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Train Mentors
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 is 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. 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
Developing and Implementing In-house Mentoring
Imagine, what it would be like if your mentors and mentorees could be trained for their roles quickly and easily? What if, live, interactive workshops could be complemented by online learning, webinars and on-demand resources?
At Mentoring Works we’ve delivered all of these learning solutions. Our materials support people and programs all over the world. Contact us now, to discuss how we can best assist you.
"Our guest speaker, Ann Rolfe was fabulous. She certainly has the skills to keep an audience captivated. Thanks Ann!"
Carolyn Kaye, The Business Referral Group
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"Feedback from the workshop was extremely positive. I can only say it was very practical, focused and offered a vision that we can all work towards in mentoring. For me, the mentoring conversation with another attendee was very powerful: I was surprised how totally engaged we were. I have a deeper understanding of how vulnerable the mentees may feel as they share their concerns and experiences with a more established colleague in the workplace. My reading of this was that taking on mentoring carries a huge responsibility. I can't recommend your workshop highly enough."
Mary Oliver - Science and Mathematics Teacher
Mentoring Program University of Western Australia
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"Really eye-opening. This is not based on mentoring in the workplace but mentoring for life, which affects everything, including work."
John Sirotic - Connolly Environmental
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Learn more...
Contact us now, to discuss how we can best assist you.
Products To Purchase Browse our comprehensive range of books, Articles, Tips and CDs.
Services Discover how we work with you to develop and implement mentoring and descriptions of in-house training.
Enjoy these complimentary resources...
How to Train Mentors and Mentorees complimentary webinar.
How to Get The Mentoring Message Across complimentary webinar.
A Minute On Mentoring complimentary audio-visuals.
Connect, learn, contribute...
COMING SOON - Online Learning Centre Online self-paced learning modules.
The Mentoring Network Online Join and access everything you need to create and maintain your own mentoring program.
Develop Your Mentoring Strategy The online program of learning and mentoring to fast-track your in-house mentoring program.
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