Guide to Mentee Planning

Guide to Mentee Planning

Dr. Norman H. Cohen

HRD Press • Amherst • Massachusetts

Copyright © 2001 by Norman Cohen

Published by: Human Resource Development Press, Inc. 22 Amherst Road Amherst, Massachusetts 01002 800-822-2801 (U.S. and Canada) 413-253-3488 413-253-33490 (Fax) http://www.hrdpress.com

All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any media without written permission of the publisher, with the exception as noted at the bottom of page 1.

International Standard Book No. 0-87425-631-3

Production services by Anctil Virtual Office Cover design by Eileen Klockars Editorial services by Robie Grant

Contents Introduction ...............................................................................................................

1

Purpose of Specific Planning ...........................................................................

1

Guidance for Completion .........................................................................................

3

1. Mentee Profile Form ....................................................................................

3

2. Mentee Session Record...............................................................................

4

3. Activities and Action Plan Checklist .............................................................

4

4. Review of Resources...................................................................................

5

5. Learning Plans.............................................................................................

5

6. Guide to Mentee Networking .......................................................................

6

7. One-Year Mentoring Calendar.....................................................................

7

8. One-Year Networking Calendar...................................................................

8

9. Self-Assessment of Mentee Readiness .......................................................

8

A Contemporary View of Networking ......................................................................

9

Networking and Learning.................................................................................

9

Proper Use of Electronic “Mentoring”...............................................................

9

Extension of Mentoring Concept to Larger World ............................................

9

Dialogue versus Survey................................................................................... 10 Appendix.................................................................................................................... 11 Mentee Profile Form ........................................................................................ 13 Mentoring Session Record............................................................................... 15 Activities and Action Plan Checklist ................................................................. 17 Review of Resources....................................................................................... 19 Learning Plans................................................................................................. 21 Guide to Mentee Networking ........................................................................... 23 One-Year Mentoring Calendar......................................................................... 25 One-Year Networking Calendar....................................................................... 27 Self-Assessment of Mentee Readiness ........................................................... 29 About the Author....................................................................................................... 31

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Introduction Purpose of Specific Planning The following nine forms can be used by mentees to organize and record their specific plans for learning during their involvement in the mentoring program: 1. Mentee Profile Form 2. Mentoring Session Record 3. Activities and Action Plan Checklist 4. Review of Resources 5. Learning Plans 6. Guide to Mentee Networking 7. One-Year Mentoring Calendar 8. One-Year Networking Calendar 9. Self-Assessment of Mentee Readiness Specific instructions for filling out each of the separate forms is provided in the next section. However, with respect to general guidance, it is important to note that: • Forms are listed in the recommended sequence in which they should be completed. • Some information will be extremely beneficial as a guide to immediate decisions upon entry into the mentoring program. • Other ideas, interests, and concerns will be gradually identified as a result of ongoing involvement and consultation with mentors. NOTE: All nine forms are included in the Appendix. For mentee use, a disk containing a copy of each form is included with this booklet. These forms—hard-copy and disk versions—are intended for use by a single mentee. For use with multiple mentees, an equivalent number of the Guide to Mentee Planning are required. Any other uses of these forms is a violation of copyright law.

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Guidance for Completion 1. Mentee Profile Form Ideally, the Mentee Profile Form should be completed prior to the first meeting with the mentor. Its main purpose is to provide a concise profile of baseline information for immediate use. The Mentee’s Guide to Mentoring (pgs. 43–44) contains a condensed explanation of the seven main points to consider in selecting key ideas and facts to include as reference points for the initial mentor–mentee sessions. The summary from the Mentee’s Guide is presented below in order to consolidate all of the pertinent material on mentee planning into one booklet: 1. Career Goals—Provide a personal statement about professional goals and reasons for decisions. 2. Educational Objectives—Identify degrees, certification, colleges, major field of concentration. 3. Training Plans—Specify workshops, seminars, internships, job rotations, special projects. 4. Strategies for Achieving Goals—Clarify specific ideas for placing and maintaining oneself in particular positions. 5. Present Activities—Explain current activities to advance progress. 6. Available Resources—Provide comments about status of support from family, friends, workplace staff. 7. Concerns—Clarify issues about finances, time, energy, aptitudes, skills, abilities, interests, other personal or social responsibilities. Mentees should anticipate that mentors will be aware of the form (The Manager’s Pocket to Effective Mentoring, pgs. 34–35) and consider it to be a valuable guide.

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Guide to Mentee Planning

2. Mentoring Session Record The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Effective Mentoring (pgs. 65–66) includes a model of the Mentoring Session Record as well as advice about the importance for mentors of maintaining a written summary of each meeting. Mentees should specifically use the form as a reasonably detailed: • File of past topics, issues, actions, and future plans • Source of material for notes to be developed in the Mentee Journal (see The Mentee’s Guide to Mentoring, pgs. 19–20) By periodically reviewing the information on the accumulating forms, mentees can also assess their own progress, as well as make any adjustments in their strategies for achieving specific learning objectives.

3. Activities and Action Plan Checklist The eighteen activities and corresponding action plans are offered in a checklist format. Although all the listed topics could result in important learning, mentees should consider as priorities those activities that will directly involve mentors during the timeframe of the mentoring program, such as (1) joint attendance at meetings, (2) networking, and (3) special projects. It is important to note that the projects that are selected—while they certainly may be considered important enough for management to assign them as “regular” work anyway—should not be utilized as “special projects” if they do not directly support mentee learning as participants in the mentoring program. Mentors and supervisors may also collaborate with mentees in designing “tailored” projects for the purpose of developing their workplace competencies. Topics may be generated by reviewing the information available in sources such as: • Guidance and material received from human resource development staff pertaining to training and education • Results of scheduled performance evaluations • Reports based on personality/interest tests Mentees should arrange to include mentors in the factual discovery process while they are still available as interpreters of information. As experienced and knowledgeable professionals who also are familiar with mentees as unique adult learners, mentors can add significant value to the quality of individual decisions. An important factor to weigh in selecting an activity and formulating an action plan should therefore be its relevance as a learning opportunity for a participant in a mentoring program, not just as a solo learner. Mentees can always choose to work as independent learners with minimal (or even no) feedback in many different areas related to their career and educational development.

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Guidance for Completion

4. Review of Resources Mentees should consider both the immediate and longer term resources they will require if they are to complete their learning activities and experiences. The five categories on the form are areas of support that mentees often need to review in planning a realistic schedule of attainable goals. Each of the separate areas should be examined in some depth to ensure that the anticipated commitment and support is based on tangible and verifiable, rather than merely hoped for or assumed, resources. Mentees should explicitly inquire (as applicable) into the availability of such essential factors as day care, transportation, and sources of financial support. In particular, (1) application deadlines and (2) paperwork requirements must also be reviewed. This aspect is especially significant in situations in which official documents such as transcripts or references must either be sent directly from one organization to another, or requested for inclusion in a package of materials submitted by the applicant. Mentees should initiate their requests well in advance of the due dates, and be prepared as well to follow up directly to ensure that the specified information has been forwarded.

5. Learning Plans The material from the Mentee Profile Form, the Activities and Action Plan Checklist, and the Review of Resources will all serve as the foundation for filling out the Learning Plans sheet. The purpose of this form is to focus on one learning goal at a time, with particular attention to mapping out in realistic detail the projected timeframe and resources required to successfully complete each selected learning activity. In developing the learning plan, mentees should identify all of the important variables that will need to be coordinated in order to reach their objectives. Pragmatic factors of particular significance that should be considered include the: • Schedule of actual clock time per day or week of fixed responsibilities and commitments • Level of specific involvement (personal energy and focused attention) required to achieve quality results The value of each plan will be the extent to which it assists mentees in remaining organized and productive during their experience as adult learners engaged in career and professional development activities. Ideally, the final outcome should reflect both satisfaction with the growth experienced during the journey as well as gratification with arrival at the desired destination.

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Guide to Mentee Planning

6. Guide to Mentee Networking The list below is a practical guide for mentees of three basic networking goals for obtaining assistance from people who might serve as secondary or supplemental mentors: 1. Accurate and relatively detailed information about a specific topic, issue, or problem 2. Distilled insight based on pragmatic experience 3. Interpretative counsel, that is, the knowledge being offered is applicable to a unique person and situation, rather than stated only as generic guidance Mentees should view networking as an idea rather than as an activity. If they do not, the educational value of their one-to-one contacts may be determined almost exclusively by the first impressions of receivers already attuned to quicksend and quickreceive messages. Mentees should clarify their objectives as learners by focusing their initial message on three basic points: 1. Stating their specific goals as adult learners who are developing their career and professional competencies 2. Requesting the specific expertise they seek from others 3. Indicating that even a minimal investment of another’s time and energy could provide important facts and insights to supplement the learning available in sponsored programs A carefully worded and articulated personalized initial message will increase the probability of sparking the interest and willingness that could lead recipients to engage in further dialogue. Mentees must therefore plan to actively engage others or they will risk missing those special opportunities to establish relationships with potential secondary or supplemental mentors who might be amenable, if approached with a clear and substantive request for information and guidance.

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Guidance for Completion

7. One-Year Mentoring Calendar Mentees should formulate a realistic assessment of the overall commitment they will be making to the pursuit of their learning goals. A relatively detailed one-year calendar will be especially valuable as a tool for assisting mentees in the coordination of their time and resources in the operational world. Two distinct but related tasks will be required: 1. Mapping out a reasonably detailed plan of the daily, weekly, and monthly allocations of time, energy, and resources that will be required to successfully complete all of the proposed learning goals 2. Correlating the schedule of specific activities to a one-year pragmatic calendar in order to develop a more complete picture of the total mentee life/work style that will result from dedication to achieving the stated objectives By developing a comprehensive overlay of their projected long-term schedules, mentees will be in a more sensible position to gauge the feasibility of performing successfully in the world they have planned. If necessary, modifications and changes can then be made early in the process, rather than later, when the recognition of unwise decision making may result in diminished opportunities for redirection into more achievable goals. The calendar must accurately reflect specific facts rather than general assumptions. In targeting particular areas of career and professional growth, mentees should therefore attempt to quantify practical factors such as the actual time they will be required to devote to: • Job-related assignments • Involvement with mentors • Training, education, special projects • Networking • Responsibilities outside the workplace The main purpose of the undertaking is not to create a calendar filled with the minutia of daily events, but rather to create a portrait of the specific commitments mentees are establishing for themselves during the timeframe of the mentoring program. The oneyear model was used as a representative example, but, of course, mentees will need to adapt the idea to a different timeblock if their own program is greater or less than twelve months.

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Guide to Mentee Planning

8. One-Year Networking Calendar Mentees should plan an overall networking schedule which parallels the timeframe of the mentoring program. The calendar should be based on a realistic projection of locating: • Secondary mentors who might interpret facts, share experiences, pose relevant questions, and offer insight in a capacity similar to that of the informative and facilitative dimensions • Supplemental mentors who might provide practical and relatively detailed information about specific concerns Mentees should consider all of their contacts as feasible sources of referral to others, so the distinction between the two types of mentors (above) is not intended as a guide to their potential value to offer new material and guidance. To maximize their opportunities for finding additional assistance, mentees must therefore be prepared to routinely ask direct questions, as well as to offer precise explanations of their goals as learners. Also, individuals who might serve in either of the above capacities—secondary or supplemental—should be contacted in advance, if possible, to assure their availability at the actual time their services might be needed. Advance planning could be particularly important if their expertise and advice might be an important factor at a later date when the time pressure to make a decision is a relevant factor.

9. Self-Assessment of Mentee Readiness The final form is a checklist of the mentee’s status with respect to entering the program as an adult learner. Some of the requested information, of course, will be available only after mentees and mentors have had the opportunity to meet and participate in collaborative dialogues relevant to the listed topics. But mentees should consider completing the forms as one means of monitoring their own progress. A structured approach to participating in a sponsored mentoring program offers three advantages: 1. Initial readiness to engage in constructive sessions 2. Immediate opportunity to pursue relevant activities 3. Early identification and resolution of problems Any concerns that might create barriers to active and productive involvement should be reviewed with mentors, as well as with program coordinators (if appropriate).

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A Contemporary View of Networking Networking and Learning st

The cornucopia of 21 century technology offers a global network for conducting electronic dialogues. If properly utilized, tools such as the internet can produce a rich harvest of sophisticated data, as well as new personal contacts who are agreeable to serve in the more traditional, if not identical, role of mentors. So mentees should realistically view the information highway as offering tangible resources that will support the overall goals of mentoring programs.

Proper Use of Electronic “Mentoring” However, it must be noted that the model of the complete mentor role as adapted to mass communication is essentially a modified definition of the mentor as a secondary or supplemental influence. Mentoring is certainly not viewed as an equally relevant learning experience if conducted as distance education or electronic conversation via computers or telephones. It is therefore not proposed as a substitute for the holistic power of sustained face-to-face mentoring relationships.

Extension of Mentoring Concept to Larger World Mentees should approach networking as an extension of the mentoring model of learning to the larger world. Productive internet relationships based on technology (such as e-mail) can be formed, though they will most likely center around the interpersonal behaviors associated with the informative and facilitative dimensions of adult mentoring (see The Mentee’s Guide to Mentoring, pgs. 39–50). However, mentees positioning themselves at the “send point” of messages into our vast reservoir of people and information should also be prepared for possible interpersonal difficulties in utilizing its full resources. This cautionary note is not intended to suggest that locating socially responsible human beings must now be viewed as an unusually demanding enterprise. Rather, it is offered so that mentees will remain alert and adaptive to an important reality of modern communication—the incessant and intrusive use of the telephone, fax machine, and internet to solicit sales has resulted in the routine screening of calls as well as the automatic tendency to instantly reject unsolicited contact. It is quite possible that networking in our contemporary culture may involve navigating through a world which proves to be:

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Guide to Mentee Planning 1. Tilted toward neutral or defensive reactions rather than receptive to genuinely collaborative interaction 2. More conditioned to impersonal tasks than to the experience of sustained conversation as the valued activity

Dialogue versus Survey There appears to be a growing disconnect between the face-to-face, time-dependent dialogue advocated by traditional mentoring programs and the more impersonal survey style of conversation that is so characteristic of much internet (and other electronic) related activity. Mentees must avoid the trap of substituting products, such as lists of contacts and reams of data, for the more meaningful learning opportunities and decision-making assistance obtained from dialogues with wise counsel. If they do not, the manufacture of information will take precedence over the applied knowledge and shared insight that might have been available but was never tapped. Finally, mentees must resist the negative influence of the very medium upon which they so heavily rely, since it now routes its users into transpersonal communication, that is, brief contact with people who are transfer points—rather than destinations—along a continuum of abbreviated contacts and multiple sources. Although there clearly will be many instances in which quick turnaround time is the major point, mentees should guard against utilizing the electronic medium only as an absorbing exercise in manipulating the tools of information processing.

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Appendix Mentee Profile Form Mentoring Session Record Activities and Action Plan Checklist Review of Resources Learning Plans Guide to Mentee Networking One-Year Mentoring Calendar One-Year Networking Calendar Self-Assessment of Mentee Readiness

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Mentee Profile Form Career Goals:

Educational Objectives:

Training Plans:

Strategies for Achieving Goals:

Present Activities:

Available Resources:

Concerns:

*Please provide a summary of your background: (1) Academic—

(2) Training—

(3) Employment—

13

Mentoring Session Record Session #______________

Date: _________________

Topics Covered:

Present Issues:

Current Actions:

Future Agendas:

Other Subjects:

Topics for Later Reference

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Activities and Action Plan Checklist Type of Activity 1. ❏

Action Plan

Self-Assessment: ________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

2. ❏

Performance Evaluations: __________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

3. ❏

Individual Development Plans: ______________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

4. ❏

Feedback—Family/Friends/Colleagues: _______________________________ ______________________________________________________________

5. ❏

Personality Instruments: ___________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

6. ❏

Education: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

7. ❏

Training: _______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

8. ❏

Management/Leadership Programs:__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

9. ❏

Internships: _____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

11. ❏

Networking: _____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ (continued on next page)

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Guide to Mentee Planning

Activities and Action Plan Checklist (concluded) Type of Activity 12. ❏

Action Plan

Meetings:_______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

13. ❏

Special Projects: _________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

14. ❏

HRD Staff (workplace): ____________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

15. ❏

Professional Societies: ____________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

16. ❏

Community Projects: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

17. ❏

Individual Research: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

18. ❏

Books/Journals/Computer: _________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

19. ❏

Other: _________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

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Review of Resources Financial:

Family/Social Network:

Organizational (Workplace):

Educational:

Community:

Other Sources of Support:

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Learning Plans Goal

Timeframe

Activity

Resources

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Guide to Mentee Networking Person Contacted: _______________

Date: _______________

Overall Learning Goals as Mentee ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Specific Objectives as Sender/Learner ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Contents of Introductory Message ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Anticipated/Expressed Concerns of Receiver ❏ Time: ______________________________________________________________ ❏ Commitment: ________________________________________________________ ❏ Expertise: ___________________________________________________________ ❏ Other: ______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ (continued on next page) 23

Guide to Mentee Planning

Guide to Mentee Networking (concluded) Results/Plans for Follow-Up ❏ Receptive to: ________________________________________________________ ❏ Suggestions for Learning: ______________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Recommended Actions: ________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Follow-up Topics/Dates: ________________________________________________________

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One-Year Mentoring Calendar Three Months Learning Objectives:

Specific Activities:

Persons Involved:

Required Resources:

Six Months Learning Objectives:

Specific Activities:

Persons Involved:

Required Resources:

(continued on next page)

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Guide to Mentee Planning

One-Year Mentoring Calendar (concluded) Nine Months Learning Objectives:

Specific Activities:

Persons Involved:

Required Resources:

Twelve Months Learning Objectives:

Specific Activities:

Persons Involved :

Required Resources:

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One-Year Networking Calendar Three Months Person(s) to Contact:

Purpose:

Strategy:

Six Months Person(s) to Contact:

Purpose:

Strategy:

(continued on next page)

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Guide to Mentee Planning

One-Year Networking Calendar (concluded) Nine Months Person(s) to Contact:

Purpose:

Strategy:

Twelve Months Person(s) to Contact:

Purpose:

Strategy:

General Issues Related to Timeframe

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Self-Assessment of Mentee Readiness Status of Completion

Comments

❏ Mentee Profile Form___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Activities and Action Plan Checklist _______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Review of Resources __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Learning Plans _______________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Guide to Mentee Networking ____________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ One-Year Mentoring Calendar ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ One-Year Networking Calendar __________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

Status of Preparation

Comments

❏ Participated in Orientation Session(s) _____________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Finished Assigned Texts on Mentoring ____________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ (continued on next page)

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Guide to Mentee Planning

Self-Assessment of Mentee Readiness (concluded) Status of Preparation

Comments

❏ Confirmed Schedule of Meetings with Mentor _______________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Arranged to Involve Supervisor (if applicable) _______________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ❏ Prepared to Use Mentoring Session Record ________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

Other Issues, Concerns, or Tasks

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About the Author Norman H. Cohen is a professor at the Community College of Philadelphia. He received his bachelor’s degree in English from Washington College and master’s degree in English from Temple University. Dr. Cohen also earned a doctorate in Adult Education and Psychology from Temple University, Department of Curriculum, Instruction & Technology. He has conducted research, presented many papers and seminars at major conferences, published numerous articles, and authored two books, Mentoring Adult Learners: A Guide for Educators and Trainers (Krieger Publishing Company, 1995) and Mentoring: New Strategies and Challenges (with Dr. Michael Galbraith, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995). Dr. Cohen, a principal in The Center for Professional Mentoring, has worked extensively as a consultant with a wide range of business, government, educational, military, religious, community, and health care organizations. Many doctoral dissertations have been completed that utilized Dr. Cohen’s books on mentoring theory and practice, with particular use of the Principles of Adult Mentoring Inventory. A variety of institutions have incorporated his inventory and books into their orientation and training programs for mentors, mentees, and program coordinators. His most recent publications are The Principles of Adult Mentoring Inventory, 1998 (self-assessment instrument, interpretation, and implications for the mentor–mentee relationship); The Mentor Critique Form, 1998 (instrument and guidance for use in group training workshops); The Leader’s Guide to the Principles of Adult Mentoring Inventory and the Mentor Critique Form, 1998; The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Mentoring, 1999; The Mentee’s Guide to Mentoring, 1999; and Becoming a Mentor: A Video-Based Workshop, 2000 (includes Leader’s Guide and Participant Workbook), all of which are available from HRD Press.

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