Hello. In this article, I want to share one interesting statistic that I managed to collect over two years. We Surveyed 100 Analysts.
What kind of statistics and where did I get them from? The thing is, I have a hobby of sorts: once every three months I conduct a mentoring training for the employees of our systems analysis department. Over the course of two years, I have conducted nine such trainings, which were attended by a total of about a hundred systems analysts and data analysts.
The training is attended by guys with a wide range of experience. Some are just preparing to become mentors in their team, while others, already having some experience, come to exchange expertise with colleagues. The format of the event is more reminiscent of discussions, within the framework of which the best options for getting out of various situations in which the mentor may find himself are determined.
Just in case, I will outline who a mentor is in our understanding. A mentor is an experienced team member who is assigned to a new employee (mentee) to carry out onboarding. Here, everything is about the same for us as in any modern IT companies.
Have:
Let's get back to the training and finally move on to the survey itself. After the main part of the event, I ask the guys to list the qualities that, in their opinion, an ideal mentor should have.
The point is that the participants, having analyzed the information received, draw their own conclusions about what is important in the work of a mentor. There are no answer options, you can name an unlimited number of qualities. Although I promise the guys that everything we say at the training stays there and is not taken outside, I still decided to publish the results of this survey in an impersonal form. I think that they themselves will be interested to see what has ultimately happened over two years, and there is certainly nothing to be ashamed of here.
So, here are the top 10 qualities that the guys named:
The following points scored less than 30%, I will list them briefly:
This is the top 10 qualities of an ideal mentor according to beginners and experienced mentors of the SM Lab systems analysis department, who themselves have previously been in the role of mentees.
All the best!
Source
What kind of statistics and where did I get them from? The thing is, I have a hobby of sorts: once every three months I conduct a mentoring training for the employees of our systems analysis department. Over the course of two years, I have conducted nine such trainings, which were attended by a total of about a hundred systems analysts and data analysts.
The training is attended by guys with a wide range of experience. Some are just preparing to become mentors in their team, while others, already having some experience, come to exchange expertise with colleagues. The format of the event is more reminiscent of discussions, within the framework of which the best options for getting out of various situations in which the mentor may find himself are determined.
Just in case, I will outline who a mentor is in our understanding. A mentor is an experienced team member who is assigned to a new employee (mentee) to carry out onboarding. Here, everything is about the same for us as in any modern IT companies.
Have:
- an onboarding plan that is tailored to the individual mentee;
- quick start page, which contains all the important links for the product;
- a mentor who is responsible for the mentee's immersion;
- a manager who controls the entire process.
Let's get back to the training and finally move on to the survey itself. After the main part of the event, I ask the guys to list the qualities that, in their opinion, an ideal mentor should have.
The point is that the participants, having analyzed the information received, draw their own conclusions about what is important in the work of a mentor. There are no answer options, you can name an unlimited number of qualities. Although I promise the guys that everything we say at the training stays there and is not taken outside, I still decided to publish the results of this survey in an impersonal form. I think that they themselves will be interested to see what has ultimately happened over two years, and there is certainly nothing to be ashamed of here.
So, here are the top 10 qualities that the guys named:
#1 Empathy (91%)
It may surprise some that empathy took first place. But the trick is that no matter how incredible an expert you are in your field, if you can’t establish contact with your mentee, can’t sense when he needs your support and when he should cope on his own, onboarding risks becoming problematic.#2 Patience (83%)
The point slightly echoes the first one. All about the same contact with the cops. If you are not prepared to answer a lot of questions calmly and methodically, there is a risk of losing this contact and a trusting environment. And if the person who needs to understand everything stops asking questions, then the situation will begin to become a dead end.#3 Professionalism/expertise in your field (78%)
It's simple here. If you teach people something, it's advisable to be pretty good at it yourself.#4 Self-criticism/ability to self-analyze (63%)
What we're talking about here is that in case of problems during the onboarding process, you should think about whether you're doing everything right yourself. And thanks to this, you can adjust the methods of presenting information and tasks for the mentee.#5 Decisiveness/courage (49%)
The same applies to situations with problems during the onboarding process. If you understand that onboarding is not going as expected by the positive scenario, you need to have a certain amount of courage to tell the manager about it. Concealing problems, as a rule, only worsens the situation over time.#6 Responsibility (40%)
When you are engaged in mentee immersion, you need to understand that you have a certain amount of responsibility. A responsible approach to the implementation of your tasks is an important trait for any employee. Mentoring is no exception.#7 Communication skills (34%)
This point is debatable. Not all IT specialists have developed communication skills, but this does not mean that they cannot be good mentors. Rather, it is about the fact that with such skills it will be easier to establish contact with the mentee. And let's not forget that analysts were surveyed after all.The following points scored less than 30%, I will list them briefly:
- #8 Honesty (25%)
- #9 Impartiality (17%)
- #10 Friendliness (12%).
This is the top 10 qualities of an ideal mentor according to beginners and experienced mentors of the SM Lab systems analysis department, who themselves have previously been in the role of mentees.
All the best!
Source
