Clear and ongoing communication enables mentors and mentees to connect across difference, develop trust and collegiality, and calibrate mentoring approaches to a mentee’s needs and professional and academic goals.

Topics that a mentor and a mentee should discuss include working preferences (e.g., method and frequency of communication), how to relay urgent concerns or check in, and opportunities to review and refine mutual expectations.

Mentor Commitments

As a mentor I will …

• discuss my mentoring philosophy and work style preferences with a student before committing to mentor them.
• define preferred methods of communication and expected response times based on their purpose (routine, emergency, etc.).
• work with my mentee to determine how frequently we should meet and how our meetings should be structured.
• clarify the follow up actions each of us will be responsible for after our meetings and their timing.
• make myself accessible to mentees to discuss their interests, aspirations, and issues of concern.
• work with my mentee to establish and retain a shared understanding of our expectations through ongoing communication.
• ask and invite questions and feedback from my mentee to create opportunities to strengthen our relationship and achieve greater transparency and understanding.
• communicate to my mentee my capacity and professional boundaries within our mentoring relationship and demonstrate respect for their corresponding boundaries.

Mentee Commitments

As a mentee, I will …

• consider my mentoring needs so I can work to identify and establish a broad network of mentors.
• seek to understand my work style and communication preferences and those of my mentor so we can define how to productively work together.
• work with my mentor to determine how frequently we should meet and how our meetings should be structured.
• clarify the follow up actions and timing each of us will be responsible for after our meetings.
• work with my mentor to establish and retain a shared understanding of our expectations through ongoing communication.
• communicate with my mentor about my interests, aspirations, and issues of concern.
• ask and invite questions and feedback from my mentor to strengthen our relationship and achieve greater transparency and understanding.
• communicate to my mentor my capacity and professional boundaries within our mentoring relationship and demonstrate respect for their corresponding boundaries.

Additional Resources

• Leck, J., & Orser, B. (2013). Fostering trust in mentoring relationships: an exploratory study. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 32(4), 410–425. https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-01-2010-0007
• Eller, L. S., Lev, E. L., & Feurer, A. (2014). Key components of an effective mentoring relationship: A qualitative study. Nurse Education Today, 34, 815–820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2013.07.020
• Byrnes Jr., D. J., Uribe-Flórez, L. J., Trespalacios, J., & Chilson, J. (2019). Doctoral e-mentoring: Current practices and effective strategies. Online Learning, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v23i1.1446