Mentoring Roles and Responsibilities
Last Modified: 21 March 2012
Mentor
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Identify areas of expertise
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Be receptive to developing a learning relationship with a mentee
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Discuss expectations
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Maintain confidentiality
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Make yourself accessible for contact with mentee via preferred method of communication (phone, email, in person...)
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Be honest and professional in interactions
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Motivate and support mentee in achieving goals
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Recognize when you may not be able to provide what the mentee needs from the relationship and can refer them to another mentor
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Advocate and advisor
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Help the mentee develop a supportive network of colleagues
Mentee/Protégé
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Identify areas for learning (SWOT-Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
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Be receptive to developing a learning relationship with a mentor
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Be honest in establishing and discussing realistic and attainable expectations
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Maintain confidentiality
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Be receptive and proactive
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Take responsibility for your own growth and development
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Mentor others
Program Facilitator
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Engage in planning and continuous assessment (Kochan)
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Develop evaluation and assessment tools for continued learning
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Provide a mixture of voluntary training resources (open sessions, program workbook, online learning package)
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Explore ways to involve reluctant participants
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Provide opportunities for program participants to meet and share in group settings
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Send out best practice "snippet" to all staff to stimulate awareness, discussion, and interest (FromClutterbuck " Making the most of informal mentoring")
Supervisor/Manager
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Allow time for meetings
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Encourage staff to participate in mentoring relationships
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Support and design learning opportunities in partnership with mentoring participants
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Endorse experimentation in a way that applauds new approaches and permits the possibility of mistakes
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Ask question to encourage discussion of what is being learned and how
Organization
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Foster an environment of mentoring
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Provide support and encouragement so that all librarians and library staff members can succeed and excel in their positions
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Encourage sharing of expertise among all staff
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Leverage and share the experience that each individual brings to the organization for the good of the organization
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Provide all librarians new to the organization with opportunities to become involved in a mentoring relationship
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Recognize and reward those who participate in mentoring relationships by formally recognizing mentoring relationships in the review process (if desired by those in the relationship)
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Make mentoring an integral rather than peripheral part of the organization.
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