During social distancing, the most important thing is to keep connected to help us stay sane. The Femme Palette remote mentoring program facilitates the creation of important relationships whilst working from home, that will not only impact your career but also shape you as an individual. Keeping in touch matters now more than ever before and remote mentoring is one of the best ways to overcome many challenges remote work creates.
There are many benefits of remote mentoring, from the comfort of jumping on a call from wherever you are, to having someone who listens to you when you are feeling stuck in your career. Remote mentoring impacts both, the mentee and the mentor. It boosts self-esteem and confirms everyone has something to say. This can be useful particularly now when we don’t have our boss or colleagues to give us the sometimes-much-needed pat on the shoulder. In other words, remote mentoring is a great way to fight the imposter syndrome.
With remote mentoring, it is key to schedule regular meetings even after the novelty fades off. That is why the Femme Palette mentees receive a working document, which they can use for scheduling meetings, planning the agenda, and informing their mentor what they would like to discuss in their next session. Staying organized and learning to prioritize is essential especially now when we balance the demands of WOF with various household chores.
With the boom of conference calls, we have learned that digital conversations don’t have to be so formal and dull. Therefore, it might be a good idea to incorporate in your interactions also questions such as - How was your weekend? What are you making for lunch? Do you have a favorite TV show you are now watching? What was the highlight of your week so far?What has been the most unexpected aspect of working remotely? We are all longing for human interaction and again, remote mentoring is one of the best ways to satisfy this urge.
Working from home creates numerous challenges, from homeschooling and walking pets to sharing workstations and cooking meals. And we never know when the next bomb will drop, so it’s crucial to be flexible and respond swiftly to last-minute cancellations or reschedules. We are all people and nobody is perfect. And so, through remote mentoring, you will also learn how to be more kind and understanding.
If you want to try remote mentoring, sign up here, and read these tips for remote mentoring to help you set up effective processes with your mentee/mentor. Remote mentoring is a great way to boost your career, but most crucially, it is a means of staying connected and working on your professional growth even in times of uncertainty and worry. We are all in this together, and as a community, we will get through this. And together, we are stronger, bolder, and fiercer. So let’s support each other and be there for one another even if we are miles apart.
