Mentoring Skills BTTM_MEN
Mentoring is a process for self-enrichment and promoting a profession or trade. Typically we have a mentor transfer experiential knowledge to a protégé (who often has a substantial amount of practical experience and book knowledge) so that the pieces of the puzzle start to fit together. The goal is to make the knowledge whole, so that the protégé has a clear picture of how the subject knowledge has evolved into practical steps and stages that then make sense. The intent is that the protégé benefits from a transfer (or sharing) of experience from someone who is able to help them put that experience or knowledge to work. Mentoring can evolve into a longer-term arrangement, where the mentor is a de-facto “service provider” and the protégé is the one driving the learning process with their express need for information. A single mentor can work with a larger group of protégés but we need to remain aware of the availability to provide help as required.
To make sure people understand the mentoring program objectives this workshop for mentors and protégés aims to develop goals and approaches for how they plan to engage as a team of two or more individuals. One of the workshop goals is to help partners get started on a successful relationship – so encourage participants to make use of the workshop and don’t be shy to ask for assistance if there are problems completing the objectives of the workshop to establish an agenda for the mentoring process. Learning goals are important because we need to confirm that the mentor is knowledgeable in those areas where the protégés want to develop more skills.
Mentoring supplements book knowledge with experience as a person learns to put knowledge into practice. The challenge (and a benefit) is that the mentor does not work side-by-site with the protégés, so it may not be practical to expect instant responses. The implied benefit is that the mentor can be as open as they want to be with advice and suggestions for overcoming challenges. Unlike other forms of learning the protégés must be very active to “pull” the process along at a rate that matches their need to learn as they bounce questions off their mentor. The mentor does not come with lecture notes and a training agenda to bring that knowledge to the protégés, with mid-term exams and a final exam. While the mentor will likely encourage the protégés, they are not a coach trying to inspire the mentee to work harder towards becoming a champion subject matter expert. It is all about setting reasonable expectations.
There are benefits for the mentor as well as for the protégés. Solving someone else’s problems benefits that person but also revitalizes those skills in your own mind: things you take for granted undergo close inspection simply because someone asks “why” and the mentor has to stretch their thinking to bridge between a body of knowledge and a pool of reality. This is actually an excellent habit to develop.
In teaching or coaching a relationship is established for the transfer of knowledge from one person to another, where the main difference is that teaching is about the transfer of theory, and coaching is about experience. It is the older coach that tells the young athlete how to be faster, even though the coach cannot necessarily keep up to show the athlete.
In mentoring, the transfer of knowledge is similar, but the relationship is different in that the mentor responds to the needs of the protégés. The mentor does not drive the protégés or judge the protégés, but provides helpful information about how they responded in a situation of a similar nature to what the protégés are experiencing. It is not part of a formal curriculum, so there is no formal standard by which mentoring can be judged. The power of the mentoring relationship is the pairing of two or more individuals so that the experienced mentor gives free advice to the less-experienced protégés, so that the latter have someone to bounce questions off in order to get unstuck with challenges in their current situation at work, or in the job-market, or preparing a new career.
Mentoring is traditionally thought of as a one-on-one relationship, which means the onus is on the mentor to dig up examples from experience that are useful illustrations for how to deal with the challenges a protégé is faced with. Understand that this can be very difficult if a mentor does not have a perfectly matching level of experience. Mentoring in a “group” format increases the number of points of view to be addressed. In a group of 4 we now have 6 pairs instead of 1 pair discussion and what we find is that the dynamic changes. The pressure will be reduced on the mentor and on the protégés, as topics are addressed from different points of view. The mentor/ protégés ratio in this arrangement may be one to three, or you can have two and two: when two pairs meet up the mentors can support each other in coming up with the information that is useful to the protégés. It also allows for the protégés to interact, which makes for a much livelier session than what is expected from that one-on-one pairing.
The nature of mentoring can be adapted to whatever subject matter has to be reviewed so long as the mentor and the protégés have a common interest. This does not have to be work related - it can be sports, arts, or recreation activities as well: the mechanism of how to interact remains largely the same, much more casual and relaxed than formal learning. It may seem ineffective to some people, but in reality mentoring delivers an on-demand learning opportunity when protégés have the need to get that information. For example, how to write a particular type of report, where instead of explaining the mechanics the mentor guides protégés through the process of completing an actual example to be used at work. Depending on the nature of the relationship the sponsor can benefit as the effort involves a knowledge transfer that enables protégés doing the same work independently at a future date, something that is not always guaranteed after a traditional learning process.
The key to a successful mentoring relationship is to plan ahead for what protégés expect to be working on, so that the right mentor can be found to provide the assistance that may be needed. This part of the course is a planning process that ensures the protégés are assigned tasks where they can benefit from a learning opportunity. These tasks could be part of a company knowledge transfer, or it could simply be protégés focused on learning the ropes. For example, project management protégés may start on their first project while having a mentor lined up who can direct the best approaches to take under specific circumstances, and by using a team approach the mentor can work with several protégés that each are assigned a different project, yet they can still learn from each other that thereby improves the learning opportunities for each individual.
Learning Formats BTTM_MEN
This course is currently available in a classroom setting (public or company private) with approximately 15 contact hours.
PDF – Certificate Of Completion
Each course offers a certificate of completion that identifies the course, the student, and a brief description of the course. To receive a certificate the student must have attended at least 80% of the course sessions. This personalized certificate is forwarded to the student by Email.
PDF – Course Notebook
Each course includes a notebook in PDF format that provides the minimum knowledge the student must master in order to obtain the certificate. In the notebook you will find references to other study materials. Students receive the notebook by Email when their registration is confirmed.
PDF – Program Overview
An overview of this study program can be downloaded from the website by right-clicking on the program link on the enquiry page.
PDF – Current Training Schedule
A list of upcoming training sessions can be downloaded from the website by right-clicking on the schedule link on the enquiry page.
Registration – Service Providers
To register for any training course please look on the enquiry link page of your service provider (from where you accessed this website). On the page you will find a registration request form where you can order the course that you are interested in. The availability dates will be provided to you, along with payment instructions if you decide to go ahead.
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