Katy Dickinson

Mentoring Reminders

We are two and a half weeks into the mentor matching cycle for the SEED and PreSEED mentoring terms. Both terms formally started today and will run for the next six months. 58% of the 80 participants (mentees and mentees-to-be) are already matched with their new mentors. This is the time of each cycle when the mentees start to get frustrated waiting for their new mentors.

For me, there is a balance between nudging potential mentors (emails with subjects like "Last Chance" and "Any news?" and "Please Reply!") or deciding to give up and go to the next lower priority name on the participant's Mentor Wish List. I have to be careful about going on: twice already in the last two weeks a mentor contacted me long after their deadline and asked to work with the mentee.

I just sent out nine more emails either reminding potential mentors to get back to me or asking a new potential mentor to review the resume and other information of a participant who has expressed interest in learning from them. In a normal term, 80% of the participants will be matched with one of their top four mentor choices. However, that does mean that 20% will not. Nobody wants to be in that second category.

This term, 387 unique mentors were requested on Wish Lists. There were ten mentors who had more than one participant who asked for them at #1 priority. There were 39 mentors who had five or more participants ask for them. The most potential mentors I have contacted for one participant so far this term is six. However, that potential mentor seems to be seriously interested in the match. Another participant about whom I have only contacted three potential mentors is nonetheless on #10 out of his ten name Mentor Wish List. If #10 is not a good fit, I will go back to the participant for more names.

The participant (potential mentee) is not kept informed of each step in the match process. They do not know which potential mentor from the Wish List is contacted. Potential mentors need to have space and time to consider the possibilities of a mentoring partnership without risk of offending the potential mentee or interfering with future communications with them or their manager.

Everyone does gets matched eventually...

Posted at 11:06PM Jun 15, 2009 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  |