Many things are changing about the way we work in the wake of COVID-19. For some organisations, that has meant a rapid shift to developing training for online delivery, rather than the traditional face-to-face approach.

It’s an exciting challenge but developing for online delivery requires different skills. If you’re the lone learning professional, or you are part of the change in a big organisation, how do you find out what you need to know and how do you check that you are moving in the right direction?

There are many great online communities and training resources and out there. Try Cathy Moore, or the eLearning industry for example. However, combining them with the ongoing support of a mentor gives you so much more.

At Like-Minded, we enjoy our role as mentors for a range of groups and individuals, but equally, we value having a circle of mentors to support our own growth.

One-on-one mentoring helps you grow in the areas that will make the biggest difference for you and your organisation. Plus, it helps build a stronger learning sector by sharing real-world experiences and establishing best-practice benchmarks.

Good mentoring will be challenging, but it will be supportive too. In our experience, two vital elements to successful mentoring are:

 

1: Be present

That means being both physically and mentally present. Make sure you meet regularly enough and place value on that allocated time by not letting it get bumped. And, when you do meet, focus on the reasons why you are together – switch off any distracting thoughts or activities you may have going on.

2: Be open

If you’re the mentor, be willing to share your mistakes as well as your successes. Mentoring isn’t a showcase. It’s about helping people, not impressing them. And if you’re the one being mentored, share your experiences openly. Highlight areas where you think you need to improve, and listen to constructive feedback.

These are just two aspects that help create a successful mentoring relationship. I’d love to hear from you as to what else you would add to this list.

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