Why Train Mentors and Mentees?
There are two key points to make here.……
- The first point – training is as valuable and essential for mentees as it is for mentors, if you want both parties to know how to engage in and benefit from a mentoring relationship.
- The second point relates to timing. The optimal timing of training your mentors and mentees is before they begin their mentoring partnership. This sounds obvious, but also indicates that you need a process that supports the identification and therefore training of new mentors and mentees as they join the programme. This has implications for the structure and time-frame of your mentoring programme.
A successful mentoring programme depends on…..
A good model. It also depends on mentors and mentees having a set of skills and strategies to effectively evaluate the outcomes of their mentoring collaboration. For people to effectively engage in mentoring, they need to know what this entails, what mentoring means, and why mentoring is important. Mentoring training provides the answers to these and enhances the skills and qualities of people undertaking a mentor role and a mentee role.
*Mentoring training also supports and develops people who undertake a Programme Champion role.
What’s involved in a training workshop?
Training workshops provide a place for mentors and mentees to discuss what is required to ensure they are prepared for and able to get the full benefits from mentoring. The use of case studies provides participants with practical strategies for creating successful mentoring partnerships. Specific skill areas which training can cover includes:
- The fundamentals: The definition, purpose and benefits of mentoring
- The mentoring partnership cycle
- Building and maintaining trust in the mentoring partnership
- Mentor and mentee selection
- Listening and questioning techniques
- Feedback
- Programme and self-evaluation
How can we be sure mentoring training will work in our organisation?
Petersen Consulting specialises in mentoring programme design and training. I have built up a wealth of knowledge and skills on mentoring, supported by intensive research and continual evidence-based findings and practice. My experience has assisted a number of organisations in designing and implementing mentoring programmes, always based on an intensive and thorough needs analysis.
The feedback received from workshop participants confirms the benefits and applicability of the skills and knowledge gained from the training workshops……..
“I think training is vital, because as we saw, different people had different perceptions of what mentoring is. Talking through these perceptions really helped me get my mind around what my idea of mentoring is” (mentor).
“I think it has supported me to begin the process of developing a relationship with the mentor. I suspect we are more likely to be on the same page, with clear goals and more understanding of the process to be worked through as we embark upon this journey” (mentee).