There are some ground rules in that both mentors and mentees are committing themselves to at least two group meetings (reviews) and an evaluation meeting over a nine-month period.
- Group meeting– Mentors and mentees will have the opportunity to come together virtually to network and discuss how the mentoring is going. Both will have an opportunity to comment on whether arrangements are working well, examples of progress made, and approaches used.
- Evaluation meeting– This will be at the end of the mentoring programme in November 2021 and it will consider how well the programme has worked and ideas for improvement.
The mentor and mentee should decide the frequency and duration of one-to-one meetings as the needs of the mentee may change overtime depending on the extent of support they require. However, both parties must recognise not to make the process onerous as both have day jobs!
Record keeping is both for the mentor and mentee is for personal use an evaluation (respecting confidentiality). Completing any agreed tasks or keeping in touch between meetings is for the mentor and mentee to decide.
Records needed for evaluation and something different from above, and would include for example, notes of techniques and approaches tried and the extent to which they were helpful, improvements to the mentoring scheme, mentor and mentee feedback on whether progress had been made.
Expectations should be managed. The mentor’s role is one of a facilitator rather than advisor.