The Eight Types Of Mentoring & Their Uses

9 mins read

Individuals find mentors at different stages in their lives. And at every stage, a good mentor can support a mentee's growth and progress. Good mentors can enable individuals to achieve their highest potential. There's a reason why artists and entrepreneurs, across industries, more often than not credit their mentors for their success. 

The importance of mentorship is not lost on corporations either. And mentorship programs are an integral part of most organizations. However, mentors can exist within a professional network, and even outside of it. 

Mentors rely on their own experience and knowledge to offer much-needed support and guidance to mentees through regular meetings. However, mentors are not always senior in age to their mentees. At its core, mentorship is a relationship where a mentor guides and supports a mentee.

The goals, nature, age, and experience of mentors and mentees may differ. Because just as no two individuals are the same, no two mentoring styles are the same. There are different types of mentoring available, depending on a mentee's requirements, a mentor's approach, the number of people involved, etc.

Here's a look at the different types of mentoring in detail:

Different Types Of Mentoring

The forms of mentoring can depend on different factors. However, effectively, there are eight different types of mentoring.

The different types of mentoring can be broadly divided into three different categories. Here's a look at the different categories and mentoring types: 

According to the Number of People Involved

Most people believe that there can only be one-to-one mentoring. However, there can actually be three different types of mentoring, depending on the number of people involved in a mentoring relationship. These are: 

One-on-One Mentoring

As the name suggests, one-to-one mentoring is when a single mentor is paired with a single mentee. This is the most traditional form of mentoring and the most common perception of mentoring as well. This kind of mentoring allows individuals to build stronger personal relationships. Here, mentors can directly share their knowledge and experience with their mentees over a period of time that suits both parties.

Both formal and informal mentorship can be conducted one-to-one. Individuals meet informal mentors throughout their lives - those mentors who're invested in seeing you grow and offer you advice. Furthermore, many organizations adopt a formal program for mentoring, pairing mentees with a single mentor. 

Group Mentoring

Group mentoring is when a single mentor provides guidance to a group of mentees. This style usually involves more experienced mentors, who have expertise in their field and are also comfortable handling more than one mentee simultaneously. Organizations may use group-based mentoring when mentees on similar career paths require similar training or guidance in a short span of time, and there is a shortage of mentors. Similarly, if several mentees require support on a topic a particular mentor holds expertise in, they may participate in group-based mentoring. 

Find mentors and subject-matter experts here.

Team Mentoring

Team mentoring is similar to group mentoring but for one difference - it involves more than one mentor. Thus, team mentoring is when a group of mentors, together, mentor a group of mentees. Such a mentoring program allows individuals with different viewpoints to come together. This kind of mentoring experience is based on the idea of teamwork and collaboration. Juniors and seniors working together on a common/shared goal or project may indulge in team mentoring.

According to the Approach

There can be different approaches to mentorship. On the basis of the approach, there are three mentoring processes, listed below: 

Flash Mentoring

Mentoring is usually a long-term relationship. But flash mentoring refers to a mentoring style that is short-lived. It's usually a one-time process or event where mentees are mentored on a specific topic in a focused session. Considering its nature, a flash mentoring session does not allow room to build long-term support. Rather, the idea is for a quick solution. For example, a mentor providing tips and tricks to deliver a presentation to a mentee who's underconfident about public speaking. 

Reverse Mentoring

If a junior person mentors a senior person, it's referred to as reverse mentoring. It's the opposite of traditional mentoring. In the case of reverse mentoring, junior team members provide guidance to senior professionals who may be unfamiliar with a particularly new technology, product, or idea. This type of knowledge sharing by junior employees enables senior individuals to remain abreast of the latest developments and gain much-needed perspective to develop products for an ever-changing audience. 

Virtual Mentoring

As is evident by its name, virtual mentoring refers to a mentoring program that takes place virtually. It's also referred to as remote mentoring. Virtual or remote mentoring takes place through video conferencing, thereby removing the constraints or barriers of location. Virtual mentoring is extremely important in a post-pandemic world where virtual communication is the norm. It's also more inclusive in nature since it includes even those employees who may not be able to physically meet each other.

Individuals can also sign up on mentoring platforms as mentors and share their knowledge or as mentees and find required support. For example, Unstop hosts over 500 mentors from top companies like Reliance, Meta, Amazon, etc. on its platform. These mentors are experts in over 50 domains, such as hackathons, product management, personal branding, etc. 

According to the Type Of Mentor

Just as there are different types of mentorship, there are different types of mentors. Two of the most important styles of mentorship based on the type of mentor are traditional mentoring and peer mentoring. 

Traditional Mentoring

Traditional mentoring pairs a senior employee, usually in a managerial role, with a lesser experienced employee. Usually, organizations that engage in traditional mentoring pair an individual in a senior leadership role with a junior through a formal mentoring program. While traditional mentoring allows for greater knowledge transfer and scope to build a personal relationship, it can also be a costly affair because it requires a lot of human resources. 

Peer Mentoring

Effective mentors are not just individuals who are at a different career level than you. They can also be your peers. Peer mentoring refers to a form of mentorship where a mentor is at the same level as you. However, these mentors can show mentees a different perspective, introduce them to diverse growth opportunities, or help them deal with difficult situations at work. Peer mentoring can also help new employees adapt faster to the company culture. 

Interested in a mentoring opportunity that enables you to share your knowledge and experience? Sign up here for details.

Corporate Mentoring Programs

Corporations often adopt formal mentoring programs to improve employee engagement and employee retention. These forms of mentoring are also essential for employees' career development and personal development.

Listed below are the common corporate mentoring program types: 

Leadership Development: A mentoring program that focuses on teaching mentees essential leadership skills and training them to take on the role of leader. In leadership mentoring, the developmental goals are not just focused on the technical skills required, but also on the soft skills required for the role.

In some cases, leadership mentoring can be included as part of an organization's succession planning - training junior employees to take on senior roles. Ultimately, it's all about creating a talent pipeline that provides much-needed stability to an organization. 

Onboarding: Focused on new employees, this program helps mentees get familiar with a new organization. It's a form of flash mentoring since it's not as long-term as traditional mentorship. 

Upskilling: Mentoring programs focused on helping employees' career advancement through upskilling. 

Identity-Based Mentoring: The focus is on promoting diversity and inclusion in an organization and pairing members from a community together to help mentees assimilate well. 

Choosing The Right Form Of Mentoring 

Individuals may require different forms of mentoring at different stages of career development. It's important to identify your core requirements and opt for a type of mentorship that best suits your need. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a form of mentorship along with mentoring examples:

i) Purpose or need

It goes without saying that it's important to understand the purpose or the need of mentorship i.e. what is the end goal? Since mentorship is driven by the mentees, mentees should carefully evaluate their short-term and long-term goals and determine the urgency of the need. For example, if a mentee is looking for career advice, peer mentoring may not be as beneficial as traditional mentoring. Because in traditional mentoring, mentors are more experienced and thus, can offer experience-based advice. 

ii) Urgency

Mentees also need to analyze and understand the urgency of their requirements and opt for mentorship accordingly. For example, if a mentee is looking for a short-term solution to a problem (updating their resume or preparing for an upcoming interview) flash mentoring is an ideal choice. However, if a mentee is focusing on long-term goals, such as learning a new skill, then they can hold regular meetings with mentors to achieve those goals over a period of time. 

iii) Compatibility

Individuals also need to consider compatibility when deciding on the type of mentorship. This not only refers to compatibility with the mentors (which, of course, is an important consideration) but also to the style of mentoring. For example, if a mentee struggles to express their needs in a group setting, then they should opt for one-on-one mentoring, instead of group mentoring. 

The actual benefit of a mentorship can't always be translated into numbers. But its overall purpose remains the same - helping an individual's career development and personal growth.

Suggested Reads: 

Here's Why Start-Up Founders Need a Mentor

Business Mentoring 101: What Is It And How Can It Help You

What Is Mentorship & Why It's Important For Both, Mentors & Mentees

What Is A Mentor? Understanding Its Definition And Types In Detail

Coaching vs Mentoring: A Look At The Major Differences