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About this lesson
Tips to ensure the success of a mentoring relationship when you're paired with someone you'll primarily interact with online.
Quick reference
Remote Mentoring
This lesson explores the concept of remote mentoring and offers strategies for maintaining a successful remote mentoring relationship.
Notes
Concept of Remote Mentoring
Remote mentoring refers to when mentors and mentees primarily communicate through digital means such as video calls, emails, audio calls, or chat/messaging platforms.
Balancing Connectivity and Autonomy
Striking a balance between regular communication and the autonomy that remote mentoring provides is critical. While there may be challenges, such as building rapport or understanding non-verbal cues, these can be overcome with clear communication and determination.
Strategies for Remote Mentoring
- Communication: Regularly scheduled meetings are essential. Video conferencing tools are preferable as they provide a more personal touch.
- Clarity: Define goals, roles, and expectations from the start and document these to keep both parties accountable. Virtual project management tools or shared documents can be used for this purpose.
- Commitment: Both parties should be committed to respecting meeting times and deadlines, just as in traditional mentoring relationships. Regardless of time zone differences, find effective ways of exchanging messages and feedback.
- Comfort: A successful remote mentoring relationship depends on both parties feeling comfortable asking questions, offering feedback, and discussing concerns. Building trust and security in the relationship is key.
- 00:04 Welcome back.
- 00:05 In this lesson, we're going to dig into an increasingly important scenario,
- 00:10 Remote Mentoring.
- 00:11 If you're not in the same office or even in the same city as your mentor or
- 00:16 mentee, it's not a problem.
- 00:18 Let's discuss how you can make the most of your remote mentoring relationship.
- 00:23 In remote mentoring, rather than in-person meetings,
- 00:27 mentors and mentees communicate primarily through digital means,
- 00:31 be it video calls, emails, audio calls, or chat messaging platforms.
- 00:36 And there are so many options these days to help facilitate these calls,
- 00:41 whether you're using Zoom, Slack, FaceTime, or whatever your company uses.
- 00:47 In remote mentoring, finding the right balance is crucial.
- 00:51 On one hand, you need to maintain regular communication for
- 00:54 the relationship to be productive.
- 00:56 But on the other hand, the flexibility and
- 00:59 autonomy that come with remote mentoring are part of its appeal.
- 01:03 So while remote mentoring offers flexibility and accessibility,
- 01:08 it also carries unique challenges.
- 01:10 Building rapport might take more time, and
- 01:13 non-verbal cues could get lost in virtual communication.
- 01:17 But don't worry, with clear communication and
- 01:21 some determination, these hurdles can be overcome.
- 01:25 Let's discuss some strategies for a successful remote mentoring relationship.
- 01:31 First of all, communication is key.
- 01:34 Regularly scheduled meetings or touch points are important.
- 01:38 You can't rely on dropping by someone's office or bumping into them,
- 01:43 so decide how often and through which modes of communication you will connect.
- 01:49 Use video conferencing tools when posisble.
- 01:51 It's the next best thing to being in the same room.
- 01:56 Clarity is also important.
- 01:58 Clearly define your goals, roles, and expectations right from the start.
- 02:04 Documenting these can help keep both parties accountable, so
- 02:08 use a virtual project management tool or
- 02:11 even a shared Google Doc if you have to, but having something you can
- 02:16 both link to helps maintain clarity throughout your relationship.
- 02:21 Commitment is important.
- 02:23 Remote mentoring requires commitment from both sides.
- 02:27 Do your best to respect scheduled meeting times and deadlines,
- 02:30 just as you would in face-to-face settings.
- 02:33 In some cases, you may find yourself in widely varying time zones making it
- 02:37 difficult to meet even virtually.
- 02:39 Find a way to exchange messages and feedback that still serves your needs.
- 02:45 And comfort is important.
- 02:47 Creat an environment where both parties feel comfortable asking questions,
- 02:51 giving feedback, and discussing challenges or concerns.
- 02:55 Building trust and security in a relationship will go a long way.
- 02:59 With clear goals and that commitment we talked about,
- 03:02 forming a comfortable relationship with a mentor or mentee becomes much easier.
- 03:07 Consider this scenario.
- 03:09 Steve is a junior designer living in New York and
- 03:13 Alex is his mentor living in London.
- 03:15 Even though they live in different cities,
- 03:18 they commit to a regular weekly video call as part of their mentoring setup.
- 03:23 They lay out their goals and expectations at the start,
- 03:26 which are documented using online collaborative tools.
- 03:30 And they revisit them over time to record progress and make adjustments.
- 03:35 At times, Steve has questions, and
- 03:38 if he can catch Alex before she finishes her workday, he can video chat with her.
- 03:43 Otherwise, he can leave her a message on their platform,
- 03:47 which she can address first thing the next day.
- 03:50 Through their consistent communication and mutual respect, they are able to
- 03:55 build a successful remote mentoring relationship despite the distance.
- 04:00 In today's world, remote mentoring is much more common than before, so
- 04:04 it's an option you can absolutely consider,
- 04:07 especially when the perfect match lives in a different part of the world.
- 04:11 So, use the tools at your disposal and keep those strategies in mind to
- 04:16 create and maintain a successful remote mentoring relationship.
- 04:21 In our next lesson, we'll switch gears and dig into group and peer mentoring.
- 04:25 We'll see you then.
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