that into quantitative data by using rating scales, ranking, semantic differentials etc. You can interview people using a set of questions and options that you can quantify or run focus groups. If you’ve planned and implemented it well, I guarantee you’ll be surprised at the results of mentoring when you take the trouble to ask people.

Continuous Improvement

One of my clients runs a highly valued mentoring program. We have always sought out and acted upon the feedback from participants. We also take into account the changing needs of the organization. This means that we’ve redesigned the program three times in the last eight years. The program enables graduates to select mentors for career and professional development. We educate participants about intergenerational and personality issues, multiple intelligences and communication styles as well as the mentoring framework we’ve always offered. In my opinion, despite limited resources and a challenging environment, this year we’ve created the best program ever. Evaluating a good program and making adjustments has meant that the program continues to provide significant benefits year after year rather than fading away.

I am still shocked that so many organisations are willing to spend on a strategy aimed at producing outcomes without checking if they get a return on investment. Evaluate, and know that mentoring works!

Ann Rolfe is the founder of Mentoring Works, with twenty-five years experience in learning and development and sixteen years specializing in mentoring.

Ann Rolfe has been instrumental is setting up mentoring programs and training people in fields as diverse as health, construction, energy, communications, law and government. She has spoken at national and international conferences in Australia, Singapore and USA.

Mentoring is all about producing better outcomes for individuals and organisations. So, if you want to ensure that yours does, get your Evaluation ebook/webinar combo here right now.

Ann Rolfe, is the author of:

The Mentoring Conversation
The Mentoring Guide
The Mentoring Journal
Take a Minute To Mentor
How To Design and Run Your Own Mentoring Program
Mentoring Demystified
Mentoring Tips

Spring or Autumn?

2011-04-27T09:13:00.000+10:00

Whether it is spring or autumn, the change of season is a reminder that nothing stays the same. We are always in transition. Business goes through phases, economies have cycles and life itself moves from one stage the next. Change is inevitable but mentoring gives us options and the power to choose the ways we’ll move toward the future we want.

Read the latest Mentoring News: The Multiplier Effect, on our website.

Mentoring - Change Your Mind!

2011-04-11T09:38:00.005+10:00

“You’ll be the same person in five years time as you are now, except for the people you meet and the books you read.” So said Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

The inspiration, the ideas and the influence that come from people and books dance with what is already in your mind. This dynamic interaction is what makes you unique. And, it is what allows you to grow and change.

I had a wonderful evening of conversation with a dear friend recently. We have divergent views on politics. Yet I find myself able to express my views passionately, hear his reasoning and enjoy the process. It’s not an argument, emotion does not block communication, actually it enhances it. Opinions are seen for what they are, belief based on knowledge and experience, not fact. I learn and so does he, so both our thinking expands. We each have new data to take into account when decisions are made but we do not have to change our personal convictions to remain friends and no love is lost because we’ve strongly stated our thoughts and feelings. We each go away and reflect. As we do so, perhaps our opinions will change, perhaps not but our minds have been expanded and will never be the same again.

Conversations, where people express strongly held views that differ from your own can be extraordinary. Science is now showing that difference, dissent and discordant views actually make us smarter*. The trick is to have a dialogue where emotion does not get in the way, where each really listens to the other with interest and respect. This is not a game of “agreeing to disagree”. This is a conversation where agreement is irrelevant, where a joint decision is not necessary and opinions do not have to match. Therefore no one has to “win” or “lose”. That said, if we were better at this kind of conversation, when we do have to reach agreement or make a joint decision, the quality of the outcome and the relationship would be better.

The problem is few of us are able to practice such conversations. Mentoring is one place you can.

The dynamic of the mentoring conversation (shown below) involves eliciting information and imparting it, supporting and challenging each other.

Mentoring builds a relationship where thoughts and feelings, facts and opinions are expressed in safety. A dialogue where people listen and are heard. It enables reflection before action. With a focus on outcomes, it encourages contemplation of consequences. This is why mentoring produces better decisions, goal achievement and life balance for those mentored and mentors too. They each become more skilled in the art of the mentoring conversation and transfer these skills into other workplace and personal relationships. Mentoring literally changes your mind!

* www.ted.com looks at Noreena Hertz: "How to use experts and when not to".

Why Mentor Women?

2011-03-24T10:18:00.000+11:00

Why are we still running mentoring programs for women? We’ve just celebrated 100 years of International Women’s Day. It’s over a century since woman began to gain the right to vote. Here in Australia we have a female prime minister and three of our seven states and territories are led by women, despite low numbers of women in politics. So why do women still need “special” treatment?

Women leaders in politics demonstrate very publicly that they can do as well (and as badly) as men. Yet the number of women in boardrooms, as CEOs and C suite roles is miniscule.

In many occupations women show themselves equal to the tasks traditionally the preserve of men. Some occupations, such as policing, have changed from reliance on the assumed advantage of physical strength. Women’s contributions have made a significant impact and societies are better for it.

Yet, while women are the majority in many industries and professions such as banking and finance, teaching and nursing, very few of them rise to senior roles. In fact, the only places where Australian women outnumber men in charge is in small business start-ups and as managers in micro businesses (employing 1-4 people). Why?

Highly skilled women opt out of large organizations, their talents lost because they cannot fulfill their career ambitions. So they start their own business instead. They create their own culture with flexible work arrangements around their childcare. They find or build their own support networks, mentoring and mastermind groups. Many succeed and with them the enterprises they lead.

When men and women work well together, teams operate better. Women bring communication skills, emotional intelligence and performance management skills to leadership roles. Large organizations cannot afford to forgo the abilities of women. That is why mentoring programs are still needed for women. Support networks, mastermind groups and mentoring develop women. Culture, flexible work arrangements and childcare support keep them.

Mentoring and Daffodils?

2011-03-17T12:37:00.000+11:00

Mentoring is like a daffodil bulb. You plant it and if it is in the right place, at the right time, and gets the right amount of nourishment and nurturing, it will grow and flower. And, although it dies down after its flowering, it has the ability not only to bloom again, year after year but to multiply and spread. If by chance it didn’t bloom this year, know that this self-contained package of potential remains able to grow anytime in the future.

Mentors - What's in it for them?

2011-03-14T09:47:00.000+11:00

Most mentors have altruistic motivation but that’s no reason not to promote the many valuable benefits that they can get from mentoring.

There are lots of reasons why people volunteer to mentor – personal satisfaction, the desire to assist others, or the wish to give something back. It is essential to recognise and publicly acknowledge their generosity.

However, mentors often tell me that they feel they gain as much from mentoring as do the people they mentor.

There are four major areas of benefit to both mentors and mentorees as well as their organisation:

The development and growth of the individuals that builds organisational capability;
Connecting and building relationships, as well as the thought process used in mentoring, contribute to people’s well-being. This has significant implications for organisational productivity;
Tapping into tacit knowledge. Literally picking someone’s brain for the wisdom born of experience. For organisations this is vital knowledge management; and
Gaining perspective. Increasing the intelligence people bring to any situation by seeing more than one point of view. This improves, decision-making, teamwork and workplace harmony.

Development

The main aims of workplace mentoring are personal, professional and career development for the mentoree. Yet mentors report that they enhance their communication, become better leaders and develop their own career skills as a result of mentoring others. Some management development programs require participants to mentor others as part of the professional growth process.

Tacit Knowledge

Many organisations employ mentoring for knowledge management, recognising that the implicit knowledge in experienced workers heads is too valuable not to pass on. In addition, mentoring is a better way to “know what you know”. Sharing knowledge with someone else deepens your understanding and appreciation of your own expertise. Mentoring allows people to learn why, as well as how certain actions produce outcomes. A mentoree’s questions can also help experts re-examine and perhaps change what a mentor knows.

Well-being

A lot more attention is being paid to well-being at work and people are much more aware of the importance of relationships and communication in reducing stress. Neuroscience is identifying ways to create and strengthen neural pathways and stimulate growth in parts of the brain vital to mental health. It has been shown that the act of giving (or even observing someone give to or help another) stimulates areas of the brain that release the feel-good chemical, dopamine.

Mentoring does more than make people feel good. It provides timeout for thinking and reflecting. It encourages critical thinking, goal setting and planning.Mentors learn to be present, to listen consciously, to reduce judgmental attitudes, all of which promote well-being.

Perspective

Developing a relationship with someone they might not otherwise meet, someone older or younger, or in some other way different from them, or from another part of the organisation expands a person’s perspective. Scientific research is now showing us that difference, dissent and discordant ideas actually make us smarter. Mentoring builds the confidence to acknowledge differences and respectfully disagree. It reduces resistance and defensiveness and allows people to explore ideas dissimilar to their own. This can produce more harmony, creativity and productivity. That’s how mentoring works!

What do smiles and mentoring have in common?

2011-03-08T20:04:00.000+11:00

There’s a man I see when I walk to the beach. He catches the bus to work, dressed in his fluro safety shirt, shorts and shiny black shoes. He is a big man and obviously has problems. His calves are swathed in support stockings, his rolling gait is strained and in the humid heat, sweat rolls down his face, despite the early hour. Yet every day, a smile lights up his face as he greets each person he passes. A smile and a few cheerful words are exchanged in a moment that brightens the day. When I see him, if I feel good it makes me feel better; if I don’t it makes me feel better!

It’s simple human nature, when there is connection and positive communication, even at superficial level, chemical changes in the brain create a feel-good state. Mentoring is not just about making ourselves and others feel good but it is about connection and positive communication. With that as the foundation, productive conversations can take place.

Learn more in Mentoring – Brain-based Benefits Of Conversations That Create Insight. One of the Mentoring Master Classes now available in the Mentoring Works e-Learning Portal.

Don't Leave Your Mentors Alone!

2011-02-28T09:49:00.001+11:00

People often ask me how much time to allocate to following up mentors and mentorees. It’s a tough question but an important one. Mentors and mentorees must feel supported by program coordinators and often need reassurance, if not actual assistance, to do a good job.

I recently did a follow-up telephone survey of mentors, part way through a mentoring program. I tracked my time and did the math. I emailed them all to let them know I’d be calling and what the questions I’d be asking were. I called thirty-six mentors. I spoke to thirty-three, using a set of six questions and entered their answers in a spreadsheet for later analysis. I rang many of them twice, some three times and left messages and a few returned my calls. I set aside specific blocks of time on different days over a couple of weeks. All the mentors are volunteers and highly committed to the program and dedicated to the outcomes. I was extremely pleased to get a 90% response rate. This only happens when you have highly motivated respondents.

I can now tell you that the exercise took nine hours, spread across five days and three weeks, roughly fifteen minutes per person.

What we have as a result is very good qualitative data, some hard data giving statistics on progress made, useful feedback to make the program even better and information about critical areas of support needed for the mentoring to produce even better outcomes.

Probably the most significant outcome however, was how happy the mentors were to speak with me. All were doing well – theirs is a well-supported program and most are experienced mentors – most were happy with their progress to date and only a few needed any assistance. You see, mentors are people like you and me. They need to feel someone cares or at least is interested in what they are doing. Following up like this shows their work is appreciated.

You don’t want to hound participants in a mentoring program but they need to know you’re there. Emails alone don’t cut it and sending out surveys may be necessary at times but it certainly lacks the personal touch. Investing in this telephone survey has strengthened the mentoring program and let the mentors know they are valued.

Factor in a support program for your mentors if you want to keep them engaged! That’s how mentoring works.

Webinar Recording Available: Mentoring Best Practice - 10 Keys to Excellence

2011-02-23T09:55:00.000+11:00

On Monday 21 February 2011 we ran a free webinar, Mentoring Best Practice, 10 Keys to Excellence.

You can now watch the webinar recording here.

If you have any questions or comments about the webinar, please feel free to drop me a line.

Enjoy!

Ann Rolfe

Regneration

2011-02-18T10:35:00.008+11:00

Many companies are now looking to the future by building and renewing infrastructure and human resources. In Australia, 2010 brought a resurgence of hiring apprentices, trainees and graduates. It’s obvious that if organisations don’t recruit well and develop the capability of their people, they’ll be caught in a skills shortage and brain drain as their older workers move on. Mentoring helps support and retain new starters and assists mentors to acquire the skills to develop others and pass on vital knowledge.

Changes occur as the composition of the workforce alters. Mature workers look for new roles and organisations use mentoring to help them recognise and develop new skills and abilities More and more, we are seeing talented people, in all sorts of jobs, able to move and grow within organisations instead of being lost to them. As well, there is a whole generation of seniors, in age and experience, who are getting ready to move into a new phase of our lives. It is critical to organisations and to people, that hard-earned knowledge gained from experience is passed on.

Mentoring is like giving people a map. They get perspective on where they are, where they want to be and ways to get there. It enables people, no matter what stage of their career, to set and achieve goals. It allows them to plan ways to really enjoy their life and work, use the skills and talents they have and have the success they want. Workplace mentoring empowers people and builds organisational capability. Broadly speaking, there are three key benefits of mentoring:

The development and growth of the individuals involved, in terms of career and personal wellbeing;
Knowledge management. Tapping into tacit information. Releasing hidden wisdom; and
New perspective. By seeing more than one point of view, people increase the intelligence they bring to any situation.

Mentoring works but not without direction, commitment and support from those involved and indeed, those not directly involved. Mentoring requires the time and effort of participants. It also needs the encouragement and support of managers who are forward thinking, able to see the big picture and recognise the strategic value of mentoring. The strategy requires resources, recognition, clear direction and serious commitment from the top. Most of all, mentoring needs proper planning from the start. That is how mentoring works.

Positive Feedback

2011-02-17T09:54:00.000+11:00

Positive feedback! How surprised was I when I went to a new dentist the other day for a routine check and clean and experienced something I never have before. The dentist told me I was doing a good job taking care of my teeth and gums! Now, it’s true I have been making a bit of an extra effort this year but in the past the comments from other dentists have been “you need to floss more”, or “your condition means you really must be diligent” etc. and I’ve left feeling chastised and guilty. What a difference! And guess what? Which feedback do you think is more effective in producing the desired results?

It’s true that we need negative feedback sometimes. John Gottman talks about a magic ratio of 3:1. We need three bits of positive feedback for each one of negative, to flourish. I heard Dr Matthew White, of Teach For Australia, speak on positive psychology last year at the AAGE conference. He supports the 3:1 idea. He used the metaphor of a yacht. Positive feedback is like the wind in our sails that keeps us moving forward and negative feedback is like the keel that keeps us on course.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) which focuses on the positive in any situation, has earned a worthy place in strategic planning and personal coaching. It replaces the traditional SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) with SOAR - strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results.

If you want to explore these ideas further I recommend:

The Thin Book Of SOAR – Building Strengths-Based Strategy by Jacqueline Stavros and Gina Hinrichs and Apreciative Coaching, A Positive Process For Change by Orem, Binkert and Clancy.

In the meantime, I’m monitoring the feedback I give myself as well as others! Oh, and I’d better write a note to my new dentist and thank him!

Ann Elected To Board

2011-02-16T17:05:00.001+11:00

I am honoured to announce that I have been elected to the board on the International Mentoring Association.

The International Mentoring Association (IMA) promotes individual and organizational development through mentoring best practices.

I joined IMA, and attended their annual conference for the first time, in 2004 and I've been impressed with the friendliness and professionalism of this volunteer-run organisation. The IMA conferences bring together a wealth of information and people willing to share.

In 2010, at the IMA conference, the International Group, instigated by Joe Pascarelli, discussed extending affiliations worldwide. My intention is, with assistance of my colleagues here, to initiate the development of an Australian and New Zealand chapter and events that benefit all of us involved in mentoring.

If you would like to be involved email me ann@mentoring-works.com.

Free Webinar: Mentoring Best Practice - 10 Keys to Excellence

2011-01-27T16:27:00.000+11:00

The trend is to claim, or strive for “best practice”, a proven set of techniques or methods believed to produce the most superior outcomes. Because “best” doesn’t stay best for long and can be costly and difficult to define, terms like “leading practice” or “best in class” have also emerged. I’d prefer to quote my Dad who used to say: “if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well!” And I’d like to offer, based on my fifteen years experience, ten keys to excellence that serve to benchmark your mentoring program.

1. A value proposition that gains support from all stakeholders
2. Clearly defined purpose and goals based on identified needs
3. Program components and infrastructure to achieve the objectives
4. An Implementation plan that specifies actions and a realistic timeline
5. Program management
6. Defined roles and responsibilities of participants
7. Participant engagement blueprint
8. Communication strategies
9. Evaluation matrix
10. Sustainability program to realise enduring benefits

You can use these ten keys as a template to design and implement a new mentoring program or improve an existing one. Each key is outlined below and expanded in our complimentary webinar on 21 February.

Value

You need approval from the top for mentoring. You also need grassroots enthusiasm and without support from middle levels of an organisation mentoring can fail. So developing a value proposition that spells out clear and important benefits for the organisation and people, is critical.

Purpose and Goals

If mentoring is not just a warm-fuzzy, nice–to-have, tick-the-box exercise but a serious strategy designed to achieve important results, then its purpose and goals must be clearly defined. These evolve as you analyse needs and develop the value proposition.

Infrastructure

Implementing mentoring is a bit like building a house. Strategic value, purpose and goals lay the foundation but you need a framework that will support the walls and roof. People, processes and resources, adequate to the task are required if mentoring is not to fall over at the first puff of wind!

Plan

The design is mapped out, materials specified, the steps and stages of implementation documented. Actions are listed, a timeline developed and responsibilities assigned.

Program Management
Regardless of whether you outsource or develop all components of the program in-house, you will need internal mentoring coordination or management. A person or team to be responsible for all aspects of the program, particularly supporting mentoring participants.

Roles and Responsibilities

People have many different ideas about mentoring. So you’ll need to make explicit what mentoring is and what mentors and mentorees are supposed to do.

Engagement Blueprint

So, how will you recruit mentors and mentorees? How will you get them and keep them excited and involved? How will you prepare them for their roles? What will you do to support them? Who mentors the mentors? How will you prevent mentoring from fizzling out? A blueprint shows activities over the life of a mentoring program designed to keep people engaged.

Communication
You’ll need to get the mentoring message across to management, participants and those not directly involved in mentoring. Your communication strategy clarifies what messages need to be transmitted, when, how and to whom.

Evaluation

Using the value proposition, purpose and goals, you can develop criteria for success. On a matrix, plot what you can measure and how. You need to be able to show whether mentoring was worthwhile for people in the short-term and the long-term and determine the return on investment for the organisation.

Sustainability

What happens after a successful mentoring program? You have a one-off opportunity to build on the goodwill and enthusiasm generated by mentoring. There needs to be a plan for reviewing, improving and repeating the program. You also have a chance to increase informal mentoring and build a mentoring culture. Don’t blow it by running a “pilot” then letting mentoring wither on the vine!

By thinking about, planning and documenting your approach to each of these key areas you are on your way to excellence. That’s how mentoring works!

Join me on 21 February 2011, for a complimentary webinar where we’ll discuss each key to mentoring excellence in more detail. Register now.

Continuous Professional Development

2011-01-07T11:00:00.000+11:00

"I want to ask you about continuous professional development. Do you have any additional information about CPD, please? Because in my organization mentoring is one Component of CPD. Thank you."

I'm not an expert in this, however, almost all professional associations (for example the Institution of Engineers, Chartered Practicing Accountants, Human Resources Institute etc.) develop a program that requires people to obtain a certain number of CPD "points" each year to maintain their professional status. They run educational events and conferences that are worth a number of "points" each. So people attend some of these during the year to accrue their points.

Usually, mentoring is a part of such a program and well qualified, experienced professionals, trained as mentors are nominated and available as part of the CPD program. A structured conversation with a designated mentor might count for 1 CPD point per hour.

Obviously a system for recording and monitoring each participant's CPD points is necessary if this is to accurately reflect continuous professional development.

Are you involved in a CPD program that has mentoring as a component? What can you add?

Festive Season Closure

2010-12-20T09:06:00.001+11:00

Mentoring Works will be closed from Monday 20 December 2010 and will re-open Monday 10 January 2011.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Festive Season.

Is Your Mentoring Strategy Working?

2010-12-07T10:53:00.000+11:00

Mentoring aims to deliver strategic value for the organisation as well as personal benefits for individuals. How can you ensure that your mentoring strategy achieves these outcomes?

The critical first step is to clarify the strategic purpose of mentoring - why is mentoring important? Without clear, and meaningful goals, you may find it hard to gain support for mentoring, difficult to promote the value of mentoring and challenging to make it a priority for people.

To ensure your mentoring strategy works you have to answer the question "why mentoring?" First, you need to uncover the needs, wants and issues that mentoring will address from the perspective of the organisation and the people you want involved. Then, you can plan your mentoring strategy to deliver specific outcomes; and finally, you'll be able to communicate the reasons for mentoring in a language that make sense to each group of stakeholders.

What Does The Organisation Need?

Most often, mentoring is used by organisations striving for:

Employee engagement - to attract, retain and develop people for increased productivity;
Knowledge management/skill building - to prevent the loss of both tacit and implicit information and develop skills, for improved capability; or
Culture change to influence behaviour based on values, assumptions, and common practice, for enhanced organisational performance.

You'll need to find out exactly what the pressing needs are and be able to clearly show the impact mentoring could make. This might mean presenting a business case and/or linking to the organisational mission and values.

Why Should People Prioritise Mentoring?

You may be targeting a specific group with your mentoring strategy such as: graduates, women, emerging leaders, innovators, young professionals or indigenous people, however you need people who are not directly involved, as well as those who are, to prioritise mentoring. If they don't it may be derailed by obstruction, competing demands or lack of support.

This is a time for two-way, rather than one-way communication. We have to get out there and listen. We can't simply impose mentoring on people because we think it's a good idea. They won't buy it unless there is a personal reason that overrides other priorities. So, you will have to discover the needs, concerns and issues of the people as well as the organisation.

Develop The Strategy - Design The Program

The bottom line is that you have to know specifically, what you want your mentoring strategy to do before you can figure out how you will know that it is working. This is the foundation for designing mentoring programs. Do this to ensure that your mentoring works.

Values

2010-12-02T10:53:00.000+11:00

Have you ever felt inner conflict? Wrestled with your conscience? Taken a decision or choice that made you feel very uncomfortable? Felt unable to make a decision? Been pulled in different directions? Said one thing but done another? Chances are you have and chances are that's because of a conflict of values within yourself.

All choices are influenced by values. You can make a decision that over-rides your personal values and there are consequences of doing so. Mentoring conversations enable you to discover more about your values - whether you are the mentor or being mentored!

Values determine what you believe is right or wrong, good or bad, worthwhile or not worthwhile. Values allow you to judge what is important. They are your personal priorities. Some are superficial and changeable - like fashion, where this seasons "must haves" soon become "soooo yesterday". Others are deeply held and not easily moved.

Values are an integral part of who you are. They motivate your aspirations, cause your lifestyle preferences, trigger behaviour and reflect your view of the world. Each of us has a dynamic system of personal values that guides our behaviour and some values are stronger than others. No two people will have exactly the same set of values in the same order of importance.

Values can buckle under pressure, be compromised or subordinated when human needs take precedence. Understanding your values gives you the courage and compassion to make choices about what you will attempt to change, what you will learn to live with and when you will leave a situation that is not right for you.

Mentoring conversations that allow you to deeply consider matters are a source of greater self-awareness and understanding. And, because mentors practice non-judgemental listening, they do not impose their own values but allow their mentoring partner to explore their own convictions. Mentors hold the attitude: "your values are neither right nor wrong, though they may be different from mine". Such conversations give insight to both the mentor and the person mentored. That's how mentoring works.

The Truth About Mentoring

2010-11-30T10:52:00.000+11:00

A Secret
Mentors generally volunteer for their role for all the right reasons. Many high achieving professionals like to "give something back". Contributing to the development of others through mentoring is an honoured tradition. Yet, there is a well-kept secret about mentoring that may come as a shock to some or be no surprise at all for others when they discover it.

Beyond Professional Development
Certainly, mentoring calls upon interpersonal skills and communication styles that are highly valued in today's leaders. Mentoring a professional colleague can be stimulating and energising. It challenges you to reflect and discuss new perspectives and ideas. So mentoring offers an opportunity for mentors to develop attributes that will benefit them professionally. However, I believe that mentors can gain as much, if not more than those that are mentored, from the relationship and the reward is much greater than personal satisfaction or a career advantage.

More Advantageous Than Leverage And Status

Mentoring brings with it a certain status and respect. Mentors are recognised as wise men and women, with knowledge and experience worth sharing. Whether they know it or not, choose to use it or not, mentors are mavens who have influence, link into networks and can leverage knowledge. This, however, is not the secret that enriches the lives of those who mentor or are mentored.

The Power Of Relationship

Mentoring is a unique relationship. It is like other relationships, yet unlike other relationships. It is personal and professional. It is at once intimate, caring even loving yet dispassionate, calm and neutral. It creates a safe space for both the mentor and the one mentored to open themselves to discovery.

It is in relationships that we discover our identity. Learning how alike and unlike others we are. Becoming less judgemental so that we can compare and simply notice how similar or different our values, beliefs and choices can be. Offering opinions and realising that they may not be accepted, gives us, literally, a sounding board. And, as we bounce ideas around in conversation, a sureness about who we are develops. Greater certainty about our own values provides a sense of security and confidence in our decision-making. It becomes easier to be assertive, rather than defensive and aggressive when faced with the contrary views of others. This can reduce stress and allow us to operate more effectively in all other relationships.

And, yet there's more. Something happens to you when you sit with another with no personal agenda other than to be there for them. Being absolutely present for someone else. Reining in rampant thoughts about what to say and how to advise. Resisting the urge to answer questions immediately or tell them what to do. Instead, being still and silent inside while you simply facilitate the process that enables the other person to explore and examine an issue, a decision or a goal, empowers you as well as them. This empowerment bathes you both in a warmth like healthy sunshine. It's a life-giving glow that continues to radiate and effect all it touches.

Not merely "warm-fuzzy" sentimentality but scientific reality. Psychiatrist, paediatrician and educator, Daniel Seigal in his latest work, The Mindful Brain, tells us, based on research: "attuned relationships promote resilience and longevity". The truth is, mentoring is a gift you give, that gives as much to you as the recipient. That's how mentoring works.

Mentor: Not Their Personal Google

2010-11-25T10:50:00.000+11:00

Google has changed our lives. A vast amount of information, advice and opinions, is available literally at our fingertips. Almost any question answered at the push of a button.

Mentors beware! If you become someone's personal Google you do them, and yourself, a disservice.

You may have a wealth of life experience, highly valuable expertise and an abundance of ideas that you want to share. Your human instinct, as a mentor who has volunteered to assist another person is to provide answers and solve problems. Yet if you answer questions too quickly you may:

Build dependence;
Risk answering the wrong question; and
Create a status imbalance and resistance.

Dependence

When you give answers too quickly, people may become reluctant to think for themselves, take responsibility or develop trust in their own decisions. Often people already have the answer and all they need is confidence. Most people value most mentors who are a sounding board.

Answering The Wrong Question

Often, the first question articulated by a person is not the actual issue. It may take a while to establish the real need underlying it. Simply providing information may keep mentoring at a superficial and unsatisfying level.

Status

Knowledge is power. When you know something someone else does not, they may feel inferior. In relationships, when one person's status is perceived to be lower than the other, the brain and the body perceive it as a threat. Subtle biochemical changes take place induced by emotions that remain below awareness. At the first hint of any kind of danger, the brain and body is aroused to scan for and react with fight, flight, freeze. This pre-emptive action reduces people's ability to listen, learn and relate to one another.

So, of the three key strategies that mentors use when responding to mentoree questions, answering the question is the last one.

Strategies

Ask questions
Suggest resources
Offer information

Ask Questions

My mother taught me that it is wrong to answer a question with a question. Yet this is exactly what I recommend mentors do! Questions get people to think critically about issues, explore their values and priorities and make decisions for which they can take responsibility.

Suggest Resources

You don't have to have all the answers or be the source of all wisdom. If you can get people to research information themselves and bring it to the table for discussion your mentoring will be much more powerful and satisfying. The value you add is in the conversation about what the information means and how it can be applied.

Offer Information

Finally, offer information, ideas and opinions. This empowers mentorees to make their own decisions and choose their own actions and respects their ability to assess what is right for them. You can help them think through how their choices align with their personal values. You can lead them to consider the consequences of possible actions and you can prompt them to think of alternatives.

You have far more to offer in a mentoring relationship than being someone's personal Google. Answers are only part of the equation. A mentoring relationship, where people feel safe to express themselves, share their dreams, admit their problems, celebrate their success, air their feelings, think out loud is way more important. That's how mentoring works.

The Perils of the 3 "Ps"

2010-11-23T10:50:00.000+11:00

Collin took his young son fishing for the first time. Having seen "Bananas In Pajamas", Tyler, aged 6, knew how to fish. "You don't know everything," his father told him gently. Tyler was silent for a while, then said: "I know I don't know everything Dad, but sometimes I forget."

Collin shared his story in a recent mentoring workshop, having experienced the mentoring conversation model*. His example gives both mentors and mentorees the opportunity to remember that they don't know everything - and don't have to.

Knowing is fun. There's a reason why TV game shows and radio quizzes are popular! Ever found yourself calling out when you know the answer? The contestant may win the prize but you feel good too because, when we know we're right, a shot of brain chemicals gives us a buzz. Knowing gives us a sense of confidence, security and power. It raises our self-esteem and our personal status.

However, when we know, and someone else does not, it can create a gulf between us. Neuroscientists have identified status as having an important impact on our health and longevity. Furthermore, people monitor their status relative to others during conversations and a perceived reduction in status registers in the brain as a threat. When people feel unsafe they tend to become defensive, close the mind and shrink thinking to within a limited comfort zone.

So, mentors need to be wary of the three "P"s - presumptions, predetermined answers and prescriptive advice.

Presumptions

What we "know" may turn out to be an assumption. Facts, beliefs and opinions may be drawn from incomplete or incorrect information. An assumption can mean we have jumped to a conclusion and stopped thinking about possibilities. The mentoring conversation aims at developing clarity and insight upon which the mentoree can make informed decisions.

Predetermined Answers

Thinking that we know can block further learning and constrain creativity. "Thinking outside the square," means unleashing creativity and being open to new ideas as well as innovative solutions. The synergy of bouncing ideas off one another may produce a solution that neither would have come up with alone. The space that is created by a mentoring relationship can be one of collaborative exploration.

Prescriptive Advice
Very few people enjoy being told what to do. It creates an imbalance of status in the relationship. Direction can be disempowering and cause resistance - even when the person on the receiving end agrees that the course of action is correct! Yet, mentorees often want advice. They may ask for guidance and value the wisdom of a mentor's experience. So input needs to be provided in a constructive way, which means offering information rather than instruction; developing options and choices and facilitating decisions made by the mentoree, themselves. The mentor can prompt consideration of consequences so that undesirable outcomes can be avoided when the course of action is selected.

Although you may have definite outcomes in mind, when you begin a mentoring conversation you don't know where it will take you. Although venturing into the unknown can be uncomfortable for mentors and mentorees, courage and humility win respect in relationships. Trusting the process of the mentoring conversation, allows exploration that can feel exciting rather than threatening. It is a way to expand possibilities and discover more about yourself. That's how mentoring works.

Resilience

2010-11-18T10:48:00.000+11:00

What is it that allows people to bounce back from misfortune? How do some thrive in spite of adversity? Why do some recover stronger than they were before, after a crisis?

Over twenty years ago, Australia was hit with the "3 Rs": recession, restructures and redundancies. The impact of job loss, or the fear of it, was catastrophic for people who were let go and many who staid. I was privileged to work with hundreds of people in what was known as career transition, teaching the fourth "R", resilience.

My mentor was Paul Stevens, founder of Worklife, a pioneering Australian company leading the field in career counseling. Paul's own experience had shaped the formula he shared. I was one of a team of trainers imparting the tools and techniques that would enable people to regain control of their lives and shape their future, rather than remain victims of circumstances.

In workshops, people were able to look at their values, prioritise what was really important, assess their skills, interests and preferences and take stock of wants and needs, desires and constraints. We equipped people with job-seeking, resumé writing and interview skills and encouraged them not to take just any job but to target occupations that would bring them satisfaction. It was radical stuff for shell-shocked bank managers who'd only ever known one employer, insurance super-sales people suddenly told their services were no longer required and IT people in shrinking computer companies.

A few years later, I was running the same sort of workshops but this time they were called "career development" and aimed at empowering and retaining talented staff. Some of these were people who had tons of potential, great skills and valuable corporate knowledge but who did not know that they could proactively manage their career and their future. Some were people with clear ideas of where they wanted to go who felt confined by their circumstances and some were high-flyers, very successful in their roles yet unsatisfied and unfulfilled.

Both career transition and career development involve enabling people to effectively manage change. Resilience and empowerment, in the context of career, are the same. Paul Stevens' formula allowed people to take stock of themselves then chart a course forward. When people feel they have no choice, they feel powerless and that they have no control over life. In other words, they are victims of circumstance. On the other hand, choice = power = control. So understanding that there are choices is a first step.

A mentor does not just preach "positive thinking", they demonstrate a positive attitude combined with a practical approach. A mentoring conversation allows a person look at where they are, where they want to be and develop strategies for getting there. The mentor shares the journey as plans are implemented.

Times may be tough now but times change. Markets expand and contract. There is an ebb and flow in skills demand and people compete for jobs. What does not change is our need for relationships that provide encouragement and support, a sounding board for ideas and a stimulus for new thinking. We need conversations that are both nurturing and challenging so that we see options, make choices and are empowered to take action. That's how mentoring works.

Central to Success - The Mentoring Coorindator

2010-11-15T10:46:00.000+11:00

Any mentoring program needs a co-ordinator. Someone within the organisation who is the central point of contact is essential. This person is someone who:

People can call with their questions;
Participants and mentors can contact for support;
Liases with senior levels of management and reports on the mentoring program;
Organises program logistics and communication throughout the organisation; and,
Manages external service-providers.

The role of mentoring co-ordinator is not assigned lightly. A mentoring program is designed to have significant, strategic outcomes for the organisation. The mentoring co-ordinator is the project manager responsible for co-ordinating all of the activities that will make or break the mentoring program. So choosing the right person for the job is critical.

The job is not merely to be added to someone's existing workload. The tasks take time; building relationships with participants and mentors and communicating takes time; overall management and reporting takes time. So time needs to be allocated. The amount of time depends on the size and scope of the program. A pilot program will need more time per person than a well-established program.

Co-ordination could be done by a team, with tasks shared but a team-leader will needed to ensure that each team-member fulfils his or her responsibilities. Alternatively, the role could be split. A competent administrative assistant could take care of logistics while another person handles interpersonal communication and management of the program. In any case, the role needs to be clearly defined and appropriate authority and accountability designated.

The co-ordinator will arrange such things as pre-program promotion within the organization, an information package for potential participants and the method of selecting and matching mentoring partners. They will organise events such as workshops, networking and review sessions. Most importantly, they will follow-up and stay in touch with all participants to maintain their enthusiasm and deal with any difficulties. Finally, the co-ordinator will administer the evaluation process and report results.

A documented plan for the mentoring program will help the co-ordinator do their job. It is useful to engage stakeholders in planning the program. An inclusive process not only gathers valuable input but also minimises the possibility of obstruction. A plan for your mentoring program will specify the objectives, activities and timeline for the program.

The old saying: "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail" may be true. But, it is the mentoring program co-ordinator who will implement the plan and ensure that the mentoring works.

This article is drawn from Rolfe, A. (2006) How To Design And Run Your Own Mentoring Program. Mentoring Works. You can purchase on-line now www.mentoring-works.com.

To download the free resource: The Co-ordinator's Checklist click here.

Getting What You Want From Mentoring

2010-11-12T10:43:00.000+11:00

Mentoring can be used to strengthen talents, hone skills and progress career plans. It can provide relevant, personalised and interactive professional development. And, managed well, mentoring is a mutually rewarding experience.

Both mentors and people who are mentored need guidance in getting the most from the relationship. Here are five top tips for mentorees on getting what you want:

1. Understand What Mentoring Is

A mentor does not tell you what to do, nor do they open doors for you. A mentor listens, asks questions and facilitates your goal setting and planning, decision making or problem solving process.

2. Find A Mentor

Mentoree's need to seek out potential mentors. You may need to network and connect with people outside your immediate area. While it's easy to develop rapport with people like yourself, there is more value from being mentored by someone different. If you are too alike you'll have the same strengths and the same challenges.

3. Develop Rapport

When you engage a person in conversation and ask questions you may fall into natural rapport. If you do it's easy to build a relationship. You can also use non-verbal skills such as matching and mirroring to develop rapport. Once there is rapport, if you want more than a one-off conversation you'll need to make mentoring a win-win proposition.

4. Make Mentoring Mutually Rewarding

Mentors are generally altruistic about giving the gift of their time but they're human, likely to be busy and have demanding schedules. You need make conversations with you enjoyable and satisfying for the mentor as well as beneficial to you. The keys to this are: business etiquette, positive feedback and appreciation. Good manners and politeness smooth the way. Let them know that you value and are using the information and insight that you gain.

5. You Drive The Relationship
Mentorees should request and confirm meetings, set the agenda and identify goals. It is your responsibility to make decisions and take actions to achieve them. A mentor is a resource, a facilitator. Its up to you to be ready, open and keep up the connection if you are to get what you want from mentoring. Finally, consider karma - you attract what you project, you get what you give.

On a bad day...

2010-11-10T10:42:00.000+11:00

The global banking crisis, big business bankruptcies and the share market plummeting, has hit some people hard. It can be easy to succumb to the doom and gloom of the media or become overwhelmed by events. This is when a mentor may step in with words of wisdom, a reality check or a huge challenge.

Having taken a multi million-dollar hit to his business, one CEO thought his business might not survive the latest impact of the global crisis. Telling his mentor what a terrible day it was and suffering the pain of possible failure, he expected sympathy. Instead, his mentor pushed a shift in thinking with a series of sharp questions: How many days have you been in business? How many terrible days have you survived? You have survived the loss of a loved one and rebuilt your life. Was that without pain? After that knee reconstruction, was getting back into sport without pain? Take another look at this situation, how might it just be the best thing that ever happened? There is always an opportunity for the astute during a downturn.

The mentor's comments were not just spin, hype or motivation. There is truth in the saying: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Who in life cannot look back on an event that was terrible at the time yet shaped a better future? We are inspired by the para-olympians, stories of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things after suffering adversity and everyday heroes who act in the moment of catastrophe. In times of crisis a mentor will remind us of these simple truths.

On a bad day, a mentor will provide empathy rather than sympathy. A mentor will listen and allow you to ventilate your natural emotional response to events. They are non-judgemental and will understand how you feel about your circumstances but a mentor won't play the pity party game.

A mentoring conversation is not about glossing over, dismissing or ignoring events, pain or emotion. On the contrary, the mentoring conversation allows you to confront issues, process disempowering thoughts and feelings and choose a new response.

The mentoring conversation focuses on stimulating reflection and action. Using questions that stimulate thinking your mentor will challenge your thinking to overcome blame, shame and negativity. They will help you put things in perspective, consider a different point of view and ultimately choose a way to move forward.

Ironically, the current economic situation provides a metaphor. The direct cause and effect of the financial misadventure in sub-prime mortgages is only part of the picture. It is the crisis of confidence in the financial market that may cause a ripple effect to grow into a tsunami. It is how people feel, what they think and what they do in response to any event that produces the real outcome. Panic or despair will exacerbate any crisis.

Likewise in life, it is not what happens to us but our reaction to what happens that produces results. Mentoring enables you to process thoughts and feelings and choose a response. A mentor's cool head and a warm heart, skilful listening and powerful questions are the reasons why mentoring works.

Do you need a formal mentoring program?

2010-11-08T10:40:00.000+11:00

Australian research indicates that the HR priorities for organisations are attracting, retaining and developing people. Many organisations are acting to address these issues and cite mentoring as a key strategy. However, some rely on informal, ad hoc, chance meetings to result in mentoring.

People do meet randomly and have useful conversations and spark up relationships. Informal mentoring has always happened but in today's demanding environment, with generational differences, an aging workforce, skills shortages and the so called "war for talent", what organisation can afford to leave it to chance?

Mentoring can assist recruitment and retention. It can facilitate personal, professional and career development. It can be a tool for knowledge management/transfer and a tool for succession planning. But, if mentoring is left to chance, it depends on people being in the right place at the right time, in the right frame of mind, hitting it off and developing the right kind of relationship. What are the odds?

A mentoring program involves setting goals, providing guidelines, getting people together and orchestrating partnerships that might not otherwise occur. Then supporting the relationships, monitoring progress and evaluating results. A mentoring system doesn't mean burdening people with paperwork or getting bogged down in formal procedures. On the contrary, it is about facilitating relationships, encouraging and supporting them so that mentoring is easier, happens more frequently and is more effective. People are so busy that unless there is a system in place and mentoring is recognised as a priority, only a few people find the time.

Formal mentoring does not devalue or eliminate informal mentoring. Giving real credence to mentoring, by having a formal system acknowledges the value of all developmental relationships. Mentoring becomes recognised as part of "the way we do things around here". Mentoring changes people and people change culture so formal mentoring actually increases the incidence of informal, spontaneous relationships.

An investment is necessary in designing any system. Mentoring is no different. Implementing, monitoring and evaluating mentoring and ensuring it becomes embedded in everyday practice requires systematic effort. So it is important that someone within the organisation has responsibility for implementing and coordinating mentoring. Specialist assistance may be used in the design phase and to provide training and resources for participants but it is helpful to have a mentoring coordinator who manages the ongoing administration, communication and monitoring from within.

Planning is essential. A documented plan specifies the strategic objectives of mentoring from an organisational perspective. The plan shows how the aims of mentoring are linked to the organisational outcomes as well as personal benefits participants are likely to gain. The plan describes programmed activities, the monitoring and evaluation processes. It defines the roles and responsibilities of participants, outlines policy and guidelines and includes a well-developed communication strategy.

So, do you need to formalise mentoring? Maybe not, but if you want to ensure that mentoring delivers on its potential you need a plan, a program, a system and people who care to implement it. That way, mentoring works.

Making Time for Mentoring

2010-11-05T10:39:00.000+11:00

The most commonly cited obstacle to mentoring is lack of time. And who is not busy? At work and in life most of us are rushing from one activity to another in a frenzy of busy-ness. We live at a frenetic pace, in what's become a 24/7 world. What to do?

There are only four ways we can make more time available.

1. Efficiency

Use tools, techniques and technology to do things more quickly. To do lists, diaries, systems, checklists and clever equipment, help speed up, save time and do things right. But speeding up, without addressing the other three pillars of creating time only increases stress and our current fool-hardy tendencies toward busy-ness that are destroying quality of life.

2. Effectiveness

Apply the 80:20 principle, which says that 80% of results come from just 20% of actions, to ensure that you prioritise, delegate and do the right things. Just like your financial budget, look at where you are spending and decide what is and isn't a worthwhile investment of your time. What outcomes are produced from what you do? Could someone else achieve the same at less cost to you? Where does your effort make a difference and what really doesn't matter?

3. Stop!
Cease doing things that make no difference, waste time or worse, debilitate you. Avoid mind-numbing, energy sapping, harmful activities (or people) that drain energy or get in the way of productivity. This includes anything with a negative impact on you physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Such things as most TV, certain foods, and too much alcohol, reading or listening to doom and gloom and some kinds of music are real threats to your wellbeing. Consider jettisoning or delegating activities you don't need, enjoy or do well. Delegate what could be done adequately, or better, by others.

4. Start

Invest time in those things that calm, energise and revitalize. Increase wellbeing through nutrition, exercise, leisure, pleasure, relaxation, meditation, mental stimulation, emotional and social support and your choice of spiritual connection.

Traditional time management teaches these practices. However, the four pillars of creating time depend on one overarching element:

A clear sense of purpose,

A vision of where you are going,

A mission and principles to guide you.

When a compelling reason dominates what you do, it is reflected in the goals you set. Priorities automatically fall into place. Energy is focused and obstacles are overcome. You know why you want to do what you are doing and you figure out how best to do it.

Consciously held vision switches on the unconscious and releases creativity. Focus creates flow. Awareness of your mission and acceptance of your vital role to fulfill it is the difference between mere motivation and inspiration.

Ultimately, living in alignment with your purpose brings balance into your life because achieving it results in self-preservation and optimum performance.

The aim of mentoring is to help people identify and achieve their goals. More than anything else, alignment with purpose increases the likelihood of achieving goals. When mentors ask questions and listen and those mentored are willing to go deep to find their answers, the relationship becomes a sanctuary for soul-searching. This is the power of mentoring. This is why mentoring works.

How a Five Minute Mentoring Conversation Delivered a New Direction

2010-11-03T10:37:00.000+11:00

David Norris a business coach but his initial conversations with potential clients are classic mentoring. Five minutes and a few questions enabled one man to turn around his poorly performing business and do what he loved.

The business-owner was an IT specialist supporting local companies. His responses to David's first questions: How long have you been in business? How is it going? And, How many other IT people are there in this area? painted a gloomy picture. The business owner slumped in his chair. Asked: Who are your customers? He answered: "Anybody".

However, when David asked his next questions: Who is your favourite customer? and what do you like most about working with them? the guy lit up, he got energised, sat up and spoke with enthusiasm. It turned out the IT guy was an expert in, and loved working with, hotel booking systems. His best client was a local five star hotel. When David asked: Do you think there might be other clients with similar needs? the light went on - our area is a popular short-stay tourist destination with hundreds of motels as well as a growing number of resorts. The IT man suddenly realised that by specialising in what he was good at and loved, instead of trying to be everything to all customers, he could carve a specialist niche for a profitable business. He never looked back.

David Norris can tell business owners what to do to have a better business, he can show them and teach them. But David knows that the first step to making a difference in someone's life is to ask the questions that make people think for themselves. Questions enable people to gain insight, to have the "Ah Ha!" moment. This generates incredible energy that can be captured and turned into enthusiasm for a goal and actions. This is the power of mentoring. David says: "My approach always is to tap into and find the person's energy spot. What gets them going, enthusiastic. I know that once I find this we connect properly and the rest is easy. This is joy."

Whether it is a business, a career, an issue, problem or decision, a mentoring conversation uses four basic questions to develop strategies.

David's questions, all variations of "where are you now?" took just five minutes to produce a dramatic result. The business owner instantly knew what he wanted and what to do to get it. Other people and situations need more conversation to develop a specific goal and strategy. A mentor will use questions to elicit ideas and options, help identify the pros and cons of any proposed course of action and arrive at a plan.

The key to mentoring is skillful questioning and listening, guiding a person to tap into their own energy, wisdom and creativity.

This is mentoring at work. Mentoring works.

Marketing Mentoring To Attract Proficient and Competent Mentors

2010-11-02T14:25:00.000+11:00

Sharon asks: How to best market the program to attract proficient and competent mentors?

I like the way you phrased this question Sharon, because actually you captured the essence of the answer already – marketing is the key.

Marketing your mentoring program involves:

1. Identifying the people you want to attract;

2. Understanding what’s important to them;

3. Engaging them; and

4. Gaining their commitment.

If you want proficient and competent mentors, you’ll need to decide what that means to you. This will give you selection criteria. Then you can either: throw a broad net and filter out those who don’t fit the bill; or, you can target specific people who do. I’ve talked about strategies for this in my ebook How To Recruit Mentors. If you’d like a copy let me know and I’ll send it to you.

To market to anyone you have to understand what’s important to them. Mentors do volunteer for altruistic reasons and you must acknowledge them for that but you must also show tangible benefits for mentors and strategic value for the organisation. You’ll need to get potential mentors talking and really listen for their needs, wants, values and fears. In an organisation, you are looking for an overlap between personal desires and strategic objectives that either have significant impact on them or they really care about.

If you have begun a dialogue with potential mentors, you have started to develop a relationship that will help you engage them. What you have learned about their needs and wants will help you shape the messages you communicate (your “pitch”).

People are so busy and so overloaded with information and advertising that you will need to cut through the clutter and deliver a powerful message. Consider a personal approach, one-to-one, presentations at meetings, delivered yourself, or by mentoring champions. Audio-visuals will help reinforce the message. Follow-up in writing, maybe use something novel like a postcard or book to stimulate more interest. Provide an online information kit with all the details. Then ask them, in person, to join.

What do you think? Add your thoughts, comments or questions here.

The Good Wife Gets a Mentor

2010-11-02T10:38:00.000+11:00

“I’m your new mentor!” The announcement clearly took the young junior associate by surprise. She’d had only seen the senior partner in staff meetings, since he came on board with his people, in a merge that it was hoped would save the firm. Alicia was doing well. She’d gained a second chance at a career in the profession she loved but had given up for her family. As a junior associate in a law firm, she worked hard in a competitive environment, to win her job. She was juggling her work, her children and a difficult personal life. The firm has seen mass lay-offs. Uncertainty and rumors clouded the future. So what did it mean? Why would the incoming hero declare his mentorship out of the blue? Did she want it? Did she need it? How would she find the time for it? Was it a burden or a gift? Would this mentoring aggravate the already complicated relationships in the workplace? A look of shock and confusion was quickly replaced by composed politeness as Alicia tried to take yet another challenge in her stride.

So ends the first episode of the second series of the TV drama, “The Good Wife”. Full of intrigue, courtroom action and sizzling relationship dilemmas, the show is fiction, an exaggeration for our entertainment. But as they say, art imitates life. It’s not clear what Alicia’s mentoring is really about but it seems to be motivated by good intent. At an earlier partners meeting, the new guy said: “I think we should mentor the junior associates, bring them on.” Another partner pointed out that they already mentored informally and that the female partner was a champion for women. This was not enough, the new man said, mentoring should be more visible and available to all.

It’s a noble thought, shared by those who know that an organization’s future depends on its ability to attract, retain and develop people. Unfortunately, the fictional characters, like many in real boardrooms, did not have a conversation to examine the vital elements that turn a good idea into good strategy.

If mentoring is to add strategic value to an organization and benefit individuals you need to be clear about its purpose, how you’ll communicate this intention, the logistics of implementation and support, and how you’ll evaluate its worth. I have put together a short video that gives you specific discussion points. Invest one minute here to learn the questions you need to answer to ensure your mentoring works.

Mentoring and Mid-life Renaissance

2010-11-01T14:20:00.000+11:00

Mid-life is an important stage of life, often associated with the stress of changes related to aging, health and career. For some, this passage is aptly labeled mid-life crisis; for others it can be a liberating, vibrant transition that I prefer to call mid-life renaissance.

At mid-life, the transition of aging means confronting inevitable life changes. Mentoring provides a golden opportunity to renew enthusiasm, rejoice in life experience and ignite a passion for new goals.

The demographic of the Australian workplace means that people aged 45-55 often mentor people in their 20-30s who are in the early stage of career. The mentor's role is to guide the other person as they explore goals and options and develop skills to achieve them. Mentors frequently find the relationship is a catalyst for examining their own work and aspirations.

The trend has been to retire at age 55-65 marking the end of career. However, longer life expectancy, different social dynamics and economic influences, mean people may want, or need, to stay in work and find new ways to engage in life. Some people are rejecting the concept of retirement entirely but seeking better work-life balance now. This means finding ways to include activities once put off until retirement in their present lives. Travel, hobbies, leisure and learning become priorities. The pursuit of life-long dreams, reinventing themselves and new relationships may be desired. Yet the need for meaningful work remains. Career decisions take on new importance, there's often a sense of "it's now or never".

The stress of letting go of old concepts combined with the excitement of new possibilities can create an emotional turmoil, not unlike that felt at the beginning of adulthood. Similarly, mid-lifers also experience changing hormone levels that can sometimes produce physical and emotional challenges. No wonder this passage is called mid-life crisis!

The Chinese character depicting the word "crisis" contains the elements of "danger" and "opportunity". Mid-life issues certainly fit that description. As with any kind of stressor, how the body and mind process the experience directs the potential outcome. Will distress result in debilitation or will the challenge stimulate and strengthen? Will we wither or will we grow?

The term "renaissance" is most often associated with the great revival of art, literature and learning that transformed the medieval world and ushered in the modern era. So to, mid-life can be a time of rebirth, renewal, a return, perhaps, to the ideals of youth combined with the wisdom of age.

If mid-life is to be a renaissance, it means re-examining our true values, re-igniting our sense of purpose, restoring genuine goals and living in alignment with our real priorities. When mentors are trained to assist someone else capture and create their aspirations, they are perfectly primed to explore their own.

Mentoring another naturally causes reflection on one's own issues. Mentors of any age need support, a network of colleagues, their own mentor or peer with whom they can discuss general and personal issues. Mentors at mid-life are in transition and, as with any journey, can make it alone but are better off with fellow travelers. Who mentors your mentors?

Learning for Life

2010-10-28T10:19:00.000+11:00

The athlete, musician or student, the disadvantaged, disabled, or "average" person who excels, is one who learns that, regardless of what we are born with, or what life hands us, it is what we learn and what we do with life that counts.

We are a dynamic combination of genetic endowment, environmental influences and the decisions and choices we make about how to live our lives. Genes deliver a predisposition to physical attributes, mental capability and core personality traits. A range of factors in the world around us wield great influence. We grow up and grow old, and along the way we acquire knowledge, skills and experience, we develop attitudes, beliefs, values, priorities and goals. It is what we learn and what we do that makes our lives.

Life-long learning is a given. We learn behaviours, slip into habits and make assumptions. Unconsciously acquired, these can be a trap if not directed by our real values, true priorities and inspired goals.

Mentoring enables informed decisions and sound choices to be made. The mentor leads the process in which both parties discover more about their own values, priorities and purpose. Assumptions are challenged, beliefs and values examined, behaviours reinforced or modified to support the evolving, clearer sense of self that inevitably occurs in a relationship that features honest and open dialogue.

Formal education and training is preparation for entry to the workforce but further development is necessary to take the next step and the first career is seldom the last. Rapid change, greater responsibilities and global competition mean that regardless of skill level and qualifications, those who continue to learn have the edge.

Demographic, economic, technological and social changes are transforming the workforce. Young people seek, and often obtain, rapid advancement. Career transitions are more frequent. Worker mobility makes retention a continuing issue. Intellectual capital is lost as experienced people leave or retire. Management is more about leadership and building staff capability than supervision. Older people will stay in, or return to work; or, with greater life expectancy, good health and need for engagement with life, turn to new activities. People at every age and stage of life and career need to learn. The limitations of traditional classroom training mean that mentoring must complement other personalised forms of learning that will be foremost amongst development strategies.

Facilitating learning for life by introducing effective mentoring involves ensuring people:

Recognise the strategic imperative as well as personal benefits;
Learn about learning;
Are skilled in the techniques for effective mentoring; and
Receive formal support for mentoring.

Is your organisation ready?

Mentoring Metrics

2010-10-25T10:17:00.000+11:00

Mentoring won't solve every problem. Where will it make a difference? And, what do you measure to know that it works?

Mentoring is employed by organizations to achieve strategic objectives. Individuals benefit from mentoring. But from the outset, it is important to understand what may and may not be expected from mentoring. Having realistic expectations, clear goals and ways to identify the extent to which they are attained is critical.

Reasons for Mentoring

Organisations

Recruitment
Retention
Developing people
Knowledge management/transfer
Improved productivity
Succession planning

Individuals

Career planning
Professional development
Personalised learning
Personal growth

While individuals quickly experience personal benefits from mentoring, tangible outcomes take time to emerge.

Some results, such as retention, are easy for an organization to evaluate but may be influenced by factors other than mentoring.

For organizations and individuals the process is the same:

Determine why you want mentoring - the difference do you want it to make;
Decide if mentoring can deliver these results; and
Identify what you could measure, before and after mentoring to indicate outcomes.

Why Mentoring? The HR Imperative

2010-10-21T10:16:00.000+11:00

What would be the impact of losing one-third of your workers over the decade? And what if those that left were your most experienced people? What tacit knowledge, what undocumented information and what lost skills would walk out the door with them?

Three related HR issues are receiving popular press and have significant implications for organizations:

The so-called "war for talent" - attracting and retaining graduates and experienced workers - show no sign of de-escalating;
The skills shortage continues, with demand outstripping our ability to supply trained and experienced people in a range of essential areas; and
Population trends for Australia indicate that in the next decade up to 35% of workers in some organizations will reach retirement age. At the same time, there will be more skilled jobs than people to fill them.

These factors mean that:

Organizations may no longer be able to buy the skills they need;
Employers will have to find ways to unlock people's potential - their human capital; and
Strategies that enable people to create synergy, share knowledge and build skills will be imperative

Investing in Talent

Smart organizations have long recognised the need to use comprehensive recruitment strategies. More recently, "on-boarding" processes have proved to be successful in influencing new-hires to stick around. It has also been recognised that, while attractive remuneration is important, it is not enough to keep highly mobile and aspiring employees satisfied. Employee engagement is a key factor in productivity as well as retention. Opportunities for on-going professional and career development and workplace relationships are high on the list of reasons people stay. Mentoring programs can be designed to facilitate career planning, professional development and building relationships to meet employee needs. Mentoring enhances the relationship skills of mentors, making them better managers, coaches and co-workers.

Unlocking Potential

Most employees have untapped talent just waiting to be energised and empowered. Recently a scientist in a workshop told me that no-one in his workplace knew that he had just completed a degree in counselling. He had privately pursued his personal interest. He had a wealth of knowledge and skill that was of value to the organisation, available but unused.

A desire for personal growth, learning and development is innate but often unrecognised. Mentoring enables both partners in the relationship to acknowledge their ability, set and achieve goals and unleash potential. This is inspirational and very satisfying for the people and highly valuable to the organisation.

Aging Population

At the same time that the bulk of the Australian population hits retirement age, it is predicted that there will be more jobs than people to fill them.

If older workers are to stay, they will need to be engaged contributors, not pasengers. They will need to pass on their corporate and professional knowledge. They will need to develop new skills. They are potential mentors. As well as sharing their experience with younger workers, fulfilling a valued and respected role as a mentor keeps people engaged. So mentoring could impact on the productivity of both mentored employees and the mentors.

Mentoring relationships can also bridge the generational divide that sometimes occurs. Teaming older and younger people, equipping them with skills and providing an opportunity for communication, understanding and appreciation, builds mutual respect.

When people become skilled in one-to-one relationships they are also more effective in teams. Better team members and team leaders contribute to productivity.

As organizations assess their future workforce capability, mentoring stands out as a strategy for sustaining human resources

Mentoring Circles

2010-10-19T14:10:00.000+11:00

Contemporary mentoring has many forms and frequently people regard each other as partners, colleagues or peers, ignoring age or status. This more egalitarian approach to mentoring suits today's professional environment, enabling an exchange of views, exploration of ideas and personal insight.

In a Mentoring Circle a facilitator meets with four, six, eight or ten people, each of whom is both mentor and mentoree. The group meets regularly to learn, discuss and experience mentoring. The group and facilitator discuss only the mentoring process. Mentoring conversations remain confidential between mentoring partners. Each person in the circle mentors and is mentored.

The mentoring conversation invites each mentoree to reflect on his or her own experience with a situation, issue or problem, then gather information from a variety of sources (perhaps including the mentor), sort through options, decide on a course action, plan and implement it then review the results over time. Mentoring is empowering, enabling the mentoree to generate his or her own answers, explore possible consequences of actions and take responsibility for their decisions and actions. The role of each mentor is to build rapport, ask questions, listen and elicit the mentoree's own wisdom. The mentor does not have to be older, wiser or have specialised knowledge in any field. They need to be skilled in leading a mentoring conversation and listening. The mentor's questioning skills extend and enhance the mentoree's thinking processes. The mentoree develops their critical and creative thinking.

A three-hour workshop begins the Mentoring Circle:

Introducing a practical model of mentoring;
Describing a four-step mentoring process that can be used for decision making, problem solving and setting and achieving goals; and
Providing an experience of the Mentoring Circle

The initial workshop is followed by monthly meetings of the Mentoring Circle. The facilitator assist participants extend their mentoring ability. A one-hour group skills development session is followed by up to one hour of mentoring for each participant by another. The program last for six months and concludes with a group debrief and feedback session.

Advantages of Mentoring Circles include:

Both partners benefit by giving and receiving mentoring;
Because the group meets monthly, the mentoring partners meet regularly;
It is easy to monitor and ensure quality of the mentoring process;
Mentoring skills are continually developed and enhanced through the input of an expert facilitator.

Things That Make You Go, Mmm..."

2010-10-15T07:09:00.000+11:00

That comment, question or idea, that causes you to pause, reflect and make a decision may be a mentoring moment. In an ordinary conversation, with a colleague, manager, friend or relative, the words are not necessarily aimed at inspiring, advising or informing you but something in you responds. You receive a meaningful message that you are ready to hear and act upon.

For example, I was talking with a client in Melbourne last year. In casual conversation before facilitating a workshop, getting some background on how this very successful business had started and grown. The business owner, Mark Connolly made the comment: " sometimes you must decide what needs to be done and just do it." At the time, Mark had no idea of the impact of his words but I had been wrestling with some issues in my own business and this statement was just what I needed to hear. On the plane back to Sydney, later that day, I knew what needed to be done and had made the decision to get on and do it!

Often, once you are propelled into action synergy draws support to you. A week later, at the board meeting of a volunteer organisation, the President, Lee Clark, responded to a question about how she operates by saying: "I surround myself with people that I like and can work with who have the skills to do what's needed." This comment also had great meaning for me. The "Ah ha" was reinforcement of my earlier decision - I needed to recruit more staff. My Personal Assistant came on board shortly thereafter and made a world of difference to my business and my life.

"When The Student Is Ready, The Teacher Will Appear"

Often, a mentoring moment is serendipitous, as in the examples above. However, some people are adept at offering nuggets of wisdom they've gained from experience, voicing an opinion or sharing a story in a way that enables someone else, who is receptive, to pick up and act on a valuable message. The mentor may be consciously placing an idea before their colleague or simply have a communication style that is thought provoking for others. Either way, the mentor is not instructing, just sharing ideas, sowing seeds that may bear fruit or fall on stony ground. The mentor is not attached to an outcome. If a result occurs, they may never know. If a message is received it is because the receiver is literally, tuned in. If they decide and act upon it, it is their choice.

Free Webinar - Overcoming the Fear of Mentoring: Why promoting benefits is not enough!

2010-10-14T10:01:00.000+11:00

If our previous post: Why Managers Fear Mentoring, struck a chord, you’re not alone! And it’s not just managers who can feel angst when mentoring is on the agenda. Potential mentors and mentorees may be apprehensive too.

So I’ve expanded the scope of our complimentary webinar next week to address this issue.

Naturally, we’ll still cover the advertised topic – Benefits Of Mentoring, and answer your questions related to the topic but, as you will see, preaching the benefits of mentoring may not be enough.

So if you want to ensure mentoring flourishes, you need this information.

Overcoming The Fear Of Mentoring: Why promoting benefits is not enough!

This webinar is for you if you want to:

Recruit mentors and attract mentees
Gain management support
Make the business case or obtain funding for mentoring

Today, no one can afford their investment in mentoring not to achieve expected outcomes. Now you can deal with a major stumbling block to mentoring success – fear.

With sixteen years experience, I have assisted people and organizations in fields as diverse as health, construction, energy, communications, law and government, to get the most out of mentoring. At Mentoring Works we’ve helped organizations just like yours to achieve the strategic advantages and personal benefits of mentoring. So join us for a live conversation.

11:00am Monday 18 October Sydney time (check local time here).

I look forward to speaking with you Monday.

Why Managers Fear Mentoring

2010-10-14T08:15:00.001+11:00

Why do some managers actively discourage their subordinate’s participation in mentoring? Or, even when they’ve agreed to allow an aspiring mentoree into a program, fail to provide support? What is it that prevents these managers from seeing the value that mentoring brings to individuals and organizations?

Barriers, obstacles or hurdles thrown up by people have one cause - fear. Most people become uncomfortable and defensive when they perceive anything mildly threatening. Unfortunately, work and life has become increasingly stressful in an uncertain environment, this lowers risk tolerance and may increase resistance to change.

So what might managers have to fear from mentoring? The most common concerns are:

Lost productivity
Loss of power
Lost potential

Productivity

Managers, quite rightly, recognize that mentoring will take time. If mentoring takes place in work hours it’s going to have an immediate impact on productivity. With a focus on short-term results, this is naturally a problem for managers.

Power

Managers worry that mentors will undermine their authority, give advice contrary to their legitimate directions or cast doubt on their competence. They think that their subordinates will talk about them and show them in a bad light. They may even be jealous of their subordinate’s opportunity for development.

Potential

Mentoring is offered to people with potential. The personal and professional development of individuals builds organizational capability. However, this may mean good performers move on. A promotion or career move may be great for the person but bad news for their boss who has a gap that costs time and money to fill.

What Can You Do?

Lack of support by managers is a major hazard for mentoring. It cannot be ignored.

Firstly, recognize that the manager’s fears are not groundless and need to be addressed. Communication is the key and is needed to gain the support of all managers, not just the ones who are resistant.

To gain commitment and allay fears you will need strong communication delivered repeatedly and with credibility from the very top of the organization. The message should be loud and clear that mentoring is an investment in productivity and that it is of strategic value to the organization. Information needs to be very specific, not only about the positive outcomes expected from mentoring but also the danger of not developing people. Bear in mind that if managers are responding from fear they are less likely to pay attention to positive counter-argument. Their fear receptors are on alert for warning signs.

Secondly, train mentoring participants. Mentorees should talk to their managers about mentoring. The content of a mentoring conversation is confidential but mentorees are more likely to gain and keep the cooperation of their managers if they talk about how what they learn impacts on their current performance. Mentoring develops people for the future but increased ability can translate into greater productivity in the present.

Train mentors to respect the authority of managers. They should be accepting of comments from their mentoree butrecognise that they are getting only one side of the story and refrain from judgement. Mentors use listening and questioning to help their mentoree figure out what to do. If it appears that a mentoree has a grievance or serious problem with their manager, it should be handled through appropriate channels and the mentoree should consult an HR professional.

Finally, keep managers in the loop. Engage them in two-way communication before, during and after any mentoring program. Provide management briefings before the launch of mentoring that give the strategic overview, describe expected outcomes and specify the level of management commitment required. Facilitate the opportunity for them to air their concerns and address issues. Provide regular updates so they know what’s going on. Report successes achieved as mentoring progresses.

Of course, you could provide mentoring for managers so they experience for themselves just how mentoring works!

Article taken from the Mentoring News Issue #73. You can subscribe to receive your free fortnightly copy here.

Support Your Mentoring Program

2010-10-12T10:06:00.000+11:00

Coventional wisdom states that any new initiative in your organisation needs support from the top. This is certainly true for your mentoring program but top down support is not enough. You will need to gain and maintain support throughout the organisation, including:

The CEO;
Senior Executives;
Middle Managers;
Potential Mentors and Mentorees;
Supervisors of Mentors and Mentorees;
Informal Thought Leaders;
Program Champions; and
The Implementation Team

Gaining support means marketing. Establish the needs of people you need to "buy-in", clearly define what mentoring offers and how it meets those needs. Describe benefits and convey your message in persuasive terms to decision makers. Once you've "made the sale" you need to keep attitudes toward the program positive.

Establish Needs

Identify the specific incentives that appeal to individuals and your organization. Attracting and retaining quality people is a major issue for most organisations. Look at patterns and cost of staff turnover (are you losing new-hires? Or, is your experienced knowledge and skill base walking out the door? Are you losing graduates, mature workers, indigenous people?). Find evidence of the organisation's needs and you'll find a target market for participation. Position mentoring as a cost-effective retention strategy, if that is relevant. Research shows a relatively small amount of money, 5-10% can lure top talent to another similar job; but friends within the workplace and relationships with managers, colleagues and customers and career progression are retention factors. Mentoring builds a network of relationships and career development for all involved.

Describe Your Program

Determine realistically, the difference a mentoring program could make. Identify the strategic value to your organization, the program purpose and measurable objectives. Table 1 shows examples from three different mentoring programs.

Table 1 Specify Objectives

Rolfe, A. (2006) How To Design And Run Your Own Mentoring Program.
Mentoring Works

Strategic Aims (organisational need)	Program Purpose (broad aims, focus)	Realistic Objectives (measurable outcomes)
Reduce staff turnover	Support new employees	% increase in retention
Reduce staff turnover	Career progression of targeted group	Number of internal applications for higher grade positions
Reduce staff turnover	Professional development	Number of staff completing designated course

Convey Your Message

In any communication it helps to speak the language of people who will receive the message. Find out what is important to them, use words that are meaningful to them, give practical examples and evidence. Write, speak about and visualy present the benefits relevant to each audience. Senior executives will be more concerned with strategic outcomes, mid-managers increased productivity, participants want to know about the personal benefits. Use all available media from meetings, newsletters, intranet sites to the grape-vine. Peronal communication by champions who are committed to the concept is very effective. Remember that communication is two-way. Listen, accept and where appropriate, use feedback.

Keep Attitudes Positive

Develop a communication plan that will continue throughout the program. Send positive messages. Keep all parties informed. Ensure that management get feedback about how the program is advancing toward the strategic outcomes. Keep managers of participants in the loop and of course, ensure that participants remain engaged. It is often as important to keep people who are not involved in the program on-side, so care for them too. If there will be future opportunities for them to participate make sure they know.

By gaining support throughout your organization you are building longevity for a program that delivers value to the organization and benefits to people.

The Power of Feedback Without Judgement

2010-10-08T13:31:00.000+11:00

Jessica, a student teacher was telling about her class, twelve year-olds in their first term, in their first year, in a selective high school. Bright kids, their first major assignment was demanding. Jessica had their papers to mark over the weekend. She decided not to give a mark out of ten, instead she would write comments that students could use to improve performance. She explained that research had shown a significant difference in student responses to marking. If a score alone is given, good students stay about the same and poor students get worse. When a mark and comments are given, all students stay about the same. Yet when comments alone are given all students improve. Jessica knew that to her students, fresh and fragile in a whole new academic scenario, a mark would be interpreted as judgement, at best satisfying at worst destructive; while a comment could be used as constructive feedback. She knew that the secret of assisting others to achieve lies in the power of feedback without judgement.

Judgement In a Mentoring Relationship

Judgement in a mentoring relationship can:

Reduce rapport
Provoke emotional responses
Create resistance and resentment

Rapport

Mentoring is a partnership, a collaborative relationship that fosters insight and growth for both parties. So rapport is esential. Rapport means connecting, being on the same wavelength and feeling neither superior nor inferior. Judgement elevates the status of one at the expense of the other. It implies the values of one, in terms of what is good/bad, right/wrong, worthwhile or not, must predominate. It infers an imbalance of status and power in the relationship. No one likes being talked down to.

Emotions

Mentoring is about lowering barriers, feeling safe to disclose thoughts and feelings. However, excessive emotion is a barrier to communication. Judgement is a threat to our ego. Insecurity invokes defensiveness that may arouse emotions of fear, anxiety or anger. Stress responses disrupt the brain's information processing. When emotional energy is channelled into defensive behaviours it is unavailable for creativity, problem-solving or decision-making.

Resistance

While mentorees want advice, ideas and guidance, they often resist instruction. Words like "should", "must" and "ought" convey judgement and alienate people. Research on the impact of direction found that when given advice by an authority figure (e.g.supervior,parent) 25% took the suggestion and tried to apply it, 18% did the oppsite of the suggestion and 57% did nothing different!

Feedback

Feedback exposes a blind spot, the recipient ventures into the unknown. Willingness to learn is risky business. As a wise and trusted guide, the mentor fills the void with information, opinions and ideas based on their own experience. Facts rather than suppositions allow informed decision-making. Advice is offered, not imposed. Options are explored. Feedback then may be heard, valued and used.

Mentoring - A Non-Judgemental Relationship

Listening without judgement builds essential rapport. Feedback, without judgement is empowering. Both are learned skills, both enable the mentoree to make their own decisions and plans with support and guidance and both create a communication style that can enhance any relationship. What if we listened and spoke to everyone this way?

This article is an extract from Mentoring Tips Volume 2. Mentoring Tips are one-page, informative and easy to read. Receiving Mentoring Tips on a regular basis:

Provides mentors with ongoing information, tools and motivation:
Keeps participants engaged in the process; and
Informs managers of mentoring techniques and benefits

Planning Your Mentoring Program

2010-10-05T06:26:00.000+11:00

Your mentoring program has the capacity to deliver significant benefits to participants and your organization. However, not all mentoring programs deliver the desired outcomes. A mentoring program that doesn't achieve it's full potential is a concern. A mentoring program that fails, or one that "fizzles out" may leave staff cyncial and management wary of human resources initiatives.

Planning your mentoring program is essential to ensure that:

Objectives are achieved;
People have an effective and enjoyable mentoring experience; and
The organization obtains a satisfactory return on investment.

This post outlines:

Critical success factors for your mentoring program;
The mentoring program planning process; and
Managing monitoring and coordinating your program.

Critical Success Factors

A Successful Mentoring Program:

States clear objectives that are linked to the strategic goals of the organisation;
Supports other integrated, ongoing strategies to develop employees' professional competencies;
Has an individual or team to coordinate the program, monitor and report progress and evaluate results;
Develops a communication strategy to inform all employees (not just participants) about the program;
Clearly defines mentor and mentoree roles and responsibilities and provides written guidelines on mentoring;
Specifies selection criteria for mentors and mentorees;
Uses a suitable method for matching and introducing mentoring partners;
Develops knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable participants to become effective mentoring partners;
Facilitates the negotiation of agreements between mentoring partners so that individual objectives, expectations and requirements are clear;
Fosters the ability of participants to benefit from formal and informal networking and mentoring opportunities;
Involves supervisors of participants;
Provide models and a structure for the mentoring process;
Provides resource material for ongoing personal, professional and career development;
Produces demonstrable results which are evaluated; and
Recognises and rewards the contributions of participants in the program.

The Planning Process

A facilitated workshop with a group of stakeholders and potential participants is an effective way to begin the planning process. The group can develop a framework for the mentoring program that includes realistic objectives, activities to be included in the program, communication and evaluation strategies. The all-important issue of resources and budget for the program, including the cost/benefit of using an external consultant for program delivery must also be addressed.

A timeline and action plan for the preparation, launch, duration and conclusion of the program needs to be prepared. Three months is a typical lead-time to allow preparation and promotion of the mentoring program.

Managing, Monitoring and Coordinating The Program

An in-house program coordinator or team is needed. Even if you use external resources in the delivery of your mentoring program, a person within the organization responsibe for coordination is vital. The program coordinator may do or delegate the administrative aspects of the program but their communication role is vital. The coordinator implements the strategies to promote the program, evaluates and reports results. The program coordinator is a central touch point for participants, to ensure ongoing engagement, to monitor progress and to provide support. The program coordinator needs appropriate resources and support to perform their role.

The saying: "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well" is very applicable to planning mentoring programs! Invest in planning your mentoring program to ensure its success.

Your Mentoring Program - After The Launch

2010-10-01T12:25:00.001+10:00

You've announced the program, selected the participants, introduced them, trained and paired them. People are excited, enthusiastic and keen to make it work. Yet, research suggests that energy for a new goal can be short-lived. If people's commitment is not nurtured your mentoring program's success may be limited. Now, as the fanfare of the launch fades, is a pivotal point in the program.

A mentoring program that doesn't achieve it's full potential is a concern. But a failed mentoring program, or one that "fizzles out" leaves staff cynical and management contemptuous of human resources strategies.

Imagine what it would be like if the mentoring partnerships you set up were enjoying productive relationships in twelve months time. Envisage their faces as they tell you how satisfied they feel with their mentoring experience. If you provide the right support and follow-up, this dream CAN become reality.

Here's how:

Communication
Activities
Network

Communication

The coordinator is the lynch pin of a mentoring program. You want to follow-up a launch very quickly with regular, short and friendly contacts. As with any communication, face-to-face is best, phone is good, written or electronic delivery your third choice. Talking to people personally is time consuming but a worthwhile investment, particularly at the beginning when you are establishing a relationship. Back up with regular emails, printed newsletters or tip sheets with links to a website or webinar facility for those who are keen. Remember that real communication is two-way. You will need to be available to participants and willing to listen and respond constructively to any concerns or issues that they raise.

Activities

To keep people actively involved schedule tasks, discussion forums, workshops or webinars as part of your program. These may range from simple brown-bag lunchroom presentations, self-organised social events, an on-line chat facility or blog to formal workshops. People who feel that they are part of a program are more likely to stay engaged.

Network

Mentoring may be a one-to-one relationship, however, in a mentoring program there is the advantage of being part of a group as well. Mentors need support (read more in the article: Who Mentors The Mentor?) and mentorees benefit by sharing experience with their peers. Human beings love to belong. The TV series Friends remains one of the most popular ever because it strikes a chord with us all. Making our way in the world, outside of immediate families, we choose a variety of tribes to join, a circle of friends, professional associations, social groups and colleagues. These groups can sustain us on our journey through life and career. A mentoring program is a natural breeding ground for a nurturing network (one of my own networks is a group of businesswomen who first came together in a mentoring program in 2000. We still meet regularly and support one another).

Remember, the mentoring program that you have invested in will not sustain itself. A planned program of support and follow-up is essential. Providing ongoing communication, activities and a network will ensure a satisfactory return on investment for all concerned.

Support Is Essential For Mentoring

2010-09-29T15:24:00.000+10:00

Recent research suggests that the success rate of mentoring triples when both mentor and mentoree are trained at the outset. However, the importance of supporting mentoring over the life of the program is also vital. You can't just put people together and say: go forth and ment. Some will prosper, some will stumble and some will fail, if you don't plan and provide support".

Initially participants need to know the goals of mentoring and what is expected of them. A framework for the mentoring relationship and guidelines that show how to get the most out of mentoring conversations is vital.

Training is best conducted face-to-face, providing the opportunity for participants to meet and build rapport in a supportive environment that promotes networking with their peers. Mentors and mentorees alike appreciate the support of fellow travellers. Group activities break the ice and make it easy to get started. Resource materials, such as workbooks, provided during the training become useful references over the life of the relationship. Participants may be introduced to the concept of journaling to increase the value of mentoring.

Once the mentoring relationship is initiated, it can fizzle out if there is no follow up. A co-ordinated plan is vital. Personal follow-up by a person who is the central point of communication, checking in with the mentoring pairs to ensure that they have met again and established goals and agreements for the mentoring increases the likelihood of success.

Follow-up materials such as newsletters, tips and tools can be critical in keeping participants engaged and can be used to involve supervisors and managers so they feel kept in the loop.

A holistic approach to the mentoring process support mentors and mentorees and provides resources that promote long-term engagement.

How Mentoring Effects Change

2010-09-27T08:22:00.001+10:00

Why is a mentoring conversation effective, when other forms of training and development may not achieve the desired change?

As we understand more about how humans change through studies of emotional intelligence and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), it emerges that when people alter either thinking or feelings or behaviour the other elements shift too.

A mentoring relationship of trust and rapport allows really meaningful conversations to take place. These conversations impact on one or more elements: the thinking process, attitudes or feelings, and the behaviour of the mentoree. A change in one element results in a shift in the others.

In other words, a mentoring conversation results in personal insight that may cause a person to re-think a situation. This changes their feelings or attitudes, which in turn causes them to choose a different behavioural response. Alternatively, the conversation may alert the person to the possibility that doing something differently in a given situation may achieve a better outcome. They try the new approach; get a response that changes their emotional reaction (feeling/attitude), in turn causing them to think differently about the situation.

Mentoring is not a substitute for training and education. However, it complements and supports the natural learning process and therefore increases return on investment in professional development.

Why Mentoring Impacts on Organisational Performance

2010-09-24T13:17:00.000+10:00

Examinations of organisational behaviour from the early twentieth century revealed the influence of something as simple as human interaction. The well-publicised ‘Hawthorn Studies’ and the resultant ‘Hawthorne Effect’ showed that productivity increases, which at first appeared to be an effect of altering environmental factors, were really a result of workers being given attention.

In recent years, the obsession with restructuring - focusing on cost-efficiency, downsizing and re-engineering the workplace - has impacted on the social and interpersonal aspects of organisational life. A purely mechanistic approach to organisational development fails to recognise the organic, human nature of every establishment.

Synergy literally means that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We are all connected and today people need people like never before. Cultural, generational and gender differences, and global, economical and political forces make it essential that humans interact to find common spirit.

People are the vital element in any organisational system. A change in any part of a system causes change in every other part. For better or worse, conversations and relationships do impact on individual and organisational performance.

Synergy is achieved through a mentoring process that enables people to gain insight, make informed decisions, plan action, implement new strategies and review their progress. Mentoring conversations recognise that one person cannot impose change on another. However, by simply talking to one another, people can have a profound impact on each other. Two people together can create more than either could alone.

Productivity at the organisational level is a reflection of the performance of people. The positive influence of mentoring individuals therefore contributes to the whole organisation.

Life Changing Mentoring

2010-09-22T15:14:00.000+10:00

Mentoring can be “life changing”, as a mentoring participant recently told me when explaining how much she valued mentoring. She said that she used to get frustrated that her mentor didn’t answer her questions. Instead, he asked her questions! Now she realizes how empowering it is when his probing draws her out. That’s not to say that the mentor should never give advice. In fact, one of her big learnings has come from his often repeated wisdom: “Choose which hill you’ll die on”, meaning, decide when to speak up and fight for something and when not to.

Great mentoring is finding the right ratio of asking to telling. I advocate a general principle of 80:20. What do you think?

Mentoring Etiquette

2010-09-22T09:20:00.000+10:00

The "Golden Rules" may get overlooked in today's busy environment, yet investing in good manners pays off. Professional courtesy is a necessary ingredient in effective mentoring.

Although etiquette may seem old fashioned, there are compelling reasons to teach mentors and mentorees to observe three simple protocols.

Respect Time and Be Prepared

Mentoring is, first and foremost, a relationship. People voluntarily come together with a purpose, to share and grow. It is rewarding for both mentors and mentorees but as in any relationship, stress due to time pressures and the demands of life and work can have an impact. Organising and scheduling is not just polite, it's essential.

Accept Differences

It is likely, and desirable, that a mentor and mentoree have different backgrounds. Differences of personality or perspective bring richness to relationship and greater experience from which to draw insight. However, human nature can get in the way. Learning a non-judgemental approach will enable participants to value and benefit from differences.

Acknowledgement

Psychologists such as Martin Seligman have demonstrated scientifically the positive effects of gratitude, and giving thanks is a feature of most faiths. From a pragmatic point of view, in a mentoring relationship, people need feedback. They need to feel recognised and valued. Mentoring will flounder if these human needs are ignored.

When these simple protocols become habits the benefits extend beyond mentoring. They build personal competence and self-esteem and, like a pebble tossed in a pool, the ripples spread in ever widening circles.

Support your mentoring program with regular Mentoring Tips from the international mentoring specialist, Ann Rolfe.

One-page informative and easy-to-read tips cover topics such as Mentoring Etiquette (Mentoring Tip 14). Receiving Mentor Tips on a regular basis:

Provides mentors with ongoing information, tools and motivation;
Keeps participants engaged in the process; and
Informs managers mentoring techniques and benefits

Who Mentors the Mentors?

2010-09-16T10:05:00.000+10:00

It’s a question often asked during a launch, workshop, mid-point review or final event of a mentoring program and it’s a valid point: who mentors the mentor?

We expect mentors to facilitate conversations, manage the relationship and solve any problems that arise. It’s pretty ironic that we don’t give them mentoring for their role, don’t you think?

Without ongoing support, there’s always the risk that:

People get busy and mentoring slips as a priority;
As the fanfare of the initial training fades, enthusiasm wanes and relationships fizzle out;
The strategic value and personal benefits of mentoring may be forgotten;
They don’t realise the value they themselves get from being a mentor;
They wonder if they are doing a good job and their confidence is undermined;
Some that think they’re doing OK but they don’t know how to mentor for better outcomes;
Others continue unchecked, unproductive styles of mentoring that destroy relationships;
They feel isolated when they have problems and it becomes easier to let mentoring slide;
Without feedback and support, they don’t have a way of improving their skills;
Mentors feel undervalued and even resent their service to others because no one mentors them.

With more and more organizations expecting mentoring to achieve strategic outcomes, it’s never been more important to make sure you get it right. If you train mentors and those they mentor, you are off to a good start. If you give mentors the opportunity to network with each other, keep learning and be mentored you are ahead of the game.

What can you do?

Provide a forum for mentors to ask questions, interact with their peers and get feedback;
Continue their education and development as mentors by giving them tips, tools and techniques; and
Ensure that mentors experience expert mentoring for themselves.

Without ongoing support there is a real risk that a mentoring program will fail to produce. Mentor your mentors, develop their capabilities, keep them engaged and your program will thrive because that’s how mentoring works.

The Pareto Principle

2010-09-15T10:31:00.000+10:00

What can an 18th century economist teach us about mentoring? Just this: one simple principle that may be the single most important factor in a successful mentoring relationship!

Vilfredo Pareto (1848 -1923) described a phenomenon now known as the 80:20 rule. Pareto's principle generalises to a surprising number of areas. 80% of revenue comes from 20% of customers, 80% of problems come from 20% causes, 80% of results come from 20% of activities. In mentoring the 80:20 rule can be applied in at least two ways:

1. Listening

Good mentors spend 80% of their time listening and only 20% speaking. What this also means is that mentorees must be speaking 80% of the time! Sharing their goals, interests and concerns.

2. Content and Process

Content is what is spoken about. The subject, topic, goals discussed.
Process means how a topic is discussed. The tools, techniques, models applied to address an issue.

This is an extract from Mentoring Tips 1 # 13. If you would like the full text (one-page) email info@mentoring-works.com with "Send Tip 13" in the subject line.

Consider supporting your mentoring program with regular Mentoring Tips from the international mentoring specialist. Receiving Mentoring Tips on a regular basis:

Provides mentors with ongoing information, tools and motivation;
Keeps participants engaged in the process; and
Informs managers mentoring techniques and benefits

One-page informative and easy-to-read tips cover a range of topics to help your mentors be the best they can be. Volumes 1 and 2 of Mentoring Tips 1-12 are available now. For more information visit www.mentoring-works.com.

Making a Business Case For Mentoring

2010-09-08T10:29:00.000+10:00

Mentoring is becoming ever more popular as an organisational strategy for attracting, retaining and developing people. However, while mentoring is an appealing concept, it is important to ensure that any program will provide a return on investment in terms of achieving the goals of the organization. To get the funding you need for your program you must show sound, business reasons, that convince decision-makers that spending this money will help achieve strategic objectives.\

Mentoring, when well designed, properly implemented and adequately resourced can:

Attract and retain talented employees;
Develop people – those who mentor as well as those mentored;
Facilitate career planning and progression;
Reduce "silo mentality" and increase cross-organisational communication; and
Increase the return on your investment in learning and development and reduce turnover costs.

However, a good business case needs to present relevant and accurate data to your decision-makers. Here is a three-step guide:

1.	Find out where your organization hurts. Provide solutions to pain. Is retention an issue? Which staff leave? Why? What does it cost?
2.	Gather facts from your own organization, industry benchmarks or research data. Quote statistics. You will need solid figures for before and after measures.
3.	Write a budget, showing the cost of the program recouped in less than three years (the life span and planning horizon of most CEO's). Describe the benefits, phrased in language that is meaningful to decision-makers. Appeal to the values, link to strategic objectives, but lead with your best punch – dollars added to the bottom-line.

This article is an extract from: Five Reasons Your Organisation Need Mentoring, by Ann Rolfe. For a free copy of the full article, visit www.mentoring-works.com.

Three Ways Mentoring Adds Value

2010-09-02T09:50:00.001+10:00

There has never been a better time to invest in people development. An aging workforce, young talent with high expectations and mobility, the need for leadership and the imminent skills shortage makes it imperative. You need to nurture those you want to keep and grow their capability. Mentoring is a vital strategy for people development.

Mentoring adds value by:

1. Assisting participants in learning and development programs

Training managers as mentors enables them to support transfer of learning to the workplace. This increases the return on investment in learning and development programs. People feel valued and build mentoring skills and abilities.

2. Supporting management transition

Managers who have been, or are soon to be, promoted without leadership training or management qualifications, need to be mentored. People who excel in their professional role may flounder if they are unsupported when they move into management.

Mentoring people doing first-level management training helps them move from operations to management. Experienced managers mentor to complement the learning experience, nurture it and provide practical support to make a successful transition.

Mentoring middle managers helps them step up to more strategic contributions. Mentoring shares the wisdom gained through broad experience and builds skills. It is a tool for succession planning.

Senior managers often need a confidante, outside the organization. Confidential conversations, with an objective outsider who asks penetrating questions, provoke critical thinking, self-appraisal and alignment with values.

3. Career development

By providing career development workshops, supported by mentoring, people are equipped to look within the organization for the best match for their skills, interests and aspirations; identify and action development plans; or, choose a career path outside the organization. However, organizations are more likely to retain skilled and motivated people by building a culture of ongoing self-development. That’s how mentoring works!

Want to share how mentoring adds value in your organization? Comment here!

The Mentoring Philosophy

2010-09-01T10:28:00.001+10:00

Mentoring is a gift that is shared. It is a relationship that enables purposeful conversation. The conversation assists the mentoree to reflect on their own experience, make informed decisions and act upon the ideas that are generated.

The purpose of mentoring is development. It is about learning not teaching and both mentors and those mentored grow from the experience.

In mentoring, people develop a synergetic relationship through a conversation that enables them to set and achieve goals, make decisions and solve problems. Any person who has the skill to facilitate the mentoring process may be a mentor.Mentoring is enriching and satisfying for both partners.

Many Ways to Mentor

In the past, mentoring has been a one-to-one process, most often informal and unstructured. Contemporary mentoring takes many forms and though informal mentoring often occurs naturally and spontaneously, more structured approaches are emerging. Ways of mentoring include:

Informal – conversations that happen by chance or by arrangement
Formal – relationships in a structured program
Peer mentoring - two colleagues mentor each other
Reverse-mentoring - executives mentored by non-executives
Cascading mentoring – each level of an organization mentor those below
Group mentoring - one mentor meets with several mentoree’s
Mentoring round-tables - peers interact in a group mentoring conversation
Mentoring circles - facilitated group, each person mentors one person and is mentored by another
Mastermind mentoring and business coaching- experts coach a novices

Complimentary Mentoring Videos For Your Phone

2010-08-25T12:14:00.001+10:00

A Minute on Mentoring App

Here’s some really exciting news ... we’ve created a phone “app” for our A Minute On Mentoring series of videos and it’s yours absolutely free!

This is my gift to you, and you can share it with all those you want to reach with mentoring.

This is genuinely free, there’s no catch, no strings, nothing to sign up for and nothing you have to do in return. Read through the details below and I’ll explain:

What an “app” is;

Benefits of using the “app”;

Why I’m giving it to you, free; and

How to get it, now.

What is an “app”?

“App” is short for application. Typically, you would download an App to your phone to give you special functions on your phone, or access to information streamed to your phone’s screen.

You need an iPhone or Android phone with web capability, to get an app. Usually you download an app for free, or as a purchase, from Apple’s iTunes Store.

Our “app” is a bit different. You can’t get it from the iTunes Store but you can get it right here (technically, our “app” is a mobile website not an iPhone app but it runs equally well on iPhones, or Google-based phones).

Benefits of using this “app”

This “app” streams the “A Minute On Mentoring” series of videos right to your phone for viewing.

As the name suggests, each “A Minute On Mentoring” is a very short video. They are designed to promote an understanding of mentoring. There are six in the series and more on the way:

Conversations That Create Insight
What Mentoring Can Do For You
Benefits Of Mentoring
How To Mentor
What To Look For In A Mentor
How To Approach A Mentor

You can share the “app” with others. So you can use it to communicate with people you’d like influence and involve in mentoring:

Promote mentoring to busy people – they’ll appreciate the quick, succinct messages in the videos;

Give participants a fast and user-friendly overview of mentoring; and

Get the mentoring message to young professionals – they enjoy cool technology that they can share with their friends.

Why am I giving you this for free?

Mentoring Works is a commercial enterprise but we do give some valuable free resources, as well as sell products and services. I want to play a part in educating the whole world about mentoring and support people like you who are doing that too. Complimentary resources help spread the message, as well as build awareness of Mentoring Works.

I started making the A Minute On Mentoring series to help my clients and support their mentoring programs. Now there’s a way to put these videos in the hands of many, many more people. So I hope you will enjoy using the app and share it with as many other people as you wish.

How do you get the “app”?

Enjoy!
Ann Rolfe
Founder, Mentoring Works

Strategic Advantages in the Current Employment Environment

2010-08-25T10:26:00.000+10:00

The old psychological contract between employers and employees has been shredded through the continual downsizing, restructuring and rationalisation of organizations. Recently, in Australia, we have seen plant closures, the export of jobs, and major corporate failures. Employees know now, that not only is there no "job for life" there may be no job next week.

Living with such insecurity inevitably impacts on the emotional well-being, quality of life and job performance of workers who need stable, reliable income to meet financial commitments and provide for families. While some young ambitious and talented employees may view constant change and uncertainty as a challenge and opportunity, their career horizon is short. Most see their current employment as the stepping-stone to the next position. Few expect a career path within one organization or to stay more than 2-5 years.

A new approach, where performance, continual learning and adaptability of individual employees is paralleled by development, rewards and benefits provided by the employer, is the answer.

Security-seeking workers need strategies to increase their confidence and competence, so that employer dependent job security is replaced by personal employment security. People seeking career advancement require strategies to ensure their ambitions are achieved. Information, tools and techniques can be provided in career development workshops but for lasting benefit mentoring provides the strategic advantage.

Mentoring shows ongoing support, interest in the person and career development really is a priority.

When employees feel valued and are given the opportunity to develop, they feel more positive toward their employer. Research shows that this results in enhanced job performance, increased retention, reduced absenteeism, improved loyalty and better customers.

Want to know the critical steps to introduce mentoring? Ann Rolfe's (2006) How To Design and Run Your Own Mentoring Program is available now from www.mentoring-works.com or contact us to work with you to customise your in-house program.

The Gores Opted Out - Why That Matters To Your Organisation

2010-08-18T11:06:00.000+10:00

After a forty-year marriage, Al and Tipper Gore went their separate ways. She wanted a quiet life, spending time with her grandchildren. He lives in the public eye, on the road, telling the inconvenient truth. Each had the courage to enter the next phase of life as an individual, true to his and her own priorities.

It’s not uncommon at, or after, midlife for people to become passionate about living their values. For men or women, that might involve putting family first, dedication to a cause, taking a hobby seriously, or, pursuing vocational aspirations. What that means to organizations is mature people may want a change and, like the Gore’s, be bold enough to make dramatic moves.

Since less people are entering than leaving work and the workforce is aging, gaps will appear. Those needed as future leaders may leave to care for elders, their grandchildren, an aging spouse or, to begin a newly liberated life, fulfilling postponed dreams. However, it could mean that previously overlooked talent is available within an organization. Some people will change their minds and be ready to shift gears for a new career track, as their lifestyle enters a new phase.

Alert to the forthcoming skills shortage, many organizations have been recruiting the best and brightest of Gen Y graduates. At the same time, accommodating the family balance needs of Gen X. Talent management is now focussing on developing tomorrow’s leaders. Graduate development is a key strategy but what about employees who took the parent track? Flexi time and family leave were giant leaps toward equity in the workplace. Now, those who shelved their education and professional development in favour of work-life balance need a different kind of support. And, they have much to offer. These people raised kids, ran homes and navigated the complexities of modern relationships. They built houses, were active in communities, managed life outside of work - all while contributing as an employee. They have knowledge, talents and skills that may be under-utilised at work.

Engaging longer-term employees, showing them their work and life experience is valued and offering them professional development will pay off by filling the gaps in organizational knowledge and skills. Organizations that develop the latent abilities of mature workers produce career-satisfaction for valuable people and a sound return on investment. Mentoring is a cost-effective way of achieving these outcomes.

Being mentored and mentoring others builds organizational and individual capability. Mentoring relationships can look past age and job-titles that stereotype workers and discover the person. Talents developed and applied bring joy to people and strength to an organization. That’s how mentoring works!

What do you think about career development at mid-life or later?

What's the Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring?

2010-08-18T10:22:00.003+10:00

Coaching and mentoring are not the same, though the differences are subtle and those who coach and those who mentor use similar skills.

The terms "mentor" and "coach" are often used interchangeably. Although most references agree there are differences between the two, descriptions of the roles are not uniform. So, since ideas about coaching generally derive from sporting models and mentoring is more often associated with careers, the following definitions may be useful:

Coach: a person who trains, tutors or prepares an individual for improved skill and performance.
Mentor: one who guides and stimulates an individual's reflection and actions for improved personal and professional outcomes.

Mentoring and coaching both:

• Provide one-to-one interaction to achieve personalised learning and growth;
• Cater to individual needs, personal styles and time constraints;
• Can be conducted face to face or from remote locations;
• Complement formal training and educational experiences;
• Process real-life issues, problems and decisions;
• Facilitate access to information and choices about new behaviours and actions;
• Support the achievement of positive outcomes.

Coaching is used when there is a well-defined goal that is based on improving skills and performance.

Mentoring is appropriate for career planning, providing general guidance, setting and achieving goals, making decisions or facilitating problem solving.

Like to know more? This is an extract from The Mentoring Conversation by Ann Rolfe. Now available for just $20.00 instantly delivered as an ebook from www.mentoring-works.com Training is also available for your mentors. Contact us for details.

Managing Informal Communication Through Mentoring

2010-08-11T10:21:00.000+10:00

The "grapevine" is fast and effective at spreading messages throughout an organization. These messages are not always accurate, nor do they necessarily convey news that people want to broadcast. However, the grapevine can play a vital role within organizations and people at all levels can use it in positive, as well as negative, ways.

Informal communication always occurs in organizations. People chat in the tea rooms, in the corridors even in the bathroom. Some people congregate outside for a smoke, others socialise over lunch, have a drink after work or play golf. Networks and alliances are formed and information is shared.

The organization chart does not dictate who talks to whom. Bad news travels fast and it is not uncommon for employees to have heard it well in advance of delivery through formal channels. Good news or neutral information can be distorted or misinterpreted as it is passed on. This is why false rumours, half-truths, omissions or amplifications of messages give the grapevine such a bad name.

Informal communication can override organisational statements such as: "people are our greatest asset". Employees get a version of the vision, values and priorities that may be different from that stated in the Annual Report.

Managing informal communication means building relationships and networks that enhance the two-way flow of information. Mentoring can be a critical factor in establishing such networks. Mentoring programs allow people who embody the values and principles of the organization to develop relationships with others. Mentors can convey positive messages to staff and get valuable feedback. A mentor can also act as a circuit breaker for the negative aspects of the grapevine by encouraging critical thinking and a measured response to rumours. A mentoring program sends the message that the organization values its people and cares about their development, in a way that all the glossy print in the world could not achieve.

Mentoring allows people to build relationships based on trust and rapport. People - those mentored as well as mentors - provide a window on the organization that might not be available otherwise. Attitude and morale can improve for both parties. Additional perspective and more accurate information can be brought to career planning and decision-making.

Actively managing the informal communication in an organization raises ethical issues. The grapevine can be manipulated. Information can be planted with specific intent. However, if a mentoring program enhances the critical thinking and problem-solving skills of the participants they become more sophisticated consumers of information. Mentoring programs also usually build networks as well as one-to-one relationships. Such networks provide multiple points of reference for an individual, increasing the veracity of information used and acted on. Mentoring programs therefore make an important contribution to the lives of individual participants and the effectiveness of the organization.

Thinking of implementing a mentoring program? Mentoring Works can help. Review our books and mentoring resources at www.mentoring-works.com Or contact us to discuss a tailored program.

The Domino Effect

2010-08-04T13:22:00.000+10:00

Have you seen an intricate patterns of dominos topple, tripped by a small impact on the first one? Does it make you think about the hours of precision work that made it possible, the planning, the energy and effort; or the frustration when the inevitable misadventure meant starting all over again? Did you know that the mechanical energy involved in toppling a line of dominos means that, theoretically, the effect could continue to infinity?

Although human and organizational behavior is usually the sum of many influences, not a single cause, we know that an impact on one can spread to many. The global financial crisis (GFC) is evidence of that and so is mentoring.

Mentors assist those they mentor to achieve better outcomes but the benefits are not confined to the two individuals. The impact of a single conversation can change the course of one life and therefore of many. Furthermore, learning and practicing mentoring skills makes mentors better leaders, communicators and human beings.

A YouTube video 10,000 Gold Coin Domino Effect (link below), illustrates the potential far-reaching transfer of energy as one touches another. As you watch, think again about the precision, energy and effort that went into planning and preparing for this feat because mentoring needs that too. As a strategy, mentoring is unparalleled in its potential for positive influence on individuals, organizations and society. But strategies need to be planned, mentors need to be trained and, unlike the domino effect, continual energy and attention are required because then mentoring works.

YouTube - 10,000 Gold Coin Donation Domino Effect

Mentoring Young People

2010-08-04T10:20:00.001+10:00

In the USA, a nationwide drive to recruit volunteer mentors for young people targets America's 77 million baby boomers, with the message : "Share What You Know. Mentor A Child". As people live longer and enjoy better health, we can give to our youth. Learn more: www.whomentoredyou.org.

At the International Mentoring Association Conference a few years ago in Chicago many of the delegates were involved in youth mentoring. Particularly impressive was a session presented by Stephanie Sylvain and Joan Haldeman featuring the Philadelphia County program, Pathways PA. This program assists young women and teen mothers, promoting self-sufficiency through mentoring, employment and education programs. Learn more: www.pathwayspa.org.

Here in Australia, many programs assist our younger generation. Here are two shining examples

Whitelion supports young people to build better lives for themselves and helps make our community a more inclusive and safer place.

Each year thousands of young people are disconnected from our community due to abuse and neglect, drug addiction and poverty. These young people have often had horrific life experiences with few positive role models and are caught in a "cycle of discouragement' that is very hard to break. Many of these young people end up in out-of-home care and in some cases in the juvenile justice system.

Whitelion gives young people the best chance to break the "cycle" through positive role modeling, mentoring and employment, and the opportunity to build positive lives for themselves as part of our community.Learn more: www.whitelion.asn.au/.

Plan-it Youth was a Central Coast initiative, which commenced in 1997 at Berkeley Vale Community High School supporting young people in transition between school and work, through mentoring.

Plan-it Youth brings together a range of local community groups who work for the benefit of young people. Learn more: www.dsf.org.au/plan-it/.

Mentors to the Stars

2010-07-28T10:17:00.002+10:00

James Earl Jones, Oprah Winfrey, Walter Cronkite and John Glen, all cite special teachers as their most significant mentors. Others mention parents and grandparents (see: www.whomentoredyou.org). But for Ray Charles, it was the fellow down the road who let the little black kid hang around while he practiced boogie-woogie piano.

Read the article: http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4228 Jay Walljasper Saving The World One By One. Ode Magazine Issue 30, January 2006.

Football Hero Champions Mentoring

Retired Wallaby's Captain, John Eales took on a mentoring role at 2004 Olympics. Since then he has made the transition from sport to the corporate consulting world. He says leadership and mentoring are paramount in both spheres. However, the sporting environment produces a mentality where you are receptive to coaching, even when you are at the top of your field.

Mentoring Success Stories

If you have a personal or corporate experience that you are willing to share with the world – with full acknowledgement or anonymously – please let us know. We are also interested in unsuccessful mentoring – what went wrong and why. You can write a sentence, a paragraph or a page or just ring and we'll write it up.

Singapore Teachers Love Mentoring

Visiting Singapore in January 2006, Ann Rolfe was booked to present a workshop on Designing Mentoring Programs for thirty senior teachers but 93 turned up! Singapore, like Australia, is experiencing leakage of talent at both ends of the spectrum - experienced teachers retiring and new teachers leaving. Service professions like teaching have overwhelming responsibilities and staff retention is an issue. Supporting people through mentoring may be part of the answer, but mentoring itself places yet another demand on over-stressed employees.

Stress: The Problem Of Reaction Rather Than Response

2010-07-21T15:31:00.001+10:00

It’s not just me! I checked with my mentoring group last night. When you are stressed and need all your good health strategies more than ever, is when you’re most likely to let them slip.

It’s cold, mid-winter, here in Australia. My usual strategy is to take a short holiday somewhere warm, to re-energize my sun-loving soul but I’m not this year. I usually get up early to walk. Instead, I’m up early to work. The exercise equipment lies unused and my usual healthy, all-things-in-moderation, squeeze-my-own-juice style of eating has given way to coffee and comfort food. Meditation and yoga? No time!

This is not just a personal phenomenon. We live in a stressful world. Individuals, organizations and society are dealing with massive, global, financial and environmental challenges. However, unhealthy reaction, rather than strategic response, will ultimately make the system unsustainable.

The reaction of stressed organizations is often to cut investment in people and development. This quick-fix tactic may serve the financial bottom line in the short-term but it is an unhealthy reaction. It is false economy because it causes more stress on people and reduces productivity. Strategic use of available resources produces better outcomes.

It doesn’t have to be hugely expensive to nurture an organization’s talent. Mentoring is a cost-effective strategy for attracting, retaining and developing people. Strong, positive relationships are the best antidote to stress. Mentoring helps people learn from the past, cope with the present and plan for the future. Training individuals in mentoring skills builds the capability of the organization and a sustainable system.

It’s time for me to stop my unhealthy reactions and get strategic again. How about you? I’m off for a walk and fresh juice. Thanks to my mentoring, I have energy and resolve. That’s how mentoring works!

Why Use Mentoring

2010-07-21T10:15:00.000+10:00

1. Mentoring provides a significant return on investment.

How much could you save by reducing turnover? Human Resources specialists estimate that replacing an employee costs at least twice their annual salary. Mentoring has proven effectiveness in staff retention.

Research shows that people leave when no-one is interested in their career progress and they feel that no-one cares about them. Mentoring satisfies both these issues.
In addition, mentoring has been shown to increase the return on investment in traditional learning and development activities.

2. Mentoring attracts top talent

As we come to grips with global competition to get the best people and a world-wide skills shortage, it becomes obvious that money is not the only attraction for talented employees. Nor will a pay cheque keep ambitious, experienced staff. Successful recruiters are on campuses, on-line and on target offering career enhancing opportunities, including mentoring.

3. Mentoring contributes to the bottom line

Research statistically links productivity, profitability, retention and customer satisfaction with employee performance, attitude and loyalty. "Engaged employees" display these qualities. A mentoring program focused on career development will increase employee engagement because it demonstrated the organisation's commitment to its people.

Employee Engagement

2010-07-14T10:38:00.000+10:00

The workforce of today has changed. Most people do not expect to stay in jobs for longer than 2-5 years. There is strong competition for talent and in many areas, skills shortages. Young people entering work are the most educated in history. They are highly mobile. The average school leaver will have twenty-nine jobs and five career changes in their work-life. Employers have succeeded in their demands for a "flexible workers" but flexibility works both ways, employees want work to suit their lifestyle. Pay and benefits are not sufficient to keep good people.

There are alarming statistics on employee engagement. Gallup (see http://gmj.gallup.com/) reports on world-wide research showing that less than 20% of employees are actively engaged – highly productive, adding to profitability and customer satisfaction and likely to stay - but close to 20% of employees are disengaged, cancelling out these positive effects. It is likely that the remaining 60% are not committed to the organization and will leave if something more attractive is available. A third of employees are actively looking for employment elsewhere and the growing popularity of websites catering to job-seekers makes it easy.

Therefore, attracting and retaining talent is a key issue for most organizations. Your mentoring program can be designed to:

1. Attract and retain talented employees;
2. Develop people – those who mentor as well as those mentored; and
3. Increase the return on your investment in learning and development and reduce turnover costs.

This is an extract from Rolfe, A. (2006) How To Design and Run Your Own Mentoring Program, Mentoring Works. Available now. Order on www.mentoring-works.com.

Delivering Mentoring Remotely

2010-07-07T15:05:00.000+10:00

Here is a question asked by a webinar participant recently. It was beyond the scope of the webinar on The Role Of The Mentor (you can view the recording here http://mentoring-works.com/webinars.html) so I promised to answer here in the blog.

“My question was around the issue of the capacity to deliver the mentoring process over time 'remotely' ie not face to face (even if some sessions were face to face)...can you reliably deliver the training to a group that may be in different locations simultaneously (much like you are doing in the webinar now) and also for those mentors and mentorees to sustain and support a mentoring process remotely, over a period of say 12 months.”

Martin

Yes Martin, the technology available now makes remote delivery easy, reliable and very cost-effective. While nothing beats face-to-face, we certainly can do both mentoring and training online and provide ongoing support in a number of ways.

In 2009, I facilitated an e-Mentoring program for ninety participants throughout NSW, some in fairly remote areas. About half of them attended a workshop at the beginning of the program but most never met their partner face-to-face.

The features of the program included:

· An online community – where they could interact with each other (a bit like a members-only Facebook)

· Online discussions and Q&A

· Online audio-visual learning modules, supported by downloadable worksheets

· Access to ebooks and articles, guides and checklists

· Teleseminars – now we have webinars and this is a much better option

· Bi-weekly emails describing what to do next and on the alternate week, an emailed Mentoring Tip

· Personal support from the program coordinator and myself

I was particularly delighted to see the level of interaction between participants as they started their own discussions online and shared resources and ideas. They “met” people, with whom they had a lot in common, that they would never have met otherwise. It was a real network of support.

This year I’m launching Mentor-the-mentor, a multi-media, interactive remotely delivered program. It will be available very soon but if you want to know more now, give me a call.