Mentorship: Add Value to Your Career, Workplace, and Community

This is a consolidated version of a presentation that we delivered at UXPA International 2017, UXDC 2017, and an event at Triangle UXPA.

Transcript

1. TEXT Mentorship: Add Value to Your Career, Workplace, and UX Community Michelle Chin, Andrew Wirtanen, and Joe Bond 1 @triuxpa | #UXmentorship
2. Bios: Who Are Y’all? Michelle Chin 2 Andrew Wirtanen Joe Bond // THE INTRO
3. What We’re Talking About Today 3 // THE INTRO 1. The basics of mentorship 2. The importance of mentorship 3. How to start a mentorship relationship 4. Mentorship myths and legends 5. How to build a mentorship program
4. 4 The Basics // THE BASICS
5. 5 Why Mentorship • By teaching, we learn • Mentoring is an effective way to learn • If we don’t learn, we stagnate • By learning and sharing, we improve • We can work toward goals // THE BASICS
6. 6 Types of Mentorship • 5 types • One more might more suitable for you than another • You already might be doing some sort of mentorship without realizing it! // THE BASICS
7. 7 Types of Mentorship • Direct mentorship • Peer mentorship • Mutual mentorship • Reverse mentorship • Indirect mentorship // THE BASICS A junior-level practitioner learns from a more seasoned practitioner. You’re welcome! You’ll do great! Thanks for your advice on the workshop!
8. 8 Types of Mentorship • Direct mentorship • Peer mentorship • Mutual mentorship • Reverse mentorship • Indirect mentorship // THE BASICS Both individuals are peers and discuss / share knowledge. I haven’t; mind sending me the link? Did you read that article about onboarding?
9. 9 Types of Mentorship • Direct mentorship • Peer mentorship • Mutual mentorship • Reverse mentorship • Indirect mentorship // THE BASICS “Cross-functional” mentorship - both parties learn new things the other knows well. I’d love to learn about CSS! I’d love to learn about user testing!
10. 10 Types of Mentorship • Direct mentorship • Peer mentorship • Mutual mentorship • Reverse mentorship • Indirect mentorship // THE BASICS How do I turn on face swap? A seasoned professional learns from a junior professional.
11. 11 Types of Mentorship • Direct mentorship • Peer mentorship • Mutual mentorship • Reverse mentorship • Indirect mentorship // THE BASICS A mentor provides guidance to a group of people. Do you think I should do an open or closed card sort? What kind of wireframing tool do you use? I’m interested in guerrilla usability testing.
12. 12 Types of Mentorship • Direct mentorship • Peer mentorship • Mutual mentorship • Reverse mentorship • Indirect mentorship • Apprenticeship* // THE BASICS Not mentorship! A formalized program to introduce entry-level practitioners to the role with on-the-job training. Ok, I’m ready! Today, I’ll show you more weld joints.
13. 13 Why the UX Community Needs Mentorship • Grow our discipline • Create a culture of learning and sharing • Accelerate individual professional growth // THE BASICS
14. 14 How to Start a Mentorship Relationship // HOW TO START
15. 15 Major Key: Keep it Simple • Mentorship doesn’t have to be intimidating. • It doesn’t have to be a formal relationship. // HOW TO START
16. 16 4 Steps to Starting 1. Identify your goals + availability 2. Find a mentor/mentee 3. Set expectations 4. Be accountable // HOW TO START
17. 17 Identify your goals + availability • What are your trying to achieve? • How often can you meet? • How can you meet? • How much you are willing to commit? // HOW TO START Nancy: Entry-level UXer, looking for someone to review her portfolio for her next job. Toby: UX designer who’s a team of one at a startup. Wants to every other month to see what trends are going on with other UX practices. Patty: Senior UX designer interested in advancing her career. Wants to mentor junior- level designers to see if she’d like management. Step #1
18. 18 Find a mentor or mentee • Local UX chapter • Meetups • Workplace • Local universities • Professional network 
 (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter) // HOW TO START Step #2 LinkedIn Twitter Medium Think Locally UXPA chapter, meetups, workplace, universities
19. 19 Find a mentor or mentee • Local UX chapter • Meetups • Workplace • Local universities • Professional network 
 (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter) // HOW TO START Step #2 Nancy: Entry-level UXer, looking for someone to review her portfolio for her next job. Found her mentor Andres through the mentorship program with her local UXPA chapter. Toby: UXer who’s a team of one at a startup. Wants to every other month to see what trends are going on with other UX practices. Found his mentor Maya at a UX meetup. Patty: Senior UX designer interested in advancing her career. Wants to mentor junior- level designers to see if she’d like management. Found her mentee Melissa on her team.
20. 20 Set expectations • Mutually agree to how things will work based on what you outlined in Step 1. // HOW TO START Step #3 - Mentee: Will your goals be met? - Mentor: Can you help with the mentee’s goals?
21. Step 3: Set Expectations Nancy + Andres decide to meet for coffee to see he's the right person to provide feedback. She will send over the portfolio via email, then they’ll meet in person to provide feedback. After that they will follow up via email. Timeframe: 3 months Toby + Maya decide to meet for lunch every other month to talk about trends. If there are quick questions, Toby can send them over email. Timeframe: 6 months Patty + Melissa decide to meet twice a month to review UX work and refine skills. Patty offers to provide recommendations for books, tools, and resources, if needed. Timeframe: 3 months 21 // HOW TO START
22. 22 Be Accountable • Respect the effort each party is putting in to make this work. • Have an open line of communication. • Be professional. • DON’T use this for short-sighted gains! // HOW TO START Source Step #4
23. 23 Myths of Mentorship // MYTHS OF MENTORSHIP
24. “ 24 I don’t have enough experience • Try out a different model like peer- to-peer mentorship. • Mentor somebody outside of your discipline. • Write a blog post and push it out to your company (indirect mentorship). Myth #1 // MYTHS OF MENTORSHIP Source
25. “ 25 I don’t have anything to teach • Tell a story about your last project. • Explain a new tool you picked up to a coworker. • Respond on Twitter to an article you just read. Myth #2 // MYTHS OF MENTORSHIP Source
26. “ 26 I don’t have have time • Set boundaries for your mentorship relationship. • Mentor a coworker at your office. • Talk to your manager and see if you can get it added to your responsibilities at work. Myth #3 // MYTHS OF MENTORSHIP Source
27. 27 How to Build a 
 Mentorship Program // THE BLUEPRINTS
28. 28 Why Build a Program? • Mentorship at scale can do a lot of good • If you build it, mentors will come • It’s fun! // THE BLUEPRINTS Source
29. 29 Our Mentorship Program • Started Triangle UXPA Mentorship program in 2014 • Created Mentorship Director position in 2014 • Created web page to explain the program • Emailed our members with links to apply to the program • Mentorship Director coordinated with mentors and mentees • Started a Slack channel // THE BLUEPRINTS
30. 30 The Value of 
 the Program • Mentees can browse a directory to find the right match • New UX professionals have been created • Mentees have become mentors // THE BLUEPRINTS Source
31. 31 The Framework 1. How do people sign up? 2. How are mentors and mentees matched? 3. How will facilitators follow up? 4. How does this program scale? // THE BLUEPRINTS Source
32. 32 Best Practices • Start Small: It makes things manageable • Get Support: Your local UX chapter or company might offer to host the program • Don’t Give Up: It’s tough, but it’s worth the endeavor // THE BLUEPRINTS Source
33. 33 A Quick Mentorship Activity // TEACH ONE THING, LEARN ONE THING
34. 34 Teach + Learn 1. Find a partner. 2. Find something interesting you could teach them. 3. Find something interesting you want to learn from them. 4. If you feel comfortable, share contact information and follow up. // TEACH ONE THING, LEARN ONE THING Source
35. 35 Questions? // Q&A Michelle Chin @soysaucechin Andrew Wirtanen @awirtanen @triuxpa | #UXmentorship Joe Bond @byjoebond