The Career Report
	Volume 1 - Issue 2  - October 2006
- Sign up for the Career Report For comments, questions or future topic suggestions, contact askmelinda@thepittmangroup.com - Search Jobs - Post Resume - Contact Us Know someone who could benefit from the information in the article? Please forward this report to them.	Maximizing Your Mentoring Relationship (By Melinda Pittman)   In our last issue, we discussed the steps to take in order to find a mentor who’s right for you.  But once you’ve found a mentor and have started down the road with your relationship, what’s next?  How do you manage the relationship so that both parties get the most out of it that they can?   Troubleshooting The first step is to identify any possible problems or complications and then formulate a plan for overcoming them. As in any relationship, pitfalls are lurking everywhere.  Below are some of the potential obstacles in a mentoring relationship, problems that can pop up after the arrangement has already been agreed upon and begun.   • The mentor is too busy. • The person being mentored is asking for too much help and/or too much time. • The person being mentored begins to broach topics or seek advice that is outside the mentoring relationship boundaries.   There are others that may affect the quality and effectiveness of the relationship, most notably other priorities in the lives of both individuals.  The key to overcoming these potential obstacles is consistent communication.   Communication is the key There are two main forms of communication that you should be concerned with in a mentoring relationship.  The first type is planning and preparation, which can help diffuse many of the most common problems outlined above.  First and foremost, this preparation involves the meticulous planning of meetings. The most important thing to remember is that how long you meet isn’t as important as how frequently you meet.   In addition, make certain that when you do meet, your attention is focused solely on the task at hand.  Don’t try to check email, voice messages, etc.  You can do that another time.  You’ll derive the most benefit from the mentoring relationship if you give it the undivided attention it requires.  Also, be flexible in your planning.  If you get into a rhythm and it’s disrupted, adapt to the changes so that your meetings can continue on a regular basis.   The second type of important communication is feedback.  This feedback should occur in both directions, from the mentor to their protégé and vice-versa.  The natural assumption might be that the mentor will provide all of the feedback, but for the relationship to be truly as productive as it can be, the person being mentored needs to offer feedback, as well.  This type of interaction will help to promote the overall health and well-being of the relationship.   Measuring progress Another type of communication in any mentoring engagement deals with ensuring that you monitor its progress and make any adjustments accordingly.  This can be accomplished by scheduling regular meetings designed for just this purpose.  The meetings should be more frequent at the beginning of the relationship and then can be spaced further apart as it begins to mature and operate in a smoother fashion.   When evaluating progress, there are a number of benchmark questions that both people should ask.  Some of those include the following:   • Are we making maximum use of our time? • Are we communicating consistently and effectively? • Are we on track to meet our stated goals? • What could we change/modify/add that would make things better?   It’s incumbent upon the person being mentored to initiate these progress meetings, since in the final analysis, they stand to benefit the most from the relationship and any efforts to maximize its overall value.   The final ingredient—time Last but certainly not least, a mentoring relationship needs the appropriate amount of time in order to develop and reach its full potential.  Again, this rule applies to just about any relationship you have with another person.  Over time, you’ll be able to better ascertain how the other person likes to work, how they prefer to handle situations, etc., and they will be able to do the same when it comes to you.   There’s bound to be some awkward moments at the beginning.  However, if you recognize that those are a natural part of the process, you can work through them and use them as the launching pad for what could become a very productive, rewarding, and satisfying mentoring relationship.   If you have any questions about forming a mentoring relationship or about mentoring programs in general, feel free to contact me at Melinda@thePittmanGroup.com.   BioScience | Informatics | Information Technology
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