Mentoring

If you would like to seek support from someone over an extended period of time in relation to your career progress and aspirations, you may consider mentoring.

Your mentor would normally be a senior colleague. They may have followed a career pathway that interests you, or have faced similar challenges you are, or may be, facing. They support you by drawing on their professional and personal experience, listening to you, and providing information and encouragement where appropriate.

Mentoring may help to:

• Provide support and motivation in the key areas of career planning and development
• Provide opportunities for a confidential review of options, strategies and decisions
• Help staff to become self-reliant and take responsibility for their career management
• Ensure staff are supported whilst developing confidence, additional skills and experience
• Help to build cross institutional relationships and knowledge

The Mentoring Connections programme is available for all staff irrelevant of grade or career background.  It is designed to enable Mentees and Mentors to connect with each other with the Mentor offering support and guidance to the Mentee.

Some mentoring relationships can be mutually beneficial i.e. peer mentoring, where both parties are learning from and supporting each other.

The Mentoring Connections programme is run by University HR Services - Talent and Development and the Institute for Academic Development.

You may find our help document Making Connections Using Platform One useful for hints and tips on registering, creating your profile and making connections through Platform One.

It is up to the mentor and the mentee how often they meet and for how long. At the outset, the mentor and the mentee must be explicit about how much time they are prepared to give and agree the frequency of meetings.

It may be useful to diary in time to meet every 4-6 weeks at the beginning of the relationship, after which timescales would be a flexible arrangement between the 2 parties.

As a member of the Mentoring Connections programme, we would expect the duration of relationship to be around 6 to 12 months. However there is no limit if there is mutual consent to continue the relationship.

If you are looking for (or would like to offer support) which has less of a time commitment, or may not be face to face, this can be done informally if you wish rather than through the formal Mentoring Connections programme.

The Staff BAME Network Mentoring Programme pairs members of UoE staff that identify as BAME (including PhD students and those on temporary contracts) with other members of staff who identify as BAME to support their experiences with racism, discrimination, loneliness, and other challenges particular to being Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic at the University of Edinburgh.

Vision: Our vision is to identify and help alleviate some of the barriers to entry and success the University of Edinburgh, for example the known BAME pay gap, attrition at higher levels, and delays on the path to promotion.

If you are interested in participating in the programme please complete the form below:

Microsoft Form.

Any queries about this programme should be directed to Lauren Hall-Lew (Lauren.Hall-Lew@ed.ac.uk), Staff BAME Network Mentoring Programme Coordinator

Peer mentoring offers you the opportunity to connect with a colleague to give and receive support. Here is a what your peer mentoring relationship could look like:

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Getting started

• Things to consider in your first meet up with your peer mentor:
• How long do you want to talk in this session?
• Outlining both your career journeys
• What you hope to get out of Peer Mentoring?
• What do you both enjoy/dislike about your careers?
• How often do you want to make contact?
• What contact details are you exchanging?
• Will you take have a meeting where one person is mentor and one mentee or have a more informal approach?
• You may also want to consider agreeing some ground rules, personal boundaries and address issues of confidentiality.

Tip: Start with the past

 The first step is to understand people’s motivations and values, the things that drive them. It’s amazing what you can learn from a person’s life story.

Building the relationship

Check in!

• What has happened since you last met that you are proud of?
• What have you found challenging?

Talk about the future - Your dreams

• What do you want the pinnacle of your career to look like? / How would your life at its best feel?
• Encourage each other to come up with 3 – 5 different dreams for the future.
• What skills do you need to focus on developing?
• How can you do this in your current role?
• How are your dreams aligned with your values?

Concluding the relationship

Ask yourself...

• What do I need to learn in order to move in the direction of my dreams?
• How should I prioritise the things I need to learn?
• Who can I learn from?

Plan for the Present - Career Action Plan

Create a plan with your peer mentor on how you can move confidently in the direction of your dreams, having clarified your values and dreams and aligning them with your current situation.

Mentoring conversations are completely confidential and can cover a broad range of topics. Some examples include:

• exploring career options
• planning for promotion
• discipline-specific issues
• balancing a research career with a family 
• understanding the University structure and culture

To get the most out of mentoring, you need to be clear on what you want to gain from it. This also makes it easier to identify potential mentors who may be able to help.

Things to consider include:

• What do you need from a mentor?
• What would be a good outcome from mentoring?
• What timescales would you like to achieve this within?

Previous mentees found the mentoring partnership to be valuable and enjoyable, and described the positive impact of talking about career issues with someone independent.

Other benefits include:

• Help with specific research skills
• Ideas for managing work loads
• Identification of training opportunities
• Overcoming feelings of isolation
• Help with networking
• Increased motivation
• Support, encouragement and increased confidence
• Help with setting and achieving goals

To achieve this you must come to each session ready to:

• Work towards achieving your goals or objectives.
• Receive, accept and action feedback.
• Be questioned, challenged and encouraged.
• Listen actively to what your mentor is saying.
• Be honest with your mentor and yourself (e.g. about your strengths and weaknesses).
• Agree realistic actions.
• Think carefully about how you can apply learning outcomes from the sessions back on the job.
• Discuss the outcomes of the actions from the previous session. Making notes of any progress made, as well as problems or issues that you would like to discuss further.

• Provide feedback to the mentor on how useful you are finding the sessions.

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Please be aware that the Mentoring Connections programme is not designed to help staff gain promotions or to be seen as a sign of favouritism.  Your Mentor will not act as a “Sponsor” for you.

Your Mentor is also not there to provide counselling or emotional support on personal issues.  They will also not take on the responsibilities of your line manager.

1. Decide on what you would like to gain from having a mentor and create objectives
2. Review Information for mentees
3. Create a Platform One Profile
4. Search for a suitable Mentor from available Support profiles
5. Send One to One Mentor request
6. Await mentoring confirmation from potential Mentor
7. Set up initial meeting to discuss
8. Mentoring begins
9. Ongoing support is available
10. Mentoring partnership ends at any time (typically after 6 to 12 months)
11. Complete feedback survey

You may find the Making Connections Using Platform One document helpful for creating an impactful profile and suggestions for using the platform to connect with a Mentor.

In addition to helping colleagues, being a mentor can help you to develop your communication and interpersonal skills and allow you the opportunity to reflect on your own practice. Mentors have noted the following benefits:

• professional benefits of linking to another research team / school / department
• satisfaction from helping another person grow and develop
• the opportunity to review own practice
• exposure to new ideas
• increased self-awareness
• development of interpersonal and communication skills
• reflection on own career path
• stimulation and motivation
• enhances CV

A mentor can fulfil many roles. You might find that you take on specific roles at different times according to the needs of the person you are mentoring. Here are some mentor roles for you to consider:

Listener - a supportive ear, offering your mentee observations and reflective questions

Guide - showing your mentee how the University and different systems and networks function

Sounding board - acting independently, allowing your mentee to bounce new ideas and suggestions off you, without any judgement

Role model - sharing your knowledge and experience freely so your mentee can learn from you

Challenger - use your objectivity to challenge your mentee’s assumptions and help them see the bigger picture

Mentors do not need to have any particular qualifications, rather the key skills required are:

• listening and questioning
• challenging your mentee to consider their learning and what they’re going to do with it
• providing insights into ‘the way things are done around here’
• guidance and advice on the sector and career progression
• being a positive role model
• being curious and encouraging your mentee to be curious
• encouragement and to facilitate networking and building supportive connections
• challenging negative/limiting beliefs

• Mentors bring their own personal and professional experience, knowledge and skills to provide valuable input into the mentee’s personal development objectives/goals.
• Support to the mentee as they identify the next steps or actions to achieve their goals/ objectives.
• Responding to questions or offering your own learning experiences to help the mentee understand the potential outcomes which can result from actions or decisions made.
• Honest and non- biased feedback to the individual mentee on their performance.

• Reviewing the progress made towards achieving the objectives which were first set at the start of the mentoring relationship.

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1. Review Information for mentors
2. Creat a Platform One profile
3. Create a “support” profile outlining the key skills and knowledge you have to offer
4. Select the levels of support you are comfortable providing (can be updated later)
5. Select the number of Mentees you are comfortable supporting at any one time (can be updated later)
6. Await One to One request from Mentee
7. Review request and decide if you are happy to provide support
8. Set up initial meeting to discuss
9. Mentoring begins
10. Ongoing support is available if needed
11. Mentoring partnership ends at any time (typically after 6 to 12 months)
12. Complete feedback survey

Mentoring Toolkit

This is a great guide to the mentoring relationship and will help you structure your meetings.  We strongly suggest that all our mentors and mentees read and review this toolkit ahead of your first mentoring meeting.

Watch one of our videos

These audio videos are particularly relevant for individuals just starting a new mentoring partnership.  Additional videos on other topics are also available. The transcripts for the videos are currently being created and will be added shortly.

What does success look like for mentors and mentees?

If success is achieving what you value, then what does this mean for mentoring?  This video answers the question “what does a successful mentoring partnership look like?” and helps both mentors and mentees to think about their goals for this experience.

Building your Mentoring Agreement: Tips for Mentors and Mentees

All mentoring partnerships will benefit from having a mentoring agreement.  This video covers the role of the mentoring agreement and includes more information on what should be covered. The issues surrounding confidentiality and boundaries in a mentoring relationship are also covered.   More information can also be found in our Mentoring Toolkit. 

Effective Goal setting for Mentees

Over time our personal goals will change; however you will see real value if you start your mentoring partnership with a clear set of goals.  In this video we look at how to effectively set goals for your mentoring partnership.  The video is primarily for mentees, but mentors may also find the content helpful.

The transcripts for the videos are currently being created and will be added shortly.

Listening Skills for Mentors and Mentees

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply.” Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  This video considers how you (mentors and mentees) can be ready and able to listen most effectively in your mentoring conversations.

Giving Advice for Mentors

Mentors can play a number of different roles in mentoring, for example that of the traditional advisor, but they can also act as a guide or coach helping the mentee come up with their own plan.  This video answers the question, “when is it most appropriate to give advice?” versus trying to get your mentee to come to their own solution. 

Using Challenge as a Mentor

 Another role that mentors can play is that of challenger.  This video looks at how to effectively use challenge in your mentoring relationship.

Winding up the Mentoring Relationship

All good things must come to an end.  This video covers ideas on how to effectively wind up and move on in your mentoring partnership. 

Different Tools and Approaches for your Mentoring Conversations

Creative Mentoring Techniques for Mentors

The mentoring toolkit introduces the three stage process as a conversation model to use in your discussions.  Once you have had a number of meetings with your mentees you might be looking for new or different ways to creatively help your mentee to unlock their thinking.  This video looks at 4 different techniques that can be used in mentoring.

Mentoring through Change and Transition

Understanding change is an important part of accepting the situation; mentoring can provide a mentee with a great environment for doing this.  This video offers mentors some strategies and tools to support a mentee through change and transition within their role, team or across the University.

Building your Mentee’s Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem

Very few people can claim to be totally self-confident and most would like to be more confident in certain areas of their lives; mentoring can be used to help an individual focus on this area.    This video looks at strategies and tools that can be used in a mentoring relationship to help build your mentee’s self-confidence and self-esteem.  More resources on this topic can be found on the online development toolkit.

About the presenter

More information on Lis Merrick