{"id":1478,"date":"2020-08-31T08:55:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T07:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?p=1478"},"modified":"2020-08-31T08:55:35","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T07:55:35","slug":"the-benefits-of-micro-mentoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2020\/08\/31\/the-benefits-of-micro-mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"The benefits of micro-mentoring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

L\u00e9na Prouchet is a first-year PhD student based in the Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn Campus. Her research investigates strategies that could jointly address food insecurity and deforestation in the Peruvian rainforest.<\/em>
\n
\n\u201cWhat on Earth is micro-mentoring?\u201d
\n<\/em>
\nThese were my first thoughts when I saw the Twitter post of the Exeter Doctoral College offering to book a micro-mentoring session.<\/p>\n

Since this word aroused my curiosity, I took some time to elucidate what it meant. I was familiar with mentoring since I took part in such a scheme during my MSc. It was a great experience; I developed a fruitful relationship with my mentor who gave me useful tips and helped me with my PhD applications throughout the year.<\/p>\n

But long-term relationships do not characterise \u201cmicro-mentoring\u201d sessions. Indeed, the term refers to stand-alone mentoring events<\/strong>. Therefore, I was quite sceptical about the concept since I was not sure I would be able to learn much from a single discussion.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try since I felt I really needed some mentoring support at that stage of my research, and especially in relation to this unprecedented context.<\/p>\n

Here are some indications on how I tried to best prepare for the meeting. This only comes from my personal experience so if you have any other advice you can share with me, I am happy to read them!<\/p>\n

How to book a session? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I emailed researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk<\/a> to introduce myself and my research topic. I also gave some information about the issues I wanted to address during the mentoring session. This list included: questions on qualitative research methods, advice on how to efficiently plan my research, and tips to adapt to the new online working environment.<\/p>\n

A few days later, I was put in contact with a mentor.<\/p>\n

How to organize and prepare the meeting? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I researched the profile of my mentor to understand her research topics and interests.<\/li>\n
  2. I emailed my mentor to introduce myself (tip:<\/em> you can send the link of your University profile<\/em>) and briefly explain the topics I wanted to address during the session.<\/li>\n
  3. We exchanged a few emails to arrange a Zoom meeting (in my first email I wrote I was open to any form of exchange \u2013 written or oral – and my mentor decided to organise a call).<\/li>\n
  4. I created an agenda for the meeting. Usually, the discussion lasts no more than an hour so it crucial to know exactly what you will ask and in which order (tip: prioritise your questions since you are likely to not be able to ask all of them<\/em>).<\/li>\n
  5. I sent the agenda to the mentor a few hours before the meeting (if I attend another session, I will send it earlier so the mentor has more time to prepare).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    How to make the most out of the discussion with your mentor? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>
    \n<\/strong>
    \nDuring the session:<\/u><\/p>\n

    After a short introduction, I started asking my first questions. I tried to take as many notes as I could. I was not able to cover all the topics I had planned to talk about since I had many follow-up questions. This does not really matter since I think it is important to adapt to your mentor and to the direction she\/he is giving to the call.
    \nTip: time goes very fast, so keep an eye on your watch!
    \n<\/em><\/p>\n

    After the session:<\/u><\/p>\n

    A few hours after the call, I took some time to thank my mentor for her time and precious advice.
    \nThe following day, I read and reorganise my meeting notes. During the session, we identified key actions I could implement to tackle the challenges I was facing. From this discussion, I created an action plan with a detailed timeframe.
    \nMy \u201cto-do\u201d list includes:
    \n*set journal alerts on relevant research topics
    \n*write my literature review for 30 minutes per day
    \n*read a book recommended by my mentor on qualitative research methods\u2026<\/p>\n

    Tip: You can organize a follow-up session with your micro-mentor if you feel you need to discuss the progress you made with your action plan.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Would I recommend this experience? <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Absolutely! I felt this one-hour call helped me answer questions and doubts I had had for weeks. It is always very helpful to have someone looking at your project with a fresh and watchful eye.<\/p>\n

    I think my action plan will take a few weeks to complete but I will be willing to renew this experience in the course of my PhD!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Written by:<\/strong><\/em> L\u00e9na Prouchet
    \nTwitter<\/em>:<\/strong>     @LenaProuchet<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    L\u00e9na Prouchet is a first-year PhD student based in the Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn Campus. Her research investigates strategies that could jointly address food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe benefits of micro-mentoring - Doctoral College<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2020\/08\/31\/the-benefits-of-micro-mentoring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The benefits of micro-mentoring - Doctoral College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"L\u00e9na Prouchet is a first-year PhD student based in the Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn Campus. 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