Mentor Relationship Stages

Mentoring is a learning support mechanism where an experienced person provides guidance, knowledge and advice to someone who is in development or has less experience in a given topic or function.

The role of mentor is a very important one and whether the relationship is formal or informal, the fact is that a good mentor can be instrumental in the development of not only a mentee’s skills and knowledge, but also their behaviour, attitude and social outlook.

Mentors have a varied role and this can range from ‘challenging friend’, who acts as a sounding board, shares experiences and facilitates the mentee’s development, to ‘assessor’, who may also be required to assess competencies and skill levels in conjunction with the ‘challenging friend’ role.

A mentoring relationship has four definable stages within its life cycle:

1.     Getting to know each other – establishes expectations of a mentoring relationship. In the early stages, a large part of the mentor’s role involves being supportive and creating a reassuring environment for the mentee. Initial meeting agendas might include:

• getting to know each other personally
• identifying the mentee’s learning needs for career and professional development

2.     Goal setting – establishes expectations of learning by:

• identifying potential learning opportunities at work and the technical and theoretical learning that might result (e.g. brainstorm possible areas of learning that relate to the development or profession as a whole, suggest useful contacts, check for other training opportunities, etc.)
• agreeing meeting schedules and ways to arrange meetings by writing a Mentoring Agreement

3.     Progress and maturation – the longest stage. At this stage, the emphasis of the mentor’s role should change to that of a challenger and stimulator to encourage deeper learning and reflection. A balance needs to be reached so that mentees continually explore their limits but not to the extent that they feel overwhelmed. Emphasis should be on issues of professional development. Later meeting agendas might include:

• reviewing general progress and achievements to date and giving guidance on ways to improve performance and progress
• reviewing any work-based learning

4.     End – a final meeting is essential. For many mentors it can be tempting to avoid defining the end or separation stage and to regard it as unnecessary. However, a final review session is crucial to provide closure on the relationship for both the mentee and the mentor. The mentee and the mentor are jointly responsible for providing a proper ending to the relationship.

This structure provides a clearly defined approach to the mentoring process. It will ensure you are both clear on the progress of the mentoring relationship and allow you to consistently review and support development.

This article is a short excerpt from the Trainer Bubble training materials for Mentor Training, which can be purchased from our website at www.trainerbubble.com

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Trainer Bubble are proud sponsors of the Develop the Developer 2007 survey.

The Survey goes live on 21st May.

The project is the largest independent survey of people developers, trainers and managers.

MANAGERS, TRAINERS, DEVELOPERS, COACHES, TEAM LEADERS

The focus for the new research project looks at the current and required skills for people that develop others. - to develop the developer.

To participate in the survey click here

To find out more about the survey and the history of the project click here

Background

A lot of research as gone into looking at the skills people need to fulfil occupational roles. Little has been done to explore the skills required for people who develop others but are not in the role of teacher or trainer. Even the role of trainer and coach has changed dramatically.

In 1991 AMED were involved in carrying out such research for the government. Now over 15 years on we will be running a similar survey and need your help.

If you consider yourself to be a people developer we would like you to complete the survey.

Developing the developers is a project with an aim of researching the current and future needs of people developers. As the business world progresses so does the role of people developers. At one time this was the remit of the HR or training team. Now with an increasing pace within the world of business, most of us have some responsibility for the development of others. But do we have the necessary skills?

What skills do we need and where can we get them?

This project sets out to answer these questions. So if you manage, mentor, coach, train teach, educate or develop people in any way we want to know how you develop these skills and most importantly how you learn new skills, just when you need them.

What and who are Developers?

Developers are people that help other people to grow. Other titles you may be more familiar with include: Manager, Trainer, Coach, Facilitator, Mentors, Team Leaders etc.

Over recent years more emphasis has been placed on people development than ever before, with the responsibility of learning handed to individuals the eye has been taken of the ball in providing the skills to those involved in support the learning of others. This project seeks to identify what the current responsibilities are and to identify the development and training needs of this audience.

We welcome your involvement in this ambitious project. All you need to do is to take the survey!