Mentoring, much like work, no longer requires travel to a specific location or face-to-face interactions—it can now be done remotely.

While being remote has innumerable benefits, navigating relationships through a screen can be challenging at first.

So, what do you do when you’re both working and being mentored remotely? How do you juggle the two and successfully build a positive relationship with your mentor(s)?

This article will explore the following tips, the nature of a mentor relationship, its benefits, and how you can build positive mentor relationships while working remotely.

1. Define expectations and set boundaries
2. Be punctual
3. Communicate clearly and be considerate
4. Interact
5. Show interest
6. Be organised
7. Make sure your tech works

What is a mentor relationship?

A mentor relationship is a supportive and developmental partnership between a more experienced or knowledgeable person (the mentor) and a less experienced individual (the mentee). The primary purpose of this relationship is to facilitate the personal, professional, or academic growth of the mentee through guidance, advice, and sharing of experiences.

HR training in strategic people management, for example, will mean that your mentoring relationship will revolve around helping you successfully acquire the advanced knowledge and skills needed to operate strategically around HR management, leadership, and organisational development.

Nevertheless, this relationship should, first and foremost, be based on mutual respect, and your goals must be aligned.

What are the benefits of building a positive mentoring relationship?

Learning 100% online offers flexibility that traditional classes don’t. That’s part of why so many choose online courses to further their professional development and careers. After all, coaching is known to have a positive impact on organisational growth and success.

What remains the same is that developing a positive relationship with your mentor is important if you want to get the most from your training.

Building a successful mentoring relationship will allow you to obtain: 

• Personalised guidance: If the relationship is positive and open, the mentor will likely know a little more about you and be able to provide tailored guidance.

• Honest, constructive criticism: While most mentors will provide feedback as part of their job, it can be difficult to provide constructive criticism to an individual who is closed off or not very present.

• Support and encouragement: A positive rapport will foster a culture of support and encouragement that could give you the extra edge you need to achieve your goals.

• Potential long-lasting professional relationship: This depends on the individual, but building positive interactions with your mentor could lead to the development of a long-term professional relationship.

• Possible networking opportunities: As before, this will vary from person to person, but if you have made a lasting positive impression on your mentor, they may offer networking opportunities.

It is worth noting that these benefits can hinge on whether you have the right mentor, which leads nicely into our next section!

How to select the right mentor

Not every mentoring program or online class allows you to select a mentor. However, just as you would look at the online class description to ensure it offers what you need, you should do the same for a mentor.

Remember your goals; why are you looking for a mentor or considering taking a particular class? Once you have identified your needs, you can ask yourself, “Does this mentor seem like a good fit?”

For instance, if you’re looking for HR training to obtain your certificate in People Practice, does the mentor have experience in that particular area? Do you feel they’re qualified enough to help you get your certification?

Experience isn’t the only consideration—is the mentor affiliated with credible organisations? Do they have experience as a mentor? How are they going to contact you? Often, it is much easier to opt for mentors who are part of a company, as this will facilitate the entire process and keep mentors accountable. There is also more peace of mind when it comes to payments.

Another thing to consider is timing: being a working professional means that your schedule will already be quite busy. Does the mentor have the kind of availability that you need? Work out a suitable schedule that enables you to balance work and personal commitments while achieving your goals.

7 tips for building mentor relationships while working remotely

There are things that you can do on your end to ensure a positive relationship develops between you and your mentor. Below are seven tips to help you build a good mentor relationship.

Define expectations and set boundaries

Before getting started with the mentorship, you should take the time to talk with your mentor about what your expectations are and ask them about theirs. This ensures you know what you need from them and what they expect from you.

It’s also important to talk about schedules and time commitments. This will avoid possible issues and facilitate a productive relationship in which your mentor can help you maximise your strengths and reach your potential.

Be punctual

While balancing meeting with your mentor and working remotely can take some effort, it shouldn’t be a reason for you to miss sessions or arrive late (except in an emergency, of course). Leave at least some buffer time between work and mentoring sessions so that you can adequately prepare without feeling stressed and rushing.

Another tool at your disposal is alarms. Set a repeating alarm before your session is due to start; this could be 15 minutes or half an hour—whatever works best for you. This way, you are much less likely to forget you have a meeting with your mentor, and you will ensure you always have a little time aside to prep before it begins.

Showing up on time consistently will send a positive message to your mentor and show them that you value their time and effort.

Communicate clearly and be considerate

Clear and consistent communication is one of the most critical elements to developing a good mentor relationship.

This will not only facilitate interactions with your mentor, but it will also allow them to get to know you better and avoid possible misunderstandings.

Think you might be late for a meeting they’ve set up? Send them a message via email or a messaging app hosted on their company’s website to let them know as soon as you can and offer possible rescheduling times if appropriate.

If you’re part of a group of mentees, this same consideration should extend to them, too. Your tutor will see that you are mindful of others, furthering your positive rapport with them and others.

Likewise, if your mentor reaches out to you, do your best to respond promptly.

Interact

There’s nothing inherently wrong with attending a class, listening to the coach, mentor, or tutor, and signing off. But getting stuck in and interacting with your mentor and peers is a great way to develop positive relationships and get the most out of your class.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Whether you’re wondering what the UCaaS meaning is or need a refresher on talent planning, questions allow you to learn more and alert your mentor to any potential knowledge gaps. It also helps your peers as it provides them with additional information.

Interaction can also go beyond classes—if appropriate, share updates, achievements, and any challenges you face with your mentor. You could do so via email or set up a call. A meeting invite template could help if you’re having trouble phrasing your invitation.

Show interest

This is closely linked to the previous section, as interacting with your tutor and in your class shows that you are interested. Beyond this, engage with the work and consider doing extra research or going the extra mile if you have the time. When the training or class is underway, engage in active listening and be prepared to receive constructive criticism.

Depending on which medium your training is taking place, you should also consider recording the sessions or calls as a point of reference that you can later access to refresh your memory or go over something that you didn’t understand the first time. Can’t quite remember what your tutor said about the benefits of a candidate management process last week. No problem, just pull up the relevant recorded session to remind yourself.

Showing interest tells your mentor you are serious about your learning journey and achieving your goals. Chances are, they are passionate about what they do and will want to share that passion with you.

Be organised

As we’ve seen, efficient time management is one of the things that will help you get the most out of your mentorship while working remotely. Another facet of this is to be as organised as possible.

This includes coming to classes or sessions with a clear agenda, specific questions that may have popped up in your head, and updates on your progress that you want to share. Attending sessions with this level of organisation helps keep conversations focused and productive.

As you’re juggling remote work and online learning, make sure to put free time aside to unwind, disconnect from responsibilities, and reset so that you are ready to take it on the following day. Maintaining a good work-life balance will allow you to approach your training with the right mindset.

Make sure your tech works

This point may be the last on the list, but it is not the least important. Since you are working remotely, you will likely already have the tools in place needed to attend your class.

Checking that everything is working correctly, including your microphone and camera, is good practice. If the mentor is using a third-party video calling app to conduct the sessions, familiarise yourself with it beforehand to avoid awkward start-ups or fumbling at the beginning.

It is also wise to make simple step-by-step notes on how to carry out specific actions if you know you’ll need those instructions to hand (such as how to record a phone call or share your screen).

One more thing—check that all your apps and systems are up to date. You don’t want to be stuck on the update screen three minutes before your class is due to start!

Bridging the virtual gap: build your mentor-mentee relationship while working remotely

Remote work is nothing new, and online learning is becoming increasingly popular, given its flexibility.

Nurturing a positive relationship with your mentor can yield several great benefits, including personalised guidance and possible networking opportunities, and make your learning journey all the more enjoyable. Working remotely may take up much of your time, so focusing on developing that relationship can feel daunting.