What is coaching and mentoring?
Coaching and mentoring are development techniques based on the use of one-to-one or group discussions to enhance an individual’s skills, knowledge or work performance. Whilst there are distinctions between coaching and mentoring, the two terms are often used interchangeably.
Find out more about our current project: Coaching and Mentoring Centre of Excellence.
What we offer
The Creative Communities Unit at Staffordshire University welcomes the opportunity to work with organisations, communities and individuals to help develop people with a range of coaching and mentoring interventions.
We are a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council which exists to promote good practice in mentoring and coaching across Europe.
We deliver three coaching and mentoring elements:
Performance and Skills Coaching
We work with people in a series of one-to-one sessions tailored specifically to the individual, their knowledge, experience, maturity and ambitions. We help them to raise skill levels and enhance performance, covering a range of issues such as effective delegation, supervision, time management and goal setting.
One of our specialisms is helping people to achieve a good work-life balance – this increases effectiveness and productivity as well as supporting family life and achieving personal goals and ambitions.
Peer Mentoring
In order to encourage peer support, embed changes in behaviour, provide sustainability and enable continuous professional development, we have three peer mentoring options:
Option One: We set up and run mentoring schemes for clients on an on-going basis
Option Two: We set up the scheme and deliver training for clients to facilitate the scheme themselves
Option Three: A combination of options one and two whereby we initially set up and run the scheme, but as the peer mentoring group matures and becomes more skilled, we train the participants to facilitate the scheme themselves.
We are currently running a Mentoring Hub for people starting or growing social enterprises in and around Staffordshire. For more information, see the Social Enterprise Peer Mentoring Hub page.
Mentoring Training
We offer two training packages to develop the mentoring skills of individuals and teams:
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Staffordshire University Certificate of Credit in Mentoring Theory and Practice
This is available either as a closed programme and tailored to suit the needs of individual organisations / groups / communities, or participants attend an open programme where they will benefit from working with people from a range of different backgrounds, experiences and skill levels. The programme is held over six half-days or three full-days to give maximum flexibility to our clients whilst minimising the impact of time away from the workplace or community. Participants submit a portfolio for assessment in order to achieve the Certificate of Credit. Alternatively they may elect to attend the sessions without completing an assessment and receive a Certificate of Attendance.
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Manager’s Toolkit – Practical Mentoring Skills
We deliver interactive workshops designed to equip participants with a range of tools and techniques for setting up, running and evaluating mentoring schemes. The time involved depends upon the specific objectives of the programme and our client’s experience of mentoring. We are currently providing mentoring training for a team of managers in the community and voluntary sector.