Mentoring during a pandemic

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has certainly been a challenge delivering our mentoring and coaching sessions with our members.

At its core, our programs flourished as a face-to-face mentoring program, at our facilities at Collingwood.   And this provided a safe, family-style, convivial atmosphere where our members can come together, to help and support each other.  In those meetings, our members regularly share their tips, assist and support each other with ideas, and we had discussions and meetups to solve problems.

Since the physical distancing and health restrictions were put in place, we at Masters Broker Group have had to transition our face-to-face mentoring workshops and meetings to using Zoom and phone calls, in the new online-only world.

We have had to lean on our online tools a bit more, using platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Zoom to stay connected with each other.

Weekly Check-Ins

One of the new initiatives we have implemented is a weekly “check-in” Open House, Zoom meeting.  There is no set agenda – apart from touching base, running loan scenarios, industry updates, compliance questions, or simply checking in to see what others are doing.

In a way, this has strengthened the bonds amongst our members during these difficult times.

Online Workshops

We have also had to adapt our workshops to go from face-to-face to wholly online.  We use Zoom to meet up and utilise the screen-sharing features.

The advantages are we don’t need to wear a business suit – though I am sure some of us may still be in their pyjamas or trackie-daks during these meetings.

I don’t think we have missed the time spent in the old Melbourne traffic.

Of course, we have had instances when one of our children have burst into the room, or the NBN has dropped out.  Some of us have experimented with new (and some very interesting) Zoom backgrounds.

We have all had to improve our video conferencing and communication skills.

As a mentor, this has also meant that the preparation for our workshops is different.  Instead of handouts, we have to prepare PDFs and ensuring the uploads are small enough to be emailed.

Overall the experience has been a positive one, with different benefits and lessons gained.

The new normal

The world has changed.  We have all changed, too.  Every day we hear more about the “new normal”, and we have had to pivot to meet our new circumstances head-on.

With the support, the collective ideas, community spirit and camaraderie within Masters Broking Group, we are confident that we will grow stronger than ever.

Contact us if you need a mentor to create a highly successful and profitable mortgage broking business.