Mentors (Mentoring Others)

Helping others to succeed

Do you like helping your OR colleagues? Do you enjoy sharing your experiences and offering advice? We are running one-to-one mentoring sessions at the EURO conference as part of the Making an Impact stream. Mentoring sessions will last for 15-20 minutes each and typically you could expect to meet up to three people. 

Although this is a bit different to a long term mentoring partnership, it still has several benefits:
• Build your leadership skills - It helps you develop your ability to motivate and encourage others.
• Improve your communication skills - Your mentee may come from a different background or environment, the two of you may not "speak the same language." 
• See new perspectives - By talking to someone you might not normally meet, you can gain a fresh perspective on things and learn a new way of thinking.
• Gain personal satisfaction - It can be very personally fulfilling to share your knowledge and skills to help someone else with a problem they have. 

How to get involved

To put yourself forward as a mentor, just go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3CFWDWH and fill in the simple form. Below, we suggest some topics you may want to give advice on - but the choice is up to you. You do not need to be vastly experienced - but you must have some areas of strength that you can share with others looking for support in those areas. Given the multi-national nature of the conference, we are looking for mentors from all nationalities to make it possible for people to be mentored by somebody from their own environment/in their own language.

These sessions are for people who would value the opportunity to speak to someone outside of their normal roles or work. They will choose to meet and talk with you and are expected to lead the conversation. You should expect to be open and honest, listen, ask questions and share your experiences.

If you are coming to the conference and would like to volunteer an hour of your time, please get in touch at
[email protected].

Ideas for topics you could offer help on

Managing personal development and a career
• Switching sectors
• Changing jobs
• Transitioning from technical ‘doer’ to managing technical teams
• Finding the right mentor
• Making contacts, building a network
• Getting recognition when you’re a technical expert
• Writing a good CV and doing well in interviews

Managing a team
• Recruiting, training, rewarding and retaining the right people
• Making sure your modellers spend their time modelling
• Delegating without tears
• Inspiring others

Making more of an impact
•         Selling your services
•         Communicating technical results
•         Influencing non technical people
•         Getting projects implemented