Three essential elements of a fruitful mentorship
Participants of the Zalando product design community’s mentorship program share what made their experience successful.
When we want to progress, people are our most valuable asset. Because while it is wise to learn from experience, learning from the experience of others cultivates a new level of wisdom. Product design communities bring together incredibly diverse professional backgrounds, skill sets, and life experiences. We might not know it, but the person we met at the coffee machine might have the key to unlocking a new area of interest. Likewise, our own story could be full of insights that could propel someone else’s journey. Mentorship is an exchange everyone can benefit from. All we have to do is make the connection.
The Zalando product design community’s mentorship program was established in March 2023 for exactly this purpose. The goal was to provide all the necessary tools to connect and enable mentors and mentees, fuelling our collective progress. Principal Product Designer Xen Szymczak collaborated with Senior Product Designer Alex Simon and Senior DesignOps Manager Alejandra Molano to create and implement our mentorship program.
“People were already meeting up to ask for advice on their work or to talk about their career challenges,” says Xen, who is also involved in the program as a mentor and a mentee. “But we wanted to officialize and structure the process and promote it for those who may not have been aware this opportunity existed. We created a sign-up and matchmaking process for mentors and mentees, as well as some guidance and useful links on how to build the relationship and conduct the mentorship. We regularly encourage the community to participate, sharing how impactful and supportive such a relationship can be.”
How is our mentorship program propelling our community’s professional development? Read on to learn about three pairings and what made their experience successful.
Sharing a growth mindset
When an enthusiasm to learn combines with a desire to give back, you can count on a fruitful mentorship. With a background in branding and print, Creative Director Katrin Fox felt that joining the program as both a mentor and a mentee would be an opportunity to share her experience while diving deeper into the product design field. She was connected with Product Designer Anna Shapovaliuk, who wished to learn branding frameworks and approaches to apply to relevant projects.
“When we sign up for the program,” Katrin explains, “we fill out a spreadsheet with what we can share with others as a mentor or what we would like to learn as a mentee. The DesignOps team oversees the matchmaking process.”
Having had multiple formative mentorship experiences during her career, Xen sees mentorship as a confidence-building safe space that leads to mutual development. After helping to establish the program, she wanted to participate as a mentee and a mentor. Product Design Intern Saige McNeal was paired with Xen originally as part of Zalando’s ADAN mentorship program. When the first mentorship ended a year ago, the duo decided to continue their mutually beneficial relationship as part of our community’s program.
“I wanted to stay with Xen,” Saige reflects. “We kept working on our goals and deepening my understanding of being a Product Designer.”
Gare Anighoro of our DesignOps team is our Community Manager. Recognizing the great potential to learn from the Product Designers, User Researchers, and Content Designers he interacts with daily, he signed up for the mentorship program to gather skills in these areas. DesignOps Manager Chad Wright, then a Content Design Manager, was Gare’s first pairing. Chad has always enjoyed building connections and relationships through mentorship and wanted to hone skills such as active listening to enable him to bring out the best in others.
“What I enjoy about mentorship is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be about seniority or even within your job family,” says Chad. “There’s so much we can learn from the people around us because we all have different skill spikes.”
Freedom to be flexible
The guidelines provided by the mentorship program are not prescriptive, serving more as a starting point for development. All three mentorship pairs highlighted how the flexibility to tailor the experience to their needs was instrumental to their success.
“My mentorship with Chad started with a very open conversation,” Gare reflects. “After getting to know each other and sharing our goals, we were both involved in shaping the experience. We created a flexible structure with the option to adapt when needed. I also liked how Chad always took note of opportunities that could help me develop and asked if I would like to discuss them in our session.”
“From my perspective,” Chad explains, “it was important that Gare felt he was in the driver’s seat, not just a recipient. It allowed us the space not to be so rigid because as we learn, our perspectives change and there might be something else we want to dive into. It was more organic than other mentorship programs I have experienced.”
“I feel like a lot of growth happens when you’re not abiding by a strict structure.”
Similarly, Saige defines the areas she wants to cover. “It is a natural flow. Either a topic fits the feeling of the week, or it doesn’t. And if a new topic comes up, I can ask for support on that. This open agenda has been beneficial because I feel like a lot of growth happens when you’re not abiding by a strict structure.”
Katrin prepared material in advance for Anna to work with. “I would give Katrin the topics I wanted to explore,” says Anna, “and the following week, she would share insights from her past projects. Sometimes it would even be a slide deck with in-depth process steps. We also had a running document where we would take notes and keep track of the topics we discussed. It was helpful to be able to refresh and review materials.”
Investing in trust-building
As we noted in our guide on how to be a career-changing mentor, trust is the glue that binds all meaningful relationships. Setting the ground for open communication and spending time building rapport is integral to a successful mentorship. As Katrin points out, “connecting on a personal level builds the chemistry required for a meaningful exchange.”
Learning about Gare’s life outside of work helped Chad to establish the context of their mentorship. “The first thing I learned about Gare is that he does a lot of interesting things outside of Zalando around community building and management. That provided an inspiring context for me. It gave me a sense check to anchor our discussions based on what his aspirations and values were.”
“A big part of mentorship is building trust and empathy to cultivate a deeper understanding of each other.”
Gare found Chad’s communication style very encouraging. “He takes the other person into consideration and gives you room to express yourself.” Caring about the person beyond their role is one of the Zalando community’s core values, fuelling our highly supportive team culture.
Xen recommends meeting in person, if possible, to reinforce the connection. “Seeing each other face to face helped us to get to know each other. The questions we used as openers also enabled us to understand each other’s backgrounds and needs and how we imagined our relationship would work. A big part of mentorship is building trust and empathy to cultivate a deeper understanding of each other — a deeper connection than one might experience through coaching or regular training.”
As Saige is in the early stages of her product design career, it has been inspiring for her to learn about Xen’s approach to the industry. “Xen is a professional, but I like how she is herself first and foremost.”
The ultimate mark of success
As the three pairs’ reflections reveal, fruitful mentorships are powered by shared passion, open communication, and great chemistry. But ultimately, the greatest mark of success is how much we feel we have grown at the end of it.
“I feel the mentorship has been successful because I want to keep doing it,” Saige shares. “I have developed both as a designer and as a person. It has helped me to understand myself and how I fit into this industry. I would recommend others to find a mentor as soon as possible, no matter their level, and also to understand their intention for getting one so that they can find someone who best fits their needs.”
“I think it’s great that we have so many talents in the community that we can learn from,” says Anna. “Mentorship is an amazing way to exchange ideas and apply principles from one domain to another.”
Gare’s experience gave him a new perspective on his role as a Community Manager. “I realized that much of my work is design on the people level. The mentorship in content design gave me an understanding of how I can fine-tune my messaging to better serve the community. I can also apply the research and data collection principles I learned. Following my mentorship with Chad, I began a new pairing with Alejandra Molano, Senior DesignOps Manager. I aim to understand more deeply the design operations area, the heart of our organization. Mentorship provides an invaluable support network. I am curious how my upcoming experiences will continue to shape my development.”
“Don’t be afraid to give it a go,” Chad advises. “Even if it’s just for a couple of months, try it out and see what you learn.”
Key takeaways
Are you thinking of becoming a mentor or a mentee, or establishing a similar program in your community? Here’s a quick summary of the wisdom you can apply to make the experience even more successful.
- View mentorship as an exchange and mutual growth opportunity
- Understand your intention to find the best match for your goals
- Just give it a go: don’t be afraid to use mentorship as a path to exploring new interests or job families
- Don’t worry about perfection or a fixed structure: a flexible approach facilitates organic development
- Put your mentee in the driver’s seat and respond to their needs as they arise
- Invest time in getting to know each other through open discussion: trust and good chemistry are fundamental
- Care about the other person beyond their role: stay on the lookout for growth opportunities
- Gauge the success of the mentorship by checking in on mutual growth
Do you have any wisdom to share from your experience as a mentee or a mentor? We welcome your input in the comments. Next, nine mentors from the Zalando product design community share their advice on how best to invest in others’ success.
