Learning from more experienced colleagues is one of the best ways to develop skills and careers. Mentors can help you make sense of complex issues that you are likely to face as your career develops and being a mentor can help you develop leadership and people skills.

Mentoring is also a great way to combine personal development and knowledge management. With mentoring you can manage and share the existing knowledge within the organisation in a cost-effective and mutually beneficially manner. With external mentoring schemes, you can share knowledge and gain new ideas and perspectives from different industries.

When beginning a mentoring relationship it is important to consider the structure of mentoring, from the overall mentoring cycle to the structure of an individual mentoring session. This Practice Note provides guidance on:

1. •

   what mentoring is

2. •

   the benefits of mentoring for mentors, mentees and organisations

3. •

   the mentoring cycle

4. •

   who does what

5. •

   the structure of mentoring meetings

6. •

   accommodating different learning styles