An Under-rated Practice
Building your craft is more than doing courses and getting certification. Use this practice to bolster your skills development.
Most people think that taking a course or getting a certificate is all that is required to develop your skills. There is a plethora of project management courses and certifications available to everyone. I’ve always been a big fan of them. I think completing courses, reading and getting certifications are important in becoming a professional project manager and a craftsman in managing projects.
Another area that people also tend to overlook is mentorship. This is such a powerful tool and has immense benefits for both mentors and mentees. And mentorship isn’t only for the new and young project manager. Anyone can benefit from having a mentor, no matter what stage of their career. I currently have a mentor helping me navigate through my career.
What is a mentor?
Mentoring is a professional relationship between a more experienced person (the mentor) and a younger or less experienced person (the mentee). The mentor guides and helps the mentee through an agreed goal or outcome and provides a sounding board to reflect on challenges and issues.
There are benefits to both the mentors and mentees. For mentors:
helps improve their leadership, influencing and other skills
opportunities to learn new things from their mentees
opportunities to impart their own experience and knowledge
extend their professional network
Benefits for the mentees:
extend their professional network
help in overcoming their challenges and achieving their goals
gain access to wisdom, knowledge and experience
being able to reflect and gain clarity on their issues and challenges
having a role model
Personally, the benefits I get are someone to challenge my thinking, accountability and help push me out of my comfort zone.
What is involved in a mentoring partnership?
Mentoring is a two-way street. The mentor is expected to make time for the relationship and invest time to make sure they develop the relationship, challenge the mentee and push them where appropriate, provide a commitment to keeping the relationship confidential, and provide guidance and advice to the mentee. The mentor is also a role model and helps make introductions if necessary for the mentee.
On the mentee’s side, they are expected to drive the relationship, set the agenda and arrange the meetings, raise the things they want to work on and complete the actions on the agreed outcomes.
Things to consider when you are looking for a mentor:
what do you need mentoring in? Is it to develop your career, or develop a capability or skill or some other reason?
Level of challenge. Do you want the mentor to challenge you or just to be able to tap into their knowledge and experience?
Do you want to have face-to-face or virtual meetings? or does it matter?
What are the key attributes you’re looking for?
How do I find a mentor?
You can find a mentor through formal programs your organisation or professional body runs. These have formal frameworks and periods for the program.
If these are unavailable, you can use your networks to find mentors. Have a clear idea of what you’re looking for and identify a few potential candidates. Discuss with them to see whether they’re open to a mentoring relationship and if you have some candidates, interview each one to see the best fit.
Set some ground rules and framework for the relationship. These will set behaviour boundaries, and expectations and allow time for both parties to test and end the relationship if it’s not working.
Running a Mentoring relationship
Spend the first meeting getting to know each other, professionally, and maybe personally as well. Discuss each other’s expectations and goals from the mentoring relationship. Cover off the ways of communication, how regularly you meet up, and what is the best way to meet (virtual or face to face).
Importantly, also discuss the limits of the relationship - what you can cover and discuss and what you won’t cover or discuss. For example, you agree to discuss only professional matters and not any mental health issues that you may be facing.
Also, agree on a review period to work out whether the mentoring relationship is working or not and be upfront about ending it if it’s not working.
Book a time for the meeting. Send through an agenda for discussion. Provide an update on the previous actions and progress of the agreed plan of action. make sure you follow through on the agreed actions at the end of each meeting. Don’t be wasting theirs and your time. Take advantage of the relationship, get the actions done, plan out the next steps and work through the agreed goals.
Work through any challenges and issues with the relationship. Don’t let it fester. Also, use tact and diplomacy. Mentoring isn’t paid and the majority of mentors are volunteers.
Mentoring relationships have been around for a long time. It’s a way for knowledge and experience to be passed down and for new professionals to develop their craft and career. In the future, make sure you pay it forward and be a mentor to someone else who needs guidance.
Resource for this article
“Making The Most Of Developmental Mentoring” by David Clutterbuck.
Practice - Find a Mentor or be a Mentor
The practice is for you to find a mentor.
For those readers who are more experienced be a mentor.
First step:
Clarify your goal and the outcome you want to achieve.
What are you looking for?
Is there someone within your organisation or network that
Let me know how this practice went by leaving a comment.
Resource
My book recommendation for this month is Mastery by Robert Greene.
This is a great book that delves deeply into the practices of Masters in human history across many fields. Some Masters that I know and some that I haven’t heard of. It looks at their history and how they develop their skills and become Masters in their field.
I highly recommend that you read it and implement the practices in it to develop mastery in your field.
Leave a comment on your thoughts on the book.
My Resources
Below are some of my free resources if you’re new to project management.
Paid Resources
Simple and Effective Project Risk Management - for those new to project management. It will teach you what you need to know and get you started quickly.