Mentoring Program Lessons From An Insala Program Manager

Hi, I’m Collin. 

For years I have been building and running organizational mentoring programs. From large companies to small non-profits. Every mentoring program is unique because your organization is unique. 

But each program shares key characteristics: 

• Mentors and Mentees 
• Goals 
• Mentoring resources 

Great programs do not happen by accident. They take careful planning and execution between corporate administrators in concert with the Insala Customer Success Team. This execution starts well before the launch of your program. 

More and more at Insala, I see organizations run yearly mentoring programs. At the beginning of the year it begins and come winter it will close. Yearly mentoring programs give clear deadlines for the mentor and mentee. 

Now lets talk about program execution. 

Before I launch any new program, I start with the program goals. I’m not talking about the goals of the mentor and the mentee, I am talking about the Core Programs Goals. 

Ask and answer these questions: 

• What is the goal of the organization? 
• What is the goal of the mentoring program? 

• How does the goal of the mentoring program support goal of organization. 

• What are the key metrics we are going to track which tie into the mentoring program? 

• Is your program on track? What changes need to be made? 

When you answer these questions make sure you are detailed and clear. Insala should understand these goals. And if you plug in new program administrators they should be able understand. 

Goal Example: 

• What is the goal of this organization? 

• Increase diversity of organizational leaders by 25% 

• What is the goal of this mentoring program? 

• For the Diversity and Inclusion program in 2024, create 250 diverse mentor/mentee matches across the organization. Have 250 matches complete the program roadmap. 

With the Insala mentoring software there is no limit to the number of mentoring programs that can be run at one time. You may have multiple programs like a diversity program, reverse mentoring program and executive mentoring program all running at the same time. 

By answering before your program is open you can regularly review the progress of your program with your team and with the Insala Customer Success Team. 

The Core Programs Goals is document recorded in the Program Content Library that can be accessed at any time. 

The answers to these questions will also inform all the different functional elements of your program like mentoring application and mentoring partnership goals. 

Mentoring participants will also be able to work on developing skills that advance their career but also match the organization's goal. The more goals that a mentee can complete the more information mentors will have to find the organization's next leaders. 

From my years of experience, the more work that is completed before a program is ever started the better the program results will be. This is just the beginning, if you would like to work with me on your mentoring program get in touch with Insala. 

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