Module V: What are the main steps of a mentoring process?

The usual structure of a mentoring process includes the following steps:

• selection of Mentors and Mentees;
• training of the Mentors and Mentees;
• forming pairs or groups (group mentoring) and matching the most suitable Mentor to the group or individual;
• the  initial mentoring session: starting the mentoring process;
• further meetings of groups or pairs: task-oriented mentoring sessions;
• monitoring sessions (can be mid-term and final);
• the final mentoring session – evaluating results and concluding the relationship.

For e-Mentoring, the structure of the mentoring process remains the same as of face-to-face mentoring, but communication between 3M-Actors is done using online tools – Skype, e-mail and a special e-Learning platform.

For blended mentoring, the structure of the mentoring process is a combination of face-to-face sessions, communication using online tools and regular meetings on the special e-Platform. It is recommended to have three face-to-face sessions during the e-Mentoring process – one at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end of the process.

The Mentor has to be aware that the first three steps as well as the monitoring sessions are the responsibility of the Manager of the mentoring process; however, the Manager can ask the Mentor to support his/her work in these steps.

Below, you will find more information on the last four steps in which the Mentor has his/her own tasks and responsibilities.

The initial mentoring session: starting the mentoring process

For group mentoring - in the first meeting of the Mentor and the Mentees, the formed group meet each other as a group for the first time and get acquainted with their Mentor. The main purpose of this meeting is to get to know each other as individuals and to find out if the group and the Mentor are ‘well matched’. Also in blended mentoring, the first meeting is recommended to be face-to-face and can be organised in the Manager’s office, a cafe, a public park etc.

In the meeting, the Mentees learn about the other members in the group and possibly think of a name for their group. After the Mentor has introduced him/herself to the group, the Mentees present themselves to the Mentor, tell about their background, family, hobbies, values, education, profession, etc. The Mentor listens and asks questions if necessary.

For individual mentoring - in the first meeting of the Mentor and the Mentee, they meet each other for the first time and get acquainted. The main purpose of this meeting is to find out if the Mentor and the Mentee are ‘well matched’. In the meeting, the Mentee presents him/herself to the Mentor, tells about his/her background, family, hobbies, values, education, profession, etc. The Mentor listens and asks questions and presents him-/herself.

In order to succeed in mentoring, there must be a clear understanding between the Manager,  Mentor and the Mentee(s) on how to establish and build their mentoring relationship. In the first meeting after the introductory/warm-up phase is finished the Mentor and his/her Mentee(s) must develop and agree on the “Contract of blended mentoring on employment related issues”. (This tool can be found here). The Mentor and his/her Mentee(s) should discuss and agree upon various items for the “Contract of blended mentoring on employment related issues” such as:

• duration of the mentoring process (start/end);
• the Mentee’s/(-s’) commitment and responsibility for setting and reaching the targets;
• the Mentees’ support to each other;
• the necessity for Mentee(s) and Mentor to be open in discussions;
• obligation for all participants to keep the confidentiality of discussions even after the mentoring process;
• emphasizing that the advices given by the Mentor or the other mentees are only guidelines and the mentees are responsible themselves for their own decisions;
• etc.

The “Contract” specifies the rules of their mentoring relationship and how they will continue to communicate. Therefore, it is also recommended that the Mentor will enforce and facilitate the defining of the “Code of Ethics” (see Module IV) and including it into the “Contract of blended mentoring on employment related issues”.

Manager initiates the signing of the “Contract of blended mentoring on employment related issues” by all 3M-Actors. Contract could be updated by Manager within the mentoring process upon all actors’ agreement. Manager is responsible for uploading this tool to the e-Learning platform.

The Mentor has to be aware that Manager will ask Mentee(s) to fill in the Initial Monitoring Questionnaire (the template could be found here.

In the initial mentoring meeting, the Mentor has to facilitate the setting of the Mentee’s goals (see Module IV for more details). As it was already described above, during group mentoring, the Mentor facilitates that the Mentees first set their personal goals and objectives for the mentoring process. (This tool can be found here). The Mentor also encourages the Mentees to formulate the objectives – small steps needed to be done in order to reach the goals. Mentee fills-in the template and Mentor is responsible for uploading the final version of this document to the e-Learning platform.  This document will be used by Manager during monitoring mentoring sessions.

Then, (when organising group mentoring) the Mentor initiates the discussion on setting a common goal for the whole group and defining the first steps to achieve it. The Mentor suggests filling-in a document with group goals and objectives “Goals and objectives of the group for a mentoring on Employment Related Issues” in which the first steps on mentoring are clearly defined.

For individual mentoring, the Mentee only sets the goals and objectives for him/herself and fills-in only “Personal goals and objectives of a Mentee for a blended Mentoring on Employment Related Issues” following the steps described above for the group mentoring.

During the initial meeting Mentor and Mentee(s) also have to agree on the “Session plan for blended Mentoring on employment related issues”. (This tool can be found here) . Mentor is responsible for developing and updating this “Session plan”. Dates of the blended mentoring sessions and titles of each session could be defined in advance for the whole period of mentoring or filled-in after each mentoring session.

If e-Mentoring or blended mentoring is used, the “Contract of blended mentoring on employment related issues” and “Session plan” are placed in the special e-Platform and is available for all the mentees during the mentoring process. Mentor is responsible for updating the document “Session plan” and to place it to the e-Platform after each updating. This document is the main managing tool for communication during the whole mentoring process as it indicates the clear dates of the mentoring sessions (face-to-face and online). It also informs the Mentee about the next steps of the mentoring process. 

During every face-to-face meeting of the mentoring group the list of participants is filled-in and signed by all the participants.

Further meetings of groups or pairs: task-oriented mentoring sessions

After the initial mentoring session, which is mostly dedicated to organisational issues, mentoring on employment-related issues is started and runs in accordance with the “Session plan”  developed and agreed on.

Recommendation for filling-in the “Session Plan”: when you define the purpose of the meeting, please make sure that it is coherent with the group goals and objectives set (see the documents for Group goals and objectives). It is also recommended to describe shortly in this document which OERs have been overviewed during the meeting (see Module VII and Module VIII  or website www.e-mentoring.eu ).

On the e-Mentoring platform, the communication between the Mentor and the Mentees can be synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous communication is used during the regular meetings of the Mentor and the Mentee(s) agreed on in advance. During such meetings, the common chat is used for the communication between the Mentor and the Mentee(s). Between the regular sessions, the Mentee(s) and the Mentor can use the tools of asynchronous communication – forums, e-mail etc.

The task-oriented mentoring sessions have to be tied with the goals defined by the Mentee(s) and have to be oriented for the achievement of these goals. To facilitate the mentoring process on employment-related issues, the Mentor can suggest that the Mentee(s) use Open Educational Resources (OERs) on employability and entrepreneurship for self-learning and improve their skills in accordance with their set goals. The Mentor can suggest completing the exercises provided in the OERs as homework. You can find more on the OERs in Module VII   and Module VIII . Then in the regular e-Mentoring sessions, the results of the exercises can be analysed and discussions on topics related to these exercises can be facilitated by the Mentor.

The group or individual meetings should be organised according to the agenda suggested by the Manager:

1. How is everyone? / How are you?
2. Current issues
3. Addressing the target
4. Agreeing upon the topic (the point of view) for the next session
5. Homework for the Mentee(s) for the next session (it can be based on the above OERs/exercises for self-learning)

In each mentoring group/individual meeting, each particular session in the (“Diary for blended Mentoring on employment related issues”)  should be filled-in. The mentoring diary should be filled in according to the meeting agenda and placed on the e-Platform or the Mentees’ folders according to the form of the mentoring selected. In group mentoring at the beginning of each meeting, the group decides who will fill in the diary and how. The suggested method for filling in the diary is that one of the Mentee fills in the diary by rotation. In individual mentoring, the Mentee always fills in the diary by him/herself. At the end of each meeting, the Mentor writes some comments at the end of the diary. Mentor is responsible for uploading the updated version of diary to e-Mentoring platform.

The mid-term monitoring session – important control point of mentoring process

It is strongly recommended that, in the middle of the mentoring process, the Manager of the process will arrange a face-to-face monitoring session the Mentor, the Mentee(s) and the Manager will attend. This will strengthen teamwork and the participants have a possibility to evaluate the mentoring process. The following agenda is suggested:

• How have the goals of the Mentees developed?
  The Mentees can e.g. think about a scale from 4 to 10 and define where they were at the beginning of the mentoring process and where they are now.
• Each Mentee defines the next steps in order to achieve his/her goal.
• The Mentor and the Mentees clarify their mentoring session topics for the rest of the mentoring (if necessary).
• Comments from the Mentees, the Mentor and the Manager (in that order):
  Is there anything to improve for the rest of the project?

The Manager is the chairperson of the mid-term meeting and he/she will keep the minutes which will be filed on the e-Mentoring platform or in another place agreed on. A template of monitoring questions for the Mid-term interview with Mentor and Mentee(s) can be found here.

The final mentoring session – concluding the relationship

When the mentoring process comes to an end, the Manager should organise the final meeting/discussion of the Mentors and the Mentees. During the final meeting, the Mentor should in cooperation with the Mentees evaluate their achievements during the whole mentoring process, to analyse whether the Mentees have reached their goals and how their lives have changed for better. Each group or individual should prepare the conclusions of the mentoring process and should evaluate such points as: where they were when they started, how they worked together to achieve the goals, what were the subjects they succeeded in, what they got from the process, were there any problems during mentoring, what they would change in the process, where they stand now – what are the next steps for the Mentee?

It is recommended that during the final meeting/discussion a set of questions are discussed. They can be found here .

The Mentor has to be aware that Manager will ask Mentee (s) to fill in the Final Monitoring Questionnaire (the template could be found here).