Category Archives: Insights

Turning Mentoring on its Head: Reverse and Reciprocal Mentoring

In our 2022 research with HR.com on Mentoring in the Workplace,  18% of survey participants had group mentoring programs, 17% had reciprocal mentoring and 9% had reverse mentoring programs. During the pandemic, we saw a big rise in Reciprocal Mentoring – where traditional mentoring pairs flipped roles and mentors discovered they were receiving mentorship from […]

Mentoring Expert Interview Series

Lisa Fain, an ambassador for International Mentoring Association interviews a variety of mentoring experts about what interesting things they have discovered in their mentoring journeys and also taps into their knowledge and experiences to share with you. Today she interviews our Managing Director, Melissa Richardson. In this podcast Melissa goes into depth on some of  […]

October is Mental Health Month

It is Mental Health Month in Australia.  We all experience sadness and stress sometimes – these are natural human responses to the challenges of life. It’s normal to feel stressed if your job security is threatened, or you don’t know how you can pay your bills, or to feel sad in response to loss. How can […]

Mentor Training

Great managers often don’t make great mentors automatically. Mentoring takes a certain skillset to get the most out of the conversation, in particular active listening. These skills can be an asset in the workplace to get the most out of direct reports. To help your mentors become good at what they do it is important […]

How to create a coaching and mentoring culture in your organisation

GUEST BLOG: Most organisations of more than a few hundred people have some experience of coaching. They may have employed a professional coach to support an executive, or given line managers some instruction on how to coach. But this is a long way from achieving a coaching and mentoring culture. Indeed, we can identify four […]

What makes a great mentoring program manager?

One part match-maker, another part relationship counsellor, mixed with liberal doses of financial controller, communications specialist, trainer and project manager. That’s what makes up the unique characteristics of a great program manager. The role is so broad that it’s actually quite hard to do really well at all aspects. The European Mentoring and Coaching Council […]

Are you mentorable?

In her TED Talk “No one is talking to mentees” Victoria Black describes her research study which examined mentoring program websites across 187 post-secondary institutions. She found that only 19% addressed ‘mentorability’ by defining mentee characteristics and expectations, compared to 37% which defined mentor characteristics and expectations. Her conclusion? That, on the whole, mentoring programs […]

Helping mentoring pairs stay connected

Helping mentoring pairs stay connected Across the many programs and thousands of mentors and mentees currently connecting via Art of Mentoring’s platform, we have seen two types of responses to mentoring since COVID-19 started. The first, and most productive, is when mentee and mentor acknowledge that the goal posts have shifted and agree on new […]

The Critical Art of Reflection

Reflection is a critical part of the process for mentoring pairs and for people who manage mentoring programs. A skilled mentor offers the mentee a quiet space in which to reflect on issues, on self, on interactions with others, and on systemic issues at play. As mentors become more experienced, they develop the ability to […]

Team Coaching Virtual Teams

Team coaching virtual teams Virtual teams have a number of differences compared with co-located teams. On the plus side, their geographical dispersion means that they can draw upon a wider and more diverse pool of talent. It is also easier to maintain 24-hour oversight of issues, if people are in multiple time zones. There is […]