EQUALITY GUIdE - KU Leuven

256 Equality Guide
4. Instrument and case study
4.1. Instrument: mentoring programme
It is impossible to ‘steer’ the entire mentoring project. It is a learning and development
process between two individuals of which neither an organization nor a coordinator
can determine the course. However, a formal mentorship needs guidance. That is why
the organization offers a mentoring context. The more convincing the organization, the
more powerful the mentoring relationship.
A mentoring project implies careful preparation and choices:
! What do we want to achieve?
! With or without mentoring?
! Which kind of mentoring?
! For whom?
! Defining key processes.
! Which kind of support and follow-up do we need?
! How can we evaluate and adjust the mentoring relationship?
The mentoring module is part of the larger Equality Guide Project. That meant the
parameters were largely determined (project period, strategic objectives, target group).
When people engage in a mentoring relationship without a well-defined project context,
those parameters are not fixed. The consequences are both positive and negative.
The schedule was limited in time and all participants agreed there was not enough time
for the mentoring sessions themselves.
On the other hand, the relatively short preparation time within the project frame was
also an advantage as there was no need to negotiate crucial matters (objectives, target,
group, etc).
4.1.1. Instrument part I: checklists
For the instrument: see Tool Annex.
As the decision to introduce mentoring in an organization is not necessarily projectrelated,
five different checklists were elaborated, which together constitute a manual for
starting a mentoring programme. The checklist answers five fundamental questions.
However, a mentoring instrument can never provide the one and only correct answer
to these questions. Typically, mentoring within an organization cannot be dissociated
from the organization and its strategy. The checklists contain the following questions to
provide a pattern for managing the start-up of a mentoring programme:
1. Should we start a mentoring programme or not? Is this method suited for our purpose?
2. What is our step-by-step plan? It contains the vision and values as well as the strate-