EN
Film-style poster for the Decision Balance for Mentors presentation

A guide for mentors: Decision Balance for Mentors

How to send the Decision Balance, read the weights and talk them through.

English

What this guide covers

What this guide covers

What this guide covers

What it is

One decision, weighed in four areas

Your mentee lists what doing it would bring, and weights each item from 1 to 5.

When to send it

Send it when they feel torn

It helps when one choice keeps coming back and every talk goes in circles.

  • A real choice a job, a move, a course
  • Going in circles the same pros and cons each time
  • Time to think before the decision is due

An honest frame

To see clearly, not to push

Evidence that it improves decisions is limited, and it can weaken resolve in someone torn.

  • Not a verdict the totals do not decide
  • Their weights only they know what matters
  • Either way is fine you do not steer

Sending it

Send it from your pairing

It takes a minute, and your mentee gets an email.

Open your pairing

Choose Assign a tool and find the Decision Balance.

Try it as your mentee

Fill it in yourself first; nothing is saved or sent.

Add a short message

Your mentee sees it on their home page and Tools.

Open your pairing

Choose Assign a tool and find the Decision Balance.

Try it as your mentee

Fill it in yourself first; nothing is saved or sent.

Add a short message

Your mentee sees it on their home page and Tools.

Reading the answers

Read the weights, not the totals

One heavy item can matter more than many light ones.

  • Gains and losses the two weighted totals
  • Heaviest item a good place to start the talk
  • Empty areas whose view did they leave out?

Questions to ask

Ask about the heavy items

People who ask follow-up questions are liked more (Huang and others, 2017).

  • Which item weighed more than you expected? then: what makes it so heavy?
  • Whose view are you giving too much or too little room? then: what would they say?
  • What would you need to know to feel sure either way? then: how could you find out?

Feedback that helps

Do not weigh in for them

Say what you notice in the answers, not what you would choose.

1 in 3 Over a third of feedback effects lowered performance in one large review Kluger and DeNisi, 1996

One step

Agree what to find out next

The next step can be a fact to check, not the decision itself.

  • One question what they still need to know
  • One source who or what can answer it
  • One date when you talk again

After the meeting

Keep it all on Mentornity

The answers, your comments and the next steps stay in one place.

Read it at a glance

The weighted gains and losses and the heaviest item are summed up.

Add next steps

Write what will be done, by whom and by when.

Ask to fill it again

Earlier answers are kept, so you can see what changed.

Read it at a glance

The weighted gains and losses and the heaviest item are summed up.

Add next steps

Write what will be done, by whom and by when.

Ask to fill it again

Earlier answers are kept, so you can see what changed.

Send the balance to a torn mentee

Send it before you meet, and let their weights lead the talk.

Sign in to Mentornity All tools
Sign in to Mentornity Sign in All tools