Role of a Mentor
Being a good mentor is not something that comes naturally. It is a skill that you develop. Elo offers several tips on the role of a mentor to help you optimize your mentoring experience.
This article will give you a better understanding of your responsibilities so that you are better equipped to support your mentee(s) throughout your mentoring relationship.
What are the responsibilities of a mentor?
1. Welcome the mentee
By contacting a mentor, the mentee puts themselves in a vulnerable position. At the time of contact, a mentor should be welcoming, caring and open in order to put the mentee at ease and create a good atmosphere. This helps establish a solid bond of trust for the rest of the mentoring relationship.
2. Advise the mentee
When necessary, the mentor can provide suggestions on a specific issue. However, it is important to remember to leave the mentee in control of their own choices and decisions. Asking open-ended questions (simple and direct) and inviting the mentee to reflect on the situation and the actions they wish to take is an interesting technique.
Ex: Starting your questions using the words what, how or with phrases like Please tell me more about XYZ *
3. Support the mentee in their challenges
Being a mentor also means acting as a sponsor for a mentee. This includes supporting them through various challenges. Agility is the key to success, even more so in the context of several organizational changes where the mentee is faced with many unusual challenges.
4. Promote progression
Not everyone progresses at the same speed. Being a mentor also means being patient and listening to your mentee. It means motivating and encouraging them. To encourage the mentee’s progression, recommend that they set S.M.A.R.T. goals from the start of the mentoring relationship. It will be interesting to get the mentee to reflect on the progress they made since the beginning of the mentoring relationship by referring to these objectives.
5. Offer interesting challenges
Proposing exercises, challenges and mini-missions adapted to the mentee’s current needs and skills is an interesting avenue. The mentor’s role is to remain supportive if necessary. In this way, the mentee remains in control of their learning. By doing this and recognizing their progress/success, mentees move forward and get closer to their goals.
6. Provide direct, useful and constructive feedback
Feedback allows the mentee to identify areas for improvement and helps them progress in their professional life. It is therefore important for the mentor to give honest and impartial feedback.
7. Provide moral support to the mentee
Sometimes a mentee may seem preoccupied, stressed or anxious. Indeed, in times of pandemic, it is not uncommon to experience some psychological distress and to be affected professionally. The latest studies show that isolation and telecommuting are sources of discouragement and loss of motivation. It is therefore important to listen to your mentee and demonstrate empathy. It may sometimes be necessary to postpone the session or adapt the agenda to the mentee’s new needs. Finally, know how to refer when the situation is outside your field of competence.
8. Reassure the mentee
The mentee needs to be reassured about their skills. It is important to help them develop confidence in their abilities. To do this, the mentor should value the mentee’s learning and support their personal and professional development.
Characteristics of good mentors according to mentees
Source: https://www.get.mentoringcomplete.com/blog/habits-of-successful-mentor
What are the ineffective behaviours?
We think it would be useful to show you what a good mentor does not do, to help you identify what actions not to take and what attitudes and habits not to adopt.
Using an authoritative tone when interacting with your mentee
Keep your attitude and dialogue open and informal to encourage your mentee to share ideas. Mentoring is a good exercise to improve your communication skills!
Assume what your mentee knows, meant or implied
Do not assume that your mentee understands everything you say. Be sure to question them to determine their understanding of the facts, and encourage them to share their ideas and solutions.
Not defining clear goals and strategies for achieving them
Begin the mentoring relationship by defining clear goals and what you want to get out of your mentorship. You can then help them recognise their strengths and weaknesses and help them grow professionally.
Being difficult to approach
Be sure to respond to messages from your mentee, or notify them if you become unavailable for a period of time. Give them easy ways to reach you, whether via the app or other means, and respond as soon as possible.
Only share successes
Share both your successes and your failures with your mentee, to help them learn from your mistakes. Share your experiences, advice and thoughts so that they inform your mentee's judgement and thinking. This is the best gift you can give them.
Being a mentor is not always easy: it is often tempting to tell mentees what to do to minimise their margin for error. However, this would be to undermine their ability to think and draw conclusions. Mentoring is as much a learning experience for the mentee as for the mentor.