Business Mentoring – Part II

In Business Mentoring Part I, I provided the definitions of  Business Coach, Mentor, and Management Consultant as well as what the Business Mentor and Mentee can expect.  This article delves deeper into both roles and the relationship that is formed.  Let’s put more of the puzzle together!womancoach

What makes a good business mentor?

As a good business mentor, you will have certain characteristics.

  • You will have a strong desire to help others to grow and develop. Ideally, you will have a track record in developing others.
  • You will have a strong understanding of how organizations work (formally and informally), and ideally a knowledge and understanding of the key players in the mentee’s organization. You will combine this with an understanding of both the strategic direction of the organization and what its drivers are.
  • You will have strong listening skills.
  • You will be self-aware.
  • You will be able to understand and deal with cultural and gender differences and be sensitive to these differences.

There are some things that you, as the business mentor, will need in order to optimize the return on your and the mentee’s time.

  • Make yourself available and accessible to your mentee. Where you have contracted to meet every so often, you should make sure to honor that commitment.
  • You may need to provide some initial structure to the business mentoring relationship, particularly if the mentee is relatively inexperienced.
  • Follow through on any actions you pick up in your meetings, thereby demonstrating to the mentee your commitment and your professionalism.

Being a business mentor requires you to be highly skilled in listening, coaching, giving feedback and, where appropriate, pushing the mentee along faster than they think they can go. Furthermore, you will need to adjust your style as the mentoring relationship develops and according to the issue you are addressing at any one time.

What makes a good mentee?

A mentee must be prepared to take feedback. But to get the greatest possible benefit from a business mentoring relationship, there are several other things a mentee must do.

  • Own the business mentoring relationship

First and foremost, the mentee must own and take responsibility for the business mentoring relationship. Owning their career is an important principle of career development.

  • Be proactive in the business mentoring relationship

This means taking the initiative and setting the pace – with the agreement of the mentor. The mentee must look at the business mentoring process as a project they are managing: as with any project, they should set milestones and make sure that they are achieved.

  • Manage the business mentoring agenda

The mentee, not the mentor, should define the agenda of the business mentoring process. If the mentee does not work out what it is they want to do, they are in effect handing it over to others to determine their direction.

  • Set objectives for the business mentoring process

It is essential for the mentee to:

  • set himself or herself some objectives to work on during the mentoring relationship,
  • discuss these objectives with the business mentor and obtain their agreement,
  • write the objectives down and give the mentor a copy, and,
  • review these objectives regularly with the mentor.

The mentee also needs to make the business mentoring process action-oriented, and always follow through on those actions. It is reasonable to expect that the business mentor will do the same.

How to manage the business mentoring relationship?

Be systematic in managing the business mentoring relationship, focusing on the three key areas:

  1. The first meeting
  2. The business mentoring contract
  3. The ongoing business mentoring relationship.

(A) The first meeting

The first meeting between business mentor and mentee serves four purposes:

  • To get to know each other better

This can start with some introductions, followed by a brief run through what the business mentor and mentee have done in the past. This is important, not only as an ice breaker, but as a way for both parties to decide if they are happy to continue beyond the first meeting.

  • To articulate and agree about expectations

Different or unrealistic expectations can be the cause of business mentoring relationships not working. Unrealistic expectations include:

  •  the mentee expecting the business mentor to sort out their next job
  •  the mentee expecting the mentor to make their own personal network of contacts available to them
  •  the mentee expecting the mentor to tell them what to do – or, worse, to do it for them
  •  the business mentor expecting the mentee to do exactly what they tell them.
  • To set and agree ground rules

Ground rules are things such as frequency and length of meetings.

  • To set objectives

The mentee should come to the meeting with some draft objectives covering what outcomes they would like to achieve through the mentoring. These should be discussed and agreed with the business mentor.

(B) The business mentoring contract

By the end of the first meeting, you will be in a position to draw up a business mentoring contract by which you will both work. This covers some important principles, such as confidentiality. It also provides structure and ensures that mentor and mentee have a common understanding of how they will work together.

The business mentoring contract will cover some or all of the following:

  • frequency of face-to-face meetings and/or telephone meetings, with a schedule of dates,
  • mechanisms for communicating between meetings (for example, email or phone),
  • duration of the business mentoring relationship,
  • a statement on confidentiality that applies to mentor and mentee,
  • tracking and review of the business mentoring process and reporting back,
  • objectives – a statement of what they are, plus dates for review,
  • scope of the mentoring – it is usually best to be explicit about what is and is not included,
  • a statement from the mentee agreeing that they will be proactive and drive (project manage) the business mentoring relationship,
  • date for final review and closure – although the mentor and mentee may decide to continue.

(C) The ongoing business mentoring relationship

Both the mentor and the mentee have a role to play in managing the ongoing business mentoring relationship.

The deal for the business mentor is to honor the terms of the contract:

  • achieving agreed objectives and reviewing outcomes,
  • attending the agreed meetings and not rescheduling,
  • following through on any actions agreed,
  • respecting confidentiality,
  • exercising skills such as listening, giving feedback,
  • as the mentee and the relationship progress, stepping back and adapting your style to fit the new circumstances.

The mentee’s responsibilities are:

  • to be proactive, ensuring that the terms of the business mentoring contract are adhered to and that scheduled meetings take place
  • to ensure that the objectives jointly agreed at the first meeting are being worked on and the outcomes tracked thereafter
  • as they grow in confidence and experience, to take the lead and lessen any dependency they may have on the business mentor
  • to aim to move towards closure on the formal business mentoring relationship
  • finally, to think about what they can do to make a contribution back to their mentor.

Have you been a mentor and/or mentee?  Did the relationship work out well?

 

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