Types and categories of mentoring programmes

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Mentoring as a development process has its own definition and assumptions. This definition (we discussed it in a previous article) sets out the formula for the Mentor-Mentee relationship and the aims and objectives of the whole process. In this respect, it is concrete enough.

However, there are a number of flexible areas in which individual mentoring programmes can differ, and within these differences we can try to define the types of mentoring. These areas include:

• the way the programme is organised,
• category of competences developed,
• target group of Mentees.

In this article, we will try to define the types of mentoring programmes according to these categories of criteria.

Types of mentoring by the way the programme is organised

Mentoring, in order to meet its objectives and comply with the definition, should be in a structured form. It is in terms of the way it is organised that we can distinguish the following types of mentoring programmes:

• Open programmes – run by organisations that have the support of specific groups in their objectives, but in which participation is open to all individuals from a particular group. Examples include foundations that support the professional development of women in particular industries, or support people with exclusion. Usually, any person can become a Mentor in such programmes. Mentee participation is limited to group membership.
• Mentoring for students – mentoring of this type is on the borderline between an open and a closed programme. It is closed, as usually only male and female students of a given university can become Mentees. On the other hand, it can be said to be open, as the potential group of Mentees is wide (all students of a given university) and very often any person – not only a graduate of a given university – can become a Mentor. In the previously mentioned programme catalogue in the second part of the catalogue there are also several examples of mentoring programmes for students.
• In-company mentoring – these are mentoring programmes organised within a company, available only to its employees. They can be available to all employees of an organisation or dedicated to specific groups of it – for example, managers.
• Mentoring on the occasion of other activities – this is also a fairly common category of mentoring, unique in its nature. These are processes organised on the occasion of other activities. For example, startup support programmes on the occasion of various development and acceleration activities often offer the support of Mentors with business experience. These types of mentoring processes tend to be shorter and less formal.
• Individual mentoring processes – there is nothing stopping mentoring from simply being organised by a pair of two people. All it takes is a little willingness and commitment on the part of the Mentee and a contact with a friend who can become a Mentor. Such processes tend to be less formal, but this does not mean that they are less effective, as long as the participants remember the basic principles of mentoring.

Types of mentoring programmes by competence category

Another area where mentoring programmes may differ is in the category of competences developed or areas of support for Mentees. Among such a division, we can distinguish the following types of mentoring:

• Classical mentoring – in its basic form, the aim of mentoring is to build a relationship and develop the Mentee and Mentor mainly in soft skills – related, for example, to team building or competences in communication, problem solving, etc.
• Specialist mentoring – sometimes a form of mentoring is also used to develop specialist skills, in a specific area – usually related to a broad area of activity in the organisation. An example would be the development of skills in a particular technology in IT companies.
• Reverse mentoring – this is a fairly recent form of mentoring, usually aimed at the development of digital competences. In this case, it is usually people with more general experience who are Mentees, and younger, less experienced people who are Mentors. Usually, this form of mentoring allows for the development of competences that are new to the market – for example, activities in social media, related to the Internet and new technologies. See more on reverse mentoring in a separate article.
• Onboarding – it is very common to use a buddy-ego position to introduce new employees to the workplace. In this case, it is good to formalise this type of relationship precisely by implementing mentoring methodologies.
• Momboarding – is a special form of onboarding where mentoring helps mothers return to work after maternity leave.

Types of mentoring by group of Mentees

A final division worth mentioning is the division of mentoring programmes according to the specific target groups of Mentees. This is simply about targeting a particular programme to a specific group and focusing on the specific competences being developed.

In principle, we can list an almost infinite group of programmes from this angle, but among the most popular are:

• IT mentoring,
• mentoring for managers,
• career mentoring / for students,
• business mentoring,
• soft skills mentoring,
• mentoring for salespeople,
• succession mentoring,
• etc.

As you can see, there are many not only types of mentoring programmes themselves, but also possibilities to classify them. This is not surprising, since mentoring is very versatile and, as a method of talent development, can be used with almost any professional group and for many different purposes.

Hi, my name is Thomas. I am the Co-Founder of Mentiway. We are happy to share our knowledge and support organisations on their way to success! 💪 If you are interested in how to efficiently and effectively implement a mentoring programme in your organisation using technology:
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