1. Managing the data in your Mentoring Scheme
David GarviE and Judie Gannon

2. Agenda Introductions History of MentorNet
How do you know when you need to introduce an IT system?
Working with an IT Supplier
Navigating internal processes – Judie
What data will you have/need?
Real Life Problems – Discussion
Questions…?

3. INTRODUCTIONS & BACKGROUND
Are you currently running a mentoring scheme?
If yes, what kind of ‘system’ do you currently use?
Paper?
Excel? ?
A dedicated mentoring system?
Roughly how many users do you have now?
How many users would you like to have?
Ask questions and write answers on whiteboard. Compare different people’s experiences.

4. History of MentorNet
Developed specifically as a Mentoring Platform from 2011
Joint Venture with Day1 – a youth mentoring charity
Has developed organically since, working in close collaboration with customers
Sales focus has been on developing strong relationships with a small number of customers
Brief Demo
Developed as a mentoring platform, not a networking solution that’s been ‘made to fit’ mentoring
Designed around one-2-one mentoring – both face to face and e-mentoring
Joint venture – 50% of profits go to youth mentoring charity – social purpose
Brief Demo:
Messaging
Activity Logs
Document sharing/collaboration
Evaluation – running surveys
Matching Process
Management Information

5. How do you know when to introduce an IT system?
Maturity of Mentoring Scheme
Don’t introduce an IT system too early
Important to have a well designed scheme first
An IT system is just an enabler
Starting with a smaller pilot is often a good idea
Size of Mentoring Scheme
Small schemes can be run on paper and
Larger schemes can’t!
Face to Face vs e-Mentoring
Each has different requirements of an IT system
In the real world, most mentoring schemes are a mixture of both
Maturity of Mentoring Scheme:
If you do it too early then you risk focusing too much on IT systems and not enough time focusing on creating a successful mentoring scheme with fully engaged mentors/mentees.
Then the IT systems get blamed if the mentoring scheme doesn’t take off
One of the reasons why the MentorNet project at Brookes has worked so well – Brookes had a very successful scheme before they turned to IT systems
Size of Mentoring Scheme:
As you scale, you can’t manage the admin without an IT system
Face to Face vs eMentoring – differences and challenges
See next slide

6. Face-to-face vs e-mentoring
Important to keep records of meetings:
Good practice, safeguarding
Often mentors/mentees ‘need persuading’ to write-up a face- to-face meetings
Reluctance to commit conversations to ‘paper’ – confidentiality concerns
Opportunities for matching are limited by geography
e-Mentoring
Most contact via secure Messaging
Easier to track contact & engagement
Want to discourage/prevent use of Facebook, texting, etc
Need an IT system that is intuitive and familiar
Opportunity for greater confidentiality
e.g. keeping names, contact details private
Opportunity to match over a wider geographical area
Discuss some of the differences and challenges

7. Working with an IT Supplier – and questions to ask them!
Software
Web-based vs locally installed
Importance of Security & Data Protection
Where is the data stored? UK, EEA?
Does the provider have an “IT Security & Data Protection” Policy?
Costs
Subscription vs one-off payment
Up-front costs and/or monthly/annual fee
Extras for customisation, support, training, etc?
Ongoing Support
How is ongoing training provided?
How are enhancement requests handled?
How quickly are bugs fixed?
Software – web-based vs locally installed. Location of data centres.
Importance of Security & Data Protection
Costs – subscription vs one-off payment – pros and cons
Costs – up-front costs, customisation, ongoing development, enhancements, etc.
Ongoing Support and updates (You will need a lot of help as you get started)

8. Navigating Internal Processes
Bacchus scheme grew from 44 mentors and 98 mentees to 200 mentors and 250 mentees in six years
University systems could not be shared with external participants
Key issues:
Professional reputation
Spreadsheets were not a long-term solution
Matching – profiles and administration
Monitoring -
Distance mentoring
Flexibility – mobility …

9. Navigating Internal Processes
In the build up …..
Knowing who to ask! Internally and externally
Finding funding only part of the issue!
Running a scheme whilst identifying new ways of running a scheme
Understanding what different systems would (and wouldn’t ) do – I didn’t have the vocabulary
Talking to other users
Legal services and IT expertise
Persuading stakeholders to support the change

10. Navigating Internal Processes
Making it happen ….
Getting the back of house documentation ready for transfer
Facilitating the transition for participants and other stakeholders
Trouble-shooting
Maximising the benefits

11. What Data will you have/Need?
Data Required by Mentoring Platform
Existing University Systems
Mentoring-specific Data
HR System
Alumni Database
Student Database
Examples:
Reasons for wanting to be a mentor/mentee
Skills mentor can offer
Skills mentee is looking for
Questions to ask IT Provider:
Can you bulk import data from existing systems (e.g. .csv file)?
Can users self-register?
Multiple source systems – you might be able to extract data from some existing systems to save time
Doesn’t matter if you can’t
Any mentoring platform should be able to give you options as to how you get data into the system:
import data from csv files
administrator enters data
individual users enter data (self-register)

12. Real life problems #1
No IT system is a substitute for a well-managed scheme
Don’t expect an IT system to do all the work for you!
You still need to communicate well with your mentors/mentees
You still need to find ways of making sure your mentors are motivated
You still need to chase mentors/mentee to make sure they are engaging
Matching will be more effective if the mentee has some choice
Trying to run before you can walk (when setting up the system)
Don’t try to get the system customisation perfect in one go
Allow time for testing, particularly of data security (who can see what)
Create ‘test’ user accounts so you can see what a ‘real’ user sees (if you are an administrator then you will be able to see more than ‘normal’ users
Discussion/brainstorming of real-life problems people have experienced

13. Real life problems #2 Discovering that nobody is using the system
Remember – you still need to communicate well with your mentors/mentees
People often have initial problems with finding the url, logging on, remembering passwords, etc
Lots of hand-holding, chasing and encouragement early on is a very good investment of your time.
Discovering that users are finding other ways of communicating
Sometimes this is good; sometimes it is bad
Facebook/text messaging is not secure and can’t be tracked and breaks most Data Protection rules (particularly if dealing with young people)
You have to decide how dictatorial you want to be!
Ideally your IT system should reduce barriers for people, but it will not remove them completely – be realistic!
Discussion/brainstorming of real-life problems people have experienced

14. Questions… ?
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