How does a 24 year-old mentoring a 50 year-old sound? If you work in a large company and notice a disparity in how technology is being used among people of different age groups, it might be time to start a reverse-mentoring program.
The twenty-something lives and breathes technology, and understands that day-old technology is officially outdated. The fifty-something has a basic understanding of technology (depending on the department he or she works in), but knows a basic understanding isn’t good enough for 2015 and beyond. This isn’t to say everyone is like this—young people can have no understanding of technology, while some older people run IT teams and can code with the best of them—but it’s certainly an emerging trend.
Reverse mentoring builds upon the concept of mentoring, but flips the traditional concept of who plays the role of the mentor and who plays the role of the mentee in the relationship.
Reverse mentoring builds upon the concept of mentoring, but flips the traditional concept of who plays the role of the mentor and who plays the role of the mentee in the relationship [Tweet This]. Reverse mentoring allows people from a younger generation (mentors) with an aptitude for technology to inject new life into mentees who need help bridging their knowledge gap.
The framework of reverse-mentoring is the same as “traditional” mentoring: there needs to be constant communication between the mentor and mentee, clear expectations, patience from the mentor, a desire to learn by the mentee, and trust between both mentor and mentee. But the benefits between the mentor and mentee are different—and possibly better—with reverse mentoring:
1. Reverse Mentoring is a Two-Way Mentoring Experience
Reverse mentoring lets older employers (mentees) develop and hone their skills with various software and technology, whether it be social media best practices or learning about marketing automation software. This is knowledge that can only be gained from working closely with someone (mentor) who has years of experience and can properly, and patiently, teach the mentee—as opposed to the mentee trying to learn on his or her own.
But the mentee in this situation also has years of workplace experience that the young mentor hasn’t been exposed to yet. This means that while the mentee is learning about technology, he or she also has the opportunity to play the role of mentor at times and talk to the young twenty-something about career-guidance, or anything that the twenty-something might have concerns about in regards to their professional life.
2. Reverse Mentoring Creates New and Unlikely Friendships
Usually mentorship involves two people that work in similar spaces—a seasoned project management professional mentoring a young project coordinator, for example. But in the case of reverse mentoring, the only common thread between both parties is the love of technology (mentor) and the desire to learn about technology (mentee). The mentor and mentee in a reverse mentoring relationship can have different educational backgrounds, work in different industries, and there’s the obvious difference in age—but sometimes the best way to learn and grow is to work with someone that comes from a completely different walk of life.
3. Reverse Mentoring Crafts the Next Generation of Leaders
Whereas traditional mentorship is usually a straight knowledge-transfer from the mentor to the mentee, reverse mentoring actually helps strengthen the mentor’s skills. A young twenty-something is put in a position of leadership, where he or she is responsible for playing the role of teacher, as opposed to the role of student that he or she is more familiar with. This helps the young mentor the develop and refine leadership (and communication) skills that become more useful when entering management positions, or positions that require public speaking and the need to captivate an audience.