Whether or not you are formally recognized as a mentor in your organization, you may be a “tactical” mentor. Think of a tactical mentor as one who pro-actively engages with a mentee for a situation-specific need.
Here’s an example of tactical mentoring in a situation that is fairly common in the workplace in many industries: A mentee is about to deliver her first project review presentation to a group of colleagues. The group includes members of the management team with oversight responsibility for the overall program that includes this specific project. It’s no exaggeration to say that this presentation could be “make or break”, not only for the presenter, but for her immediate supervisor and even for the project itself.
In this situation, someone who is experienced in successfully preparing and delivering such project review presentations could offer some critical tactical mentoring. Here are the issues a tactical mentor could help the mentee address:
- How much time do I have for my oral presentation?
- How long should the written presentation be?
- What format do I use for the written presentation? For any handouts accompanying the oral presentation? For an online presentation?
- What issues are most important to management regarding my project?
- Should I present our findings upfront? Before we discuss how we arrived at them?
- How do I handle uncertainties about our project outcomes so far?
- Where and how should I address remaining project milestones, schedule, and budget?
For a seasoned team member, experienced in preparing and delivering project review presentations such as this, the answers are usually obvious. For a new team member, however, the answers are usually not at all obvious, and advance attention to all of these issues is essential for a successful presentation, well worth the preparation and mentoring time and effort involved.
The lessons for new mentees and project managers:
- Keep your eyes open for those in your company who could serve as tactical mentors in situations that could be “make or break” for your workplace career
- Enlist the help of a tactical mentor early and often when such situations arise
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