A ‘Mentor Exchange’ event took place at RISC in Reading
on Wednesday 31 May, led by local mentor support officer (MSO) Linda Jones,
whose professional home is the University of Portsmouth. Very much a ‘round
table’ event (though without a table), attendees gathered to hear from Linda
about CILIP’s move towards training and supporting mentors via the VLE (Virtual
Learning Environment) as opposed to the classroom-based training of the past, and
to guide prospective mentors in what to expect from the experience, of training
and mentorship in general.
The event started with each
attendee describing who they were and what their situation was. The group
included everyone from recently Chartered librarians interested in becoming
mentors, to a retired colleague who sits on the CILIP Board and has experience
evaluating professional registration portfolios. A new mentor shared her first
impressions of mentorship, including to “remember that the work comes from
them.” She added that there is no need to talk a great deal, but when doing so,
to ask questions. This nicely set the scene for an exercise from Linda for all
attendees, more of which later. The attendee concluded that being a mentor was
“not as scary” as she thought it would be.
The perspective of a person
sitting on the CILIP Board – and effectively being a mentor of mentors – was
provided next. The main lessons here were of the benefits of mentoring someone
who works in a different branch of information management to the one in which
the mentor gained most of his/her experience.
Not only does this make the experience more interesting for the mentor,
it also encourages the mentee to consider their work objectively, which helps
them to place their activities in a wider context – in the words of the
attendee, “to look outside themselves.” But the evidence they provide in their
portfolios must be appropriate to their fields.
The next question from
Linda to go round was what are, or what would attendees imagine to be, the most
positive and negative sides of mentoring? Speaking of herself Linda admitted
that she thrives on working with people from different sectors, particularly
because she enjoys seeing as many libraries as she can get into, believing as
she does that they are vital to civilisation. On the negative side, she regrets
seeing mentees “driving down the wrong road for far too long,” developing
material that doesn’t fit in their portfolios. Overall, she’s had fantastic
experiences as a mentor, whether they’ve stayed in touch or have happily gone
on their way after the experience of professional registration.
Two attendees who attained
Chartered status relatively recently and are interested in becoming mentors
were concerned that, in doing so, they would be able to provide the same
quality of mentorship that they had enjoyed as mentees, whether this is
guidance in general about professional practices or specifically following
CILIP’s procedures. The more experienced attendees reassured them that all
mentors have access to an MSO (in our case, Linda), and that curiosity is
enough when working with someone from a different sector. The question of the
risk of mentoring someone who goes on to fail to achieve professional
registration was also aired. The reply here was to remember that it is always
the mentee’s portfolio and that failure is their failure, rather than that of
the mentor. In these cases mentors can work with the feedback provided by the
assessment board.
Another attendee was
concerned about being able to convince her line manager to let her be a mentor,
to which the group agreed that the best approach was to find the right words to
demonstrate the benefits to her employer of doing so.
Move towards online training
Next Linda explained recent changes in CILIP’s mentor training. MSOs’ recent experiences are that it is increasingly difficult to get would-be mentors and trainers into the same room for a full day. CILIP’s answer is to virtualise the process via the VLE, which now has a separate mentoring section. What would have been communicated in one day’s worth of intensive classroom training is now to be imparted over four weeks online. To be clear, the window available is four weeks but the amount of work is the same as can be achieved in a day, i.e. seven hours. The four weeks are structured, however. There are four weekly units that must be done in four consecutive weeks. The second week consists of a practical exercise conducted with another candidate. Two MSOs also follow the course (Linda was keen to point out that this new process is also new to them).
Next Linda explained recent changes in CILIP’s mentor training. MSOs’ recent experiences are that it is increasingly difficult to get would-be mentors and trainers into the same room for a full day. CILIP’s answer is to virtualise the process via the VLE, which now has a separate mentoring section. What would have been communicated in one day’s worth of intensive classroom training is now to be imparted over four weeks online. To be clear, the window available is four weeks but the amount of work is the same as can be achieved in a day, i.e. seven hours. The four weeks are structured, however. There are four weekly units that must be done in four consecutive weeks. The second week consists of a practical exercise conducted with another candidate. Two MSOs also follow the course (Linda was keen to point out that this new process is also new to them).
Those worried about using
the VLE should be reassured that it is much easier to use than it was a year
ago and that the course is well-structured. Discussion boards replace face-to-face
contact and Linda encourages everyone to chat, get to know people, and explore.
She commented that she has also asked that current mentors be allowed to do the
training, to bring them up-to-speed with the new interface. Sections of the
course are made available as one progresses through it. Much of the information
is provided in the form of video. It is possible to download course frameworks
for those wanting to study them offline.
This part of the meeting
ended with a discussion about Certification and how it relates to the NVQ in
library and information studies, and how both might relate to the development
of an apprenticeship scheme for our sector.
A fun exercise to end
To round off the meeting Linda handed out plain envelopes to everyone, who split into pairs for an exercise on closed and open questions. Each envelope contained a picture of an animal. The object was for each attendee to find out what animal their counterpart had by asking as many closed questions as they liked, followed by a single open question. Closed questions were defined as ones in which there is a binary answer, meaning one of two options – typically yes or no. An open question, by contrast, is one that might have any answer.
To round off the meeting Linda handed out plain envelopes to everyone, who split into pairs for an exercise on closed and open questions. Each envelope contained a picture of an animal. The object was for each attendee to find out what animal their counterpart had by asking as many closed questions as they liked, followed by a single open question. Closed questions were defined as ones in which there is a binary answer, meaning one of two options – typically yes or no. An open question, by contrast, is one that might have any answer.
In practice, the exercise
was good fun but it also clearly illustrated the power of open questions and
the limits of closed ones. For a mentor/mentee conversation, open questions are
always to be preferred because they encourage the mentee to provide
information, which requires them to think about their situation objectively, in
order to explain it to their mentor, and to examine their own feelings.
In conclusion
Linda brought the meeting to a close with the some useful advice. Mentoring doesn’t have to be face-to-face, but it’s worth remembering that what works for oral communication isn’t always appropriate when written, so make sure your tone is right in any written communication. Mentoring can give you skills to deal with difficult people at work. Mentors can say no to any request from mentees.
Linda brought the meeting to a close with the some useful advice. Mentoring doesn’t have to be face-to-face, but it’s worth remembering that what works for oral communication isn’t always appropriate when written, so make sure your tone is right in any written communication. Mentoring can give you skills to deal with difficult people at work. Mentors can say no to any request from mentees.
The final piece of advice
came from the CILIP Board member attending, with which Linda wholeheartedly
agreed: mentees must express their own professional voices in their portfolios;
the test, particularly for Chartership, is that they demonstrate their own initiative.
Matthew Henry - Library Assistant, St Hugh's College, Oxford
