For mentoring to work, a great deal of support is needed for the mentors themselves. This can be provided in a number of ways, including mentor training (see our page on ongoing training, mentor supervision sessions and informal support via telephone calls and newsletters)
Supervision sessions
The task of supervision is to enhance the development of the volunteers, recognise the importance of their involvement, and provide accountability for their work.
One way of approaching supervision is to take a look at what the person is thinking, feeling and doing in their role. This may highlight areas of difficulty that require personal support or information, or identify strengths or weaknesses pointing to opportunities for development, training, or role change.
For example, a mentor may be avoiding making a contract with a young person (doing), despite reminders and agreeing to do so. They may feel uncomfortable (feeling) about formalising the relationship, maybe feeling that the language on the contract is too distant from what the young person would use. Perhaps the mentor could benefit from education or training through role-plays to plan the discussion with the young person.
Through supervision, the barriers to the task can be identified and the mentor can be enabled through education or personal support to fulfil the role in a way they feel comfortable with that fits with the organisation's expectations.
Staff may run supervision on a one-to-one basis or in small groups. Small group supervision sessions, with four or five mentors at a time, enable mentors to give one another support and advice. The aims of these sessions are to enable mentors to share information about their mentoring relationships, to develop, monitor and plan goals for the relationships and to discuss any problems or difficulties that may arise.
Group supervision is a time-efficient method of sharing good practice and enabling peer-support. Common mentoring models combine group supervision with training. However, group supervision is not a replacement for individual attention and mentors tend to report greatest satisfaction with project support when they have opportunities for both group and individual sessions. Some schemes have review periods for structuring a formal individual supervision session.
Mentors should also be encouraged to keep a 'mentor diary' to keep track of dates, times and locations of their meetings, as well as of the basic issues discussed. These diaries can then be referred to in supervision sessions, and will help mentors and staff to chart the mentor's and young person's progress over the course of the year.
Informal support
Mentors may need to raise problems or questions with a staff member between meetings, and staff may want to arrange a drop-in time for them or for the young people. Alternatively, schemes may allow mentors and young people to telephone or stop in at any time during office hours. Regular telephone calls to mentors and newsletters can be used to encourage mentors and highlight key project meetings. Staff may also want to arrange trips or group activities that bring mentors and mentees together.
Maintaining the commitment of unmatched mentors
If there is a shortage of mentees, a number of trained volunteers may have to wait some time before their mentoring relationship can begin. Staff will need to work hard to maintain the interest of these volunteers in the meantime through, for example, running one-off extra training sessions or arranging social events for mentors. Meanwhile the project can benefit from any other skills that these mentors have, e.g. IT skills, editing newsletters etc.
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