Tips for Mentoring and Coaching UX Team Members
Introduction
Nearly everyone I’ve ever met in the UX world had a long and winding path that led them to working in user experience. They may have begun as a graphic designer, a developer, a marketer, or a social scientist. Or—perhaps they attended a bootcamp for a major career change.
One of the things about the user experience industry that’s great is that people from so many backgrounds can find success and fulfillment doing the work. Working in a UX role requires so many different skills and areas of expertise. This is what enables people with many different strengths to contribute their knowledge.
But, it’s a double-edged sword. While it’s undeniably a plus that the path to UX can take so many forms, it also makes it challenging for some to envision their journey to landing their first UX job. There’s imposter syndrome, but also the purely practical side: what experience should I highlight? Are “fake” case studies from my boot camp class enough to land me a job? How do I tell my story in a way that creates a clear through-line from my work history to a UX role? How can I get a hiring manager to take a chance on me?
Mentoring and coaching can help people trying to make that giant leap into their first user experience position. It allows you to lift up others and impart the historical knowledge you have from working in the field, and to leverage your network on their behalf as they work to make their own connections.
From a team perspective, mentoring and coaching grows current employees’ skillsets and creates a team with deeper expertise. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Establishing a Supportive Environment
Being a mentor starts way before you have a proper mentor-mentee meeting. In order to establish that relationship, you need to develop a space where a mentee or colleague feels comfortable opening up to you. They need to know that you’ll offer a judgment-free, honest setting for them to ask questions and learn. The foundation of any successful partnership is trust and respect.
And, remember—growth goes both ways. While an acquaintance or colleague may seek you out for mentorship, they have plenty of topics that they’re already experts. Ensure that they feel comfortable speaking openly with you and that they know there are no stupid questions. Finally, make it clear to them you are curious to learn from them and their life experiences just as they are excited to learn from you.
Encouraging a culture of feedback and growth
Feedback and growth aren’t something that are limited to 1-1 meetings. Model giving and receiving feedback outside of structured mentoring or 1-1 sessions. Be deliberate about how and when you’re giving feedback in meetings. Then, when appropriate, share examples as they come up with your mentee. One example might be stakeholder management.
Setting Clear Goals and Expectations
A good starting point for mentoring or coaching anyone is to ask them directly: Are they open to receiving advice or feedback? What are they hoping to get out of chatting with you?
There are several types of mentorship: formal and informal, and long-term vs. one-off. If you’re entering a formal mentoring relationship, make sure goals with your mentee are collaboratively developed at the outset. Those goals should be specific to your mentee. An aspiring designer and aspiring researcher are likely not going to want to develop the exact same skillset. Additionally, some people feel naturally more comfortable with soft skills like teamwork and active listening, while others might have concrete tools they wish to learn (maybe leveling up their Figma skills).
The SMART framework provides an excellent structure for making goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. So, instead of your mentee saying, “I would like to get better at public speaking” you could help them craft a SMART goal such as, “I will work on my presentation skills by giving three presentations this quarter and proactively soliciting feedback from colleagues.”
Tailoring Your Approach
We’ve established that each individual will have different skills they will want to develop or need your guidance on strengthening. Another crucial aspect to consider is the learning style of your mentee. Do they prefer resources in writing like books, articles, and blog posts? Are they a hands-on learner? Are they a visual learner? If they aren’t sure, try a few different approaches as the two of you get started and get feedback from your mentee about what resonates most with them.
Encouraging Skill Development
Building up a mentee’s confidence is a great place to start. If an incredibly skilled applicant for a role can’t speak clearly and assertively, they’re likely not going to get past the interview phase or advance very far in their career.
In parallel to working on overcoming imposter syndrome, selecting specific skills to develop is the next step. You can help them see their weaknesses, and reframe them as opportunities for further learning. For example, maybe they’re great at interviewing but face challenges trying to code the interview data. Some examples of ways to encourage their development are pointing them in the right direction for professional development that’s helped you (specific books, podcasts, courses), and see if you can convince them to find a hands on project to practice their skills and build their portfolio.
Celebrating Achievements
In addition to building specific skills and achieving measurable goals, it’s your job to help a mentee develop their confidence. It will take several times (see the rule of seven) for your encouragement to sink in and for your mentee to hear it. Depending on the circumstances, you can consider sharing your mentee’s achievement in a somewhat public space such as a large team meeting, or on a professional social media platform like LinkedIn.
As you help to buttress their self-confidence, suggest that they take the next step of sharing their expertise in a forum outside their comfort zone. There’s a wide range of regional meetups and local chapters of national organizations like UXPA. The Interaction Design Foundation also has some helpful info on groups in many locations.
Conclusion
To recap, mentoring and coaching junior UX colleagues or those making a transition into UX has a positive impact for both people involved. You can share your expertise and help another person build up their skills. You can also learn from them as they give you feedback on your mentoring and feedback style. To make the most of mentoring, you must continue to develop your own skills by staying informed on the latest trends in the UX industry. It can also be helpful to find like-minded colleagues who have their own tips for coaching.
To be an effective mentor:
give specific feedback to your mentee
help your mentee develop confidence in addition to specific skills they need for the field
track your mentee’s progress with SMART goals if possible
be aware of their learning style and how you can best communicate with them
celebrate achievements, no matter how small