June 2011

Are you playing in your mentoring partnerships?

Have you noticed how laughter and optimism can make a meeting, a partnership, or a learning endeavor more enjoyable? Don’t forget to take those few moments to check your attitude, throw on that smile, and sincerely say hello.

Developmental benefits of play include…

Cognitive development:

• creativity
• abstract thinking
• imagination
• problem-solving
• social cognition, empathy, perspective-taking
• mastering new concepts

Affective development:

• self-confidence
• self-esteem
• anxiety and tension reduction
• enjoyment, fun, love of life
• self-expression

Social development:

• cooperation
• conflict resolution
• leadership skill development (control of impulses and behavior)

Educational benefits include…

• providing a meaningful context to learn concepts and skills;
• making learning fun and enjoyable;
• encouraging experimentation and risk taking;
• providing opportunities for collaborative learning;
• allowing for the practice of skills.

How can you play in your mentoring partnerships? Play can mean many things to many different people. Some would define play as rock climbing or adventure seeking whereas others would list reading or walking as play activities. Really, play is an attitude of lighthearted presence that we can choose to bring to our daily activities. Bring play to your mentoring partnerships through laughter, attitude, and optimism. Don’t forget to play!

Excerpts taken from “Play” by Stuart Brown

Drive Your Partnership!

The best way to help keep a mentoring partnership on track to goal accomplishment is with a few organization and facilitation techniques. Here are a few suggestions to ensure you are making the most of your partnerships:

• Set up recurring meetings in Microsoft Outlook.
• Keep a journal – whether you are the learner or the advisor, it is helpful to keep a few notes on progress and development (see the attached example Monthly Journal.doc).
• Pre-meeting planning exercises – 24 hours before your next partnership meeting, answer a few questions on any progression orchanges since your last meeting (see the attached example Prep.doc).
• Track accomplishments and goal development (see the attached example OutcomeTracker.doc)

Upcoming Events

As with any other learning opportunity or event at NIH, please be sure to negotiate your time and workload in accordance with your supervisor’s needs before attending.

Reminders

• Peruse the LMS for free online learning opportunities!


• For mentors: don’t forget to login to your account to accept or decline mentoring requests.


• For mentees: don’t forget to login to your account to check items off of your checklist.


• For new relationships: get started on your Individual Development Plan.
  Tell a colleague about the mentoring program!

Mentoring Quote

Resources

As always, we love to hear from you. Please feel free to email NIHHHSMentoringProg@
od.nih.gov if you have any comments or recommendations.

For more information visit http://trainingcenter.nih.gov/hhs_mentoring.html or 301-496-6211.