Summary of Activities for We:mentor Inova Consultancy We:mentor Meeting UK

Background of the Meeting The meeting was held in Sheffield 11 th February 2012 Sharing Experience: How to Develop a Mentoring Programme for Women – Lessons Learned and Best Practise from UK Experience Participants shared their experiences Different mentoring initiatives were introduced

The Benefits of Mentoring Rising confidence levels of both mentor and mentee Empowering effect Sharing knowledge and experience Getting peer support Access to new opinions and points of view

Developing a Mentoring Programme Matching is a crucial stage Contracting Evaluation and Monitoring, keep a learning log Expect Change!

Matching Matching of a mentor and mentee is a crucial process that can make or break the mentoring relationship: Creating a matching matrix could be useful Successful mentoring relationship does not rely on similarities between mentor and mentee Not only professional qualifications should be considered

Contracting It is advisable to form a contract between a mentor and mentee to set ground rules: Set boundaries and the running of the process Spell out individual expectations Set a clear starting and ending points for the mentoring Mentoring is a bilateral relationship Option for dropping out if necessary

Evaluation and Monitoring Evaluation and Monitoring should also be included into the development of a mentoring relationship Keep a learning log to make note of personal feelings and changes Keep track of the process and changes Check the value and benefits gained from the relationship Group mentoring sessions can help give more perspective

Expect Change! Creating a Mentoring Programme is about change and change should be expected: Development of personal skills Can be a route to self discovery Sometimes the outcome of the mentoring programme is not what was expected

Conclusions on Good Practice Developing a mentoring programme is a process that should be guided Running of the process needs to be discussed and followed Expectations need to be voiced out Mentoring has an empowering effect on participants

Shared Experiences Mentoring Programmes demand resources Companies should take advantage of their internal resources and human capital Mentoring has an empowering effect on participants Mentoring can take place online as well Development of soft skills is at the centre of mentoring

Other Project Activities Transnational meetings in the partnership framework Have brought 8 learners to we:mentor meetings Learners take their learning back to their organisations We:mentor has been involved in our dissemination activities in general, included in other projects Close contact with our National Agency on We:mentor & Mentoring activities Organising workshops and Mentoring Circles Mentoring initiatives in other projects: E.g.Fe:male, Get Mobile, SiGold Mentoring Circles for disadvantaged groups