My first official chartership meeting

Chartership: Mentor / Mentee agreement

I had my first “official” chartership meeting with my mentor (@LisaJeskins) last Thursday. It was the day we officially agreed upon the mentorship agreement.

The mentorship agreement outlined what the purpose of the chartership process is, but more specifically what the mentorship element of chartership meant to us. What was the purpose of the mentor/mentee relationship? What did we (and I) hope to achieve? What were the foreseeable difficulties or obstacles? Was there anything in the cupboard that needed airing, putting out to dry?

We both agreed the primary purpose of the mentorship was to guide, to help, to assist my evidence gathering, to provide advice and information relating to chartership and professional development, to be a sounding board. Poetically put, it was to shine a light on any muddy paths - I once remember reading somewhere that chartership is a like journey, and I’d need a torch at some point.

We also agreed how we would communicate with one another, how often we should communicate with each other, and whether or not we had any no-go areas. We didn’t set any off limit areas. But if they ever came up, we would address them there and then at the time they came up.

We both decided that we didn’t require a set date to meet - we thought it wiser to arrange meetings as and when we need to discuss something. We had a desire to use social media - we are already using Twitter to communicate with each other. Dropbox to share documents wasn’t a bad idea either.

On reflection then it was a luminous success. It made me feel enthused, motivated, and even inspired at one point. Without sounding overly gushing, my mentor has some excellent experiences under her belt, and will no doubt provide invaluable advice and guidance - I am aware my mentor might read this, so no pressure there.