Microlearning is More than Bite-Sized Learning

In a recent Summer 2016 Focus magazine article, I shared a comprehensive plan to “Create the Value Proposition for Mentoring” in your organization. A key component of that is stakeholder engagement meetings to vet your ideas, solicit input and begin to create enthusiasm for Mentoring.

Below are engaging questions you may ask of senior leaders, managers and employees in your engagement conversations.

The Stakeholder Engagement Conversation with Senior Leaders:

1. Have you ever had an informal mentor? If so, what was your experience? What worked? What did you accomplish? How often did you meet and for what period of time? What strategies did your mentor use to coach you?
2. Have you ever participated in an organization-based mentoring program? What was your experience? What did you accomplish? What strategies did your mentor use to coach you? What worked or didn’t about the formal program?
3. What are the most important results you would like to see from an organization-sponsored mentoring process?
4. I’d like to share with you some initial ideas about what a mentoring process might look like in our organization to see how we could make it best fit our objectives and culture. (During this phase, use the information you have gathered when discussing items a-c liberally.)
5. As appropriate, use what you have learned in the Research phase related to successful programs, obstacles, organizational change, etc. as conversation starters for their further input.
6. Are there any organizational effectiveness issues that could be positively impacted by a mentoring process?
7. Do you foresee any obstacles to getting buy-in and acceptance of a mentoring process in our organization? What would we have to do to gain your support for such an initiative?

 The Stakeholder Engagement Conversations with Managers:

1. Have you ever had an informal mentor? If so, what was your experience? What worked? What did you accomplish? How often did you meet and for what period of time? What strategies did your mentor use to coach you?
2. Have you ever participated in an organization-based mentoring program? What was your experience? What did you accomplish? What strategies did your mentor use to coach you? What worked or didn’t about the formal program?
3. What are the most important results you would like to see from an organization-sponsored mentoring process?
4. What do you perceive the differences in the type of coaching people would receive from their manager vs. their mentor? What conflicts to you anticipate, if any, between the role of the manager and the role of a mentor? How could your employees’ having a mentor complement the coaching you do as their manager?
5. I’d like to share with you some initial ideas about what a mentoring process might look like in our organization to see how we could make it best fit our objectives and culture. (During this phase, use the information you have gathered when discussing items a-d.)
6. Do you foresee any obstacles to our getting buy-in and acceptance of a mentoring process in our organization? What would we have to do to gain your support for such an initiative?

Stakeholder Engagement Conversations with Employees:

1. Have you ever had an informal mentor? If so, what was your experience? What worked? What did you accomplish? How often did you meet and for what period of time? What strategies did your mentor use to coach you?
2. Have you ever participated in an organization-based mentoring program? What was your experience? What did you accomplish? What strategies did your mentor use to coach you? What worked or didn’t about the formal program?
3. What are the development issues you would work on in a mentoring relationship?
4. What do you perceive the differences between the coaching you get from your manager and what you might get from a mentor?
5. I’d like to share with you some initial ideas about what a mentoring process might look like in our organization to see how we could make it best fit our objectives and culture.

Valerie Smith Pease is the principal with Valerie Smith Consulting. Email her at vspease@comcast.net.