Effective Strategies and Process
Prepared for the Walmart Foundation, AIHEC, HACU, and NAFEO Student Success Collaborative
Meeting at Sitting Bull College – September 8011
Learning is the purpose, process and
product of successful mentoring
• Mentors and Mentees are both
accountable for the learning that
takes place through this partnership.
• This requires the establishment of a
strong collaborative relationship and
clear, measureable goals.
• Successful mentoring starts by:
Establishing a relationship i.e., getting to know each
other;
• Working together to establish clear, measureable
goals; and,
• Developing an action plan to achieve those goals.
•
• Well-defined goals drive the learning in
a mentoring relationship.
• Goals that are too broad can result in a lost of time
and attention.
• Goals that are too narrow and specific can result in
becoming a task list of “to dos.”
•Think back to mentor relationships in your personal life
and what worked for you and what did not work.
•Be clear about what this relationship can do and what you
want in this relationship.
•Consider what you are able to contribute to the
relationship.
•Think about the institutional challenges you faced and
how they are different from your mentee challenges.
•Reflect on how this mentoring relationship can succeed.
• Take advantage of this first meeting as it is designed
to help you develop a foundation from which to work.
• Exchange as much information as possible with your
mentor college(s).
• Share mentoring experiences with each other.
• Determine what your mentee needs, wants, and
expects out of this relationship.
• Candidly share personal assumptions and limitations.
• Discuss personal/learning styles.
• Decide how often you will meet face-to-face, by
conference call, Skype, or e-mail check in.
• Agree on a format for discussion with your
mentee; formal agendas, topic-driven agendas,
check-in conversations, and so forth.
• Use a journal or meeting notes to help you stay
focused, monitor progress, and capture follow
up items.
• Talk about accountability “hot buttons” with
your mentee (e.g., how to safe guard
confidentiality)
• Mutual responsibilities are clear.
• Mentoring goals have been
established and they are
measureable.
• Criteria for success has been
articulated.
• A workable strategy for dealing with
challenges and obstacles is in place.
Check in with your mentee regularly and ask
for feedback to determine if the pace of
learning is satisfactory.
An action plan is in place to move forward.
• Encourage your mentee to solicit
feedback from multiply sources.
• Provide timely support, offer a vision
of possibility and create appropriate
challenges that facilitate learning.
•Balance candor with compassion in
providing feedback.
•Regularly evaluate the quality of the
mentoring relationship.
•A high level of trust is maintained.
• Time together is used productively.
Facilitation
Skillful facilitation promotes learning, reflection,
and insight Mentors skilled at facilitation ask
their mentees deep questions designed to evoke
insight and provide perspective.
Three Keys to Effective Facilitation
1. Questions: The right type of question can
facilitate deep learning e.g., open vs. closed
question
a) Open questions start with – how, why, what
– Used to encourage and show interest in
variety of ideas, create interest and
motivate your mentee, or to handle
conflict or defuse a dominant position.
b) Closed questions start with Does, Can,
Should – Use to establish a position or learn
facts, to help a mentee who is “stuck”, to
establish agreement, or to contain a
dominant individual.
Use of other questioning techniques
• Reverse Questions – To encourage reflective
thinking e.g., instead of answering a question
ask what they think.
• Relay Questions – To draw out the expert or to
assess the feelings of others e.g., when asked
a question, ask others to respond to a
question.
• Probing & Paraphrasing – To encourage deeper
and expanded thinking e.g., “what else did
you learn from that situation?”
Three Keys to Effective Facilitation
2. Attributes of the facilitator: Necessary to show
flexibility and openness to learning. As a
mentor, you may not agree with the mentee’s
point of view but a willingness to respect a
different perspective is critical to creating a
shared learning environment.
3. Positive Reinforcement: Facilitators who
validate the mentee’s perspective help support
both the learning and the relationship. This
encourages the growth and development of the
mentee.
Facilitation Guidelines
• Use a variety of approaches to enhance
learning
• Use questions that tap into different
learning styles
• Show flexibility and openness to new ideas
• Be aware and respectful of needs and
cultural differences
Feedback
Mentoring depends upon effective feedback.
Generally, feedback in the workplace is
less than candid. Mentees need to count
on getting honest and constructive
feedback.
Most people are uncomfortable providing
candid feedback. This is essential and it
needs to be addressed
Asking for Feedback
Regularly build feedback into your
conversations.
Example: Ask about the relationship, the
learning process, and the progress
toward meeting learning goals.
Giving Feedback
Feedback needs to be candid to be
effective.
 Be specific and descriptive
 Share your observations
 Provide examples
 Be non-judgmental
 Focus on behaviors, not personality
 Be authentic and sincere
 Balance candor with compassion
Receiving Feedback
The purpose of feedback is to change
behavior. The validity of the feedback
needs to be acknowledged for change to
occur.
When receiving feedback, encourage:
• Active listening
• Keep a positive attitude
• Summarize the understanding of what is
said
• Share feelings about the feedback
Feedback Guidelines
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Communicate in real time
Maintain two-way dialogue
Be specific and detailed
Provide balanced and fair input
Focus on learning and behavior change
Continually check for understanding
Ask your mentee for suggestions about
best ways to provide on-going support
Expectations of Project
• Mentors shall:
• Provide advice to institutions in the
context of professional judgment
regarding retention/graduation
• Ensure that the institution
understands the context in which
consulting advice is given and does
not regard such advice as a
guarantee of increased retention
and/or graduation.
We ask that:
• Mentors not:
• Advertise their status as a member of the
Project for the purpose of building a
consulting clientele.
• Engage in consultation to the extent that it
results in excessive conflicts of interest.
• Give advice to institutions on how to
“meet” required standards relating to
student retention and graduation for the
purposes of accreditation; nor
• Imply definitive answers on accreditation
policies and procedures.
Confidentiality Reminder
Members of the project mentor team are
reminded that confidentiality is an integral
part of the process. Members of the team
may have access to sensitive information in
order to conduct project work. The
confidentiality of this information will be
protected by the team in conjunction with
participating institutions during all
discussions and visits. Unless otherwise
specified, confidentiality extends to all
materials related to this project.
Credits
The majority of this information was
adapted from materials obtained from
the Center for Mentoring Excellence.
www.centerformentoringexcellence.com