Communication Mentoring Program (CMP)

The Communication Mentoring Program (CMP) is a career development and mentoring programme for members of the Swedish Public Relations Association. The aims include bringing together knowledge and experience to help develop the role of the professional communicator, and increasing awareness of members’ professional roles.

Aims
The CMP aims to

• bring together knowledge and experience to help develop the role of the professional communicator and increase awareness of members’ professional roles
• contribute to the participants’ professional and personal development
• create new networks
• bridge a gap in the training offered by the association between its shorter courses and the Communication Executives Program (CEP), and
• provide an additional recruitment base for the CEP.

Goal
The goal is that, on completion of the program, the participants shall have gained broader and deeper knowledge and increased their skills. Increased personal insight and confidence in their professional roles will contribute towards participants being better placed to develop within the role of the professional communicator, either stronger in their specialist or production role, or better prepared for continued career development.

Participants
The program is aimed at members who:

• have five to ten years’ experience as an professional communicator (specialist or production) with budgetary and/or staff-management responsibility,
• want to develop their skills in terms of strategic communication issues and change work,
• want to gain a greater personal insight,
• are prepared to invest time and commitment in order to achieve results.

Mentors
The program’s mentors:

• have solid experience as senior managers/directors of communication,
• have broad knowledge in terms of both business operations and management,
• are respected figures due to their position and their expertise,
• demonstrate personal maturity and self-confidence,
• have a respectful attitude,
• have a genuine interest in people,
• believe that they can learn from the participant, and
• can invest time and commitment.

Structure
The program includes:

• ten hours of private mentoring sessions
• mentor access between sessions by telephone and e-mail
• tailor-made modules equivalent to three full-day seminars
• introductory and concluding seminars
• one day’s training for mentors and guidance during the program
• participant training

Practicalities
The program will begin with a half-day joint introductory session for mentors and participants. The introductory session will also deal with mentorship as a method and opportunity, roles and responsibilities, the mentoring contract and ethical rules. The first module will be held directly after the introductory session, and this will also be half a day in duration.

Before this, the mentors will have undergone a day’s training consisting of short talks interspersed with practical exercises. The content will explain the role of the mentor, the difficult skill of listening, dialogue as a development tool, ethical rules, etc. The mentors are also welcome to take part in all modules.

The participants will have their own session before the start of the program, where they will get pre-program advice and tips, along with details of ethical rules, responsibilities and the mentoring contract.

At the concluding session, which will be for both mentors and participants, half the day will be devoted to module 4, with the remainder of the day providing an opportunity to swap experiences and evaluate the program.

The requirements
Within the mentoring relationship, the participants themselves will be responsible for their own learning and development, and how much they choose to get from their mentors. The dialogue will be guided by the needs and interests of the participants. The program’s unique structure, with its tailor-made modules running alongside access to mentors with proven experience, not only creates dialogue that increases skills and professional development, but also provides opportunities for reflection on professional matters and greater personal insight.

The modules
The aim is partly to increase the knowledge base within certain general areas of competence, and partly to provide a greater depth of experience in areas which the participant can relate to personally. The modules will begin with a number of general concepts and will conclude with concepts which affect the participants and their own behaviour. After each module, the participants will complete an assignment task to be handed in.

Module 1 – Organisation and finance
Freedom of action within an organisation is restricted by certain constraints. Two of the main constraints will be discussed here: how organisational structure imposes limits on operations, and how financial logic controls operations. Assignment task to hand in.

Module 2 – Strategy and production
Within organisational and financial constraints, there is a great degree of freedom when it comes to organising operations. This module will illustrate how effective strategies which have been adapted to the situation can be developed, how to think logically and systematically when planning productions, and how to manage and run projects. Assignment task to hand in.

Module 3 – Influence, negotiating and ethics
This module will deal with issues which are directly linked to human behaviour and how we can manage inter-personal processes to further our own development. What psychological mechanisms enable us to influence those around us? Which mechanisms give good results in negotiations to facilitate building trusting relationships? The module will also illustrate the ethical perspective which affects how our actions are judged in the light of moral and ethical norms. Assignment task to hand in.

Module 4 - Presentations
In the concluding module, the participants present their reflections on the various modules, and practical examples that illustrate the areas of expertise covered by the program are reviewed.

Price
SEK 38,000 (excluding VAT)

Program contributors:
Margaretha Sjöberg, Managing Director, Swedish Public Relations Association

Sven Hamrefors, researcher at the Stockholm School of Economics, is responsible for running the modules and selecting lecturers.

Mona Odhnoff Sundström, an authorised and qualified mentor with over 20 years’ experience as a head of communication, is responsible for the program and for mentor and participant training.

Lena Skagerberg, an authorised and qualified mentor, director communication for Nacka Municipality and vice chairman of the Swedish Public Relations Association, will contribute to the mentor training day.

For further information, please contact:
Mona Odhnoff Sundström
+46 (0)8-660 91 68 or +46 (0)70-558 31 78
mona.odhnoff-sundstrom@dinmentor.se