With research showing that men are more likely to be mentored by senior executives than their female counterparts, it’s more important than ever that every man, woman and organisation takes bold action towards eliminating the gender gap in the working world – something that current rates of progress lead the World Economic Forum to predict won’t close entirely until 2186.
As International Women’s Day approaches, everywoman invites you to make use of this complimentary guide to hosting a speed mentoring event in your business, helping create a lasting platform for successful collaboration, that has the power to elevate relationships across all levels.
Designed for busy schedules, this guide is intended to provide a quick and efficient way for getting an event off the ground with minimum fuss.
The relatively new concept of speed mentoring enables those pursuing the support of a mentor to meet willing participants and swap quick-fire information with the aim of forming a working partnership with their most compatible colleagues.
why speed mentoring
A 2016 study by the Department of Medical Psychology at the University of Hamburg found that mentoring relationships formed during a speed event lasted longer, and provided more commitment and constructive feedback than those created through other channels.
Both mentors and mentees participating in the study said…
- They enjoyed the chance to explore if the ‘chemistry’ was right in a relaxed, open-minded atmosphere;
- The Q&A style of the initial conversation helped to cancel out any ambiguity around what the mentor could offer and the mentee was looking for;
- The partnership was given a solid foundation by the ‘active choice’ made by both parties to work together. For the ‘chosen’ mentee in particular, this meant they never felt they were imposing on their mentor’s time.
How it works
Chats between mentors and mentees are normally limited to anything between three and ten minutes, before a signal is given that it’s time to move on. There are various ways you can structure the ‘musical chairs’ aspect of the event. Options include:
- Publish a list of mentors you’ve recruited along with their bios. Mentees request appointments with those they’d most like to meet with. The organising committee then awards time slots. To avoid some mentors becoming over-subscribed you might choose to guarantee only a limited number of choices will be fulfilled, and that the remainder of slots will be made up of ‘wildcard’ mentors.
- The organising committee divides mentors and mentees into groups according to diversity of business units, skillsets, interests and so on, and each group spends the ‘speed’ event rotating.
- The event is a free-for-all, with no time slots of groupings, simply a continual shifting of seats.
It’s typical to end the event with an informal networking session, in which participants can pick up interrupted conversations or mingle with those they didn’t get to ‘speed’ with.
“It was genuinely exciting to see employees get together and begin to create networks that may well exist for the remainder of their careers.”
Alan Garwood, Group Business Development Director & Executive Committee Sponsor for Diversity & Inclusion, BAE Systems
You also have options for how you manage the ‘match-making’ element. Some organisations leave the ball entirely in the court of participants, who arrange for follow-up sessions with preferred would-be mentors and mentees at their discretion.
Others build space into the agenda for each mentor and mentee to list on ‘match cards’ all those they’d be interested in partnering with. It’s then over to facilitators to assign and communicate matches.
In other cases there may be no follow-up required; you may invite along participants who have a burning question to put to a range of experienced business heads, the sole purpose to garner as much advice as possible in a short space of time, rather than to form an on-going connection with one individual.
Before you embark on an event programme, spend some time identifying your core purpose. Is it to match incoming graduates with those a few years into their careers? To give heads of departments the opportunity to be mentored by directors? To encourage cross-divisional networking opportunities? Or something else that suits your business goals?
Getting started
If you’ve taken the bold action to run a speed mentoring guide with limited resources and time, it is entirely possible to get an event off the ground quickly and without impacting too heavily on your workload.
If you want to draw on any available help, you could ask for volunteers to form an organising committee. The following list of roles you might want to fill is comprehensive – depending on the size and scale of your event, you may not need to cover every one of these bases, but it will give you an indication of the kinds of things you might want to think about for your event, and which you can or can’t do without.
roles you may want to fill
Guest list coordinator:
Who will manage the guest list, collate the rsvps and ensure stand-ins are available in case of a turnout of uneven numbers?
Location manager:
The person who’ll secure an adequate space for the event and ensure it’s sufficiently facilitated with chairs, desks and refreshments.
Asset gatherer:
Someone who’ll source a klaxon, stopwatch, name badges, a microphone for the facilitator, clipboards, place names for tables, and anything else needed during the event.
Communications manager:
Someone who’ll handle marketing and email invitations, as well as draft the script the host will deliver pre and post event.
The host:
The person who’ll welcome guests to the venue and say a few words to kick things off. Depending on how many guests you’re expecting, you might need additional hosts and/or registration desk assistants.
Roving reporter:
Someone who’ll take photographs and document the event for the intranet and future marketing.
The matchmakers:
Who will be responsible for assigning time slots, analysing match cards and sharing this information with guests?
Feedback analyst:
The person responsible for creating, distributing and collating event feedback. This can be controlled by the individual handling feedback in a free online survey tool like surveymonkey.
Creating a guest list
Your committee may create a list of potential mentors and mentees to invite through targeted comms, or you can launch a marketing campaign to unearth interested parties.
Whichever method you choose, boost your numbers if required by asking guests if they’d like to bring along another mentor or mentee. Your guest list coordinator should track all RSVP responses, as well as a list of anyone who cannot attend but who’d like to be made aware of future events.
At the point of requesting RSVPs, you have the option of requesting icebreaker information from each guest, e.g. a professional strength or weakness, a current goal or a proud achievement. This information is added to name badges or to a handout, and acts as a conversation starter.
Drawing on available resources
Once you’ve a clearer idea of how your event is shaping up, you can benefit from reaching out to various internal teams for ideas, resources, volunteers and any other help they can offer:
- Your internal comms team, for example, might be able to get mentions of your event into upcoming newsletters, organisational publications or talks and presentations by senior figures;
- The marketing team might have ideas for how to best appeal to the audience you’re hoping to attach;
- Your events department might have knowledge to impart regarding venues and managing guest lists.
Reach out and see what comes back.
Getting the communication right
If your mentees have requested slots with available mentors, your committee will need to print a schedule for each attendee.
If the committee is doing the grouping, it will need to work out the logistics (for example, if you’re allowing five minutes per chat over the course of one hour, this will mean each group needs a minimum of 12 pairs).
A seating plan located at the entrance is helpful for directing arrivals. Next, agree a schedule of comms to be sent between now and your event kicking off.
Think about the type of atmosphere you’d like to create:
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High energy?
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Informal?
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Businesslike?
What type of space, lighting, audio or visual elements will help you achieve that?
Warming up
The best results will come from speed sessions that are friendly, open-minded and energetic. Kick off your event with a warm welcome from a facilitator who reiterates the session’s goal and the logistics of how the event will work.
It’s a wrap
The facilitator should signal the end of the speed session and the beginning of networking time with a few words of thank you, and any observations about how the event has gone. If you’re using match cards, build time into the schedule between speed and networking, for mentors and mentees to indicate their choices and submit these to a facilitator.
Ready… set… mentor
If you’re using match cards, your organising committee should convene as soon as possible following the event to record the first, second, third and so on choices of each mentor and mentee. Cross-reference these choices to highlight matches, and send follow up emails to inform of any successful matches made.
At this point you might include some resources which will help both parties get the best out of their fledging partnership, such as our complimentary workbooks Getting the most out of being mentored and Becoming a mentor.
Normally available to everywomanNetwork partners only, these in-depth resources are available to download for free to any organisation running a speed mentoring events to tie in with International Women’s Day 2017
Tips for your speed mentoring event
for organisers
“Speed Mentoring is fun, but intense; energy levels can dip if it drags on for more than an hour,
so be strict with time-keeping and move people on after each slot.”
The Royal Institute of British Architects
For mentees
“Make sure your questions are specific, concise and relevant to that particular mentor. Cut to the chase – this is your opportunity to ask a burning question so no need to beat around the bush.”
The British Library
For mentors
“Act like a doctor and ask questions that will help you understand what’s important to the other person. What are their core values? Are they all about family? Do they love to travel or play sport? What challenges are they facing that they could use some help with?”
Hub Australia
for organisers
“Using a Polaroid camera take a photo of every delegate on arrival. During the networking periods people can refer to the photo wall if they need to get a clue about the person they’re seeking.”
SFEDI Group
for organisers
“Open the evening with a casual reception followed by a panel discussion of around 15- 20 minutes. This gives both mentors and mentees a chance to ‘warm up’ and network with colleagues.”
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, New Zealand
for organisers
“Bring a camera to document the event if you plan to publicise it later.”
The American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics
