Guidelines for Mentors

Guidelines and Terms & Conditions for ELSA Mentors

These guidelines are intended to help you make the most of your role as an ELSA Mentor

The ELSA Mentorship Team

The Team will connect you with ELSAs requesting for Mentorship. A successful match depends on the alignment between clarity of requirements in the request from the Mentees and your expertise (as shared with us in your profile) as well as your availability. In the event of any assistance you may require through the Mentorship journey with your Mentee, please email the team at mentorship@lsralumna.org

Do keep in mind that the Team is made up of Volunteer ELSAs like you who are sharing their time and will be doing everything possible to ensure an efficient, collaborative and kind process.

ELSA Mentees

ELSA Mentees are women like you — alumni from Lady Shri Ram College for Women. They will have different kinds of life experience, work expertise and their own strengths and challenges. They are connecting with you in order to gain from your experience, skills, wisdom and ability to mentor them to either achieve a goal or address a challenge. They connect with you with a sense of comfort and safety, knowing that you too are an ELSA and will have their best interest at heart, will listen to them and then advise, support, help and guide them, as necessary.

Do acknowledge and respect their trust in you.

As a Mentor, you already know that it is important to maintain a professional boundary even as you create personal rapport with your Mentee. At all times, do follow the ELSA Code of Conduct which requires you to be respectful, courteous and civil.

We give below some guidelines that will help you through the process

Once the ELSA Mentorship Team has sent an introductory email to you and your Mentee, your Mentee will connect with you to schedule an introductory call / first session.

Respond within 24 hours preferably. If you are busy, let her know when you will respond

Be clear about:

the date and time for the first session
the appropriate length for the session
the channel you both prefer – phone/ whatsapp/ zoom/ face to face

Ensure you save her contact details.

If this is a Professional Mentorship request, it always helps to do a little homework about your Mentee before the first session – Linked in / shared profile for details of her experience, expertise and organization

Try and confirm the date, time, channel/venue for the next session at the current session
If you must cancel, do try and give the Mentee enough notice (at least 24 hours). While she is creating time for her own development, like you, she is also a woman balancing multiple commitments
Ensure you both understand and agree to your scheduling process
Please keep note of your schedule of sessions to help the Team understand and evaluate the efficiency of the Mentorship Program process

Use the first conversation to establish rapport and get to know each other
Find out what are the Mentee’s goals
Find out what are the Mentee’s expectations and desired outcomes from this mentorship
Tell the Mentee what you will need from her
Be honest in sharing your limitations in any area
Discuss how you will approach the Mentorship journey

In the endeavour to make this a meaningful interaction for both you and the Mentee, it is important that you both:

Commit to the Mentorship Journey
Understand that your discussions will be confidential in the interest of building trust
Agree to be honest and frank in sharing and in feedback

Be on time.
Be professional as well as empathetic.
Listen deeply and engage completely.
Take notes
Mentorship is a two-way process and you need to make a clear commitment. Help your Mentee understand, reflect, clarify and create an action plan/ next steps to prepare for the next meeting.
Confirm your next session.
Be flexible as goals and challenges change through the journey.

Review your role as a Mentor
Reflect on whether you are able to create a Safe Space for the Mentee – without judgement or biases
Remind yourself this is the Mentee’s journey and you are an Enabler.

There are some common unrealistic expectations of Mentees that can cause disappointment on both sides. Establish clarity with our Mentee about expectations. In general, the Mentor should NOT be expected to:

Provide the Mentee with personal introductions to other people unless they’re comfortable doing so
Spend more time on the relationship than she is able to give
Take the lead in the relationship, setting up all meetings and driving the Mentee’s career development. This is the Mentee’s responsibility.
Continue the relationship beyond the stated goal for the mentoring

Lastly, the Mentee can use the advice and feedback you give as she sees fit. But neither you as her Mentor or the ELSA Lady Shri Ram College Alumni Association take any responsibility for her decisions.

Please ensure that you have carefully read and are in agreement to the Terms and Conditions for Mentors.

Terms & Conditions

As an ELSA Mentor, you agree to abide by the following terms and conditions:

Scheduling

You agree to respond to mentoring requests and schedule or regret meetings and sessions with the Mentee within 24 to 48 hours.

Confidentiality

you agree to keep all information shared by the Mentee confidential and will not disclose it to any other party, unless at the written request of the Menteeyou understand that all information shared by the Mentee is the property of the Mentee and shall not be used by you, unless the Mentee so requests

Compensation, Soliciting & Engagement

You agree that you will not receive any compensation from the Mentee in any form
As an ELSA Mentor your primary interest is in serving other ELSAs and you will not solicit for personal business nor actively scout for opportunities, clients or jobs through your Mentee
If you, at any point, you wish to engage professionally with the Mentee’s business / organization, you will notify the Mentorship Team immediately

Safety

You will ensure that you will, in no way, suggest any course of action to the Mentee which may be harmful to her in any way – physically, mentally, emotionally, financially or legally.
You will create a psychologically safe space for the Mentee and, in no way, be judgmental or guided by any bias – conscious or unconscious.

Code of Conduct

You will abide by the ELSA Code of Conduct and be respectful, courteous in your interaction with the Mentee and the Mentorship Team at all times.

Feedback

You will provide feedback on your mentorship journey and your Mentee in the prescribed format to the Mentorship Team as per the ELSA Mentorship process. This information will be held confidentially and is for the purpose of ensuring a valuable service to all ELSAs.

Termination

In the event that you find you are unable to continue as an ELSA Mentor, you will notify the Mentorship Team immediately
In the event that you are found to be violating the Terms and Conditions or the Guidelines, or are found to be indulging in physical, legal, financial or any other misconduct, the ELSA Mentorship Team reserves the right to terminate your role as an ELSA Mentor as well as your ELSA Membership.

Liability

The ELSA Lady Shri Ram Alumni Association will not be held responsible or liable for any exchange between the Mentor and Mentee who are entering into this relationship in their individual capacity.
The ELSA Lady Shri Ram Alumni Association will not be held responsible or liable for any physical, mental, psychological, legal, financial or other misconduct by either the Mentor or the Mentee

The performance and contributions of onboarded Mentors will be reviewed on a regular basis by the ELSA Mentorship Team which also reserves the right to terminate the services of mentors at any point of time based on violation of the terms above.

When you agree to be an ELSA Mentor and submit the Become a Mentor form, you are in agreement with these Terms & Conditions stated herein. Please ensure you have read these carefully.