Business Mentoring Insights

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  Changing Career Paths? Mentoring Can Help.

    Mentoring is an important survival tool for anyone changing career paths. There are significant business trends that are making mentoring an important survival tool for anyone seeking to maintain a career within a fast paced and changing business climate. One example is changing career patterns. Read more

  Fri, Mar, 28, 2014

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  Should Mentees Choose Their Mentor?

  I encounter this question often when I conduct a demo of my online system, Mentoring Complete.   Read more

  Fri, Nov, 01, 2013

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  2 Considerations While Matching Pairs For a Mentoring Program

  When matching pairs (mentors with mentorees) in a mentoring program, you are trying to match for two things: competencies and compatibility. Successfully matched pairs will make the difference between a successful mentoring program and an unsuccesful one. Read more

  Mon, Sep, 16, 2013

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  3 Problems and Solutions with Mentoring Matching

  Matching pairs properly in mentoring is a critical component of a successful mentoring program. Read more

  Fri, Sep, 13, 2013

• What Makes A Good Mentor?

  This is a question I get asked frequently and there isn't one set answer.  It's difficult to predict which personality will mesh with another but with some thought put into a matching process, one can get great results.  I do think there are qualities that are critical for someone to be a good mentor: Read more

  Mon, Aug, 19, 2013

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  Role of a Mentoring Program Manager in a Mentoring Program

  An effective mentoring program manager (MPM) can often make the difference between a failed mentoring relationship and a successful one. Some of the MPM’s tasks include creating and implementing the mentoring program, training participants, planning meetings and providing resources, evaluating the program, providing reports to senior management, and expanding the program (as needed). The MPM must perform certain tasks and demonstrate key behaviors to be effective. Among these are: TASKS Creates the mentoring program Implements the mentoring program Trains participants Plans meetings/resources Evaluates mentoring program Provides reports to senior management Expands program as needed BEHAVIORS Manages Builds alliances Facilitates Communicates Supports Resolves challenges Protects Motivates Maintains confidentiality The MPM’s role is so important that we’ve designed an online course specifically for mentoring program managers. The course covers all the best practices that have been demonstrated as critical to creating effective business mentoring programs. In the certification process, candidates will become knowledgeable in the following areas: How mentoring differs from other professional development systems. The role of the Mentoring Program Manager in effective mentoring. How to design business mentoring programs. How to implement mentoring within an organization. Various methods available to create effective matches. How to conduct effective training with mentors and mentorees and how to orient mentoree managers to their role in mentoring. How to maintain ongoing contact with mentoring pairs to assist them in having an effective relationship. How to design a process for assessing the effectiveness of mentoring programs. The most common challenges faced in mentoring programs and mentoring relationships and how to meet these challenges effectively.   Read more

  Tue, Jul, 30, 2013

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  When should I end the mentoring relationship?

  In a formal mentoring program, the program itself provides the time when the relationship needs to come to closure.  This is usually 9-12 months.  However, sometimes one or the other partner feels it's time to end before that period of time.  This may or may not mean it really is time to end as it could also mean that there is a problem in the relationship.  What are the signs and what do they mean? Read more

  Thu, Jul, 18, 2013

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  3 Tips for Successful E-Mentoring

  Every company is unique, and so are its mentoring needs. Here are some guidelines for mentoring pairs that are not able to meet face to face. Read more

  Thu, Jun, 13, 2013

• Effective Mentoring Skills

  We get lots of questions from mentors, mentorees, and mentoring program managers on what they need to do in order to have a successful mentoring relationship and an overall successful program. So we thought we'd devote this month's newsletter, Mentoring Minute, to 5 effective mentoring skills. It's important to note that you won't master these skills overnight. In fact, some of these skills are ones we'll all be working on throughout our lives. That said, we've found that the mentors and mentorees who embrace these skills sooner rather than later are the ones who experience the most success in their mentoring relationship. Read more

  Fri, Mar, 29, 2013