Group Mentoring: Is it Right for Your Business?

Group Mentoring is, and many ways, the same as regular mentoring. They both involve mentors working with their mentees to improve in some area that the mentee is lacking it, they both require clear and open communication between the parties to be effective, and they both can have many of the same pitfalls that prevent growth. However, group mentoring has quite a few characteristics that set it apart from individual mentoring, which gives it a boon in many areas over individual mentoring, but also makes it fall behind in others. Group Mentoring as a tool has been gaining more and more traction in recent years, especially with the separation the pandemic has brought to most workers. By looking at these key benefits and drawbacks of this relatively new system, you can determine if this way is right for you.

Pro: Group Mentoring introduces a greater diversity of thought.

A common pitfall of individual mentoring is that the individual mentor controls pretty much everywhere the mentorship can go. Overall, this is one of the main weaknesses of mentoring, as an ineffective mentor can cause more harm than good. Meanwhile, Group mentoring can have multiple mentors and thus many different viewpoints to cover each other. Not only does the diversity of thought pertain to the mentors, but to the mentees as well. Through peer mentoring, a mentor can get improvement tips not only from the mentors but also from their fellow mentees. This gives the mentee a bevvy of information that they can use to improve at their selected goal.

Con: It’s not as effective at solving individual needs.

As the saying goes: “many hands make light work”, but another goes: “too many cooks spoil the broth”. Both of these adages can and often are true. By having too many different teachers, it can be difficult for individuals to really focus on one or two traits that they can personally grow in. Not only that, but group mentoring is just that, a group. The onus to improve oneself can be lost in the static of everyone else’s issues, and that can result in a better group performance at the expense of individual ones.

Pro: Group mentoring is far more useful for team building and cohesion.

And on the topic of group performance, this is a place where group mentoring can really shine. By providing a neutral space and neutral mentors, the group can have somewhere where they can discuss and work through their problems as a team. If one were to attempt to build a team through a series of individual mentorships, each member can easily fall on personal bias and blame others for the issues. By having each member work together to solve their difficulties, group mentoring ensures that they are appropriately handled.

Con: Individuals can be less open about personal flaws.

Let’s face it, everyone wants to impress others, and in a group setting, this still rings true. While group mentoring provides a platform for everyone to “air out” their issues with each other, it can also lead to the opposite of being handled poorly. For example, if the conflict is one of personality, as a core part of a person’s identity, such a critique might be denied in a public setting. In order to be effective, the mentors must emphasize the neutrality of the group, in order to avoid any blaming of bias.

Pro: Group Mentoring can be more easily focused.

Individual mentoring works on a personal level it can’t function without it. And this need for a personal relationship can cause some major issues with mentoring. For example, according to a study from Leanin, senior-level men are 12x more likely to be uncomfortable working 1-on-1 with a junior-level woman than the other way around. This issue is caused by a variety of factors, none of which said woman is to blame for. And in the cases where personal relationships do form, they can be distracted by “friend goggles” if the mentor is inexperienced at their job. By not having nearly as much of a need for individual chemistry between mentors and mentees, the job can be directly focused on the task at hand.

Con: It has less room for growth outside of its mission.

Of course, one of the best things about mentoring is the mentor seeing something in their mentee, and helping them foster a new skill that they didn’t know they had. The lack of a personal tie between the individual and their mentor can lead to a degree of disassociation between the two. This makes group mentoring more effective at hammering in a specific topic, but less able to notice the personal growth of the mentees and then push them forward.

Pro: Group Mentoring is far more resource efficient.

Say you’re a small business, and you have to train a relatively sizable group of people for a job. You simply don’t have the time nor the resources to hire an individual mentor for everyone. Group mentoring can fill this by acting in a pseudo-school role, having the mentors act like teachers. This allows for larger groups of people to grow at the same time while avoiding the costs of having to mentor each individual.

Con: It lacks that personal relationship that can inspire growth.

Personal relationships are the greatest strength and weakness of individual mentoring. Yes, it can lead off on tangents, and ones without chemistry can ruin the experience; but at the same time, when it works, it works. There’s nothing like having that individual coach, friend, or cheerleader that can push someone to new levels. Sometimes, all it takes is the one to make someone a success. It’s not perfect, but one way to see it is as the difference between a group exercise session or a personal trainer, they each have their benefits and drawbacks.

Group mentoring, like individual mentoring, has its pros and cons, and an effective business will utilize both depending on the situation. But in order to know which method is effective when, one needs to properly understand the different strengths and weaknesses that each one brings to the table. The list here is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a good starting point to reaching that understanding. Be sure to take these into account, and you’ll be well on your way to understanding when it is right for you!