“You’re spending time helping young people to build the future”: Mentor-Mentee Relationships in DAS
Sally Wong and Michelle Chen have been working together at Yara Digital Ag Solutions since January 2020. Sally, a Senior Product Owner, started supervising and mentoring Michelle who joined as an intern, right at the start of the pandemic. Since then, Michelle has progressed to an Associate Product Owner and delivers digital solutions for smallholder farmers.
Michelle, when did you both start working together? Where were you in your career then?
Michelle: I joined Digital Ag Solutions in January 2020 as an intern. I think I only got to work with Sally in-person for under two months before most companies in Singapore moved to working from home.
When I started, I only expected to carry out day-to-day work. That is what happened at another company, where my supervisor just told me what to do for the day. I would do that, go home, and repeat each day.
When I joined Yara, the experience was very different. I got more coaching and mentoring from Sally. I thought this was really important, especially as a fresh graduate without much working experience. More than having a high salary, or great benefits, having someone to guide you in your first steps is most important.
Sally is my stingray (referencing Mr. Ray, the stingray that acts as a school bus for young sea creatures in Finding Nemo). Instead of swimming around myself, I have someone to guide me.
Sally: Ya, that was interesting. But whether a person is physically with you or not, it is important to foster a relationship. The situation does not break the fundamentals of being a leader and what you should do as a mentor.
Sally, what is your approach to mentoring? Are there specific things you do? Or do you have principles that you are guided by?
Sally: Firstly, I’m always driving my mentees to think of the “Why”. Instead of just giving instructions, which is faster and more direct, I always ask them, “Why?” and “What do you think about this issue?”
This approach does take more time but is more fulfilling when the mentee learns how to approach issues independently.
Michelle: For sure. Over time, I’ve learned to look at the big picture. I tend to be very detail-oriented and focused on the immediate future. I’ve learned from Sally that it is good to be detail-oriented, but also important to have an end-to-end view of things.
Sally: To do this, learn to see beyond the product. Start with the outcome that the product or feature intends to achieve. Also, understand what other factors may impact the decisions you make, such as compliance, privacy and time to market.
The second principle is: whoever I hire doesn’t work for me but with me. When you tell someone that they are a partner, that gives them ownership and empowerment, and opens more room for discussion and making collaborative decisions.
My role — when interacting with junior teammates — is to guide their thinking on why they are making a certain decision, better shape it, and find out what we need to better shape the decision.
Young talents need space to practice decision making by themselves. Practicing by doing is the best way to learn.
Thirdly, empathy in mentorship is very important. Everyone is different. Given each person’s unique persona, I tend to utilise product management tools such as Design Thinking and user journeys to help map their thoughts and intended progression . This enables me to better help them and achieve their goals.
Michelle: During the different stages of my personal and professional growth, Sally gave different types of advice, based on what she thought will help. She has a “Book Club” which is a Telegram channel where she shares articles, books, quotes and so on.
Sally: In return I get to learn about learn about trending things from young people, like Telegram sticker packs, and indie song writers.
It’s important to lean on the younger generation as they have ideas that open up my mind to new perspectives, especially in the digital world where things evolve very quickly. We need to keep in touch with and explore new features on the products we use.
How do you think your approach to mentoring was shaped?
Sally: I benefited from great mentorship as a young professional and am heavily influenced by my ex-boss’ mentorship style and Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Effective People.
My first job was in a regional product marketing role. I learnt the way of working in a company, cadences you go through, how to behave in those cadences and the associated roles and responsibilities. I also learnt about doing business around the world, and how to represent the regional HQs when talking to sales companies.
Now, in Digital Ag Solutions, I work with offices across regions and think about the kind of empowerment I have and how I can use that to help regions grow their business. This collaborative mindset has been ingrained in me since early on in my career.
Michelle, given what you’ve learned, what is one of your biggest achievements in your product owner journey so far?
Michelle: It has to be my work on FarmForward. I came in with zero knowledge on Agile, Scrum, and product management, but picked up skills throughout the journey.
I learnt the roles and responsibilities of a product owner, and went from being uncomfortable making decisions, to understanding that if I don’t try, I’ll never learn. So I should start to learn and be comfortable and document the assumptions that go behind my decisions.
Sally: I think she has also made great improvements in going from zero knowledge, to leading sprint planning and hosting showcases. At the start, Michelle didn’t talk to developers or designers.
I encouraged Michelle to start talking to them, to get to know what they are doing and improve her technical knowledge — communication with the team is critical in building relationships and thus trust.
Michelle, given your experience with Sally, are you looking forward to mentoring others?
Michelle: I’m always working towards being a better mentor.
Sally: Another reminder that one should only mentor when you have the time: people are placing their futures in your hands. When people approach you on career growth, it is important to do it well. Don’t destroy people’s trust in mentorship or coaching.
Digital Ag Solutions is always hiring! We’re committed to mentoring young professionals with the skills and heart to build technology-driven solutions for farmers, retailers and other agriculture stakeholders. Check out our open Intern positions and other openings.
