Deb Lockwood presented this progression session at the STC Summit in May 2012. (See stc.org.)

1. MENTORING 101
Other Duties as Assigned By Manager
Speaker: Deb Lockwood
Date: May 22, 2012

2. Agenda
• Answer the question: “What is mentoring?”
• Discuss what mentoring is not
• Outline the steps to successful mentoring
1. Match the mentor and protégé
2. Determine the goal
3. Establish the rules
4. Layout the timeline
5. Plan for next steps
• Share our stories

3. Speaker
• Deb Lockwood
• STC Fellow
• Member of STC’s Rocky Mountain Chapter
and CIC SIG
• Senior writer at OpenTV in Denver, CO
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/deblockwood
• deborah.lockwood@comcast.net

4. What mentoring is
• A mentor is a wise and trusted friend, counselor, or
teacher
• Mentoring is a relationship; a joint commitment between a
protégé and mentor
• Used to
• Onboard new employees
• Advance someone’s career
• Discuss ideas or plans
• Build networks
• Discover resources
• Work through issues

5. What mentoring is not
• Professional counseling (in most cases)
• A life-long commitment (not necessarily)
• A drain on your time or wallet

6. Step 1: Match mentor and protégé
• Find commonalities, which might include
• Personality
• Field of work
• Previous experiences
• Education
• One mentor+protégé set might not be a good match
• However, some differences can foster creative thinking
• Both parties must commit to the relationship

7. Step 2: Determine the goal
• Determine why the protégé needs a mentor and discuss
what needs to be accomplished
• Learn a job
• Discover resources
• Gain insights
• Ask opinions
• Obtain a subject matter expert review
• Draft a written goal
• Agree on how you will know when you have reached the
end goal

8. Step 3: Establish the rules
• Mutually agree upon the
• Time of day for communications (e.g., no questions before 8:00
AM)
• Preference for methods of communication (e.g., (1) face-to-
face, (2) e-mail, (3) text)
• Expectations for responses to communication (e.g., e-mails within
24 hours)
• Insist on respect for one other’s competing time
commitments

9. Step 4: Layout the timeline
• Determine the protégé’s expectations
• Examples
• One 1-hour question/answer meeting
• Weekly phone conversations
• Once a month review of work
• Determine how much time you can devote and stick to it
• Be realistic
• Only commit time you can afford to spend
• Watch out for scope creep
• Agree on a firm end date or trigger (e.g., review a first
draft and return comments)

10. Step 5: Plan the next steps
• Decide what will happen after the first meeting.
• Examples:
• Nothing, because one meeting was all that was needed.
• Review a document/resume/portfolio.
• Ask for ongoing advice (scheduled or intermittent).
• Schedule ongoing meetings (e.g., accountability partner).
• Assign tasks and due dates.
• Clarify to whom and how often you will report progress?
• Plan for an “ending” event (e.g., present a certificate, go
to a celebratory lunch).

11. 5 Steps to Successful Mentoring
1. Match the mentor and protégé
2. Determine the goal
3. Establish the rules
4. Layout the timeline
5. Plan the next steps

12. Discussion: Share our stories
• What mentoring relationships have you had?
• What techniques have worked?
• What techniques have failed?
• How does your organization handle mentoring?
• Do you have other useful tips or advice?