What types of mentoring exist?

Most common is the traditional mentoring, i.e. a 1:1 talk between mentor and mentee, 1 to 1.5 hours every 2 to 6 weeks, on-site or remotely, there are a few other formats, such as:

• Job-shadowing: The mentee follows the mentor like a shadow and is learning by assisting and observing during one day to four weeks (or more). It is a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) mentoring, whereas a senior peer shows the art and skills of a craft. Directly embedded in the practice.
• Virtual shadowing: Similar to the on-site shadowing, but both working online. Typically the mentee observes how the mentor is preparing, managing and following-up different kind of meetings, e.g. with team members, working groups, externals etc.
• Shorter-term, mentoring models include those with one up to three mentoring meetings, the so called Speed and Flash Mentoring. Another P2P mentoring form are the Buddy-systems.
• The “peer tandem learning” is as well a kind of mentoring, wherein the partners are switching the roles: Each peer has a specific knowledge that they want to learn from the other, e.g. used for learning languages.
• “Reverse mentoring”, where a younger staff inducts a senior person into new technology.
• Finally, there is also group mentoring settings with several mentees.