How To Build a Successful Mentor-Mentee Relationship?

We know that mentorship programs have many benefits to both mentor and mentee. The next step is to learn how to build an effective mentor-mentee relationship to ensure there is a constant two-way communication.

It is important to equip yourselves with some basic understandings on How to Mentor, How to Mentee, and how to achieve good mentor and mentee relationships? These could come in handy to achieve a meaningful mentoring session as well as polishing your communication skills when encountering issues during mentoring programs.

5 simple ways to build a strong relationship with your mentee
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1. Share ideas in stages:
   Bombarding your mentee with tons of ideas at once may fade the focus of your mentees away. 
2. Tell stories:
   ‍Trigger their motivation and interest in the industry they wish to pursue. 
3. Always be present:
   ‍Be an active listener to their concerns and questions during the sessions.
4. Find the opportunity to give advice when needed:
   ‍Whenever you hear something that needs an area of improvement during the mentoring program session and provides resources that could enhance their skills.
5. Get to know them:
   ‍If you are experiencing something that is ‘off’ or unusual during the sessions, get to know your mentee to understand them better.
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Building a good mentoring partnership by Victoria Black- the Director for PACE Mentoring at Texas State University.

4 Effective Ways to Build a Relationship with Your Mentor

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1. Present your goals to your mentors at the beginning of the mentoring program:
   ‍This is to ensure that the mentor understands the areas that need assistance and prepares the necessary resources for you. It saves a lot of time too-we keep expecting but really, humans can’t read minds. 
2. Stay organized and prepare question beforehand:  
   Mentors need to set a time for their mentees despite their busy schedule, hence, it is strongly advisable for mentees to be punctual and stay proactive during sessions. Treat the sessions like a first date where both mentor and mentee are putting their best efforts to get as much information as possible. The difference is that you could not simply dismiss your ‘date’ at the end of the day by saying ‘It was nice to meet you’ and go MIA for the next few years, your ‘dates’ are set to a certain timeframe, hence putting effort to engage well in the mentoring sessions are crucial.  
3. Value constructive feedback:
   Take notes and understand the feedback as this feedback comes from experienced people in the industry. 
4. Ask for clarifications:
   ‍From the theories, resources, and tools that you had learned or heard before, ask for clarification on the current best practice in the industry.

In summary, similar to other types of relationships, a mentor and mentee relationship too need both parties to drive the relationship, have a sense of empathy, respect, and support for one another, as well as have the intention to make the mentoring program a success from the beginning.

We hope you will find these tips as useful guidance and start building a Happily Connected relationship with your mentor and mentee- before the relationship gets ‘It’s too complicated’. You got this 😉!