Match Mentors & Mentees


Context

In this training article, we will explore the diverse matching methods available on the virtual mentoring platform, empowering program administrators with the ability to create optimal mentor-mentee pairings. Recognizing that different mentoring programs have unique requirements and preferences, the platform offers a range of flexible matching methods to suit various needs. This article serves as a comprehensive guide, presenting a table that outlines each matching method alongside a concise description. By familiarizing themselves with these options, program administrators can effectively leverage the platform's capabilities to facilitate meaningful and successful mentor-mentee connections. 


Matching Methods Overview
Self-Initiated Match Speed Match
This feature enables young people and volunteer mentors to browse through available mentor/mentee profiles and initiate mentoring requests. Program administrators have the flexibility to activate or deactivate this feature as needed, granting participants more control over their matching process. Utilizing advanced algorithms, the Speed Match feature analyzes mentors and mentees' profiles to identify commonalities and compatibility. The system then provides recommendations for matches based on these insights. This feature is particularly beneficial for programs with a large number of participants, significantly reducing the workload for program administrators in manual matching and the need to individually analyze each participant.
Manual Match Group Mentoring Match
Program administrators have the option to manually match mentors and mentees, which can be particularly useful for programs onboarding participants who have already been matched outside the platform.  This feature accommodates specific program requirements and facilitates seamless integration for pre-existing mentor-mentee pairs, ensuring a smooth transition into the virtual mentoring platform.  For programs that offer group mentoring, the platform facilitates the creation of mentor-to-mentee group configurations. Program administrators can establish groups consisting of one mentor to many mentees or multiple mentors to many mentees.

Please note that all matching methods can be used simultaneously. 


Self-Initiated Match

When the self-initiated match feature is activated, you will find on the left-hand side menu either the "Mentors" or "Mentees" tab, depending on the current mentoring role of the user. As a mentee, they will see a tab specifically designated for searching "mentors," and vice versa. Secondly, upon clicking on an available mentor or mentee profile, you will find the presence of a "Send Invitation" button, enabling the mentor or mentee to initiate the mentoring request.

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1.0 To activate or deactivate this function, access your administrator's dashboard by clicking "Admin".

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1.1 Look for the "Searches" toggle button under the "Matching" tile located on the first row of the administrator's dashboard.

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1.2 When the circular shape of the toggle button is moved to the right, it indicates that the self-initiated matching feature is active. 

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1.3 To deactivate, click the toggle button. When the circular shape of the toggle button is moved to the left, it signifies that the feature is inactive.

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1.4 A message appears on top of the page, advising you that mentors and mentees will no longer be able to search for a match. Click OK to confirm the change or Cancel.

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Search by Name & Email Address

1.5 It is possible to allow mentors and mentees to search for a match by name or email address. A program administrator will have to activate that search criteria.

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1.5.1 From the administrator dashboard, navigate to the "Profiles & Feedback" tile located on the third row, and click on "Manage Content" to access the corresponding section.

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1.5.2 A new dialog box will appear. Click on "Profile Fields" within the box.

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1.5.3 Click on "Manage Profile Fields".

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1.5.4 Click Active next to the "Search by Name or Email" option. The dark grey option is the current selection.

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1.5.5 Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Update Fields to save your change.

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1.5.6 It is possible to deactivate this option by following the same process but selecting Inactive at step 1.5.4

Member Invites

By default, Members in MentorCity can send invites to one another to establish a mentoring relationship connection. However, an enhancement to this feature has been developed to allow administrators to control this invite function. Administrators can now turn off their member’s ability to send invitations to one another.

By turning off mentees’ ability to directly send mentoring invitation requests, program administrators can remove the pressure of matching and allow mentees to start conversations and shop around for the best fit before being matched with a mentor. This approach is leading to more successful mentor-mentee matches, as members can take the time to get to know each other and ensure that they are a good fit before committing to a formal mentoring relationship.

Example: Suppose you are starting a new program cycle; in that case, you can temporarily disable the feature that allows mentors and mentees to send mentoring invitations for a month, enabling them to interact and get to know each other before making a commitment. Once the participants have familiarized themselves with one another, you can turn the invitation feature back on, allowing them to start official mentorship with those who have found a good fit during the trial period.

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Doing so allows members to instead send messages to and, in essence, “shop around” for potential connection before committing to a mentoring relationship.

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Note: if members have already hit their maximum quota of mentors/mentees, this will allow them to still communicate with others on the platform.

1.6  From the administrator dashboard, navigate to the "Organization Profile" tile located on the first row, and click on "Edit Settings".

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1.6.1 Click the "Members Settings" tab.

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1.6.2 To prevent mentors and mentees from sending mentoring invitations, check the corresponding 2 boxes next to the permission options shown in the provided screen capture.

1.6.3 After making the desired selections, click "Next" to save the update.

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Speed Match

2.0 To use the Speed Match function, access your administrator's dashboard by clicking on "Admin".

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2.1 From the administrator dashboard, navigate to the "Matching" tile located on the first row, and click on "Speed Match" to access the corresponding section. 

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2.1.1 This box will appear. Click on "Speed Match" once more.

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2.2 The first time that you click on this option, the system may need a few minutes to generate matches based on the size of your mentoring program. A message appears at the top of the page letting you know the system is processing your request.

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2.3 When matches are ready, an email is sent to the program administrator.

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2.4 Return to the administrator dashboard and click on "Speed Match" once more as indicated in steps 2.1 and 2.1.1 to view the generated matches.

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2.5.1 Results can be filtered using the compatibility results filters/tabs at the top of the page.

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image-1658956433875.png2.5.2 The compatibility percentage is displayed at the top of each match in the blue banner.

2.5.3 Profile commonalities are highlighted in yellow.

2.5.4 Number of current matches are displayed. This number will be above 1 when mentors and mentees are allowed to have multiple matches and are still available to be matched.

2.5.5 The mentor and mentee last activity date is displayed here.

2.5.6 A text box is offered to administrators to share notes about the match between each other, or, for an administrator to take notes for themselves.

2.5.7 Competencies compatibility is related to the self-evaluation (section 3 of the profile). The compatibility can be displayed as High, Medium, Low or N/A if the competencies section is hidden from mentors and mentees profiles.

2.6 To override some recommended matches, uncheck the "Match Mentee" box. You can also click on Select/Deselect to select or deselect all results.

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2.7 To accept the recommended matches, click Match # Relationship. Voilà! Mentors and mentees have been matched and can start interacting.

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2.8 To view the newly created mentorships, click on the "Relationships" tile located on the second row of administrator dashboard.

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Speed Match Criteria

2.9 Speed Match Criteria is used when you want to match mentees based on a specific option from one of your custom field. For example, we have created a custom field called "Pronouns" with the options of "she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, other, prefer not to answer". For this example, we will pretend that we want to match all mentees that have selected "She/her/hers" as their preferred pronouns.  

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Please note that once this is set, Speed Match will only display mentees who have selected this option in their profile field.

2.9.1 From the administrator dashboard, navigate to the "Matching" tile located on the first row, and click on "Speed Match" to access the corresponding section. 

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2.9.2 A new dialogue box will appear. Click on "Profile Field".

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2.9.3 Select a custom field. In this example, we will select "Pronouns"

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2.9.4 Select an option. In this example, we will select "She/her/hers" and click Start Speed Match.

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2.9.5 A message appears letting you know the matches are being reset based on your request and an email will be sent shortly once the matches are ready. Click OK.

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2.9.6 Once ready, return to the administrator dashboard and click on "Speed Match" and when the speed match box comes up, click "Speed Match" again.

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2.9.7 Accept or override matches as needed.

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2.9.8 To reset the results and no longer include a specific matching criteria, click on Reset Matches

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Speed Match Specific Members

2.9.9 MentorCity has enhanced their Speed Match functionality by allowing program administrators to match specific lists of members with each other. When you click on "Speed Match" a box will appear. Click on "Add/Remove Participants".

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This new release allows  program administrators to match a set of mentors and mentees for a specific purpose, such as speed mentoring or group conversations. This feature is particularly useful for mentoring programs that occasionally host events and would like a helping hand from the virtual mentoring platform algorithms to recommend the best matches for such purposes. By leveraging this feature, programs can ensure that participants have a positive and impactful experience during these events.

2.9.9.1 Download the sample file and insert your members’ email addresses, and specify whether you want them to be mentees or mentors. 

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2.9.9.2 After filling the CSV file with your members' information, ensure that you save it on your computer. Then, click on "Choose a File" to browse your computer for the completed CSV file. Once you locate the file, click "Open."

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2.9.9.3 Finally, select "Import" to initiate the import process for the members listed in your document.

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2.9.9.4 Once the import is completed, the list of mentors and mentees will appear on the page. Click "Start Speed Match" to start the matching process. 

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2.9.9.5 As usual, you will get the following message letting you know the matching process is in progress.

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2.9.9.6 Once ready, return to the administrator dashboard and click on "Speed Match" and when the speed match box comes up, click "Speed Match" again to view the results.

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Note: For this process to work successfully, you will need an even number of mentees and mentors in the file the individuals listed on the document must have an existing account on the virtual mentoring platform. Also, this enhanced feature may come in handy if you are having an event and would only like to match the participants who attend the event. 


Manual Match

3.0 To access the manual matching function, access your administrator dashboard by clicking on "Admin".

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3.1 From the administrator dashboard, navigate to the "Matching" tile located on the first row, and click on "Matching Members" to access the corresponding section. 

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3.2 The system displays available mentees. To match a mentee, click on Match under the "Actions" column.

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3.2.1 If the list is long, and you want to easily find a mentee, type their name in the "Search Text" box and click Search.

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3.3 Once you clicked on Match, scroll down on the following page until you see "Option 1" and "Option 2".

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3.3.1 Use "Option 1" if you already know who you want to match the mentee with. Type in the first name or email of the mentor in this field and press "Enter". 

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3.3.2 Use "Option 2" when you want to find a mentor based on "Specialized skills", "Industry", "Job function", "Years of experience" or  "Meeting locations". Make your selections and click Search.

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3.4 Once you click "Enter" or Search, the page will refresh, and available mentors will be displayed on the page. Scroll down to view the results.

3.5 Click on Match Mentee Name with Mentor Name when you are ready to match a mentee with a mentor. 

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Group Mentoring Match

Please refer to this article: Create Mentoring Groups

If you have questions or need further support, please contact our Support Team: support@mentoringcanada.ca