Virtual mentoring is an asynchronous alternative to in-person mentoring. It offers many of the same benefits of in-person mentoring, but without the need for a dedicated mentor and mentee to meet in person on a regular basis. Virtual mentoring is not new, but it has evolved significantly over the past few years. New technology, increased broadband availability and a greater understanding of how virtual mentoring can benefit individuals and businesses have led to greater adoption of this type of mentoring.Virtual mentoring is not just for busy professionals who can’t spare time from their day job or who cannot afford to give up their personal time to mentor someone. It is a great option for people who are geographically separated, are uncomfortable mentoring in person, or for whom in-person mentoring is not possible due to health or other reasons. The challenges of virtual mentoring are similar to those of in-person mentoring – finding the right mentors and mentees, establishing trust and rapport, and finding ways to measure success.
When mentoring online, you need to find mentors and mentees who are comfortable with this type of mentoring and who feel they can contribute positively to the relationship. You also need to be sure that the mentors and mentees are compatible with each other. This is true both for virtual mentoring and in-person mentoring.Finding mentors who are a good fit for your mentoring program can be challenging. Some mentors are more experienced than others, and some have more formal training. Some mentors are also older than others, while others are younger. Some mentors have more experience with one type of mentoring program (such as one-on-one mentoring or group mentoring) than others. If you can, try to find mentors who have experience with virtual mentoring.
When you’re mentoring online, you can’t see your mentee’s body language or read their non-verbal cues. This is especially true if you’re mentoring across time zones or if your mentees are in another country. There are several ways you can help your mentees feel more comfortable and establish trust and rapport. You can begin by setting expectations about how often you will communicate with your mentees. You can also help your mentees feel more comfortable by making sure they feel they have control over what they share and how often they share it. You can do this by giving your mentees the ability to choose the medium and frequency of communication, as well as the topics they want to discuss.
When mentoring online, you may not have the same ways of measuring success that you would in an in-person mentoring program. This can be a challenge for mentors and mentoring programs. One of the ways you can still measure success in a virtual mentoring program is by gauging the progress of your mentees. What goals are they working toward? How are they progressing toward those goals? How can you help them move forward?Another challenge to measuring success in a virtual mentoring program is that mentors and mentors may not know what success means for their mentees. What does success look like for your mentees? Can you help them define success and measure it?
Virtual mentoring is a great option for people who are geographically separated, who cannot afford to give up their personal time to mentor someone, or who are uncomfortable mentoring in person. It is not the same as in-person mentoring, but it can still be very effective. The challenges of virtual mentoring are similar to those of in-person mentoring – finding the right mentors and mentees, establishing trust and rapport, and finding ways to measure success.