APM Built Environment IN podcast series, Mentoring or coaching: Be open to benefits of reverse mentoring

🕑 44mins

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This episode features Kumar Pillai, a Senior Project Manager with extensive experience in project and programme management, particularly in infrastructure sectors like highways, rail, bridges, and tunnels. With 8 years in design/engineering and over 10 years in project management, Kumar excels in delivering projects on time and within budget. He started his career with Halcrow Group Ltd (bought by CH2M Hill in 2012, now Jacobs) and has worked with notable clients such as National Highways and Transport for London, as well as contractors such as Taylor Woodrow Bam Nuttall JV and Balfour Beatty. 

Kumar is skilled in stakeholder management, collaborative negotiation, and contract management. His passion for mentoring junior colleagues to upskill is commendable. He is committed to continuous improvement and actively contributes to professional development and community initiatives, particularly through the Association for Project Management, volunteering for APM and serving as a STEM ambassador outside his day-to-day work.

The questions we used to roughly structure the session:

Opening context

1. Could you start by telling us a little about your experience as a mentor, particularly with early careers professionals in the built environment?
2. What first drew you into mentoring, and what has kept you involved?
3. When you think about the needs of young adults or early careers professionals entering the built environment, what kinds of support are they often looking for?

Mentoring vs coaching

1. When we first met, we were talking about the meaning of mentoring and one of the points you raised was the importance of distinguishing mentoring from coaching. How would you describe the difference between the two?
2. Why is it important for both mentor and mentee to understand that distinction at the start of the relationship?
3. What can go wrong if expectations are not clear, for example if a mentee is expecting coaching but the relationship is set up as mentoring?
4. How do you usually establish boundaries, expectations and goals at the beginning of a mentoring partnership?

 Benefits of mentoring

1. What do you see as the main benefits of mentoring for early careers professionals in the built environment?
2. Are there particular challenges in this sector where mentoring can make a real difference, such as confidence, navigating career pathways, site culture, professional development or understanding the industry?

 Reverse mentoring

1. You also mentioned reverse mentoring in our discussion earlier. What does reverse mentoring mean to you?
2. What have you learned from mentees or younger professionals that has changed your own perspective?
3. How can reverse mentoring help more senior professionals better understand the experiences, expectations and challenges of early careers colleagues?
4. Do you think reverse mentoring has a particular role to play in improving diversity, inclusion and culture in the built environment?