UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON MOMENTUM MENTORING PROGRAMME MENTOR HANDBOOK PROGRAMME EDITION

Transcription

1 UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON MOMENTUM MENTORING PROGRAMME MENTOR HANDBOOK PROGRAMME EDITION

2 Contents WHAT IS MENTORING?... 2 BENEFITS OF MENTORING FOR YOU... 2 EXPECTATIONS AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES... 2 KEY DATES... 2 THE MENTORING RELATIONSHIP... 3 INITIAL MEETING establishing the parameters of the relationship... 3 DISCUSSING OBJECTIVES what do they want to achieve?... 4 AGREEING A CONTRACT WITH YOUR MENTEE... 4 REVIEW MEETINGS... 4 TIPS FOR SUCCESS... 5 BRINGING THE MENTORING RELATIONSHIP TO AN END... 5 FEEDBACK AND EVALUATION... 5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS... 6 USEFUL CONTACTS AND RESOURCES... 7 TOOLKIT: GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MENTORING... 8 IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION AND ACTIVITIES... 8 COMMUNICATION SKILLS... 8 OBJECTIVES PLAN TEMPLATE MENTORING CONTRACT

3 WHAT IS MENTORING? Mentoring is the development of a one to one relationship that helps one person learn from their own experiences and the experiences of another person. Momentum is the University of Brighton s mentoring scheme. It aims to pair university students who wish to gain employability skills and confidence with professionals who wish to share their experience. BENEFITS OF MENTORING FOR YOU The benefits you gain from your mentoring experience will be unique to you as they will depend on your relationship with your mentee and the objectives you develop together. However, there are some key benefits that you could gain from your mentoring experience: Training in coaching and counselling skills Insight into higher education today and the strengths and development needs of graduates Opportunities to network with other professionals from a wide range of sectors Understanding of how mentoring can assist staff development in your own organisation Encourage self-reflection and develop specific skills Sense of achievement from helping your student mentee achieve their goals. EXPECTATIONS AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES Mentors and mentees are expected to meet for a minimum of 12 hours across the duration of the programme (November to May). This could be two hour meetings once a month, for example. Mentors and mentees are expected to agree a meeting schedule in their initial meeting (see Initial Meeting for more information). You are also expected to: Keep in regular phone/ contact with your mentee Prepare for meetings If you are a new Momentum mentor, attend the Mentor Induction in October Attend the key dates including the Awards Ceremony Keep in regular contact with the Momentum programme coordinator throughout the programme. KEY DATES DATE AND LOCATION DETAILS 14 th October 2013 Application closing date Choice of 24 th or 29 th October, 6-8pm, Huxley Building, Room 400 Mentor Induction n.b. New mentors only 28 th October, 6-8pm, Watts Building, Room 507 Mentee Induction 7 th November, pm, Cockcroft Hall, Cockcroft Introduction seminar Building Mid-January 2014, 6-8pm (date and venue to be Mid-year review confirmed) Mid-February, 10am-3pm (date and venue to be Mid-year event confirmed) End of May, pm (date and venue to be confirmed) End of year Awards Ceremony 2

4 THE MENTORING RELATIONSHIP Once you have been paired with a mentee at the introduction seminar, you are expected to meet with them for a minimum of 12 hours across the six months of the programme. The date, time and location of the first meeting will be booked at the introduction seminar between you and your new mentee. INITIAL MEETING establishing the parameters of the relationship When you first meet with your mentee, you ll want to get to know them and talk about what they want to gain from the mentoring experience. Getting to know your mentee here are some areas you can talk about to help you get to know each other: What course they re doing and what they enjoy most about it What interests they have outside of university: for example, are there any causes they re really passionate about? What work experience they ve had (this can be paid work, voluntary roles, internships, work experience) Why they wanted to be a mentee. Be prepared to be asked: Why you wanted to be a mentor What your educational background is What kind of work you ve done in the past What led you to have the job you currently have What do you do in a typical day at work (this is a much easier question to answer than tell me what exactly you do ) What do you enjoy most about your job. The first meeting is also about establishing goals, setting ground rules and agreeing on the framework of the mentoring relationship. By the end of your first meeting, you should have jointly agreed: A time schedule for your meetings: don t leave it with let s sort it out later or I ll call you later to figure it out ; take your calendar or diary with you and put in firm dates to meet. How long your meetings will take: we don t recommend meeting for more than two hours at a time as attentions can drift after that amount of time; a maximum of two hours for a meeting also means both you and your mentee will stay focused on the objectives for each meeting. A place to meet this can be at your workplace, at the university or in a public place such as a library or café. A way of communicating outside of the meetings: either by phone or . Make sure you don t leave the meeting without having exchanged either phone numbers or addresses! What the mentee wants to gain from the programme with their SMART objectives agree on this with the Mentoring Contract. Expectations: what topics or issues are outside of your mentoring relationship; how will you both deal with any issues or problems that arise? Keep all information discussed during your mentoring relationship confidential between the two of you this confidentiality is essential so that you can both be honest and truthful in your discussions. However, if you are concerned about your mentee s welfare, then it s your responsibility to contact the Momentum programme coordinator as soon as possible. 3

5 DISCUSSING OBJECTIVES what do they want to achieve? What a mentee wants to gain from the mentoring experience is a big question and takes some thinking about. We recommend that mentees prepare beforehand and jot down some ideas about what their objectives could be. You can then help the mentee turn these into SMART objectives when you meet. Establishing SMART objectives at the very start of your mentoring relationship will help you measure progress and feedback. The mentee should create objectives that are: Specific A specific goal has a much greater chance of being achieved than a general goal A specific goal is clear and well defined A general goal would be, I would like to know everything there is to know about a role of a trainer within your company But a specific goal would say, I would like to job shadow an I.T. trainer for at least one day by the end of December, with the aim of finding out exactly how the role works. Measurable Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set Know if the goal is obtainable and how far away completion is. Know when it has been achieved. Achievable Plan the steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows them to carry out those steps Agreement between you and your mentee what their goals should be Is there a realistic path to achievement? Realistic To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective towards which they are willing and able to work Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time. Time-bound A goal should be grounded within a time frame Enough time to achieve the goal. The Objectives Plan template can be used to help your mentee plan out what their objectives will be and when they want to achieve them by. Establishing clear objectives at the beginning of the programme will really help both of you get the most from the mentoring experience. At the start of the scheme, he identified a need to improve his interview technique and has therefore worked hard at developing this to good effect, which has been a notable personal success for him. Self-confidence was also identified as something he wanted to improve, and seeing positive results like this has also instilled in him more confidence in his own abilities. - Rochanne Siranossian of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau, on Mentee of the Year, Benjie Quilao AGREEING A CONTRACT WITH YOUR MENTEE Once you and your mentee have agreed on their objectives (you can use the Objectives Plan template to help with this), you will then need to sign a Mentoring Contract with your mentee. This will be the formal agreement with your mentee of everything they are planning to achieve through the mentoring programme. REVIEW MEETINGS We ask you to meet for a minimum of 12 hours with your mentee, during the programme time period of November to May. These meetings are a chance for you to monitor progress; feedback to each other; solve problems and reassess objectives. Make sure you accept and reflect on any feedback about your advice. There are many activities and topics you and your mentee can work together on. The Toolkit at the end of this handbook provides some suggestions. 4

6 Discuss next steps at the end of each meeting so that you re both clear on what the mentee will be aiming to achieve before you next meet. TIPS FOR SUCCESS Listen and ask questions rather than trying to solve all of the mentee's problems Discuss issues objectively and provide constructive, honest feedback Be open about your own shortcomings or knowledge gaps Be open to the mentee's perspective and their work/life environment Respect and support your mentee collaborate, boost confidence and respect confidentiality. Most importantly, be ready to commit time and energy to the relationship be available! BRINGING THE MENTORING RELATIONSHIP TO AN END The end of the Momentum programme can be the end of your relationship with your mentee or they may want to continue the mentoring or support beyond the programme. At the end of the programme, have a final meeting with your mentee where you should: Discuss with your mentee which of their objectives they feel they ve achieved and reflect on any new actions or objectives that have arisen from the programme Talk about any areas they ll be taking away to work on further Discuss what they plan to do next, for example, moving forward with job opportunities or continuing in higher education If the mentee wants to continue the professional relationship beyond the programme, they should ask you if you re happy to do so. Now based in Singapore, he [my mentor] is still able to chat with me. It shows that we have created a great professional and personal mentoring relationship. This is due to his personality and dedication to truly helping me. Other mentors could have gone off to Asia and forgotten about being a mentor to someone they only see monthly. James understands how important he is to my success, and I have built up a great trust with him. - Luke Hughes, 2011 Business Management with Marketing on his mentor, James Dellborg, RBS Coutts Bank FEEDBACK AND EVALUATION Feedback between you and your mentee should be a key part of your review meetings together. Feedback from the programme overall will mainly involve your participation at the mid-year review. At the review, the mentors will be initially separated from the mentees. The separate groups will then be given some open and wide-ranging questions to stimulate discussion around what they think of the Momentum programme so far and what they would like from it in the future. There will be opportunities to share good practice and troubleshoot problems that may have arisen. Towards the end of the session, the groups will come back together to share their findings and the programme coordinator will produce a report for everyone, including any outcomes or action points that have arisen from the review. Remember that you can contact the Momentum programme coordinator throughout the programme if you have any questions or wish to feed back on the programme at any point. 5

7 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q Where should I meet my mentee? A You should always meet in a safe space where you can talk in reasonable privacy for a couple of hours. Popular venues include coffee bars outside peak times and spaces in the university or employers premises. You should never meet at your home or your mentee s home. Q Do I have to pay for my travel to mentee meetings? A Please arrange meetings at venues which will not incur high travel costs for either party. We will pay the travel costs to students if a meeting away from the university is preferable, but this must be agreed with the Momentum programme coordinator prior to incurring any expenditure. Q I ed my mentee but I haven t heard anything back, what should I do? A Try a gentle reminder by , then a phone call (your s may be landing in the spam folder). Contact the Momentum programme coordinator if the lack of communication persists. Q My mentee hasn t turned up to a meeting with me, what should I do? A Initially, try to contact your mentee to find out why they haven t turned up. If they simply forgot, gently remind them about how this has affected your schedule and how it would be perceived in working life. Q If the mentoring relationship isn t working, what should I do? A Firstly, try to explain to your mentee why you are not happy with the way it is going. If that does not prove successful, please contact the Momentum programme coordinator, who may be able to help. Q What happens at the mid-year event? A Well ahead of the event, you will be asked to think of topics or contributors that you think would be of interest to you and to the wider Momentum group. Where possible, these ideas will be used to assemble a programme of guest speakers (usually three or four). It is a daytime event in order to allow a good breadth and depth of content, but it normally runs from 10am to 3pm in order to accommodate childcare and travel issues. Popular topics have included interview skills, career choice, public speaking and self-employment, but all suggestions are welcomed. Q What happens at the end of year Awards Ceremony? A All mentors and mentees who have successfully completed the programme are presented with a certificate of achievement by the Vice-Chancellor or another member of the university s senior management team. Additionally, the Mentor and Mentee of the Year (who do not have to be from the same mentoring pair) will receive their awards. The Mentor of the Year Award is known as the Tom Russell Award after one of the original Momentum mentors, who passed away in Both the Mentor and Mentee of the Year trophies are funded by a donation from his legacy. Q How can I win an award? A In April, you will receive an asking for nominations for the Mentor of the Year or Mentee of the Year award. Each mentor is allowed to nominate one student as Mentee of the Year and each student is allowed to nominate one mentor as Mentor of the Year. Nominations will be kept confidential. The programme coordinators will use the reasons given by the nominators, plus their own observations, to decide who wins the awards. However, the programme coordinators are not allowed to make nominations of their own. Exact reasons for winning vary, but making full use of opportunities provided by the programme and engaging with other participants will certainly be contributing factors. Q A Can I still see my mentee after May? Of course, as long as you are both happy to stay in touch - that is up to you. 6

8 USEFUL CONTACTS AND RESOURCES Momentum programme coordinator: Robert Prosser Tel: Student Services provides a range of advice, support and resources for students: Online information and advice: Careers Service: The Careers Service offers help and advice on careers guidance, employment, volunteering, enterprise and personal development planning. Tel: careers@brighton.ac.uk Chaplaincy The Chaplaincy offers pastoral care and support for members of the student and staff community, for all faiths and none. Tel: Rev. Colin Lawlor: c.r.lawlor@brighton.ac.uk Counselling Whatever the reason, students don t need to feel they re alone with their worries. The counselling service offers sessions with trained counsellors in a safe and confidential space. Disability and Dyslexia If the student has a disability, specific learning difficulty or long-term health condition, they can choose to disclose it in confidence to the Disability and Dyslexia team and can find out about the wide range of academic and personal support available. Tel: disability@brighton.ac.uk Student Advice The Student Advice team can help students with financial concerns, student funding eligibility and money management. The team also includes International Student support that can help with immigration advice and support for culture shock and homesickness. Tel: studentadvice@brighton.ac.uk Study Skills Advice The ASK website is designed to help students develop the skills they need to achieve study success at university. Books and online resources: A Practical Guide to Mentoring: Using Coaching and Mentoring Skills to Help Others Achieve their Goals, 5th Edition (2012) by David Kay & Roger Hinds Techniques for coaching and mentoring (2004) by David Clutterbuck and David Megginson David Clutterbuck s blog has many useful articles about mentoring: Tony Buzan s blog has some great resources on Mind Maps: 7

9 TOOLKIT: GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MENTORING IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION AND ACTIVITIES Job hunting Signpost your mentee to useful job hunting resources Discuss with your mentee how to get experience in their field, for example, paid internships or work experience Work through your mentee s CV or a job application form with them Mock job interviews Personal development Work through a SWOT analysis with your mentee to help them think about their skills: STRENGTHS Things they do well e.g. leadership skills WEAKNESSES Things they have difficulty with e.g. lack of confidence when speaking to groups of people OPPORTUNITIES Other people and resources they can tap in to e.g. local networking opportunities THREATS External factors they have less or no control over e.g. high competition for particular jobs Mind maps are useful ways for your mentee to think about what they want to achieve for their future: help them develop this map by discussing with them where they d like to live; what type of job they d like to have; what kinds of skills they d like to use. Help your mentee with confidence building presentation skills or mock meetings. Industry/career insight: Introduction to your colleagues and a visit to your workplace Work shadowing A small project Attending conferences or seminars COMMUNICATION SKILLS Here are some helpful strategies for effective communication with your mentee: Think about using open questions: how? Why? What? etc. Summarising what has been covered or ask your mentee to summarise Clarifying: can you explain what you mean by XYZ? Reflecting: so am I right in thinking that you re saying? Listening: they should be talking more than you Observing body language & tone of voice: I notice you frowned when you said you liked Brighton. Positive feedback that is genuine Asking whether the mentee has anything else to say at the end of the session Ending the session on a positive note You should both leave feeling inspired! 8

10 Beware of: Playing the parent Appearing bored Devaluing the mentee s feelings: Everybody feels like that ; You don t mean it Passing judgement Jumping to conclusions Filling in a silence too quickly don t be afraid of silences, these can be powerful Interrupting or finishing off sentences and not giving them time to think Using jargon Asking unnecessary questions 9

11 OBJECTIVES PLAN TEMPLATE OBJECTIVE ACTIONS AIM TO ACHIEVE THIS OBJECTIVE BY (DATE OR MONTH) 10

12 MENTORING CONTRACT After joint discussion, we agree as a mentoring pair to work on the following areas: Mentor s signature Mentee s signature Personal Development Professional Development Academic Development 11