Leverage Reverse Mentoring to Positively Impact Your Organization

When I started QA InfoTech in 2003, my goal was twofold: To help my clients build quality products to meet and exceed end-user expectations, and to internally build a quality organization founded on a core team of motivated individuals.

In my humble opinion, the first objective is relatively easier done than the second. Since setting this goal, my management team and I have taken on as one of our key result areas the task of building this intangible yet indispensable “human” asset.

One such technique that has been successful for us is the “reverse mentoring” program: a program where managers are mentored by employees who work for them directly or indirectly. You may already be doing this in various forms—explicitly or implied—such as with skip-level meetings (meetings with employees who work in your organization, team, or department but do not directly report to you), smaller group-level trainings and meetings, etc. We have formalized this mentoring technique to create a win-win situation for both our employee base and the company. Here’s a look at how we have conceptualized and implemented reverse mentoring in a generic form that most of organizations can leverage as is.

Adopt a push-pull mechanism where senior management periodically sends out a company-wide email soliciting reverse mentoring on specific topics. These can include technical and software testing topics or anything else that is core to your company’s DNA. An open invite can be extended to the company at large, asking employees to reach out to specific people from the management team and invite them to a presentation on a relevant and interesting topic. Such a pull mechanism makes the program successful because the employees volunteer to be mentors, and it helps identify driven and motivated individuals. Giving employees the freedom to choose the topic also helps bring out their best and think creatively to delve into diverse areas because the ideas are their own.

Often reverse mentoring programs start off with a bang, but are soon punted due to lack of time. Once team members understand the importance of this program, you will see them make room in their schedules for these mentoring sessions. It is important to remember that it is not only senior management that has a busy schedule but also employees who must take time way from their packed projects to prepare for these meetings. The respect for each other’s time and value reaped from these meetings will soon become driving factors that help convene these sessions regularly.

In addition to learning a new topic, some additional things managers can learn from these sessions include:

• How motivated is the individual, and can you get a sense of his happiness quotient as your employee?
• Grass root-level observation of what is going well, what can be done better, pain points, challenges from project and work environment standpoints
• The individual’s potential and readiness to step into a bigger role
• Input about the client whose project the mentor is working on

You will soon see amongst the mentor community not just a sense of pride but also the commitment to delve into the details of the discussion topic, given that they are mentoring the senior management team. This program provides excellent learning potential for the mentors not just technically but also to groom their communication, presentation, and articulation skills.

As a senior person in your company, this is an excellent opportunity for you to subtly help the mentor think big and outside the box. Ask questions around trends and examples related to his topic, helping him think strategically and add more value in his client assignments. Help the mentor