Frequently Asked Questions

• What am I expected to do? Mentors are expected to provide their mentee with up to one hour of support and interaction per month. Most of this interaction will take face to face virtually, through email and other web-related tools (for example, instant messaging). The relationship should only involve the flow of general information and advice. Mentors should work with their mentee to determine what kind of support will be most useful—specific feedback related to identified leadership skills and competencies, general leadership advice, and personal encouragement.
• How long will the commitment be? We ask our mentors to make commitments of at least 12 months in order to ensure that the mentee is able to fully benefit from the relationship. If a mentor must leave the relationship early, we request at least one month's notice in order to search for a replacement mentor with similar background.
• What should I do if my mentoring relationship isn't going well?​ We encourage letting the mentee know about the situation and contacting a program administrator as soon as possible. We will provide our full support to resolve the situation in a positive and satisfactory manner.

• Due to current security configurations, IH Outlook calendars will not sync to Chronus.  If you try to sync the account, please do not follow the prompt to submit a request to BC Health. Close the window.
• You can choose to sync your Google, iCal or personal Outlook calendars. 
• A profile question has been added so that users may include their general availability.

Mentor DO's

1. Commit to at least one interaction/hour of support per month.
2. Set aside time for the mentoring process and honour all appointments.
3. Invite the mentee to meetings or activities, as appropriate. Schedule meetings with planned topics.
4. Be flexible in setting meeting times and places.
5. Arrange frequent contacts through telephone, email and face-to-face (virtual), as appropriate.
6. Strive to respond to emails from your mentee within two days of receipt.
7. Keep information that your mentee has shared with you confidential. If something concerning the mentee needs to be discussed with others, it should first be discussed within the mentoring relationship.
8. Establish open and honest communication and a forum for idea exchange.
9. Foster creativity and independence. Help build self-confidence and offer encouragement.
10. Provide honest and timely feedback to your mentee.
11. Provide opportunities for the mentee to talk about concerns and ask questions.
12. Above all, LISTEN.

Mentor DON'Ts

1. Try to give advice on everything.
2. Encourage mentee to be totally dependent upon you.
3. Provide your personal history, problems, animosities, successes, failures, etc., unless they are constructive contributions.
4. Be too busy when the mentee needs your guidance or your support. If you are unavailable, please give the mentee a heads up so that they know when they can reach you.
5. Criticize.