It's easy to think the secret to creating a successful mentoring program simply involves recruiting eager mentors and mentees to participate. While having enthusiastic program participants is important, what's essential is providing these folks with the proper training—training that sets them up to be as productive as possible during the nine to 12 months they're working together.
Unless people have participated in a formal mentoring program before, chances are they'll be eager, but they likely won't have the first clue about what goes into making a mentoring relationship a success. And like any other relationship, this one takes some work.
This is where you come in. It's critical that you provide your mentors and mentees with helpful training before they embark on their mentoring journey.
Vital questions
Your training should provide insight and answers to these important questions:
- What is mentoring?
- What's the mentor's role?
- What's the mentee's role?
- What's the mentee manager's role?
- What's the program manager's role?
- What's the time commitment?
- What's the anatomy of a "typical" mentoring meeting?
- What are some common challenges that pairs face…
- early on in the relationship (breaking the ice, setting boundaries, establishing trust)?
- during the middle of the relationship (keeping appointments, creating new benchmarks and goals, overcoming the "drudgery" that often occurs at the halfway point)?
- toward the end of their relationship (transitioning from mentor/mentee roles to the "role" of colleagues and possibly even friends)?
- What are some communication tips?
- What are some strategies for navigating challenges?
Size and layout of program matter
Keep in mind that smaller programs are typically "self-contained" in one location—meaning all the mentors and mentees are in the same building or complex. These pairs might benefit from a mandatory orientation in which training is provided by the program manager and/or an outside mentoring consultant.
For larger organizations that are spread out (across a region or several states, for example), a webinar—both live and "on demand"—is a viable option. The mentoring program manager or mentoring consultant could lead the webinar.
For ultra convenience, web-based e-learning can be perfect for organizations of any size. Program participants can log in and take the training at a time that works for their schedules.
Program managers need training, too
Your mentoring program manager should receive separate training in advance of whatever training you offer mentors and mentees. Why? The program manager should help facilitate the training for program participants, which means the manager needs to understand—and be able to present—much, if not all, of the key skills and concepts. Not only that, but program managers need instruction that goes above and beyond the basic training that mentors and mentees get.
In order to be successful in their roles, program managers should learn the following:
- How mentoring differs from other professional development systems
- How mentoring differs from coaching
- How to design and implement a mentoring program
- How to identify and create appropriate matches
- How to maintain ongoing contact with mentoring pairs
- How to design a process for assessing a program's effectiveness
- How to navigate the most common challenges mentoring pairs face in their relationships
Program managers can receive this instruction from mentoring consultants, books, and online courses. In fact, the program manager should be constantly educating himself or herself in mentoring and related concepts, such as communication and psychology.
Take the time to train your program managers, mentors, and mentees and watch how brilliant a mentoring program can truly be for your organization.
