Source: Strengthening Child And Youth Programs: A Look At Inter-Organizational Mentoring Strategies
After reviewing this research article, I was able to recognize that their focus is a developmental evaluation that looked at the relationships between mentors and mentees rather than the program outcomes of the mentees, in order to inform ongoing mentorship program development.
It definitely offers a different perspective because in a way it sort of calls out any mistakes we might have made as a research team, and what strategies we used that were possibly beneficial. It’d be helpful to utilize the information presented in this article because I believe it could help us better serve the mentees.
Through a thematic analysis, the researchers stated 5 key findings when it comes to strengthening relationships in youth programs:
- The importance of relationships: “Through this ongoing relationship-building and community strengthening process, trust can be established and strengthened, and mentorship evolves naturally” (Lachance et al., 2019).
- Understanding context: “The cultural and historical context of youth-serving organizations and their clients is complex, and issues such as exclusion and oppression need to be addressed” (Lachance et al., 2019).
- Mentoring not managing: “Mentors voiced how it was sometimes difficult to balance the needs of the mentee organizations between capacity building and completing specific deliverables, especially when mentees seemed to want an evaluation done for them” (Lachance et al., 2019).
- Adaptive and responsive work plans: “This iterative and emergent approach to mentorship needs to be supported by clear and consistent communication” (Lachance et al., 2019).
- Staying connected: “Mentoring organizations indicated that it would be ideal to have more site visits and increased in-person communication. However, in some locations face-to-face communication is hard due to budget limitations and expensive travel” (Lachance et al., 2019).
After assessing the information from the article and connecting it to my own experiences with my research team’s mentorship program, I was able to understand this:
- Yes, trust is an important piece when trying to get mentees to want to talk to you. It make everything else just a bit easier to do.
- Rolling with the punches is crucial when being effective mentors. Sometimes we have no idea what to expect on the day of, but we try keeping an open-mind and communicating what the objectives are for the day.
- I can totally understand how having more site visits would be beneficial, but sometimes a mentor themself, especially one who’s also a student, can get busy and doesn’t always have the funds available to constantly drive to and from the site.
As I continue being a mentor, one takeaway I’ll keep in mind will be the collaborative relationship piece. Since we as a research team mentor at a Boy’s and Girl’s Club, it might be beneficial to work more with their team at the site, or possibly consider creating a relationship on a more national level. Definitely something to consider.
Lachance, L., Watson, C., Blais, D., Ungar, M., Healey, G., Salaffie, M., Sundar, P., Kelly, L., & Lagace, M. C. (2019). Strengthening child and youth programs: A look at inter-organizational mentoring strategies. Evaluation and Program Planning, 76, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2019.101679