Feedback Is All About Delivery

The best teachers are the ones who never stop learning. This might sound daunting but developing good mentoring skills is far easier than you might think. Over time, as you get to know your Mentees, you’ll naturally learn the best ways to work with them and pass on your years of knowledge.

But what should you do if you want to be a first class Mentor right out of the gate? How can you ensure that you’re providing the best possible service from day one?

Today we’ll be exploring one of the most important skills a Mentor can have: giving feedback. In particular, we’ll be taking a closer look at how you can personalise your mentoring feedback to each Mentee, how to ensure that your message is understood, and the best ways to help your Mentee implement your advice.

Personalising Your Approach

In many ways, mentoring feedback is all about understanding your Mentee. On the one hand you need to understand their position, where they want to be, and the actions they need to take to get there. That being said, it’s also about understanding who your Mentee is outside of their career.

You don’t need to be a psychologist or a close personal friend, but as you get to know them it’s always good to learn as much as you can about who they are, what motivates them, and, most importantly, why they’ve chosen to work with a Mentor. Knowing these things will help you tailor your feedback to them in a way that will best suit their learning style and inspire them to push beyond their limits.

Mastering Communication

Communication can be a challenge, especially if you’ve not worked in this kind of one-to-one environment before. That being said, if this is something you struggle with, then we’ve got great news for you. There are three simple rules you can follow to easily improve your communication skills.

1. Be Clear: Clarity is the cornerstone of good communication. Even when handling complex ideas, always try to break them up into smaller chunks to make them feel simpler than they might at first seem.
2. Be Concise: Say more with less. Try to keep your communication relevant to the subject matter at hand. While there will be times where you and your Mentee will want to talk a little more freely, when giving feedback, it’s good to keep your points short and memorable while still conveying as much as you can.
3. Be Direct: When handling feedback – particularly negative feedback – we’re often tempted to hedge around a point rather than say exactly what we mean. While hedging can feel more polite at times, it ultimately only serves to get in the way of what we really want to say.

As a matter of fact, hedging is the perfect example of how to break all three rules at once. Not only does it avoid getting to the core of a subject, but it does so while adding more words and making a point harder to understand.

These rules can be challenging to master, but once you get the knack of them, your mentoring feedback will be second to none!

Strategies for Effective Delivery

Last but not least, we wanted to take a moment to talk about some basic steps that you can implement to ensure that your feedback is effective in its results. Bear in mind that, as with all things, these may vary from Mentee to Mentee so it’s best to use your own discretion in developing a method that will work for you and your Mentee.

• Focus On Goals: Feedback by mentors is all about pushing Mentees towards their goals and correcting for any missteps along the way. If your Mentee’s goals aren’t already clear, then you should be sure to clarify this so that you can tailor your feedback towards meeting those goals.
• Standardise Meetings: Unexpected feedback can be the hardest to follow, especially if it’s critical. Alternatively, if your meetings have a standard format with a consistent feedback slot, your Mentee will be able to prepare themselves accordingly. In particular, we recommend giving feedback near the beginning of meetings, allowing you to spend the rest of the meeting focused on implementing this feedback.
• Always Reinforce Progress: All progress is good – even if it’s not at the rate you might hope for. When trying to reach a goal, it can be easy to focus on what needs to be done and what’s left to do without taking a moment to celebrate the wins. It might sound small, but reminding your Mentee of the progress they’ve made will inspire them to push further.
• Take Feedback on Your Feedback: Even with the best intentions in the world, not all feedback is perfect. Whether your feedback is misaligned to your Mentee’s goals, or your style isn’t quite fitting with them, it’s good to let your Mentee tell you where things aren’t working so that, together, you can course correct.

At the end of the day, good mentoring skills are all about working with your Mentee towards a shared end goal. You’ve got the knowledge and they’ve got the drive. Together you can make a pretty incredible team. Sign up today at CareerNavig8r.com to begin your journey as a Mentor!