With over 40,000 mentors in the UK, we certainly have a great resource for entrepreneurs. However, as with many things in life, it’s about the process of using the resource rather than the sheer numbers which ensures the benefit.
After managing a national mentoring solution for over two years, with over 400 mentors, 4200 mentees the key factors are developing an environment of trust, openness and diversity on one hand and on the other accountability, skill development and action orientation on the other.
The first step is to set the limits, boundaries and scope for the mentor/mentee relationship. In many cases this will be their first mentoring experience and as such they both need to know what each person should and should not expect. This then allows them to reduce the amount of storming before the norming and hopefully bring about productive business growth. This involves providing an education seminar followed by a selection workshop which creates enthusiasm and drive for the new relationship.
Every relationship has a start, beginning and end and understanding this is also very important in ensuring everyone gets the most form it. The best business mentoring matches the mentee’s stage of business, the industry sector and the location of the user. Having more than one mentor is also important for younger mentees as it ensure they do not rely on one person and seeks advice from many quarters, thus forming their own opinion.
All organisations needs to know what is happening with their customer at any one time and therefore statistical collection is important for both reporting and improving the service. This is why online mentoring solutions are important in being able to manage, monitor and report the status of the network. I have also seen that our mentee target audience has become accustomed to adding their life onto the internet and getting feedback, where else would they do it?
Mentors help create such amazing companies and get a lot out of the experience and this is the main reason many organisation are now considering adding their employees to these schemes, helping develop their staff to understand both other business leaders but also understand how business itself works. Therefore a structured approach for your mentors is benefiting in many ways.
If you do not have a mentor then please go and find one.
If your business does not conduct mentoring for all staff then please implement it and it will create an amazing amount of value and loyalty.
If you want to give something back then join a mentoring scheme and enjoy all the new entrepreneurs you meet.
