Information for mentors and mentees
Mentoring can be a very productive and rewarding activity for both the mentor and mentee. While the gains for the mentee may seem more obvious (support for development, an ‘insider’ perspective, etc.) the mentor also has an opportunity to reflect upon their own experiences and goals, and to see their experience as valued beyond their immediate performance.
Many of those who take the role of a mentor in a mentoring programme have already had a similar role at other times. They may have been what Lacey (1999) refers to as a ‘supporter’ carrying out the role associated with mentoring in an informal or even unconscious way.
Likewise, many of those who take on the role of mentee have also sought out such support independently as they have progressed, willingly seeking advice, asking questions, taking initiative, etc. So what are the qualities of a good mentee and a good mentor and what are the roles that each plays in a successful mentoring relationship?
Qualities of an effective mentee
- Open to challenge
- Self-motivated
- Independent
- Active listener
- Receptive to feedback
- Self-reflective
- Willing to be open about concerns, ask questions etc.
Roles of a mentee
- Actively listen
- Ask questions
- Set goals and formulate action plans to fulfil those goals
- Critically reflect on experience, feedback, etc.
- Learn to identify, learn from and address professional concerns independently
- Take responsibility for setting up meetings, following through
- Respect confidentiality
Qualities of an effective mentor
- Active listener
- Keen observer
- Approachable and friendly
- Strong communication skills
- Strong professional and time management skills
- Goal-focused
- Knowledge of Institutional, School and wider academic community
- Ability to offer constructive feedback without implying personal failure
- Open to alternative ways of working, thinking and approaching problems
Roles of a mentor
- Encourage the exploration of new ideas
- Help mentee link goals with specific actions
- Help mentee establish useful professional networks
- Orient mentee in a new professional environment
- Listen and respond to mentee concerns
- Provide appropriate advice when required
- Share and model good practice
- Help mentee develop their own attributes and skills in a supportive environment (remember the aim is not to create another version of yourself)
- Act as sympathetic confidante
- Observe and offer constructive feedback
- Respect confidentiality
Expectations and Roles
For mentoring to succeed, the mentor and mentee need to have a shared understanding of their roles and of the expectations held by their partner and the formal organising group (School, Faculty, Institution). Miscommunication, perceived failure to meet expectations, misunderstanding of roles and apathy are four reasons why some mentoring relationships don’t work. Setting out expectations from the beginning of the Orientation phase may avoid some of the factors that can lead to miscommunication.
There are three sets of expectations to be addressed as a mentoring relationship is established, those of the formal organising group, the mentor and the mentee. The expectations of the organising group will often be addressed in preliminary training sessions, and will usually frame the mentoring relationship itself.
Organising Group Expectations may include:
- The particular focus of mentoring (e.g orientation, research, teaching etc.)
- Particular outcomes to be achieved through the programme
- Time commitment of mentors and mentees to the programme (including training, meetings etc.)
- Parameters of the mentor’s role (distinctions between mentor/supervisor role, level of advocacy, accountability to facilitator, referral point, etc.)
- Parameters of the mentee’s role (level of support allowed, accountability, etc.)
- Time commitment (minimum/maximum) for mentor/mentee at weekly/monthly/programme level
- Confidentiality
Mentor expectations may relate to:
- Time commitment (mentoring is not a 24/7 role, it is ok to be unavailable when busy)
- Regularity of meetings
- Types of support to be made available to the mentor (by the programme facilitator/organisers)
- Level of mentee independence
- Level of mentee initiative (including setting meetings, advising of areas of support, etc.)
- Timelines for particular outcomes
- Level of feedback required by mentee
- Mentee acceptance of/responsiveness to mentor feedback
- Relative responsibility for setting goals and achieving outcomes
- Confidentiality
Mentee expectations may relate to:
- Availability of the mentor (including during unexpected events)
- Mentor’s responsibility for mentee activities (support vs supervision)
- Level of independence with which the mentee is confident
- Level of guidance from the mentor
- Types of feedback, when, where and how feedback will be given
- Formality of meeting structures
- Mentor initiative in setting meetings, offering unsolicited support etc.
- Types of support mentee expects
- Confidentiality
Where these expectations are addressed at the beginning of the mentoring process, differences in expectations can be identified and negotiated to minimise any negative impact on the mentoring relationship. Occasionally expectations are not able to be aligned sufficiently to enable rapport to develop. In such a case the programme facilitator should be contacted, either to help the pair address these differences, or to facilitate the termination of the particular mentor/mentee pair.
Ending a mentoring relationship that isn’t working
Sometimes, despite the best efforts of all involved, mentoring pairs do not work effectively. Competing time and workload demands, incompatible approaches and expectations can all play a part in an unsuccessful mentoring relationship. It is important that the mentor and mentee both understand that, should they decide to end a mentoring relationship, this is not a reflection on the abilities (or personality) of either – occasionally a particular situation simply does not work out.
It can be useful if the pair can decide for themselves, through collegial discussion, that the relationship is not working, and how they would like to proceed. However this is not always possible. In either case the programme facilitator is the point of contact for this and any other concerns that might arise. The facilitator will meet with the mentee and the mentor (either separately or together) to arrange the termination, and may, where appropriate, arrange a new partner for the mentee and/or mentor.
Later the facilitator may ask to meet with each of the partners to identify possible concerns about the role the programme structure and support that may have led to the termination of the arrangement. Again this will not reflect on the mentor or mentee, but will be used to improve the programme.
Possible mentoring activities
Meetings
The most common activity in a mentoring relationship is a regular meeting between the mentor and mentee. Meetings involve setting aside a specific time on a regular basis for discussion, reflection and planning. Meetings vary in their level of formality and structure depending upon the stage in the relationship, the rapport between the mentee and mentor and the particular focus of the meeting.
Because the aim of a meeting is to produce outcomes, and ideas for further action, it is slightly different from a collegial chat. The mentee (and possibly also the mentor) take notes during the regular meeting, recording topics of discussion, ideas, proposed actions and reflections and questions that may arise. This acts as a record of the meeting for the mentor and mentee and gives the mentee something to go back to at a later stage to remind himself of what happened in a particular meeting.
Meetings can be supplemented by casual drop-in sessions, telephone calls and email queries (on both sides). These can provide important support, but should not be seen as a replacement for regular meetings (which can be tempting when one or both of the partners gets busy!). The time set aside for regular meetings acknowledges the importance of the mentoring process to the mentor and mentee. Officially including this time in staff workloads shows the programme organiser’s commitment to the mentoring programme.
Proformas for initial and regular meetings can be found in the resources section.
Shadowing
In a shadowing exercise the mentee observes the mentor undertaking particular professional activities, e.g. attending Faculty meetings, taking part in external meetings, teaching, discussing research, etc. Shadowing differs from peer observation (below) in that the purpose of shadowing is for the mentee to learn by observing how professionals behave in a situation he has not yet experienced for himself.
Before the shadowing exercise, the mentor and mentee discuss the purpose of the activity, some of the usual processes and the mentor’s role in that activity. For example, in a Faculty meeting the mentor might be a School representative, having to explain a proposed change to assessment for the Faculty board to approve.
The mentor should also ask the other people involved in the activity for permission to bring an observer. The mentee must remember that confidentiality is to be extended to all those involved in whatever activity she observes.
At the start of the activity, the mentor introduces the mentee to anyone else involved in the activity she is observing. The mentee should then sit somewhere unobtrusive, where the activity is to be observed. During the activity the mentor takes notes about what she observes, including any questions she has about what is happening or why certain things are done.
After the activity (possibly during the next scheduled meeting) the mentor and mentee discuss the observation, including questions the mentee has. The mentor can then explain particulars in more depth.
Peer observation
The process of peer observation can play an important role in mentoring. In peer observation, the mentor attends a lecture, tutorial or some other activity in which the mentee is taking a role.
Before the observation, the mentor and mentee discuss the observation, what will happen in practical terms, and what the focus of the observation will be. Sometimes the focus will be relatively general, an overall impression of strengths and areas of improvement. At other times the mentor will focus on something specific, either in line with established outcomes for the mentee, or based around questions the mentee has about his performance in the role.
During the observation he mentor takes notes about her impressions of the situation, including performance criteria, observed response of other participants etc. Comments may be very specific or impressions of general approaches in relation to mentee intentions.
After the observation the mentor and mentee discuss the observation, with the mentor giving feedback to the mentee about her observations. The mentor acts as critical friend, noting good practice, areas for development, seek clarification about why the mentee did things in a particular way. The mentee should be active in the follow-up session, asking questions, and commenting on the feedback in a constructive way.
Peer observation may be used for two distinct purposes, development and evaluation (or a combination of these). Peer observation for development involves commentary and suggestions, but without any indication of ‘assessment’. The focus of developmental peer observation is to identify specific practices or to answer questions the mentee has about his practice.
In evaluative peer observation, scores may be recorded and comments made based on a criteria-referenced performance. This can be used to discuss ‘how well’ a mentee did in specific areas, and overall. But it should be remembered that the aim of an evaluative observation will be to get a snap shot of the mentee’s ‘performance’. The overall aim should still be developmental rather than judgmental.
Information and useful tips about peer mentoring may be found at: http://escalate.ac.uk/resources/peerobservation/.
Examples of peer observation forms (developmental and evaluative) can be found in the resources section
Project planning
One of the areas in which the expertise of the mentor can be most welcome is planning for project work – whether the project is new research, curriculum design or some other type of institutional work, working together to develop proposals, and work towards timelines for projects the mentee is developing.
The mentor can offer advice, model approaches and discuss his own experiences in these areas. This should not be confused with the mentor doing the project planning for the mentee, but having feedback, a sounding board and someone who knows the practical ins and outs of a particular piece of planned work can save the mentee a lot of anxiety and false starts, unrealistic goals/timeframes and provide a useful sounding board. The mentor may also be able to introduce the mentee to networks and resources she might not otherwise be aware of or have access to.
Reflective practice
Reflective practice is “the ‘art’ by which practitioners sometimes deal well with situations of uncertainty, instability, uniqueness and value conflict” (Schön, 1983:50) or more simply “the capacity to keep an eye on oneself” (Barnett, 1992).
In a reflective practice activity, the mentee records their reflections on a particular event, including what happened, the positive and negative aspects of the event, their feelings about it, and how they think it might be done differently in future. The mentee then shares his reflections with the mentor with the mentor, and these are used as the basis for brainstorming, discussion and feedback.
The advantage of reflective practice as an activity is that it is clearly focused on the mentee’s experience, and the mentee is then in charge of the discussion, choosing the aspects of his practice he wishes to focus upon.
The mentee may choose to keep a reflective journal, in which reflections are recorded on a regular basis, or use reflective practice proformas to describe ‘critical incidents’ – events that have had a particular impact on the mentee.
The mentee and mentor may also decide to use reflective practice on the progress of the mentoring relationship itself, as it can help to track the development of each individual, and the pair through the program. Both mentor and mentee can gain a lot from taking time to record their reflections, as it is a systematic approach to making changes, and establishing good practice.
Some examples of reflective practice questions for specific purposes can be found in the resources section.