Mentor Training: Creating Accountability and Stronger Mentoring Relationships

Here at Digital Boost, we love helping our volunteers become the best mentors possible! Through our partnership with the Association of Business Mentors (ABM), we’re excited to provide even more mentor training for our community.

In this blog, we’re sharing key takeaways from our mentor training workshop with the ABM to help you build accountability and create deeper connections in your mentoring sessions.

How to Create Accountability in Your Mentoring Sessions

1. Create clear roles

Getting clear on the different roles in a mentoring relationship is key to success.

• Your mentee is in the driver’s seat – You’re there to guide your mentee, but they’re in charge of steering the car! 
• The “mentoring magic wand” doesn’t exist – Mentors aren’t there to solve everything with a magic wand.  Real growth comes from the mentee’s own efforts, so don’t be afraid to remind them of that in your sessions! 
• Set clear expectations early – Be clear about roles and responsibilities in your sessions upfront. This will help you create structured and productive mentoring sessions.

2. Be realistic

Great mentors are able to be super supporters whilst also being realistic with their mentees.

• Be a realistic cheerleader  – Celebrate your mentee’s ideas, but ensure you’re challenging them with important questions.
• Prioritise data-driven decisions – Help your mentee leverage the numbers they have to make informed and logical decisions
• Be a mirror – Use thought-provoking questions to help your mentee come to their own realisations about what is and isn’t possible

3. Connection is Everything

Great mentoring happens when there’s a genuine connection between the mentee and the mentor.  Here’s how you can strengthen your connections 👇

• Share a little about yourself – This will make your mentee feel more comfortable and help them open up in later chats
• Try the ‘onion approach’ – Ask probing questions to peel back the layers of your mentee and understand them on a deeper level
• Invite feedback – at the end of each session ask, “How can we make our next session even more valuable?” – This will show your mentee you’re listening and tailoring your sessions to them

Practical strategies to try in your mentoring sessions

As a general rule, following this framework will help you naturally build accountability into your sessions.

1. Start with clear boundaries – decide how often you’ll meet, and how you’ll communicate between sessions
2. Assign a small task that must be completed before the next call – this helps your mentee take action and ensures that each mentoring session is building momentum
3. Share a short note after each session – either send a message with the highlights or fill out an Action Plan on the Digital Boost Dashboard to recap and consolidate everything for your mentee 

Try the GROW model

Bonus: why not try the GROW model to structure your next session even more? 

• Goals
• Reality 
• Options
• Will (what will your mentee do next?) 

Try the Helicopter exercise

As a mentor, reflecting on your sessions can be extremely powerful to help you keep developing and improving. 

After your next session take 2-3 minutes and: 

1. Visualise watching the meeting from above.
2. Observe any body language or reactions you may have missed.
3. Identify moments of confusion or hesitation from your mentee.
4. Use these insights to adjust your mentoring approach next time.

Conclusion

With a few simple tweaks to your sessions, you’ll be able to start creating accountability in no time at all! 

If you try any of these frameworks, please let us know.  We’d love to hear how you get on 😊

Watch the replay of our mentor training session here. 

Not a volunteer yet? Let’s change that!

If you’re looking to dip your toe into the world of mentoring, why not become a Digital Boost volunteer? 

Our mentoring is flexible, virtual, and most importantly, impactful!