by Montana Scott
Student staff are an essential part of university services. They are staff’s and administration’s closest ties to the student population, helping us to better understand student needs so we can offer the best possible experience.
I have been mentored by some incredible leaders over the years – both private and public sector, and from a variety of backgrounds. Their examples have instilled discipline, creativity and professionalism into my acumen that I will carry with me forever. With their inspiration and my own learnings as a mentor, I have listed below some strategies I’ve adopted to ensure my student staff’s experience is as mutually rewarding as possible.
**Notes: These strategies have been used in a public sector, academic environment where student growth is the primary concern. Some strategies may or may not fit your circumstance, but I welcome you to test them out if they feel right for you.
Step 1: Enter the relationship with grace and leave your ego at home.
My favourite managers were dynamic, pragmatic, and had too much going on to micromanage me. In turn, they let me be myself – with some guard rails to ensure I was focused and performing.
When you take on a youth mentee, consider your impact as a mentor. They may remember you for the rest of their career – don’t you want to be recalled as someone who helped them grow? I walk into all my mentor-mentee relationships as if I will work for that person one day. And truth be told, I hope they go far enough to get there.
Step 2. An Informal First Meeting
Taking the first meeting outside the work setting – and including food – is a way I meet my students “eye-to-eye”. Akin to seeing your grade-school teacher for the first time at the grocery store, it shows you’re a real person, and you recognize they are, too. It also helps students see how you treat other service workers – with respect and dignity, of course.
Even if you interviewed them, give the student an opportunity to share more about themselves. This helps to establish a level of comfort and openness so they feel like they can share with you. Since my students speak with the public quite a bit, this strategy also doubles as social skills “practice”.
You might also want to share more about your background as well. This will add to the point that you’re a “real person” who can help them in their story.
Step 3. Establish a communications standard
Ask your student what kind of management they have experienced. They might not share textbook management styles, but you will get an idea of their past environments. You may introduce your management style at this time. For example, I share that I take a servant and consultative approach. Because of this, I want to support their work and also value their thoughts and ideas so I can make informed decisions.
Ask your student what they love doing or think they are good at. Ask them what they do not enjoy or have challenges with. You may have received interview answers for these questions, but you will get a more tangible answer in this new setting. Tell your student you ask these questions because you want to give them work that helps them show their talents. Be clear that you will also give them work that challenges them, but the answers to these questions will help shape the proportions and escalations of these different tasks.
Ex. “I love designing but I have a hard time writing content”.
Solution: Prioritize giving them design work. Offer them low-risk, low-barrier writing opportunities during this time to build their confidence. You may offer them an asynchronous writing course to study over the next two weeks/month at their own pace – be clear it is to benefit their development. Ask them about progress regularly.
If you’re using multiple communications channels, explain the best ways to use each one.
Ex: For us, Teams is best for quick responses, and bad for sending data we need to track and refer to. Email is best for sharing documents and connecting with external partners, but bad for quick decisions and responses.
Step 4. Get them living out of their calendar immediately.
I was surprised to learn that many upper year students still do not use their calendars outside their school or work schedules. If this is your student, encourage them to get more intentional with managing their own time – personal ownership is the key here. If you use project management software, this may be a good time to introduce that as well.
Examples of students managing their own time:
- They book the check-ins.
- They decide their schedule where possible.
- They prepare for meetings ahead of time and take notes during.
- They provide follow-up emails after meetings.
When your relationship grows stronger and your working styles merge, these formalities will be less needed. But it is important they know how to approach new working relationships.
Additionally, unless they need to be on campus for photos, staging etc., I tell my students they can work from anywhere, as long as they’re safe and the work gets done. This also means cameras need to be on during video calls and response times must be quick when they’re clocked in. If these standards start to slide, consider readjusting your strategy with increased supervision.
Step 5. Prioritize getting things done over getting things perfect.
Tell your students you want to hear from them fairly often at first. That you like getting updates, even if things aren’t totally done. Share that you’re happy to review work before it’s finished if it helps move things along.
Ex: I tell students that in past roles, I have held on to work too long because I was focused on making it perfect. I once had a manager explain that this was the exact time I should share my work with them or a peer to help cross the finish line. More often than not, I was much closer than I thought but was being too critical of what I had completed. Your selective vulnerability will, ideally, encourage them to reach out earlier when they’re struggling.
Furthermore, avoid too many instructions or you will get exactly what you’re asking for and nothing more. This might not be academic thinking, but it has worked in my creative field. Tell students that you trust them to get their work done and give them the freedom to do so.
However, if they do not meet expectations, you may consider providing an office hour schedule to get them on track and producing on a more structured cadence.
Ex: If I notice a student has difficulty with time management, I will get them to send me a weekly report of some sort. Not only do they have to submit it on time, but I also ask them to explain their findings in our next 1-1. This helps them get comfortable discussing their work while increasing their accountability.
Step 6. Tell students how their work will benefit them. Focus your praise on the results of their effort more than their skillsets to maintain self-esteem and work ethic.
As a marketer, I know that sometimes you need to “sell” people on their own tasks to get timely results. Being clear about your priorities and how those priorities impact the organization helps students see their impact.
Ex:
- “You will be able to use this in your portfolio”
- “When asked in an interview if you did X, you will be able to say Y”
- “This task may seem challenging or tedious today, but the next time you do it will take half as long. And the time after that will be even easier.”
- “I will be sharing the results of our findings with leadership. Help me to tell them a concise story.”
These moments are important. In the age of AI, students should still be challenged to appreciate the road to mastery. They will see their contributions differently if they know their actions will have meaningful outcomes.
Step 7. Regularly ask them about their workload in and out of school.
If you’ve done the above steps correctly, this conversation will not be difficult. By asking your students about their situation, you will get a better idea of their work style, what is important to them and how they solve problems. You will also be able to flex and move their priorities in a meaningful way if they’re in a squeeze.
Moreover, if you’ve trained them to manage their time effectively, they will already be solving their own scheduling problems by the time you ask.
Step 8. Let students answer their own questions and solve their own problems.
Further to the above, avoid “swooping in” when your student is confronted with normal work challenges. This is their opportunity to build some grit and overcome their own adversities.
This can look like:
- Leaving them room to think things through during uncertainty.
- Exposing them to resources where the answer exists.
- Introducing them to people with answers.
Consider the bullets above as “training wheels”. If students continue to come to you with the same problems, you can start with open-ended questions:
- “What do you think?”
- “Where could you find this information?”
- “Who knows more about this subject who you could ask?”
Step 9. Reward their progress with opportunity
Sometimes, rewarding excellence with more exposure to the organization can go further than words of affirmation. If your student is showing signs of growth, give them new challenges in a low-risk setting, such as:
- Speaking in front of their peers
- Attending meetings where they can “shadow” your work
- Spotlighting their work in a way that credits them
I recently gave a student an opportunity similar to the examples above. Her first try wasn’t perfect, and she was critical of herself for it. I assured her this was normal and that I had made similar errors in the past. You could see how the experience and subsequent encouragement pushed her in the right direction. She was considerably improved the next time around and I could trust her to do more on her own.
Step 10. End their contract with reflection and an opportunity to showcase work
If there is a distinct end point to your working relationship, perhaps provide an opportunity for students to “show off” their work. This can look like:
- Having them write a blog about their experience (you can check out my former assistant’s experience reflection article here)
- Creating an “evergreen” piece of content your organization will use repeatedly
- A training module or set of recommendations for new student staff
Finally, if you haven’t already, be sure to connect with your students on LinkedIn. There may be opportunities for you to continue your mentor/mentee relationship. I often have students reach out to me long after we’ve worked together. I am happy to provide good references and opportunities to folks who deserve them.
The magic of working with student staff is that you’re engaging youth at the beginning of their career. Maintaining relationships such as these will help you keep up with the times, scale your own work and grow your network beyond your current institution.