Collaboration and the PhD experience (Part 4): Mentorship and nurturing your supervisor relationship
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Mentorship
As we approach our doctoral studies the mentorship from our supervisor and others offers opportunity to be able to seek advice and to support our learning. With an awareness, openness and curiosity learning from others supports our seeking social support and connection. This is where relationships become crucial to what it is we want to achieve. Consider these questions in relation to thinking about how you can collaborate up and across:
What does the relationship mean to you?
Thinking about what the mentor offers and what you offer, how can you view this as a collaboration?
What do you want to achieve?
Is this relationship official or unofficial? What does this look like for you?
How can you be open to this relationship changing or developing?
Who is right for me right now?
Who might I connect with in the future? What can they offer me? What would I like to ask them?
Nurturing your collaboration with your supervisor
There are moments during the collaboration up phase with your supervisor that you need to consciously nurture this relationship a little more than usual. In collaborating up at moments where there may be tension or you need to problem solve, how might you utilise these questions to support your approach? Think about these questions from a space of curiosity and awareness.
What do you want your supervisor to know?
How do you want to work with your supervisor(s)?
Who else can advise you?
Is your supervisor your mentor? Or is it a team approach? Is there someone else who might offer another perspective at this time? Are there multiple reference points for you at this time?
What does problem solving look like for you right now?
What’s your plan for right now?