What is the best way to communicate with a project management mentor?

Most importantly having your project goals clear and communicated clearly to your mentor is vital. You need to be polite and respectful. Sometime mentor may ask you to focus on completely different agenda that you may have not familiar with. Open mind set is also important.

🚀 Blast off to mentorship success! I'd stress the importance of setting clear goals and respecting your mentor's expertise. Remember, as John C. Maxwell says in "Leadership Gold," "People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision." Engage actively by asking questions, sharing challenges and successes, and, most importantly, applying what you learn. Regular check-ins and expressing gratitude are crucial for a fruitful mentorship journey. Let's navigate the project management universe with the wisdom of our mentors! 🌟🧭

In my professional journey, I have found that expressing and communicating well-defined goals with your mentor, while maintaining a consistent commitment to those goals, signals to your mentor your dedication to your personal and professional growth. This proactive approach encourages your mentor to put in the extra effort in your development. Remember, your mentor can share valuable insights, but the depth of learning is often determined by your engagement. As a mentee, it is crucial to actively seek and provide constructive feedback to foster continuous improvement and ensure a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship.

Its important to respect the mentor's time and expertise. Its also important to be curious enough to ask questions. Most mentors will only pour out as much as you are willing to draw out of them.

Effectively communicate with your project management mentor by establishing clear communication channels, setting specific objectives, and respecting their time. Be well-prepared with a clear agenda, actively listen, express gratitude, and seek feedback. Provide regular updates, openly discuss challenges, and adapt to your mentor's communication style. Follow up on advice implementation to demonstrate your commitment to growth. In summary, a focused and respectful approach enhances the mentorship experience.

In my mentorship, I'm acutely aware that my mentor is generously offering their time and expertise. Respecting their availability and boundaries is paramount. I ensure communication is regular yet mindful of their schedule, adapting to their preferred channels like email or video calls. Flexibility is key; I accommodate their timing and approach. If a rescheduling is necessary, I inform them promptly and apologize for any inconvenience, recognizing the value of their commitment to my professional growth. This respect and adaptability foster a positive, productive mentorship relationship.

Maintaining a respectful and adaptable attitude toward your mentor is absolutely essential, not only in your mentorship journey but in any professional setting. Your mentor is generously dedicating time from their busy schedule, and it's important to ensure that your engagement doesn't become burdensome or lead to burnout. Demonstrating flexibility involves embracing empathy and recognizing your mentor's commitment to guiding you in shaping your professional path.

Project manager mentees should approach their mentorship with mindfulness and respect, recognizing that mentors are volunteering their time without financial compensation. To maximize this resource, mentees should be well-prepared for mentoring sessions, having specific questions or topics in mind to make the most of the time together. Active listening is crucial; it demonstrates appreciation for the mentor's insights and fosters a constructive dialogue. Additionally, respecting the mentor's expertise and experience by implementing their guidance and providing feedback on the outcomes creates a mutually beneficial relationship. Regular expressions of gratitude for the mentor's time and wisdom further reinforce the mentee's appreciation.

Treat others as you wish to be treated. Having a mentor is invaluable, akin to finding gold. In my current mentorship, I am deeply grateful that my mentor invests time in me and significantly contributes to my knowledge, creative thinking, and overall progress. The least one can do is respect their time, adhere to schedules, and if unable to do so, communicate clearly about any adjustments needed.

Having worked under great leaders and managers with no leadership skill, I have been able to see some key differences in what encourages growth. Exceptional leaders praise employees at all skill levels at all times, they show respect for their challenges and personal issues that arise, and they encourage them to make mistakes. Employees who feel respected by their leaders can be more receptive to feedback about when they need to grow in some area. Those are under a constant barrage of criticism will likely miss any relevant feedback because it is just a drop in the bucket.

One of the most common confusion is between coaching and mentoring: a coach will ask you questions while a mentor will give you insight. If you want to get the best out of a mentoring relationship, you need to sharpen your questioning attitude and be extremely proactive in what you're asking: questions, clarifications, examples, comparisons, etc. A good mentor will be very keen to have a mentee with a healthy questioning attitude!

Gap between Representation & understanding creates confusion which delays the delivery & ultimately project fails. Along with Active listening exact listening which is being delivered is most important else delay analysis & risk mitigation has to be factored on later stage

Mentoring is a two-way street, requiring not only successful mentors willing to share (which there are plenty of), but also receptive mentees (which there are less of). The mentee should not only listen, but also put ideas into practice while incorporating elements from the mentor's advice, and periodically collaborate to check progress and make tweaks to the plan as needed.

Ask Ask Ask! Recognize that the essence of mentorship lies in acknowledging what you don't know. Cultivate a psychologically safe environment and foster a growth mindset. This approach enhances your capacity to provide not just good, but exceptional constructive feedback, leading to a cascade of positive outcomes. Asking insightful questions is more than a mere inquiry; it is an expression of active and attentive engagement with the knowledge shared. It signals to your mentor that you've absorbed the lessons and signifies a notable level of growth in your journey.

For brain storming asking good question is the key. We should welcome all kinds of questions not only for idea generating & risk mitigation but also for openness to talk. If you become annoyed on people who ask silly question, then their brain give signal dont talk, dont think. Even he will not understand the facts clearly. To answer any question you will learn how to reply effectively. We should always be positive for question.

También es importante aprender de los aciertos, de los éxitos que hemos tenido gestionando otros proyectos, otros procesos. Generar lecciones aprendidas de ellos para los futuros retos es ir un paso adelante, solo teniendo cuidado que el ego no nos ciegue.

When sharing both challenges and successes, be specific in what you're seeking from your mentor. Whether it's advice, feedback, or just a listening ear, being clear helps your mentor know how they can be most helpful. That would help to built Trust and Rapport.

Mentorship presents a chance to draw wisdom from individuals who have navigated the same path you find yourself on, encountering challenges similar to what you may be facing now, and have successfully moved beyond them. Concealing your challenges or attempting to reinvent solutions when your mentor has already conquered them is counterproductive. In some instances, not sharing your challenges can be interpreted as a lack of trust in your mentor's capabilities, undermining the demonstration of respect and flexibility crucial in a mentor-mentee relationship. Sharing your successes with your mentor indicates that you have progressed and have gained value from the support provided you.

Be honest about the challenges you face and the successes you achieve. This will help your mentor provide tailored advice and support

This is as part of the goals setup mentioned in the first point. You need to report back. As you await recognition for good work, your mentor is waiting to hear good feedback as it is a reflection of his work- he needs to report that as part of his kpis

Brian Tracy's "Goals" emphasizes that many people have good intentions that often go unrealized. In my own journey, I have discovered that merely learning and not taking immediate action yields limited results. My perspective shifted significantly when I actively applied the knowledge gained from my mentor and it was through this proactive engagement that I experienced a range of results, enabling me to draw meaningful insights and informing subsequent actions. Providing feedback to my mentor regarding the impact of these actions played a pivotal role in establishing and strengthening rapport and trust. Consistent and effective constructive feedback became a cornerstone in fostering a collaborative and beneficial mentorship relationship.

Early on, I would apply what I thought my mentor would have done in that situation. Then I would tell him how it went and ask how he would have done it differently. I wasn't actually seeking advice, but just coming to him with a problem I had created. After a few of those that didn't go so well, I would lay out the situation to him and define the desirable outcome before taking any action. He made suggestions based on how he would handle it and how I might tweak it to fit my personality. Afterwards we would do a postmortem call reviewing how it played out. He appreciated seeing how his approach worked or didn't in my hands. Often the method may be valid, and the success or failure is in the details of the execution of the method.

As we engage with a mentor to advance in our professional journey, it becomes crucial to absorb their perspectives into our projects, especially when these viewpoints align with our project objectives. This alignment serves as the opportune moment to apply these insights, tailoring them as needed. In my view, this marks the initiation of the mentoring process, showcasing active listening and comprehension—fundamental elements for success in any relationship, and mentorship is no exception. By incorporating the mentor's guidance into our approach, we open the door to meaningful discussions and collaboratively determine the most effective contributions to ensure success.

By applying what u hv learned does jot mean only you doing things, but passing knowledge and collection values. It is this early how mentorship and preparing for future mentors begins - from day one of learning something new. Just circulate what you learned

Simply gaining theoretical advice brings no tangible improvement. I must experiment. For example, if my mentor suggests an alternative risk analysis model to improve how I quantify uncertainties, I would utilize that framework to assess hazards on my current client projects. In the next mentoring check-in, I provide detailed feedback of how the applied learnings worked. I share both experience and measurable impact. Additionally, I would openly discuss what did not work well applying the guidance so that my mentor can refine their advice to ensure better fit. Maybe a solution solved one issue but created new unpredicted problems. This test-and-learn feedback loop maximizes my growth. This hands-on approach propels robust mentorship results

When we express gratitude , we sincerely acknowledge the insights of the mentor and their valuable time. We should not only listen to their words of wisdom but also try to pick their brain up on how they approach to various circumstances. And yes writing, verbal , along with small gestures is a great way of expressing.

Expressing gratitude is a powerful way for a mentee to maximize their relationship with a project management mentor, and have something to give back to the mentor. Regularly acknowledge the mentor's guidance by expressing sincere appreciation for specific insights or advice that proved valuable. Take the time to share the positive impact their mentorship has had on personal and professional growth. Gratitude not only reinforces the mentor's willingness to invest time and expertise but also strengthens the mentor-mentee bond. This appreciation fosters a positive and collaborative atmosphere, encouraging the mentor to continue providing valuable insights. In turn, this creates a more enriching learning experience for the mentee.

Just some ideas: - Public acknowledgment, - Sharing your progress and successes attributing part of your success to their guidance. - Offering support in return,

Expressing appreciation should be thought out first. Utilizing general expressions of gratitude you would use with any team member lacks the sincerity we all want to feel. When expressing appreciation, think about what you have learned from them and what they have shared. Good leaders take internal notes of these things and use them later when giving praise that is sincere and shows them that you were actually listening. Also, think about the recipient and their personality when choosing how to express gratiude. Some mentees feel more comfortable with written praise while others prefer a verbal commendation. Either way, it should be specific and note how they helped you as much as you may have helped them.

Solutions focused leadership states if we spend all of our time focusing on what we're doing wrong, we will have a manual for failure rather than a manual for success. One thing I've found helpful is to offer continuous positive feedback throughout the mentorship. The mentee will learn that you are trustworthy, fair, and are capable of recognizing their greatness. When the conversations about opportunity areas come up, they will likely be more receptive to feedback from someone who they respect and feel respected by.

Remember, even though mentor is there for a reason, it’s not the source of absolute truth. We all measure the world by our own experience and the art of extracting important and applicable bits from the feedback you get is what you must master. Learn to balance the art and the science of project management by asking yourself “Why did the advice they give me work for them and how can I learn from the ENTIRE situation, not just the outcome?”

I have been mentoring in Project Management for over 30 years. I would add a mentor, or two, or three to your project teams. Remember, Project Management is a contact sport and you cannot have too many sage advisors cheering you on or providing an extra set of eyes to keep you on track. Mentors also provide that safe space vent anything you are feeling that would not be wise venting to any of the project stakeholders.

Lately, I have been suggesting to others that they should create their own personal board of directors. Having a personal board of mentors, rather than relying on just one, offers diverse perspectives and a broader range of expertise. Different mentors can provide insights into various aspects of project management, such as technical skills, leadership, and industry-specific knowledge. This multifaceted guidance helps mentees develop a well-rounded skill set and adapt to diverse challenges. Each mentor contributes unique experiences and approaches, fostering a more comprehensive understanding of the field. A BOD ensures access to guidance when needed and promotes a more resilient and versatile approach to project management challenges.

In my view, sharing our shortcomings, weaknesses, and inhibitions with a mentor is notably more comfortable than with a project manager. The authenticity of our exchanges with them directly influences the directness and effectiveness of mentorship. Authenticity and candor surpass any conventional method, forming the cornerstone of effective communication crucial for substantial personal growth.

A meu ver, para que a comunicação e o projeto fluam, é preciso: 1. Que se estabeleça um macro plano; 2. Que as atividades, responsáveis e datas estejam claramente estabelecidas, com follow-up constantes; 3. Que os imprevistos e impedimentos sejam avaliados e definidas as alternativas possíveis para supera-los, com seus respectivos impactos. A partir daí, a conversa com o mentor fluirá com muita eficiência, ao avaliarem, juntos, dentre as alternativas existentes, a melhor delas.