When to Use Mentoring Software for Your Mentoring Program 

Whether you have an existing mentoring program or you are implementing a virtual mentoring program for your remote workforce, considering a virtual platform to help mentors and mentees connect is ideal.  

Today, many work environments have shifted to virtual and traditional mentoring has become challenging. By providing mentoring software tools for your mentors and mentees, you grant them the ability to connect with the best potential matches. Additionally, by utilizing these tools, mentor-mentee matches can increase the consistency of their meetings and communications, making the most out of their mentoring relationships.  

Mentoring for any type of organization brings many benefits to everyone. The problem is when your mentoring program gets to a certain size, it can be a negative experience. This article will guide you toward when to take the next step to invest in mentoring software and what is should include for your program to be successful.  

If you are just beginning to think about launching a mentoring program, then read our blog on How To Start a Mentoring Program for more information. 

What are the signs it’s time to start researching a mentoring software provider? 

You may be experiencing some of these scenarios 

1. If you are a mentoring program administrator and you are spending hours trying to match everyone. 

2. If your mentoring program has shifted virtually. Less face time with mentoring matches can lead to disconnect.  

3. Taking too much time to get feedback on each relationship.  

4. You have complaints from mentors and mentees about the experience. 

All the above scenarios tend to happen when the mentoring program has grown to be a certain size that it is no longer manageable by one person. We recommend a program size of at least 60 candidates (30 mentors & 30 mentees) to receive the ROI of your mentoring software. 

Choosing a Mentoring Software Provider 

Ok, so you are ready to invest in software. The goal with mentoring software is to make the experience easy for everyone and for you to spend less time on administration.  

So, what features should it include to achieve this? 

• Data Security – With GDPR, data security has never been so important. All data needs to be secure, including personally identifiable information (PII). 
• Mentor Matching - Matching mentees with mentors, if done manually, can result higher chance of bad matches. Select a provider that has a matching algorithm based on the mentee’s development needs and the expertise of your mentors.   
• Seamless login with SSO – This makes the login experience easy for participants.  
• Automated Communication – Communication is key. Your software provider should have tools that allow you to continuously communicate and easily share content with your participants.  
• Training content - Provide training, not everyone knows how to be a mentor/mentee. Engaging content will help your mentors and mentees know what to do in a mentoring relationship. 
• Feedback Surveys - Getting feedback from mentors and mentees will not only allow you to continue to improve the program but measure the success. Having built in custom surveys sent out automatically will make sure you have continuous feedback coming in. 
• Reporting - Your software provider needs to be able to prove software effectiveness by having a reporting tool capable of providing date to drive improvement. Capabilities should include: Monitor who has been matched, what emails are being opened, what meetings are being scheduled, and who has been active with chatting with their mentoring matches.  

All of these features are available with Insala’s mentoring software. We provide a built-in matching algorithm that will always guarantee the best possible match. Our communication automation tool does not just help you streamline your messages; it also allows to see who is opening them. Engagement data from communications, mentor mentee meetings, chats, and more can be found on the platform’s robust reporting dashboard. Each training session is hand-crafted to discover how our software solutions can be implemented to maximize the success of your development program. Learn more about these features and others on our mentoring product page. 

For more information on Insala’s mentoring software, schedule a demo with our mentoring experts to send you in the right direction.