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Lessons Learned
as a Mentor Program Coordinator
© 2008 by Barry Sweeny
PAGE INDEX:
Half-time
Teacher & Half-Time Mentor Program Coordinator
Barry Sweeny was the Coordinator of the Mentor and
Guide* Programs in a west suburban Chicago area organization. During
those years he worked in the morning in his regular job and in the
afternoons as the program coordinator.
This dual role had its positive side in that
he was challenged to implement in his own practice each day the
effective practices he advocated for others during each after noon.
Also, he was able to immediately implement in his work the day-to-day
professional growth and insights he experienced each afternoon working
with mentors and proteges. The half-time roles also allowed him
to try out the role of a staff developer without completely leaving
his management assignment. He eventually did become a full-time
staff developer in 1992.
On the negative side, the two half-time jobs
often expanded into two full-time responsibilities. Also, he had
no secretarial assistance and often felt he aggravated the department
secretary who had to take mentor program messages for him, etc.
because he was not near a phone. He ended up getting permission
to clean out half of a storage room to make an office. However,
people never knew where to find him or how to communicate with him.
However, keep in mind the general lack of availability of technology
in 1987-92. What's available now days is quite a bit more, and brother,
e-mail access would have helped a lot then too.
BARRY'S
JOB DESCRIPTION 1988-1992 - MENTOR PROGRAM COORDINATOR
THE MENTOR COORDINATOR / LEAD MENTOR WILL:
- 1. COORDINATE THE WORK OF THE MENTORS WITH
THEIR PROTEGES BY...
- INTERVIEWING NEW EMPLOYEES TO DISCUSS THE
MENTOR PROGRAM AND TO COLLECT INFORMATION TO FACILITATE SELECTION
& MATCHING WITH A MENTOR
- PLANNING, PUBLICISING AND CONDUCTING THE
"INTRODUCTION TO MENTORING" MEETING FOR THOSE INTERESTED
IN LEARNING ABOUT THE WORK OF THE MENTORS.
- PLANNING, CONDUCTING AND EVALUATING THE MENTOR
TRAINING SESSIONS
- MEETING INDIVIDUALLY WITH MENTORS TO MENTOR
THEM, GIVING THEM ON-GOING SUPPORT AND TRAINING AS NEEDED
- MEETING INDIVIDUALLY WITH PROTEGE SUPPORT
GROUPS TO MONITOR THE PROGRAM, DETERMINE ANY UNMET NEEDS,
AND MODIFY THE PROGRAM TO BETTER SUPPORT PROTEGES.
- 2. COORDINATE THE WORK OF THE MENTOR COMMITTEE
BY...
- CHAIRING & FACILITATING THE MENTOR COMMITTEE
- FACILITATING & COORDINATING THE MENTOR
PROGRAM EVALUATION PROCESS
- INFORMING MENTOR CANDIDATES OF THE RESULTS
OF THE SELECTION PROCESS AND DISCUSSING RESULTS WITH THOSE
WHO WERE NOT SELECTED AS MENTORS
- 3. WORK AND COMMUNICATE WITH MANAGEMENT BY...
- MEETING WITH MANAGERS TO FACILITATE MENTOR
MATCHING WITH PROTEGES. CONFER WITH THE DIRECTOR OF STAFF
DEVELOPMENT ON THE MATCHING PROCESS & RESULTS.
- COMMUNICATING WITH AND BUILDING ADDITIONAL
SUPPORT FOR MENTORING WITH STAFF, DEPARTMENTAL, SITE, AND
CORPORATE MANAGERS, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
- REGULARLY CONSULTING WITH THE DIRECTOR OF
STAFF DEVELOPMENT TO REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE MENTOR
PROGRAM. REPORT ANNUALLY IN WRITING ABOUT THE PROGRAM.
- 4. COORDINATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MENTOR
PROGRAM BY..
- PREPARING AND DISTRIBUTING PUBLICITY MATERIALS
DESCRIBING THE PROGRAM
- PREPARING & DISTRIBUTING MATERIALS FOR
USE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION AND MAINTENENCE OF THE MENTOR PROGRAM
- MAINTAINING RECORDS ON THE MENTOR PROGRAM AND
ITS PARTICIPANTS
- CONTINUALLY EVALUATING THE MENTOR PROGRAM,
SEEKING SUGGESTIONS FROM STAFF AND SUPERVISORS AND PREPARING
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS
- CARRYING OUT THE POLICIES ESTABLISHED BY THE
MENTOR COMMITTEE, MANAGEMENT, AND THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS SO
AS TO ENSURE THE PROGRAM FUNCTIONS ACCORDING TO THE BEST PRACTICES
OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
The
Coordinator Role as "Mentor of Mentors"
Once the initial mentor training was over, a large
part of Barry's role as Mentor Program Coordinator included supporting,
challenging, and "mentoring the mentors" (MoM). Basically
this was defined as supporting the mentors' professional growth
and continual improvement as employees and as mentors. The focus
of this supporting and challenging was 1-2 professional growth goals
that the mentors had developed from self-assessments done during
Barry's mentor trainings.
The assumption was that mentors have rarely ever
personally experienced the kind of "High Impact" mentoring
we were trying to get them to do. We felt that it was unfair to
ask mentors to "give others a gift they had never received
themselves". By mentoring the mentors, this problem was eliminated
and mentors knew exactly what great mentoring was. However, Barry
found he also had to teach mentors how to translate their personal
experience as his protege into practices they could do as mentors
with their own proteges. That is why part of the MoM role meant
continually modeling for mentors what the desired practices of mentoring
looked like and THEN asking mentors questions to get them to reflect
on their own application of those practices in their work as mentors
and as employees. See two sections below for more information on
this process.
In addition to the above-mentioned MoM conversation,
Barry recommends program leaders use several other strategies that
can all be categorized under the title...
Required Mentor-To-Program Communication Options: Mentors
were given their choice of 2-3 of the following communication options
to keep the Mentor Program Coordinator informed of their work and
to provide the structure to maintain support for mentor professional
growth. Each of these activities were initiated by the mentor, if
not already set at a previous meeting between the mentor and the
Program Coordinator.
- Email contact (a range of once a week to about
2-3 times a month)
- Telephone call (a range of once a month to once
a quarter)
- Personal conference using an "action research"
cycle to promote mentor growth (a range of once a quarter to once
a year)
- Dialogue Journal in which the mentor writes about
the mentor's experience on the left hand page and periodically
sends the journal to the coordinator. The coordinator writes on
the right hand page & returns the journal to the mentor. (A
range of once a quarter to three times a year.)
- Observation of the mentor at work and a conference,
such as while the mentor observes and confers with the protege.
This option requires the consent of the protege too. (A range
of twice a year to every quarter.)
The combination of these choices could shift to
create a balance suitable to the mentor's preferences. Examples
include:
- Mentor A - Email every month and a personal conference
each semester
- Mentor B - A phone call each month and the dialog
journal each quarter
- Mentor C - The dialog journal each quarter and
an observation and conference each semester
The
MoM Process - The Structure Used to Promote Mentor Growth
Each of the interactions described as a MoM conversation
above were essentially a coaching session for the mentor in that
the following steps were used (as appropriate) to promote reflection,
goal setting and professional development for the mentor:
1. Set some standard for quality mentoring practice.
(Barry did this in his initial mentor training by defining the "ideal"
mentoring roles and tasks, mentor-protege relationship, and mentoring
process.)
2. Identify the current level of practice of the
mentor. (Barry did this originally in his initial mentor training
by giving the mentors a self-assessment for Tasks, Relationship,
and "Mentoring Styles". This info was updated each time
there was a conversation with the mentor.)
3. Identify "areas for growth" to improve
mentoring practice. (Barry led mentors to do this originally in
his initial mentor training and the info was updated each time there
was a conversation with the mentor.)
4. Set goals for mentor development. (Barry did
this originally in his initial mentor training and the info was
updated each time there was a conversation with the mentor.)
5. Create an action plan to implement the goals.
This included identifying the ways in which the Mentor Program Coordinator
could support the mentor's growth, as well as possible roles for
the protege, other peers, the principal, etc. It also included the
Communications Options described above. (Barry did this originally
in his initial mentor training and the info was updated each time
there was a conversation with the mentor.)
6. Implement the action plan and collect data and
artifacts to promote reflection and allow monitoring of activities
and growth.
7. Periodic meetings or conversation between the
Mentor Program Coordinator and the mentor, using the communication
tools described above, to update the info on the goals, reflect
on artifacts and the data collected as evidence of growth, modification
of the action plan to improve progress, etc.
The most critical steps of all were the last
two.
8. Debriefing the seven steps just described to
promote the mentor's growth realization of learning form the mentoring
of mentors experience, and discussion of how the mentor can facilitate
the use of those same seven steps to promote the protege's growth.
9. Discussion of how the mentor can use those same
seven steps to promote his/her own growth and improvement in his/her
own job.
DEFINITIONS:
GUIDE: Orients and supports people in transition to
a new assignment or site which is similar to what they have already
experienced, such as, an experienced lab technician in a new department,
an experienced manager in a new facility, or a new hire but experienced
trainer in HR.
MENTOR: Orients, supports, guides, and develops people that
are in transition to an assignment with which they have no prior
experience, or who are preparing themselves for increased responsibility
and achievement, such as, new hires with a year or less experience
in their career, a worker who wants to become a supervisor, a manager
who wants to become an executive, or a struggling student who wants
to go to college.
PROTEGE: The person who works with and learns from a Guide
or Mentor.
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