Support Network Map

What it is

Who supports them, and how. Your mentee places people on three rings and marks the roles each one plays.

When to send it

Send it at a turning point. It helps when your mentee needs more people than you alone.

• A new role or teamthe old network may not fit
• Few contactssupport rests on one or two people
• A next step aheada promotion, a move, a project

Filling it in

Fifteen minutes, in three parts. Add people, mark their roles, then name one gap and one person.

1. Add people by closenessClose, regular, or now and then.
2. Mark their rolesOne person can play several roles.
3. Name one gapAnd one person to reach this month.

Reading the answers

Look at the empty roles first. The map lists the roles nobody plays yet under "Nobody yet".

• Empty roleshow many of the eight have nobody
• Close ringthe share of people closest to them
• One person can fill several rolesa lot may rest on them

Questions to ask

Ask who could fill a role. People who ask follow-up questions are liked more (Huang and others, 2017).

• Which roles rest on the same one or two people?then: what if one of them left?
• Who knows your work well enough to speak up for you?then: do they know what you want next?
• What exactly will you ask the person you chose?then: how will you say it?

Why it works

Support at work usually comes from several people, each in a different way (Higgins & Kram 2001). Seeing who plays which role shows what is missing, such as a sponsor next to people who give advice (Ibarra, Carter & Silva 2010).

Sources

• Higgins, M. C. & Kram, K. E. (2001). Reconceptualizing mentoring at work: A developmental network perspective. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 264–288.
• Ibarra, H., Carter, N. M. & Silva, C. (2010). Why men still get more promotions than women. Harvard Business Review, 88(9).
• Yang, Y., Chawla, N. V. & Uzzi, B. (2019). A network’s gender composition and communication pattern predict women’s leadership success. PNAS, 116(6), 2033–2038.

How a tool works on Mentornity

1. 1The mentor picks a tool from the library and sends it with a short message.
2. 2The mentee fills it in step by step; the answers are saved as they go.
3. 3Both see the answers, comment on any part and agree the next steps.
4. 4Only the two of them see the answers, not the program admins.

Guides for both sides

• Support Network Map for MentorsFor mentors and coaches: when to send the Support Network Map, how to read the rings and roles, which questions to ask and what to do next.
• Support Network Map for MenteesFor mentees and coachees: what the Support Network Map is, how to fill it in, where to find it and what your mentor does with it.

More tools: Career and network

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  Choose a few areas to grow, plan activities with dates, and say what support you need.

• Negotiation Prep20 min

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• Stakeholder Map15 min

  Place the people who can affect your goal by power and interest. Then plan your next move with the two who matter most.

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