January is National Mentoring Month. For mentoring to be successful, it is important for the mentor and mentee to have alignment in experience and a mentoring agreement with the following:
1 - GOALS of what you want to get out of the mentoring
2 - TIME FRAME, not to exceed one year, with your desired start and end dates
3 - DAY preferred to meet for mentoring for 30 minutes once a month
4 - LOGISTICS of mentoring meeting including your time and location (not too public) preferences (Skype is an option if in-person is not possible)
5 - MEETING RULES agreement, including being prepared for each meeting mentally and allowing adequate time to meet and extra time after each meeting to finish all issues; Rescheduling a meeting is allowed with at least one hour's notice if preparation is not possible
6 - MEETING FORMAT will be followed that notes are taken at every meeting on discussion of mentee issues and questions, as well as, what went well, what could be done better and what will continue to be done in the mentoring meetings
7 - CHECKPOINTS - agree to conduct at the third month meeting to verify that you are getting the process that you need/expected and at the sixth month meeting to verify if you are getting the results that you want.
8 - FORMAL WRAP-UP - give written agreement at the end of one year to determine if the mentoring relationship will continue or end
9 - CONFIDENTIALITY agreement that information shared during mentoring will be kept confidential unless permission is asked and agreed to be shared by mentor and mentee
10 - SIGNATURE will be given to a documented mentoring agreement by mentee, as completed by mentor, reflecting items 1-9 above provided by mentee and as mutually-modified
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
I am training "Leadership, Team-Building & Coaching Skills" for Pryor Learning Solutions this month through January 2019. We explore coaching methods to meet the different needs of team members that maximize team effectiveness and balance individual strengths and weaknesses. Two main factors in analyzing team members are their skill level and attitude about their work.
A team member who is high in skills and low in attitude, like those anticipating retirement soon, is best coached by relating to them and what they have accomplished, encouraging them to do what they are passionate about to improve their attitude at work, such as training less-skilled teammates to impart their knowledge and create a legacy before retiring. Someone who is high in skills and attitude is best coached by empowering and mentoring them to develop themselves while also benefiting the team with more work output. A teammate who is new to the job will be low in skills and high in attitude, they grow their work knowledge through training and development from team members. Lastly, a team member who is low in skills and attitude needs counseling from the team leader to perform at the expected work level.
A team leader needs to be aware of where all of her team members are in skills and attitude at all times, as they can change and require alternate coaching methods in different situations. Effective team leadership is a dynamic practice, attend this class or contact me for consulting in your specific situations.
Leaders should switch their leadership styles to effectively lead in different situations. Research shows that there are four behavioral leadership styles* to choose from:
1 - Directive leadership provides guidance and structure for a team to complete complex tasks with unclear rules.
2 - Supportive leadership provides nurturing care for team members when doing repetitive and unchallenging tasks.
3 - Participative leadership involves the team to accomplish unclear and unstructured tasks.
4 - Achievement-Oriented leadership challenges team members to work through complex and challenging tasks.
How do you, as a leader, help your team members to define their personal, team and organizational goals and accomplish those goals? Directing, guiding and coaching actions based on leadership style should change to suit different work situations to accomplish work goals. Many leaders that I know stick with one preferred leadership style most of their professional career, when they could lead more effectively using the style that works best in the situation that they are faced with.
Please contact us for your leadership development needs and for guidance in more effective leadership style choices.
* From Leadership Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse on pages 121-122.