Mentoring is essential to rule a business smartly. Some tips and tricks may help you become a better business mentor. Some formal training may also be required if you wish to become the best mentor you can be. Every mentor has their traits, and that makes them different from others.
There are some essential characteristics that a mentor must have in their behaviour and corporate culture. An efficient mentor must have patience and listening skills. A good mentor observes the issues that their team members are facing and instructs them to work on the right path. The mentoring process is similar to the counselling process, as it includes sharing knowledge and leadership expertise.
The mentor and mentee relationships are incredibly significant and flexible. The mentee has to trust the mentor for their guidance and expertise, and on the other hand, the mentor has to trust the mentee’s performance and let them make mistakes.
Here are some key traits that could help you become a good mentor.
Communication is Key
For maintaining an effective mentor and mentee connection, the mentor must know that communication is the key point to maintain throughout the entire process. The mentor must be patient enough to observe as well as understand the issues of the mentee. The mentor must let the mentee make some decisions on their own by communicating with them the specific goals and needs of the company. If mistakes are made, the mentor should be understanding and willing to help correct the mistakes. Instructional design courses are available in Australia to help teach mentors how to communicate effectively.
Communicating vision to the mentee helps them work with a view. It makes them feel important and valuable. Sharing ideas, beliefs, opinions, feedback, and values between mentor and mentee simply isn’t possible without communication.
Learn to Delegate
The mentor must learn to delegate work to their subordinates. The delegation process is essential to build the bond of trust and loyalty between the mentor and their mentees. Delegation is to give some authority to the mentee. Delegating some powers to them increases the efficiency of work. Doing work with necessary authorities helps in completing the task with more motivation and concentration.
Moreover, it also teaches the mentor to share the burden of work and gives the mentor the satisfaction of doing their job efficiently.
Understanding and Observing 
Work with pressure can be a burden sometimes. A good mentor can make work relaxing. Finding new ways to do a task can be interesting and keep employees inspired. Making learning fun is always a decent way to go about it. The bond of mentor-mentee must be flexible and understanding regarding the issues of the mentee. The mentee must feel comfortable enough to tell his matters to the mentor, and on the other hand, the mentor must also be patient and sensitive towards the challenges that the mentee is facing.
Constructive Criticism
The mentor must be smart as well as witty as every mentee is different and has their own way of doing work. The mentor must motivate all the mentees from time to time, such as acknowledging the achievement of a goal on time, maintaining a critical project efficiently, or completing their work in time. Sometimes constructive criticism can be hard to achieve without putting someone down with negatives. Getting in some professional facilitation to help with this is recommended.
Some mentees do not get motivated by traditional ways of motivation. For such mentees, the mentor must use the technique of reverse encouragement or constructive criticism. The mentor must be switched on enough to get the same work out of the mentee in a specific time period, and at the same time, the mentee must not feel overloaded or stressed regarding work.
