Training Mentors: Connecting and Communicating

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“Listening” is a mentor’s most valuable skill, and it can be practiced and learned.

The key to creating effective mentoring relationships lies in the development of trust. That requires time and patience by the mentor.

A central task for trainers is to plan approaches that keep all participants actively involved in learning the workshop content.

Participants will prepare to deliver a training session, called “Building Trust,” to their program’s new mentors. By the end of the workshop, participants should have: explored the importance of their mentors’ having strong communication skills; planned, facilitated, and/or participated in an activity that identifies qualities of “active listening”; planned, facilitated, and/or participated in an activity that identifies “good practices” that help mentors develop a successful relationship with their mentee; and participated in role-plays and understood their usefulness in helping mentors practice skills.