There are countless benefits of mentoring and when it’s done well, you will be able to see your impact as your mentee’s personal and professional confidence goes from strength to strength. They will likely pay it forward, too; McCarthy found that 89% of those who have been mentored will go on to mentor others.
The key to great mentoring is forming a good working relationship and strong rapport with your mentee so that they can feel guided by you. Here are some of our top tips.
- Build rapport
Particularly in the first mentoring session, you will need to build strong rapport with your mentee. They will likely be feeling nervous, so make you have some ice-breaker questions prepared, put yourself in their shoes and remind them that you’ve been here, too, and want to help support and guide them. The more you get to know your mentee and understand them on a personal level, the more that you will be able to support them in the best way possible for them. It’s important to take a genuine interest in your mentee – for example, if someone thrives off constructive feedback, you might set them a series of tasks, whereas a different mentee may find that talking things through helps.
- Set some goals
Having an initial meeting with your mentee where you set out some personal goals for your mentee can help you understand how best to support them and provide something for them to work towards. You could be the greatest mentor in the world, but if you aren’t tailoring your support to your mentee then they are less likely to get what they need out of the experience, and it will be less fulfilling for the both of you.
An intern will likely be feeling overwhelmed or lost if they are at the start of your career. You can help them break this down into measurable and realistic goals that they can work towards – if they are vague or unattainable, this is unlikely to help the intern with those feelings!
- Maintain communication
Maintaining consistent communication is one of the most important parts of mentorship, particularly in always appearing welcoming and approachable to your intern. Scheduling in times that you check-in with your mentee may help with this. Similarly, if you are having a particularly busy patch with your work or personal life, it’s important that you communicate this with your mentee, so that there are no misunderstandings or any miscommunication about availability. Keeping an open line of communication is paramount to a good working relationship, and you can discuss a way to do this that works for both of you.
- Schedule in meetings
Scheduling in regular meetings is a very important part of mentoring and allows for your mentee to work towards their specific goals. You may suggest “by our next meeting, I’d like to see you try and do X”, which will help with motivation and achieving measurable results.
- Understanding that mentorship is holistic
Mentorship isn’t necessarily about just helping an intern to achieve their professional goals. They may be struggling with issues such as job rejections, facing barriers to work that you might be able to advise them on, or struggling with confidence or self esteem issues. Feeling unsure of yourself or lacking personal and professional confidence is very common when first starting out, so recognising this in your mentee and helping to support them emotionally will also help to improve their professional development, too.
- Be approachable and open
Your mentee needs to know that they can talk to you about anything that they may be struggling with career-wise. They may come to you with personal problems that they feel are affecting their professional life, they may come to you for advice on a work-related problem or scenario that they have faced, or they may come to you for advice on a problem or barrier that you’ve not faced before. It’s really important that you remain an approachable person for you intern to open up to, as well as being empathetic and open when listening to diverse perspectives and points of view which you may not have considered before.
- Maintain professional boundaries
It’s paramount that both you and the intern remain respectful at all times, and this means maintaining professional boundaries. As soon as things become inappropriate (for example, if you or the intern start communicating via channels that haven’t been agreed, or if messages become inappropriate), please email support@presspad.co.uk or call this number 7 days a week: +44 (0) 203488252. We can act as a mediator in this situation.
- Know when to refer elsewhere
In unlikely scenarios, your mentee may open up to you about a difficult personal situation, work situation that you don’t know how to advise on or disclose sensitive information that may be triggering for you or needs to be handled by a professional in that field. It is important when to recognise this duty of care and encourage your mentee to seek help from the right people. If this scenario arises, please email support@presspad.co.uk or call this number 7 days a week: +44 (0) 203488252. We can act as a mediator in this situation.
Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk. You should also call 999 in situations of violence that seem like they could get out of hand.
Find out about 999 here.
- Be a role model
By being a mentor, you are also being a role model to your intern. This means also being completely open and not being afraid to admit that you might have struggled with certain things, too! By opening up, you’ll help your mentee know that they are not alone in their feelings and be someone that they can look up to.
- Provide as much constructive feedback as you can
One of the best ways to learn is to receive constructive feedback. It’s important that your feedback is as honest as possible – if you spot any blind spots that your mentee isn’t covering in their applications or have any suggestions for improvement, it will be really helpful for them to know. However, it’s equally important that your feedback is constructive and positive – the last thing you want to do is discourage your mentee when you are trying to build up their confidence!
- Listen
By listening to your mentee, you’re providing them with a safe space to talk openly about their experiences, worries or concerns. This will also mean that they can guide the mentoring by telling you what they need out of your sessions, rather than you telling them what you think they need (which may not be right for that specific mentee).
- Celebrate success!
Whilst mentorship can feel like it’s all about development, goals and learning, it’s so important to celebrate your mentee’s achievements and successes! You want them to leave your sessions feeling like they can go on to achieve anything they want, and with the right level of encouragement and support, they will.
Image Credit: rdne stock project, Website Link: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-and-a-woman-sitting-on-a-couch-while-having-a-conversation-9065292/
