4.2 Mentors and Mentees tasks, responsibilities and rights

Mentors’ tasks, responsibilities, and rights

As described in the previous Modules, a mentor is a person who shares learned knowledge and life experiences with his/her mentees, in order to be able to effectively guide them through their goals and improve their performance (Transportation Learning Center, 2012). In more depth, defining the professional framework and content of the mentoring sessions is essential for mentors and mentees. Mentors’ tasks, responsibilities and rights must be recorded in order to develop a strong relationship between the two bodies and further enhance the mentoring process. To be more specific in regards to:

Tasks:

• Commitment to the mentoring process
• Provision of professional contacts and networking
• Assisting in determination of goals
• Fostering appropriate mentoring context/setting
• Clarification of Boundaries
• Designing appropriate mentoring scheme
• Provision of training material, supervision
• Use feedback for further development
• Planning and communication
• Organization
• Control
• Coordination
• Supervision
• Evaluation
• Contact initiative and continuous contact
• Documentation

Responsibilities:

• Encourage self-discovery
• Knowledge in regard to their subject
• Lead the mentoring meetings with the mentees
• Encourage the flow of innovative ideas and thinking
• Share personal experiences (“A challenging obstacle I managed to overcome is..”, “My greatest career achievement is..”, etc.)
• Encourage problem-solving based on individual mentee skills and traits
• Creation of opportunities for the mentee
• Providing proper and timely advice
• Recognition of mentees’ knowledge and skills
• Guide mentees in identifying personal needs and support their business development
• Offering alternative perspectives and sources of information
• Be confidential
• Draw attention (justified on professional grounds) to situations and circumstances that Threaten the enterprise
• The mentoring process reaches the goal (if the mentee is cooperative enough)
• Ensure an uninterrupted mentoring session

Rights:

• Receive sufficient training and resources in order to carry out his/her responsibilities
• Maintain program focus around the mentee
• Justify reasons to decline work with any particular mentee
• Be treated with respect
• Refuse to do work they deem unethical or inappropriate
• Accept or reject the mentee’s mentoring requests
• Involving an expert and/or advisor
• Initiate the closing of the mentoring process

Mentoring creates great benefits for the mentors (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2010). It increases career recognition, as well as job satisfaction when seeing mentees develop their potential in the e-business world. In regards to the above, mentors mentoring would-be e-entrepreneurs are to the point when explaining the purpose of the mentoring process and provide clear guidelines to the mentees concerning the mentoring sessions, each other’s role, expectations and commitment. Throughout the mentoring sessions, mentors are responsible to review mentees’ experiences and support them through feedback. It is also part of their mentoring role to define objectives, strengths and accomplishments of mentees, as well as areas of improvement and help them identify their future actions, discuss challenges, needs and opportunities. In addition, it is important for mentors to review and self-reflect on the effectiveness of their relationship with mentees, in order to have fruitful cooperation during the mentoring sessions. The mentoring relationship can be considered successful and come to an end when both bodies have achieved their targets and objectives, when the mentees are confident and are ready to take over their business path, and when it is time for the mentoring program to end. It is suggested that mentors discuss with the mentees the reasons the mentoring relationship is over and re-evaluate outcomes before the mentoring program is about to close in order to acknowledge what has been accomplished during the mentoring process and discuss the lessons learned.

Mentees’ Tasks, responsibilities, and rights

“A business idea needs time to be developed, tested and evaluated”

(YEP Erasmus+, 2018, p.41)

A mentee is a person who evaluates business opportunities and generates business ideas. However, before the mentoring partnership between a mentor and a mentee begins, the mentee must consider the below (Davidson Institute for Talent Development, 2018, p. 5 & p. YEP Erasmus+, p.41):

• “I need help with career planning and goals”
• “Is the opportunity worth investing in”?
• “Is it sufficiently attractive”?
• “Is there any competitive advantage”?
• “What are the risks associated with it”?

Since the focus of the mentor is on the mentee, the mentee needs to spend time to clarify business goals and define those strengths, opportunities, as well as challenges that may positively or negatively affect his/her business plans. As mentors, so mentees have their rights, tasks and responsibilities during the mentoring process and therefore, they need to be well-prepared to work with their mentor. To be more specific in regards to:

Tasks:

• Share openly information about their strengths, development needs, ambitions, etc. with his/her mentor
• Initiate their own development and make the most of learning opportunities
• Be open and honest
• Ensure confidentiality as agreed with mentor
• Provide own experience to aid discussions
• Determination of goals
• Responsibility for personal and professional development
• Provision of feedback
• Allow the mentor to take the lead
• Consider all advice or suggestions

Responsibilities:

• Commit to completing agreed development tasks
• Define and agree expectations for the relationship
• Take responsibility for drawing up their own personal development plans
• Provide information, knowledge about organization/occupation and career to aid their Mentor with the provision of advice and support
• Be respectful, maintain punctuality
• Acceptance of new opportunities
• Reflective practice
• Ask for help when needed
• Maintain contact
• Listen, ask questions and follow-up with information provided by a mentor
• Do work assign by a mentor
• Show up to the meetings, respect each other time
• Select mentor/s according to your current needs either spiritual, business, personal
• Learn

Rights:

• Access other sources of advice and information as appropriate
• Accept differing perspectives
• Accept support and encouragement
• Expectation from mentor to have sufficient expertise in their subject and be professional.
• Justifications to decline work with any particular mentor.
• Reception of timely response to requests.
• Expect confidentiality.
• Accept or reject the advice or suggestions of the mentor
• Initiate the closing of the mentoring process

Mentoring creates great benefits for the mentees as well (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2010). It increases self-motivation and confidence, and it gives a clearer picture concerning their professional direction. Through the exchange of experiences between the mentor and their peers, they can better understand the e-market and they create bigger opportunities in developing their knowledge and skills.