A Suggested 3 Day Mentoring and Coaching Training Agenda

A SUGGESTED 3 DAY AGENDA FOR MENTOR TRAINING
By Barry Sweeny, copyright 2008

The Applications for This Training Agenda - The mentor training agenda, which is shown below, has been refined through the experiences of the author who has led hundreds of mentor trainings since 1988. Initially his experience was in a K-12 school district where the author was Mentor Program Coordinator, but since 1989 the author has served as a mentoring and coaching consultant and trainer for many businesses, community-based organizations, municipal, county, provincial, state and national government agencies, financial, public service and high tech organizations nation-wide. The most unusual of these was work with a Las Vegas casino. This experience and expertise means that Barry can easily adapt this agenda to fit your organization's needs. Just Contact Barry.

What Else is Needed? - Since the mentoring process and relationship evolve, usually over about two or three years, the mentor and protege will need on-going support and training. That means, of course, that the initial three day mentor training presented in this agenda is not sufficient by itself to address all the mentoring needs of the pair, nor is it enough to sustain their continuous professional growth and transform their practice so that their performance is improved. That takes sustained support to attain. The following three activities are the essential minimums for big results to happen.

Separate mentor and protege peer support groups need to be held about each quarter to allow the mentors and the proteges to learn from their peers.
Also, joint mentor & protege training may be needed after the pair have begun coaching and issues and problems need addressing and skill refinement is essential. This is the point at which the coaching skills learned in the training below are implemented and difficulties in that implementation invariably occur.
Finally, each mentor needs to BE mentored by the Mentoring Program Leader using the Mentoring of Mentors process. That ensures the accountability and support each individual deserves for full implementation. Why?

What About More Details?- This agenda merely lists topics and gives an approximate sense of the time needed for each. It does not provide much detail such as the activities needed to make the training engaging and compelling for participants, nor does it provide the directions a leader would need to effectively do them. Reading about that is not enough. For that information, I strongly recommend you employ me to lead the first training, model the strategies, and demonstrate exactly how I conduct my "High Impact Mentoring and Coaching Training". For information on using this approach while developing your own mentor training leaders, see "How to Develop a Mentor Training".

- AGENDA -

DAY ONE

Did you have a mentor? What were your needs as a beginning employee - new manager (etc.)? Were they met?

THE CONTEXT FOR MENTORING

The Three Mentoring Program goals
Two models for peer assistance: "best practice" or collaboration & growth?
The three parts of a effective mentoring : job, M-P relationship, process
The impact of mentoring on work flow and structures, culture, and on employee learning and improvement
Mentoring that supports the current transitions and strategic initiatives in your organization

THE JOBS OF THE MENTOR, PROTEGE & DISTRICT MANAGERS

The 21 ways mentors can help - Your natural tendencies within this framework? Mentor self-assessment #1
The four levels of learning awareness & their implications for effective mentoring
The roles, tasks, and expectations for each position
Priorities, checklists and suggestions, building a plan for your mentoring work

THE NEEDS OF THE PROTEGES

The research on adult learner needs
How effective mentors assess and address protege needs - The CBAM

DAY TWO

THE MENTOR-PROTEGE RELATIONSHIP

How we work & communicate makes all the difference in the process & the results
A developmental relationship which requires mentors to adapt their mentoring
Critical attributes of the mentoring relationship
Characteristics of a successful mentoring pair
Mentor self-assessment #2

THE MENTORING PROCESS: HOW TO FACILITATE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

How mentors promote the development of proteges
Your natural leadership tendencies & mentoring style, mentor self-assessment #3
Potential growth areas for your individual mentoring
Mentor growth plans, consolidating self-assessment conclusions, setting goals
The mentoring process: A working model

DAY THREE

COACHING FOR MENTORS & PROTEGES

A demonstration, some practice, and some analysis
Definitions and a comparison of coaching with evaluation
The model coaching process
Pre and post observation conferences, guidelines for communication & feedback, questioning skills
Designing and using observation tools
Helpful hints: building trust, communicating, - NOT evaluation, but promoting self- assessment and reflective practice
It's your turn now. A demonstration lesson and "group coaching".
Pair practice of the coaching strategies and process

THE CLOSING CEREMONY