Why You Need To Train People For Mentoring

The purpose of training is to enable mentors and mentorees to establish effective relationships. Some programs simply introduce people and leave them to "get on with it". Occasionally, this works. But people need to know what is expected of them, how to go about it and why it is important and you need to be confident they have the skills for mentoring.

Why Train?

• Building a relationship of rapport and trust can be tricky when there are many individual differences;
• Managing people is different from mentoring people; and 
• Motivation will be critical to success.

Mentoring is different from other workplace relationships. It is professional and personal, it deals with rational and emotional motivation and it non-directive but offers guidance and advice! The paradoxical nature of mentoring needs to be understood and the key skills developed.
In addition, participants usually need ongoing personal support and reassurance. Establishing an interactive network of participants will add value. This is most likely to happen when participants meet and work together in training sessions.

Training Mentors and Mentorees

The role of the mentor, communication styles, strategies and practical techniques for applying the mentoring process can be explored in workshops. It is usually beneficial to provide mentors with an initial session separately from the mentorees so that they are able to discuss any issues candidly.

Mentorees need to be primed to make the most of the mentoring experience. Their responsibilities, communication and goal setting are topics you want to cover in their training.

Bringing mentors and mentorees together for a workshop is highly desirable. This way you can enable them to identify expectations of each other in a non-threatening group process. You can also ensure that they have a common understanding of mentoring etiquette, procedures and reporting. Being part of a group reduces the feeling of isolation and you can set up a mechanism for ongoing group contact. Within this workshop mentoring pairs can have a structured first meeting to break the ice. Debriefing the meeting as a group, you can draw out do's and don'ts for effective future meetings.

The Training Process

The process of the training is as important as the content and several issues are likely to impact on your mentoring program:

• Current management styles;
• Seniority of the mentors; and
• Introducing the mentoring role to busy people may be challenging.

Consider a range of delivery methods for education and training. You want to educate not only prospective mentors and mentorees but managers and staff not directly involved (see our webinar How to Get The Mentoring Message Across). You can do this through personal communication, management briefings, staff information sessions, print, audio-visual or web-based push/pull resources. Push resources are those you email out and pull is material that is on the internet for them to access that you have to draw them to.

Effective mentoring results from a set of attitudes, behaviours, skills and motivation. Training, complemented by ongoing support and follow-up, significantly increases your return on investment. That's how mentoring works.

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

RRR

Rest, recreation and reflection, that’s what I’m looking forward to over the next few weeks, how about you? These three “R’s” are imperative to our well-being and productivity and they ought to be a part of every day not just holidays! Here’s why …

Rest, not just sleep but physical relaxation, maybe letting someone else take care of you with a meal, a pampering massage, manicure, or pedicure, or just lazing around; mental rest, maybe meditation, listening to music, reading a novel or even some veg-out TV, can recharge your batteries and balance the busyness of a hectic lifestyle. Necessary for re-energising, rest can also stimulate the mind to spontaneously generate answers to problems, great ideas and clarity of thinking. Important and practical insight can be the result of taking the foot off the accelerator and putting the body and mind in neutral.

Recreation, leisure activities such as sport, hobbies and games that you enjoy, celebrations and social events that give you pleasure, conversations, art, nature or exercise that stimulate you and relationships that nurture you, all renew your mental, social, emotional and physical energy. Without this energy, enthusiasm wanes, challenges seem larger and life can lose is luster.

Reflection, looking back and learning, gaining perspective and considering other points of view, thinking things through, accepting your own feelings and responses, taking stock, considering what has worked well and what might be done differently, allows us to learn and grow. Counting our blessings and expressing gratitude, makes life worthwhile and points us to a positive future.

Mentoring can incorporate all of these. It can provide time out that is actually restful. It can be enjoyable and recreate energy and enthusiasm. And certainly, it is a relationship that builds reflection, meaning and positive action.

I trust you have experienced and valued these aspects of mentoring this year. If you have gained as much as I have from being and having a mentor, or having mentoring moments – those unplanned, informal conversations that create insight - you know how mentoring works!

Vincent asks:

Vincent’s Question:

Recently a well established professional's organization (one that I pay yearly dues for) connected me with a mentor as part of their offering.

As it turned out, the mentor was not commited to what I consider the special relationship of mentor / mentee. After about a month of initial conversation, his interest was clearly as a payed consultant if my company would hire him!

I was dissapointed to say the least. Especially that I've grown so much in my lifetime by mentors. How do I avoid this in the future?

Thanks,

Vincent

Ann’s Answer:

Hello Vincent,

How disappointing! However, this is not the first time I've heard of this kind of situation. You can't avoid the disappointment but you can and clearly did avoid being taken advantage of. I recommend three actions. If you have not already done so, express your disappointment to your professional organisation. If they are offering mentoring, in my view, they have a responsibility for some form of quality control and will value your feedback. They probably have a code of ethics or guidelines for mentors. Likewise, provide feedback to the mentor. He may not realise the conflict of interest of seeking business from a mentoring role. Finally, remember all your positive experiences and don't let this one jade you. The vast majority of mentors are motivated primarily by a desire to give.

Regards,

Ann Rolfe

Mentoring Works

www.mentoring-works.com