IMPROVING AN EXISTING MENTORING PROGRAM
by Dr. Linda Phillips-Jones

Let’s examine how to improve an existing program. Let’s start with some assumptions.

• It needs improving. At the risk of stating the obvious, if your mentoring program is working well and people are satisfied, don’t make radical changes beyond expanding it.
  
• The target audiences (potential mentees, mentors, stakeholders) want an improved effort and are willing to participate.
  
• You’ve pilot tested your processes and materials and know, at least in general, what works and what doesn’t.
  
• You and your group have the energy, time, and financial backing to take on this important task. (Remember, improving existing programs can be as hard or harder than starting a new program from scratch.)

Assuming the above are true, here are some suggestions:

1. Get more data. Sit down by yourself and list your own objective and subjective reactions to what’s occurred up to now. What helped mentees the most? What was fun for you and others? What was constantly difficult and unproductive? Ask others in your planning group to do the same, and compare notes.
   
   Interview numerous people. Even if you have existing evaluation data, take the time to personally contact representatives of all the “stakeholder” groups (e.g., past and future mentors, past and future mentees, policymakers). Even talk to some of the naysayers who complained about the old program and are pessimistic about any revisions. Check with other mentoring program planners and implementers to see what’s working well for them.
   
2. Compile a summary of your findings. What has to be different this time? Whittle down the ideas into your new program design. Draw this out in a flow chart, get reactions, and improve it.
   
3. Improve (or purchase better) mentoring resource materials. At the very least, your program participants should have access to self-study materials plus guides or booklets to use during their training. If you’ve limped by with photocopies of photocopies up to now, consider preparing or acquiring higher quality materials. (They’ll make a statement about your program’s quality.) Put together some “best practices” used by mentors and mentees in your former program and in other programs.
   
4. Do more with the mentees this time. Be certain they’re ready to take a very active role in their development and in their mentoring relationships. Provide training for them. Have them nominate the mentors they want, choose specific skills on which to work, and write tentative development plans. Teach them how to motivate and reinforce their potential mentors. Encourage them to organize events for themselves such as brown-bag luncheons with speakers from the mentor pool.
   
5. Tighten up your training. Formalized programs clearly benefit from rigorous training for mentors and mentees and from at least a briefing for mentees’ managers (or other leaders). In the training, emphasize mentoring concepts and skills. Don’t let people off the hook. If they have to miss your training event, have a back-up session for them supplemented with self-study materials and coaching by yourself or another skilled person.
   
6. This time, make a commitment to solid, meaningful evaluation. Figure out how you’ll decide (a year from now) if your program has really made a difference: in people’s skills and knowledge, career progress, satisfaction, promotions, retention, productivity, or whatever else is important to your audiences.

No doubt you can think of many more steps and areas to improve; this is only a start. Please e-mail us at mentorusa@foothill.net with mentoring program ideas that have worked for you.

For more ideas on programs, order The Mentoring Program Coordinator’s Guide (listed in Product List).