Mentors for Business Growth

[Trudi Eisenhour]

We have been exploring integrating mentors into our coworking space. I have looked at office hours and slack channel usage, but I'm curious how others are providing their members access to a mentor network and how you are best getting the two connected. 

[Jonathan Manierre]

Hi Trudi,

We are in the process of launching a coworking facility in White Plains, NY and have similar intentions...initial thoughts were to slowly roll out a 'mentorship network' by including small events/talks featuring mentors from different professions (accountants, lawyers, business analysts, etc.) and presenting it as a series to both members and the general public (in order to drum up our membership numbers as we are brand new!). Phase 2 of the network implementation is a bit more gray area, and it sounds like that's where you are - I think the slack channel being open for certain times and calling it 'office hours' might be helpful to your membership, as it is something you can really promote without forcing your mentors to commit to too much. Let me know how you proceed and I'll send through any more ideas that we come up with on our end as well!

[Alex Linsker]

At Collective Agency, five years ago, there was interest in peer-to-peer skill-sharing more than in 'mentors' and 'mentees' specifically. We have Lightning Talks where people share what they're working on with the goal of learning by sharing, and then get feedback from members. So the learning is reciprocal.

Recently people have talked about and provided mutual support on: personal relationships, parenting, JavaScript, blues dancing, salsa dancing, crafting, sewing, capital expansion, buying and renting houses in Portland, hiring employees, etc.

The infrastructure we have to do this is: 

- everybody works alongside everybody else in a big room, with access to conference rooms 3 hours per day per person. That gets us overhearing conversations and starting conversations and getting to know each other.

- optional events: lunch almost every day, Lightning Talks (or other similar events) every month, happy hour once a month, optional member meeting once a month where people suggest ways to make here even better, and other events.

- member names and photos on the wall here.

- potlucks which makes it easy for people to feel appreciated and be appreciative.

- impromptu conversations.

- wording on the Membership page attracts people who want all this.

- Community Guidelines posted on the website and outside the kitchen which makes almost all conversations inspiring and energizing by filtering out conversations where people aren't considerate and mindful of other people.

Alex Linsker, Collective Agency http://collectiveagency.co/