Being a mentor during the Covid-19 Pandemic is different. Everything we do currently is different. From working remotely for many, to how we socialise and shop. Most people, both at work and home, are experiencing a far greater level of stress than normal. Mentees can adopt a different practical emphasis, both to maximise the impact of their learning and to support them to thrive through the chaos. Mentors need new behaviours to support their mentees in more innovative ways. And organisations need the benefits of mentoring more than ever!
How to mentor during the Covid-19 Pandemic
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What a roller-coaster six months the whole world has experienced. From the stress of moving to working from home, to being on furlough or losing your job, to the pressures of home schooling, isolation and lack of contact or being available online 24/7. Some has been work-related stress, anxiety about the global pandemic or economic recession, bereavement or grief over losing our old ‘normality’. People have had to face it all! Our collective mental health has suffered during this period. Let’s explore what impact the pandemic has taken on mental health and how coaching and mentoring can provide support to help people feel emotionally and mentally well as they go forward in this difficult period.
Every day we face alarming news, fake or otherwise, that throws our minds into turmoil. How we decide to react, engage and evaluate our situation is down to us, our mindset, our ability to be resilient and how we develop our adaptive capacity. We have two solutions to support yourselves or encourage others, to make the best choices during this pandemic, maintain good mental health and to thrive through chaos!
The months of lockdown have had a huge impact on us all. With the ongoing restrictions and uncertainty that we continue to face, and the added strain of shorter days and worsening weather, the impact and stresses are unlikely to lessen over the coming months.
Resilience is something I don’t usually lack—so why am I feeling anxiety and worry? The unprecedented lockdown conditions and uncertainly of what lies ahead after these times, have caused many of us to feel anxiety and worry—and quite rightly so. There are no predetermined rules for the intensity of the emotions we might feel; we don’t need to be preforming a particular role, or be in a specific working environment to experience them.
Most of your workforce will be working from home or furloughed. How are they doing? We don’t have to sell you the 
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The Coach Mentoring Ltd team has been working virtually for the last 15 years. In fact in 2019 we delivered 90% of our business virtually—this suited both us and our clients. We are now moving to 100% virtual delivery as a result of the Covid-19 virus pandemic. So it’s very much business as usual; we aren’t anticipating any change to the high quality of service our clients enjoy.
NSK Ltd approached Coach Mentoring Ltd to add value to their CPD days for Dental Hygienist and Dental Therapists. The Japanese manufacturer of Dental Instruments views Therapists and Hygienist as key influencers in decision-making when dental practices are procuring new equipment. They wanted to dedicate part of their development day to the balance of the lives of those who care for the our teeth at the ‘ground level’. The idea was to use Ikigai to add purpose and be a way of bringing lightness to some of the drier content in the technical side of peri-dental care.
What can we do to improve our own mental health especially at this time of year? My yoga classes have been busy recently and the weather forecasts gloomy. Rain, rain and more rain. With the time change, we are officially in British Winter Time, or the northern hemisphere winter, we have significantly fewer opportunities to be outside in the day light.