Mentorship Best Practices
Don’t always rush in with feedback or advice, sometimes all a person wants is a sounding board. Give your undivided attention, and show that you are listening by maintaining eye contact, and by body language such as nodding and smiling.
What is an Active Listener?
If you ask a question, don't immediately rush to fill the silence. Some people need more time to process their thoughts and feelings. Be patient.
What is Allowing Silence?
Doing something alone when you need support. Such as a note taker, logistics coordinator, someone to set up the meeting space, etc
What is Needing A Co-Facilitator?
Should be created together at the beginning.
What are Community Agreements?
A magical creature that grants wishes.
What is a genie?
Lead by example. Be willing to share personal examples about your mistakes, set-backs, and failures as well as your successes.
What is Be A Positive Role Model?
Asking everyone in the group to share in a circle.
What is a Round Robin or Go Around?
Getting pushed around by the group and completing tasks outside the scope of your role.
What is Setting Poor Boundaries?
Asking participants to speak one at a time and listen to the person speaking.
What is One Mic?
An adult figure that helps raise a child.
What is a Parent?
Combine in-person, electronic, and other strategies for building and maintaining a relationship with your advisee.
What is Being Responsive And Available?
The facilitator’s job (generally) is to keep participants on track and paying attention to when the plan isn’t working and changes need to happen.
What is Create an Agenda?
Not leaving time and space for people’s feelings.
What is Rushing or Not Being Patient?
Encouraging people who speak often and openly to pause and be an active listener. Encouraging quiet people who often listen to challenge themselves to share their thoughts and feelings more.
What is Take Space, Make Space?
Someone who flies in to save the people from a villain.
What is a Super Hero?
Offer emotional support and coaching on how to think through challenges, but don’t do their work for them.
What is Be A Coach, Not A Crutch?
Often in the course of talking about one topic, really important things surface that need to be addressed, but are not on the current meeting’s agenda. An ongoing list to write down ideas, questions, and topics for future meetings that arise can be helpful.
What is Parking Lot/Garden/Bike Rack/Topics for Future Meetings?
Becoming rigid or unwilling to adapt the agenda or plan to meet the group’s evolving needs.
What is Not Being Flexible?
Encouraging participants to speak from their own experiences and not make generalized statements about large groups of people.
What is using "I" statements?
Someone paid to treat psychological problems.
What is a therapist?
Don’t assume anything about your advisee -- ask questions that won't have a single word answer.
What are Open Ended Questions?
“I'm noticing...”
◦ “that I haven't heard from many people of color recently.”
◦ “that there's a lot of interrupting happening, and that it's happening along gender lines. I want us all to work to become more aware of that and change it.”
What is Name, Intervening, and Addressing Systemic Power?
Spending 10 minutes deciding as a group by consensus whether you want to allot 10 more minutes of discussion to an item.
What is having a long Group Process about Group Processes?
Acknowledging that harm or offense is accidental, but recognizing that harm was still caused and needs to be reconciled.
What is Intent vs Impact?
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession that concerns itself with individuals, families, groups, and communities in an effort to enhance social functioning and overall well-being.
What is a Social Worker?