How a perfect stranger in a virtual world could be your very own professional coach. By Megan Stoyles.

Aged Care Queensland’s (ACQ) new e-mentoring program has successfully used technology to establish contacts and personal development between aged care and community staff working in remote and rural locations.

The six month trial program began in December 2008 and aimed to link 60 mentors and staff.

These experiences, and other research on mentoring and e-mentoring programs in Australia and overseas, were evaluated and used to produce a CD in October. This describes how e-mentoring programs work and how to establish programs, with further advice if required.

“It is evident from this short project that computer-mediated communication offers significant opportunities for networking and collaboration, not just for mentoring but for wider workplace practices, professional development, and improving staffs’ skill mix,” says ACQ’s community care manager Anne Livingstone.

E-mentoring also received strong endorsement from those who participated in the program.

John Camuglia-May, managing director at Vivir, a health care service group providing allied services to the aged and community care sectors, and Angie James, the community program manager of RSL Care’s Wide Bay & Central Queensland region, were successfully bought together under the program.

“I wanted to not only be able to give back to the industry, but also to observe its usefulness for use in Vivir,” Camuglia-May says.

James says she had been considering identifying a mentor for some months. “Although we have many great leaders within our organisation, I felt I might gain a different perspective from someone in the wider community,” she says. 

She chose Camuglia-May as her mentor out of three possibilities because of his work and community experience and expertise. 

“Once we agreed to work together, we were provided with each other’s email addresses and made initial contact. Then we held weekly meetings via Skype, and followed up with emails as required. We maintained an e-mentoring contract and added to it after each session,” she says.

They finally met face-to-face at ACQ’s community care forum in Brisbane last July.

Angie says she was inspired by her mentor.

“Together we set goals, the biggest being to gain a work-home life balance. We identified steps in order to reach this balance, and set about overcoming identified challenges in a timely manner without setting myself up to fail. He also guided me and gave me some tools to better equip myself in the workplace. He always listened to me, always offered a fresh perspective and ideas for dealing with activities and steps toward my goals, but never directed or pushed his thoughts.”

James says her workplace will benefit from her gaining knowledge on different perspectives of dealing with people and situations, as well as balancing her work and home life, therefore dealing with day-to-day occurrences with a clear open mind.

“I have learnt that I work to live, not live to work, yet continue to commit to my work during work hours. My employer has gained a more rounded, open to new experiences person and this can only be good in an industry that is changing and must diversify to meet a changing society.

“E-mentoring came along just as I needed a fresh perspective and to think outside the square. By completing this project with a mentor – outside my own organisation – offered me that opportunity.” 

Camuglia-May says Angie benefited from gaining experience through role play and improving work-life balance, assertiveness and problem solving.

“It reminded me of how much one does learn over time, the diversity of that knowledge, and the ease of transfer of such knowledge. Guidance is not only important but beneficial for all even at senior management level, and more supervised assistance should be offered within an organisation to develop your team.”

James says that growth and learning are very much dependent on the person and their commitment to the process. 

“People who participate in projects, such as e-mentoring, open themselves up to new adventures, to adapting to changes, looking at life from a fresh perspective and are intrinsically motivated to grow and learn. These types of people make good employees due to these factors.”

Both Camuglia-May and James say that a longer period for the mentoring program would be beneficial to both parties.

“It was just a shame that it was for such a short timeframe,” James says. “We had just settled in to accomplishing lots of steps when we had to finish. We both agreed to leave the door open to maintain contact if needed after the project.”

header Further details, email communitycare@acqi.org.au>>>