CHAPTER 4 What Good Is a PM Mentor?

A mentor is a trusted counselor whose primary objective is to help a mentee (one who is being mentored) be more effective in a specific area of interest—to help develop the mentee’s potential.

There is no better way to learn the application of a profession—a craft—than with a mentor by your side when needed. There is no better way! Not classes, workshops, articles, or books; even on-the-job training is not as effective. Many of us have learned and practiced bad habits for years, not realizing that there are better practices out there. A mentor can help you discover your possibilities.

“We know what we are, but not what we may be.”

—William Shakespeare, English dramatist and poet

The best mentors of project managers are seasoned project managers who often have learned the hard way—by making mistakes and learning and growing from those painful experiences as well as from their successes. Mentors are expected to know the best practices available and, at least occasionally, to add to their craft by creating some best practices of their own. Mentors often give you a different perspective, fresh eyes, new ideas; they enable you to see the forest, not just the knots in the trees.

If possible, seek out mentors who can be accessible when you need them most. For example, when performing basic tasks of planning, tracking, and problem management, a mentor can be of great help in ensuring that the tasks get off to a good start. But what about when there is a crisis? A crisis can evoke an urgent need to confer with a trusted third party.

If you question the benefit of having a readily accessible mentor, then picture this. For those of you with years of project management experience, think back to how much a project management mentor—the right mentor under the right circumstances—would have helped you accelerate your learning of both hard and soft project management skills, avoid some hefty mistakes, and, as a side benefit, move your career ahead sooner. For those of you with limited project management experience, how often have you wished you could have access to someone with the right answers the first time?

The project manager can have a profound impact on the outcome of a project. Projects can consume enormous resources and funds from an organization or company, often with price tags of thousands, millions, and sometimes more. Moreover, the revenue or operations impact of these projects can be many times that amount. With project managers being in such critical positions within organizations and companies, doesn’t it make good business sense for organizations to provide them with appropriate mentoring help? Mentors help nurture company investments by helping set up the project managers—and their projects—for success.

Three Key Areas of Mentorship

Three key areas (see Figure 4-1) that both the mentor and mentee focus on in helping develop the mentee’s potential are:

Mentorship relationship

Ongoing performance

Goal development.

Mentorship Relationship

The mentee and the mentor must know that they share a penalty-free relationship. The atmosphere they share should be relaxed and conducive to open and candid discussions. There are no dumb questions and all discussions remain confidential. This framework of trust allows the full potential of the mentorship to be reached. The goal is to find a mentor where the chemistry between the two parties enhances the relationship.

The confidential discussions between mentor and mentee should not find their way into a performance evaluation. For this reason, the best mentor typically is someone who is not the mentee’s resource manager or anywhere in the mentee’s direct chain of management.

Ongoing Performance

One of the mentor’s objectives is to help the mentee improve his or her ongoing performance. The goal is to help the mentee be a more effective leader in day-to-day activities—to focus on achieving results. “Just-in-time” performance feedback is given to the mentee in the form of praise for noteworthy achievements and actions; immediate feedback is also offered for areas of improvement. The ongoing fine-tuning is, by far, the best method for helping a mentee develop particular skills.

Goal Development

The mentor works with the mentee in creating a “mentorship development plan” (MDP). This plan maps out the mentee’s journey in the pursuit of the stated career goals. For example, the plan needs to profile (1) where the mentee is now in terms of knowledge, skills, and duties, (2) where the mentee aspires to be, and (3) what actions can close the gap.

More specifically, the plan needs to identify the mentee’s current relevant skills and the level of proficiency of each skill. The plan should also identify the level of proficiency that must be reached with each skill. The steps for reaching the proficiency must then be identified. For example, classes, workshops, articles/books, conferences, and other learning tools can be identified. The sequence of specific jobs with selected levels of complexity also can be listed. Timeframes are targeted to help the mentee pace progress toward the goals.

As the mentee’s leadership skills are being developed, some of the activities for the mentee to seek out can include developing and presenting track sessions and workshops within the organization or at conferences, writing articles for relevant publications or for use in-house, and creating and documenting improved processes for use on projects.

The Initiative Is in Your Court

If you do not already have a mentor, I urge you to seriously consider the benefits to both your ongoing performance and your career. The time and cost invested in acquiring a mentor are small compared to the benefits that can be gained. Don’t wait for a mentorship program to come to your organization. Take the initiative to seek mentorship in the areas that will affect your projects and your career most significantly.

A mentor can help you become a far better project manager in far less time than otherwise is likely. A mentor helps you grow day to day, learn from your past, and plan for your future. Having a mentor doesn’t mean that you will not make mistakes, but it does mean that you are likely to make fewer and less costly mistakes. Mentorship benefits everyone: beginning with the project manager, but including important stakeholders, project members, the client, and the company.

Let’s Talk: Questions & Answers

Q4.1　　　　You focus on mentors for project managers. Are mentors a good thing for any project member or employee?

A4.1　　　　Yes. Any employee can benefit from a mentor. The most progressive organizations have various levels of mentorship programs for their employees.

Q4.2　　　　Is it okay for a project manager to have more than one mentor?

A4.2　　　　Yes. A project manager can be mentored in more than one skill area and can have a mentor for each. For example, a project manager could have a mentor related to (1) the “hard” skill areas of planning, tracking, and risk management, (2) the “soft” skill areas of negotiating, communicating, and leadership, and (3) surviving and thriving in the political quagmires of an organization. Moreover, a project manager could have more than one mentor in the same general area as a check-and-balance. For example, when you are about to make a major decision related to your job or career, consulting with more than one mentor can be beneficial.

Q4.3　　　　Why do you say that it is best to seek out a mentor who is not your boss or in your management chain?

A4.3　　　　The mentorship works best when there is total trust in the relationship. There will be times when it is helpful to the mentorship experience to “bare all”—to expose your weaknesses and reveal your inner thoughts. If those private experiences were reflected in your performance evaluation, then it would totally shut down the trust relationship and the mentoring process would greatly suffer.
   Most performance evaluations involve elements of subjectivity and the benefit of the doubt typically is in favor of the employee. However, if your boss is also your mentor, he or she may use the knowledge gained in confidential meetings to justify a lower evaluation rating, or worse, to negatively affect your future job assignments, salary, and awards. If your mentor is outside of your management chain, then the knowledge gained by your mentor will have no negative bearing on your assessments.

Q4.4　　　　How should I go about finding a mentor?

A4.4　　　　You first must decide in which specialty area(s) you would benefit from a mentor’s assistance. Look for a person in your company to whom you have fairly easy access.
    People outside your company may also be candidates. They could be an academic from a local learning institution, a qualified friend, or even a family member. A local project management group such as a PMI(r) chapter can be an excellent place to network and potentially find a willing mentor. Some PMI(r) chapters are actively developing mentorship programs. (See www.pmi.org to locate a chapter near you.) If you choose a mentor outside of your company, you may need to have him or her sign a nondisclosure agreement to protect information that your company considers proprietary.
    Perhaps the best place to begin the search is through your resource manager. Your resource manager likely has people connections beyond yours and will generally be willing to work with you in finding a qualified mentor.

Q4.5　　　　Is it okay for me to approach a person and ask them if they are willing to be my mentor?

A4.5　　　　This approach may be fine; however, be prepared to articulate to the potential mentor what it means to be your mentor in terms of duties and time. Moreover, because people who are sought after as mentors are typically among the busiest people in an organization, be prepared if the person declines the request.
     Be sensitive about keeping your manager in the loop. For example, your resource manager may want to know of the mentorship if he or she sees you spending otherwise unexplained time with the mentor.

Q4.6　　　　What if I choose a mentor who is not in my company and is not easily accessible? Can this work?

A4.6　　　　Yes, but with stipulations. For example, at any given time, I mentor about a dozen people across almost as many companies. Although I have many of the skills to make a good mentor, my inability to be immediately available can be a handicap. For example, if a mentee has a crisis and needs to contact me immediately, I may be traveling, in the middle of conducting a workshop, or consulting. This means that the mentee may have to wait until the evening for me to return the call. However, most times when a mentor seeks advice, it is not during a crisis that must be handled within minutes or hours.

Q4.7　　　　How much time is required of a mentor?

A4.7　　　　The answer depends on many factors, such as the experience level of the mentee and the specialty area of mentorship. For example, if a project manager is relatively new to project management and requests direction in creating a project plan, this could take days of mentoring. However, if a mentee is looking for advice on dealing with a difficult project member or client, perhaps an hour or less of counseling would do. I often work with mentees that I haven’t heard from in several months, yet their next call may require several hours of assistance spread over a week or two.

Q4.8　　　　As a mentor, what is something that surprises you about working with mentees?

A4.8　　　　A big surprise to me is that in perhaps as many as 80 percent of the calls I receive for mentoring, the mentees have the “right” answer for the situation. The major value I add is often nothing more than validating that the mentee is on an effective path. Often, just the reassurance of an idea or action can make all the difference in boosting the confidence of a mentee and encouraging him or her to follow through.

Q4.9　　　　Should I look for a mentor who has made many mistakes and learned from them, or is it better to have a mentor who has made very few, if any, noteworthy mistakes?

A4.9　　　　This is a subject for debate. I fall in the camp that recognizes value from practitioners who have suffered through failures, but demonstrated their resilience to learn and grow from them. There’s perhaps no better teacher than firsthand experience with hardships. I should add, however, that the best mentors need to have some successes behind them to help validate their approaches.

Q4.10　　　　Is a formal mentorship development plan (MDP) required for a mentee?

A4.10　　　　Not necessarily. People being mentored are at different stages of need and the formality of a plan can vary. However, in most cases, both the mentee and the mentor can benefit from understanding and discussing the information that typically would appear in an MDP. When goals are formalized, the mentee is more likely to attain those goals and measurements can be identified to help quantify the progress being made.

Q4.11　　　　Who owns the MDP, the mentee or the mentor?

A4.11　　　　The mentee owns the plan and is responsible for its creation, contents, and timely implementation. The mentor assists in validating the contents and reasonableness of the plan.

Q4.12　　　　Is there a tool that you have found to be especially helpful while mentoring?

A4.12　　　　Day shadowing has proven to be a highly effective tool when mentoring leader types such as project managers. The mentor shadows (accompanies) the mentee throughout a day. The mentor observes, firsthand, the effectiveness of the mentee in participating in meetings, conducting meetings, resolving conflicts between parties, facilitating or performing escalations, and in a myriad of other settings. At the end of the day, but preferably at the end of each event, the mentor discusses the mentee’s style and effectiveness. This approach offers the mentee immediate feedback in the actual work environment rather than getting bogged down by theory and what-ifs.

Q4.13　　　　I would like a mentor, but feel uncomfortable exposing my mistakes—my vulnerability. Any advice?

A4.13　　　　Get over it, if you want to be all you can be. Look at the people who have achieved the most around you, even those in front of the public in sports, business, science, politics, TV, and movies. They are people who are vulnerable to criticism from all those around them. However, mature professionals look beyond their egos and don’t focus on what others think about them. Instead they focus on growth, improvement, and mastery of their specialty. They seek to open “exterior” doors so that they might better understand what’s behind their “interior” doors—to better understand themselves and how to break out of self-imposed perceptions.
     Here again, you can see why the mentor you choose must protect your confidentiality and have your best interest in mind. Go open that door! You will grow from the experience.

Q4.14　　　　Should I always take my mentor’s advice?

A4.14　　　　An effective mentor can easily expand your thinking and options, and can significantly help you be more successful. So you want to listen thoughtfully to his or her words of experience and wisdom, and engage in an appropriate dialogue. After all, that’s why you are working with a mentor. However, there is no substitute for you thinking for yourself. You are responsible for your domain of responsibility along with the decisions that affect its success. You are the final arbiter.