Partner Article

DEAL Group ‘Get Mentoring’ workshops get the ‘thumbs-up’

The ‘Get Mentoring’ initiative aims to train those who work with, in and for small businesses to become business mentors. DEAL Group are running free introductory workshops across the region which will introduce you to a range of mentoring skills and give you the tools to become an effective mentor.

We asked recent participant, Tony Sacco, Director of Intrain Solutions what he thought of the training workshop.

How did the course develop your mentoring skills?
It provided an opportunity to focus on the attributes that are important to become an effective mentor. It was also helpful it setting out some of the ’boundaries’ within which mentors should operate.

How easy/difficult was the course to complete?
It was a very relaxed half-day session with a short multiple choice test to ensure that we’d been listening and had a grasp of the key issues. Nothing too taxing – and a good opportunity to meet a few like-minded people.

Do you feel more equipped to mentor now?
Yes, the session brought together the strands really well and helped reassure me that I was on the right track.

What are your thoughts on the get mentoring scheme? It is useful to have an organised national scheme – because as a mentor it makes you feel that you are part of something that is significant and well recognised. From the mentee’s perspective it has to be a positive development in providing a clear route to find someone who you feel can support and challenge your thinking.

Other participants agreed that taking part in the training had been a really worthwhile and useful experience:-

Pat Richardson of RichardsonHowarth LLP said,

“I have been mentoring for many years in different capacities but I found the workshop an extremely useful refresher. It was great having the opportunity to hear other people’s views and experiences of what works and what doesn’t, especially when mentoring fledgling start up and small businesses“.

Carol Groombridge who runs her own consultancy business, Carol Groombridge Consulting agreed and said,

“Attending the workshop was a really worthwhile and enjoyable experience. Even as a seasoned business mentor and coach the workshop helped me to re-focus on the key skills and tools for mentoring. Taking part and learning more about the ’Get Mentoring’ initiative has certainly given me an appetite to become further involved and help small businesses achieve success“.

The ‘Get Mentoring’ workshops involve working with 10 to 20 other business people for 3 to 4 hours on the basic tools and techniques of enterprise mentoring. It will explore skills such as listening, questioning, action planning & goal setting, supportive challenge, feedback, building rapport and critical reflection. To access a range of more sophisticated tools and techniques to become increasingly effective, DEAL offer a progression route to national qualifications (see http://www.deal-group.com/services/learning-training-and-development). The initial workshop is free and gives you a year’s free membership of the IoEE, plus the skills to deliver mentoring to any type of micro, small and medium sized business

The workshops are running from January through to end of March. Places are limited to 20 per workshop and are filling fast. Go to http://get-mentoring.eventbrite.co.uk/?ebtv=C to book your free place or visit http://www.deal-group.com/events/get-mentoring-training.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Karen Langdon .