Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
When new members are integrated into the project team, it is normal for the Project Manager to be their mentor
Do you usually practice the 3 P's of mentoring?
- Patience
- Practice
- Persevere
Do you want to share your experience in this field with us? Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Not necessarily. It would depend on the size and complexity of the PMO and the entry level of the new member. In many cases the mentor should be within the ranks of the new member's discipline.
That being said, in my opinion the new member, after a period of introduction, should have a significant input as to who he/she sees as a mentor. Mentoring is not a short term initiative, nor should it impact the immediate tasking (it's not training). It typically relates to the longer term professional development of the person being mentored. I have found in the past that there is kind of a natural selection or pairing of staff and mentor. I have never delegated a mentor to an individual nor have I forced myself on a person as a mentor.
I have mentored, and have been mentored, by people outside the project environment with great success.
As to the three Ps. Yes but not limited to these. Understanding, communications and mutual respect are in the mix as well.
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 03, 2020 3:52 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Peter
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
There are those who confuse classroom or workplace training, coaching, mentoring and consulting
We agree, they are completely different approaches
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
The best mentoring I gave and I received was with people not in the same team, division, company.
Offering perspectives.
Key features of a good Mentor are humility, listening mastership and empathy.
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 03, 2020 3:55 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Thomas
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Is there a difference between mentoring and coaching for you?
We touched on coaching versus mentoring on previous posts. I would not see it as standard practice for newly inducted team members to have the project manager as their mentor. Sometimes they maybe budded up with a more experienced team member. Mentoring is more about talent management and identifying someone who is at an early stage in their career who has potential and assigning an person of experience to develop this potential into tangible results. As for practicing the 3P's, normally people are assigned to mentors based on the mentors personality and their own personality. Mentors may take different approaches to unlock potential that does involve a degree of patience and perseverance and that requires commitment from both parties involved.
Daire
...
2 replies by Daire Guiney and Luis Branco
Feb 03, 2020 3:58 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Daire Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
We agree. Sometimes mentoring is performed by more experienced and mature team members But ... the P's are there :-)
Feb 03, 2020 4:26 AM
Daire Guiney
...
Dear Luis,
I find in these modern times a readiness to dilute things that from what there are and bringing them into the mainstream. I would stick by my original point and say mentoring is the exception not the norm and what is more common in the work place is either coaching, training or simply helping out your fellow work colleague who is new to the team. Nothing out of the ordinary; all in a days work.
I also would challenge the assertion that the PM would frequently act as mentor to new team members.
Certainly the PM needs to help to integrate the new team member into the rituals and culture of the team but with mature teams, especially self-organized ones, the responsibility is at the team level.
Mentors will volunteer or be "volun-told" based on need, skills and capacity.
Having said that, I would agree that your 3 Ps would apply to any mentoring relationship.
Kiron
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 03, 2020 4:00 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Kiron
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
We agree.
Sometimes mentoring is performed by more experienced and mature team members
Mentorship: "the activity of giving a younger or less experienced person help and advice over a period of time, especially at work or school"
Hi Luis
You are starting with the assumption that ALWAYS the new team member is less experienced than the PM. This is not true in most cases.
As Peter has already said the mentor must be from the same profession as the one that is being mentored otherwise this would not work. In an engineering project, for example, a very experienced PM can't mentor an entry level engineer if the PM is not himself an experienced engineer in the field of the entry level engineer.
The PM can be a mentor for a new project team members in the following situations:
1) the new team member is an entry level project management specialist that is being assigned to the project as some sort of project coordinator or junior/assistant PM 2) the PM is also an experienced SME in the field of the new team member, and the new team member is less experienced in that field.
In addition if the new team member aspires to become a PM or becoming a PM is a promotion then also he can be mentored by the project manager.
If becoming a PM is not on the normal career path of the new team member then it would be a waste of time to try to mentor him in project management.
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 03, 2020 4:06 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Adrian
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
We agree.
The Project Manager cannot always be a mentor.
An interesting topic for debate is whether the Project Manager does not have to have knowledge in the domain in which the projects are carried out
What is your opinion about the mentoring P's? (whether done by the project manager or any other experienced person)
It depends on the project and organization, and the complexity of the project.
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 03, 2020 4:16 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Ahmad
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
What is your opinion about the mentoring P's? (whether done by the project manager or any other experienced person)
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Feb 02, 2020 2:53 PM
Replying to Peter Rapin
...
Not necessarily. It would depend on the size and complexity of the PMO and the entry level of the new member. In many cases the mentor should be within the ranks of the new member's discipline.
That being said, in my opinion the new member, after a period of introduction, should have a significant input as to who he/she sees as a mentor. Mentoring is not a short term initiative, nor should it impact the immediate tasking (it's not training). It typically relates to the longer term professional development of the person being mentored. I have found in the past that there is kind of a natural selection or pairing of staff and mentor. I have never delegated a mentor to an individual nor have I forced myself on a person as a mentor.
I have mentored, and have been mentored, by people outside the project environment with great success.
As to the three Ps. Yes but not limited to these. Understanding, communications and mutual respect are in the mix as well.
Dear Peter
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
There are those who confuse classroom or workplace training, coaching, mentoring and consulting
We agree, they are completely different approaches Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Feb 02, 2020 3:25 PM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
...
The best mentoring I gave and I received was with people not in the same team, division, company.
Offering perspectives.
Key features of a good Mentor are humility, listening mastership and empathy.
Dear Thomas
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Is there a difference between mentoring and coaching for you?
...
1 reply by Thomas Walenta
Feb 03, 2020 6:05 AM
Thomas Walenta
...
Luis,
yes, mentoring and coaching are different in most definitions, and there are different views too.
For me, mentoring is a 1:1 longterm relationship based on mutual trust with the goal of individual development and independent feedback. Trust is better built if mentor and mentee have no other (professional or private) relationship, so there is no conflict of interest or reluctance to share problems. Hence I say project managers should not be mentors of team members.
In contrast, I see coaching as 1:n (n could be 1) activity to close skill or knowledge gaps in a professional role. It not necessarily is based on trust, though this would help. It is rather based on a business need. All project managers must be able to coach in order to help team members understand and fullfil their roles. We use external coaches to convey abilities to the team/individuals. We use career coaches to analyse where people stand, develop a career path for them and select the appropriate steps to close the gaps.
I am currently (and always was) mentoring up to 10 people from areas where I have no insights in their professional knowledge, for example a game designer looking for job or a apprentice refugee coping with German culture and language or a soldier trying to understand global culture.
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Feb 02, 2020 3:44 PM
Replying to Daire Guiney
...
Dear Luis,
We touched on coaching versus mentoring on previous posts. I would not see it as standard practice for newly inducted team members to have the project manager as their mentor. Sometimes they maybe budded up with a more experienced team member. Mentoring is more about talent management and identifying someone who is at an early stage in their career who has potential and assigning an person of experience to develop this potential into tangible results. As for practicing the 3P's, normally people are assigned to mentors based on the mentors personality and their own personality. Mentors may take different approaches to unlock potential that does involve a degree of patience and perseverance and that requires commitment from both parties involved.
Daire
Dear Daire Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
We agree. Sometimes mentoring is performed by more experienced and mature team members But ... the P's are there :-) Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Feb 02, 2020 7:22 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
...
Luis -
I also would challenge the assertion that the PM would frequently act as mentor to new team members.
Certainly the PM needs to help to integrate the new team member into the rituals and culture of the team but with mature teams, especially self-organized ones, the responsibility is at the team level.
Mentors will volunteer or be "volun-told" based on need, skills and capacity.
Having said that, I would agree that your 3 Ps would apply to any mentoring relationship.
Kiron
Dear Kiron
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
We agree.
Sometimes mentoring is performed by more experienced and mature team members Saving Changes...
