your first mentoring program: the fear-free approach
DESCRIPTION
Watch the recording here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/342196032 Or find more information here: http://insala.com/mentoring-consulting.aspTRANSCRIPT
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Your First
Fear-FreeThe ApproachMentoring Program
Agenda1
2
3
4
Your Obstacles – And How to Overcome Them
Final Thoughts
Case Study: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
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Case Study: Stumbling Over the Obstacles
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Your Obstacles
And How toOvercome Them
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You may have only recently considered starting your first mentoring program.
If this describes you, don’t worry – you’re in the right place.
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Don’t add fear of the unknown to the obstacles you’ll already be facing.
1. Know where your obstacles are2. Avoid them when possible3. Develop a strategy to overcome them
There will be obstacles.
You don’t know
what you
don’t know
You know
what you
don’t know
You know
what you
know
What you know is second nature
Obstacle #1:
ResourcesNot Enough
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Anxiety around lack of resources mostly due to:
• Needing to create a mentoring program• Not knowing how to do it• Being pushed to do it by an impossible date• Feeling that you’re drowning in tasks you don’t know how to and
therefore cannot complete
Obstacle #1: Not Enough Resources
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Solution #1: Plan
Process
(How)
Methodology
(Why)
Sustainability
Fear #2:
Buy In
LeadershipWon’t
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Obstacle #2: Leadership Won’t Buy In
What leadership doesn’t want: Something that takes away from the bottom line.
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Solution #2: Pitch an Organizational Strategy
1. Identify the organizational objectives 2. Tie your objectives to your strategy3. Indicate your success metrics
Obstacle #3:
What to Do
Participants Won’t Know
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Obstacle #3: Participants Won’t Know
What to DoMisconceptions
No Guidance
Floundering Mentors and
Mentees
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Solution #3: Communicate – At All Times
ConsistencyMake sure everyone’s on the same page
From the beginningMake sure everyone starts on the same page
Spot checkingMake sure everyone is still on the same page throughout the program.
Obstacle #4:
Misconceptions
aroundMentoring
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Obstacle #4: Misconceptions Around
Mentoring
1. Won’t be able to work it into schedule
2. Perception that mentoring has little or no value for career or personal life
3. Perception that mentoring is not an organizational strategy
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Solution #4: Set Expectations at the Beginning
Role Profiles
Training
Strategic Planning
Workshop
Obstacle #5:
PressuresExternal
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Obstacle #5: External Pressures
Your Mentoring Program
The Economy
Budget Cuts
Organizational Issues
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Solution #5: Track, Report, and Measure
• Ensure that leadership and management take the program seriously
• Prove your success and ROI
• Point to specific problem areas
• Keep your program from being cut
Case Study
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Stumbling over the Obstacles
Case Study 1: Problem
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• Were then putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into development of new hire engineers
• Those new hires were bored with their work and eager to advance
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Case Study 1: Backwards Planning and Implementation
TechnologyHR was under pressure to get mentoring software in place before the end of the year.
PeopleMentors were forced into their roles. Mentors and mentees were matched inefficiently by hand. There was an informational program in place of mentoring training.
ProcessClient held their strategic planning workshop so far into the program that it was impossible to go back at that point, despite all the gaps that they had finally realized existed.
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Case Study 1: Other Obstacles
No accountable program administratorNo one was reporting or spot checking. There was a name that mentors/mentees could contact, but given that they didn’t want to be involved in the program in the first place, no one was using it.
Customization without purposeClient regularly added data fields and reports into the software without any reasoning behind it.
Process
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Case Study 1: Results
• Program was never implemented
• No one felt that any development or progress had been made
Case Study
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Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
Case Study 2: Problem
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• Desire to change from their then-current software vendor
• Then-current software vendor had not provided training
• Desire to make the transition between vendors as seamless as possible
• Objective = general leadership development
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Case Study 2: Solution Process.
Mini-strategic planning workshop to evaluate gaps in the present process.
People. Mentor/mentee training was delivered, as role profiles had previously been a gap. Mentors were qualified.
Technology. Mentor/mentee matching was done via technology.Technology enhanced the partnership and ensured tracking and measuring capabilities.
Process
People
Technology
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Case Study 2: Results
• Currently in their first re-run of the mentoring program
• Good feedback from managers
• Positive word-of-mouth within the organization
• Increased number of applications for both mentors and mentees
• Mentees moving into more complex job roles within the organization
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• “It was helpful to have a formalized way to match with a mentor - rather than have to pursue informally.”
• “[I appreciated] having a safe environment to openly discuss my development areas, and bounce potential approaches for changes in the way I work.”
The Fear-Free Approach for Everyone
Final Thoughts
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1. Remember that your fear of the obstacles you’ll face are obstacles too.
2. Acknowledge that you don’t know what you don’t know – and neither do your participants.
3. Determine what your obstacles are, and put a plan and process in place to overcome
them.
4. Implement a small Phase 1 of your mentoring program.
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Now it’s time to act on that knowledge.
You don’t know
what you don’t know
You know what you
don’t know
You know what you
know
What you know is second nature
M*O*R*E
TrainingRollout
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Best Practices:
• Keep program small• Evaluate resources
needed to manage data• Ensure that you’ve
accounted for all of the elements necessary to ensure your program’s success
How Insala Can Help
CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.insala.com | www.mentoringtalent.com
US: 817 355 0939UK: (0)207 297 5940
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