Library Guides: Mentoring Resources & Best Practices: Best Practices

Best Practices

From the literature and our own assessments and experiences, here are some best practices to consider:

MENTORS:

Agree upon and schedule a regular meeting time, to occur at least once a month. Honor those meetings.
Agree upon confidentiality and honor that trust.
Listen. Ask questions. Provide feedback. Support your mentee!
Remember that it's all about your mentee, and that you are not their boss. Take their lead.
Don't avoid organizational climate or personal topics, as many mentees need to talk or know about these. Make referrals as necessary.

MENTEES:

Agree upon and schedule a regular meeting time, to occur at least once a month. Honor those meetings.
Agree upon confidentiality and honor that trust.
Take an active role in your meetings with your mentor! You know best what it is you would like to achieve. To get the most out of your mentoring partnership, you will need to communicate your goals and challenges to your mentor. If you're shy or uncertain, you can still let your mentor know your interests. Remember they are there to help!
Be prepared to receive and accept feedback.
Remember your mentor can also help you years from now as you prepare your promotion portfolio or need a reader. Build a positive relationship!

Some Best Practices lists

Best Practices for Mentors and Mentees in Academic Settings
From Michigan State University
Corporate Mentoring Tips: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mentors and Mentorees
An interesting list from Management Mentors, a corporate site. Caring about the success of others is among the 7 helpful habits.
Level up your leadership with mentoring best practices
From Everwise, this list includes advice on setting clear goals and tracking your progress in achieving them. They also advise that mentoring partners periodically discuss and assess how the mentoring partnership is going.
Mentoring Best Practices: A Handbook, by Tine Reimers
An OER from University at Albany. This helpful handbook includes good information for mentees related to questions to ask, what kind of mentoring relationship do you want to develop, and more. All aspects of mentoring and mentoring programs are covered in this useful book.
The Qualities of Good Mentoring Relationships
Another interesting list, from MicroMentor. It's especially interesting that this page is suddenly in a Indonesian language. (Until we find another resource, you can use Google Translate to read in English.) This one has a number of helpful suggestions for mentees, including the advice to be self-aware and know what you want to achieve out of the relationship.
What the Best Mentors Do
Very interesting insights from the Harvard Business Review, including advice to put the relationship before the mentorship. In order words, get to know and care about your mentoring partner.