REVERSE
THINKING

Reverse mentoring – which typically sees a more experienced person placed in the role of mentee and a less “work-experienced” person as mentor – has been around for decades, but has recently grown in popularity in many professional sectors as a tool to explore issues relating to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at work. Reverse mentoring challenges the status quo and recognises mentors’ lived experience as expertise. Consequently, many such projects involve mentors who identify as coming from backgrounds that are under-represented within their organisation.

Through fostering authentic and confidential conversations about typically “uncomfortable” topics, reverse mentoring can be a catalyst for wider organisational changes – a stepping stone towards more inclusive cultures. If you’re considering implementing your own reverse mentoring scheme, here are some top tips to consider:

Consult with your people.

The best reverse mentoring schemes are designed with mentors and mentees in mind. Consider consulting with interested participants when designing your scheme, for example, running roundtable discussions with potential participants to discuss what they would want to see embedded into the scheme. This can significantly enhance the authenticity of the project.

Pin down your purpose.

Reverse mentoring is at risk of becoming a tick-box exercise if it doesn’t have clear purpose. Before starting out, know what it is you want reverse mentoring to attempt to address. For example, as leader of a reverse mentoring project that involves LawCare and the University of Leeds, I am exploring how EDI and wellbeing issues could be better embedded into supervision for junior lawyers.

"Know what you want reverse mentoring to attempt to address"

Support your participants.

The conversations sparked by reverse mentoring can be emotive and challenging, albeit often also therapeutic and rewarding. Consequently, it’s important to have a robust support structure in place so everyone involved feels they have someone to turn to if they’re facing difficulties. In my current project, we are working with a team of “support buddies” (members of the legal profession passionate about EDI and wellbeing) who meet semi-regularly with participants for supportive discussions throughout the process.

Leave space for individuality.

It’s important to provide some structure for mentors and mentees, such as a handbook with suggested meeting topics and an introductory information session. It can be too much to expect two people at different ends of an organisation to be able to instantly strike up conversations about EDI and for the (often junior) mentor to be able to lead. Supporting them with prompts can be critical to maintaining the reversed (or level) power dynamics and encourage mentors to feel empowered. However, it’s important to acknowledge to mentors and mentees that any guides are just suggestions, and that sometimes conversations that develop organically once trust and confidence is built can be the best kind!

Rachael O’Connor is a Trustee of LawCare and Associate Professor in Law at the University of Leeds, and leads a reverse mentoring project being run by those two organisations. Find out more at lawcare.org.uk
r.e.oconnor@leeds.ac.uk

Rachael is happy to hear from anyone who is interested in setting up reverse mentoring in their organisation.

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