What is Group Mentoring?
It is an association of individuals whose purpose is to promote the professional development of its members with the assistance of a Mentoring Group Leader. This group-oriented experience provides numerous kinds of mentoring assistance including information sharing, advice, social support, coaching, counseling and empowering individuals to greater competency.
Differences Between 1-on-1 and Group Mentoring:
Group Mentoring is a system with its own rules and guidelines that make it unique to all other groups as well.
1-on-1 Mentoring
- Focused on individual development
- Most personal
- Overall development focus
- Confidential and safe
- Bi-directional
- Expertise from mentor to mentoree
- Senior mentoring
- Less demand on time
- Scheduling easier
- Personal dynamics
- Limited number of mentorees
- No competition in relationship
- Networking limited
- Individual projects
Group Mentoring
- Focused on multiple development
- Less personal
- More coachable/topical
- Confidential but with limitations
- Multi-directional
- Expertise from multiple directions
- Peer and senior mentoring combined
- Less demand on time More time demands
- Scheduling a challenge
- Group dynamics
- Larger number of mentorees possible
- Competition a factor in groups
- Easier to network
- Group projects
Advantages to Group Mentoring:
- Support comes not only from the Mentoring Group Leader (MGL) but from peers within the group
- Provides for greater exposure to multiple levels of expertise and knowledge as each participant brings their own competencies to the group that can be shared
- Diversity within the group brings a diversity of perspective to issues as well as to a greater understanding and awareness of diversity in general as it relates to ethnicity, sex, etc.
- Provides for a greater number of individuals to benefit from mentoring as opposed to the limitations of a 1-on-1 mentoring program
- Group projects linked to group mentoring enhance the learning of participants and develop an understanding of how teams operate.
- Requires less commitment of resources than formal 1-on-1 mentoring programs
Disadvantages to Group Mentoring:
- Each member has different needs that must be balanced against the overall group needs
- Does not offer the “personal” relationship that is the hallmark of a 1-on-1 mentoring relationship
- Scheduling a large number of individuals to meet regularly can be a challenge
- The element of confidentiality and safety may not be achieved to the level possible in a 1-on-1 relationship thus limiting the extent a member takes risks and learns
- Competition within a group can disrupt the success of a mentoring group
- Mentors need to understand and be comfortable with group dynamics and processes