Mentoring Workshop Trainee Accountants and Mentors, Finance Division May 2007

Exercise Groups of mentees and mentors: Discuss what, in your opinion, are your responsibilities as a mentor/ mentee

Responsibilities of the Mentee Think through the questions and issues you might wish to raise with your mentor prior to the meeting. These might relate to your job or your programme of study. Mentees, like mentors, need to treat all that is exchanged as confidential. Listen carefully to the suggestions the mentor makes and clarify any points you do not fully understand

Responsibilities of the mentee 2 Don’t make impossible demands of the mentor Take increasing responsibility for managing the relationship and setting the agenda Don’t neglect your line manager!

What is a mentor? In Greek mythology, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he placed his friend Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus. Today ‘mentor’ means a trusted friend, a coach and a teacher, usually a more experienced person

What does a Mentor do? Helps the mentee to clarify their career goals and think plan how to achieve them Acts as a gateway to other people and sources of knowledge Passes on expertise, knowledge of the organisation and attitudes that might go with a different role or set of responsibilities Challenges the mentee to face up to opportunities and problems

What makes a good mentor Someone who is: Interested and willing to help others Prepared to give time and mental energy to the mentee Challenges assumptions and statements the menteee makes Able to offer a broad perspective and draw appropriately from experience

What are the key mentoring skills Listening - for facts - for feelings - for assumptions Asking the right questions Giving feedback Making the appropriate intervention Appropriate ‘self-disclosure’

Questions for Mentors Closed – yes-no answer Open – what, how, why,,,,, Probing – Tell me more about/ how exactly…… Reflective – So what you’re saying is… Non-questions - silence: mmm

First meeting between mentor and mentee Discuss what the mentee hopes to gain from these meetings and the mentor hopes to offer Agree timescales and frequency of meetings Discuss expectations and boundaries of what is/ isnt appropriate to discuss Agree groundrules – confidentiality, accessibility etc

Meetings with your mentee – the GROW Model Goal-setting – what is the objective of the meeting Reality – help them clarify their understanding Options – and pros/ cons of each Will and Way forward – what are the agreed next steps and timeframes

Exercise in mentor-mentee pairs Mentor - Help the mentee to clarify: What’s going well Something that might be going less well What they can do about it Then summarise what the mentee has said Mentee – Give the mentor feedback on their approach - what did you learn from this exercise?