- Mentoring has become a prominent business and gained popularity in various workplaces, organizations, and institutions. With the sudden pandemic hit, the whole lot is available online.
- The traditional method of mentoring is done on a face-to-face basis. But, with the advancement of technologies, mentoring can also be done on a virtual platform.
- There are both advantages and disadvantages in both mediums. Therefore, you must choose the option which is best for you.
- To understand the process, we must look into the pros and cons and then can have a fair comparison between the two methods provided by the mentoring platforms.
- There is a common goal that both online and in-person methods have to accomplish: the satisfaction of the customer’s goals and professional development.
- Another important point that individuals must remember is the value of trust. When a relationship matters, faith plays the most critical element.
- Similarly, when dealing with mentoring relationships, it is essential to trust your partners, whether in person or on a virtual platform.
- Before discovering the best technique or where the mentoring sessions happen correctly, we must look at the positive and negative sides to decide and reach a conclusion.
Let us start with the traditional mentoring platforms or the face-to-face mentoring sessions.
Benefits of Offline Mentoring
- Attending the offline mentoring sessions allows both participants to have a personal touch towards the program as there is a physical presence involved. It will enable mentors and mentees to trust each other better and faster than online mentoring relationships.
- The mentee is more organic in their approach, and the mentors can easily read the expressions and gestures of the mentee. Live meetings help learn about the participants’ personalities and mannerisms.
- People are comfortable talking and expressing themselves rather than expressing themselves from a computer screen. The mentor-mentee relationship is more effective and authentic in offline cases.
- The mentors can assign different tasks to the mentee and can learn more about them through the answers they provide. It helps in understanding where the sessions are going.
- Offline mentoring programs help the participants stay focused and not involve any disturbances.
Drawbacks of Offline Mentoring
- The biggest problem that offline mentoring faces is the limitation of geographical proximity. The sessions must be held in a place that is convenient to reach for both the mentor and mentee.
- Location becomes the main setback for face-to-face interactions as perfect mentoring relationships are complicated to make with geographical restrictions.
- Communication is another significant aspect that is affected in face-to-face mentoring platforms as people hesitate to open themselves up when faced in person.
- Subordinates might feel shy and nervous about expressing themselves to an experienced, knowledgeable senior. It can also include women and newbies who joined the organization recently.
- It can be a little intimidating for the younger generation to vocalize just in the beginning phase of their career.
These are a few perks and shortcomings of offline or face-to-face mentoring platforms in the mentoring business.
Now let us move towards the other part, online or e-mentoring, which has gained popularity among people recently.
Benefits of Online or E-mentoring
- When we look at the traditional method of mentoring, the first drawback that comes to mind is the geographical restriction individuals suffer. In e-mentoring, you get the advantage of overcoming this problem online mentoring with easy accessibility and approachability from anywhere around the world.
- Mentors and mentees can meet at any time of their preference, and flexibility is highly maintained in online mentoring platforms.
- Participants get the advantage of various tools such as video conferencing, chats, audio calls, and numerous engaging tools.
- Mentors and mentees can share their resources and even track the overall performance through different applications designed.
- In e-mentoring programs, you can quickly get the perfect matching mentor for yourself with their designed programs and algorithms.
- The absence is never felt with the meetings and conferences set up for the mentor and the mentees.
There are not many flaws of online mentoring, but a few that people must consider, such as the following:
Drawbacks of Online or E-mentoring
- E-mentoring requires an established network and technology access for the mentor and mentees to communicate.
- Participants must have a reliable internet connection to serve the purpose; without the internet, no meetings and sessions can be held.
- You might face network or connectivity issues due to weather conditions.
- Interacting through an online mentoring platform can be pretty disturbing as many notifications can pop up during the sessions, which can delay or interrupt the program flow.
- E-mentoring can be a complex process for a few people who are not in the habit of learning through online media. Thus, it would help if you were engaged and committed to the program.
These are a few profits and hardships offered by the e-mentoring platforms.
Before proceeding and making a final call, you can compare your business or professional scenarios and choose the best for yourself.
You can take the advice and suggestions of experienced and qualified people in the mentoring industry to understand what will serve you best.
