 We
receive many questions about “enhanced informal” mentoring.
What is it, and how does it work? What can an organization do
to get it started?
With totally informal mentoring or what we like to call
the “leave-it-entirely-to-chance approach,” some people
manage to experience mentoring relationships on their own. You
probably had at least one such relationship in the past. You found
yourself being helped by someone. Nothing was negotiated, scheduled,
or even identified as mentoring. You just fell into a wonderful
opportunity and were smart enough to gain a lot from it.
Is it possible that if you had known a little more about mentoring
protocol, realistic expectations, what the mentor was gaining,
the phases of the mentoring process, research on what works and
what doesn’t, and when to let go that your experience would
have been even more successful? Further, have you ever
known someone who didn’t know how to enter into
or create effective developmental relationships? Someone who was
too busy to consider the strategy, shy, or unaware of various
mentoring options? If you answered yes to any of these questions,
you’ve discovered the rationale for enhanced informal mentoring.
Formal mentoring is a powerful strategy and should be
implemented. (See our Archive for ideas
on formal programs and initiatives.) Totally informal
mentoring can also work and almost always happens on its own,
at least for a few people.
Enhanced informal mentoring falls somewhere between
these two. Mentors and mentees typically find each other on their
own (rather than become matched by a coordinator or committee),
and the pair follows a somewhat structured process. At least one
of the pair has learned mentoring structure, protocol, and skills
and gently manages the process.
Enhanced informal mentoring works best when people such as yourself
take steps to introduce the strategy and help it succeed. Here
are some examples to help you get started.
- Become a content expert on mentoring, what
it is, theories of how it can work, dos and don’ts, and
skills required. Talk to people who are doing it, check websites,
read the mentoring literature.
- Pull together a small team to plan strategies
to introduce the concept.
- Help people learn what it is and how to do
it. Make a series of presentations on mentoring as part of orientation,
a conference, brown-bag lunch series, management training classes,
or other development-related events. Teach the various forms
(formal, informal, enhanced informal) to the audiences. Show
people how to own their own careers/life development and how
to recognize and pursue enhanced informal mentoring. As more
and more people learn these ideas, you’ll start to develop
a potential “mentor pool” as well as a potential
“mentee pool” eager to link up with mentors.
- Arrange to have mentoring resources available
in the library, learning center, a central website, or other
informational depository. Circulate short mentoring articles
and stories (including positive testimonials) through various
communication channels.
- Ask team members and others to be human mentoring
resources to answer questions, encourage individuals,
share best practices, and lead people to additional information.
- Give leaders training in mentoring theory,
process, and skills. You don’t have to call them mentors
or sign them up for formal partnerships, although having them
participate in formal matches (in programs) is always a boost.
- Reward leaders in their performance reviews
for implementing mentoring behaviors. Continue to give willing
mentors recognition for their valuable contributions.
We aren’t in any way advocating the end of formal
mentoring programs and initiatives. In fact, we believe they’ll
always be needed and, when done right, will continue to change
lives in powerful ways. What we do anticipate, however, is that
once you provide awareness and learning on enhanced informal mentoring,
your organization will have less of the totally informal variety.
Once individuals have a mentoring conceptual framework, some critical
skills, and their own unique approaches, effective mentoring
will blossom, increase, and become more and more impactful. Before
long you’ll be able to say very proudly: “Mentoring
is what we do around here.”
For more ideas on mentoring, see our Archive
and Products.
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