PRIME conducted its first two-day Mentor Workshop on the 29th and 30th March 2023 where established entrepreneurs from across the state who are identified as mentors actively participated in the workshop. The aim of the workshop is to provide these mentors with necessary skills to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs. This workshop is one of a kind as it gave the mentors a chance to venture into their own spaces and get a chance to showcase their creativity through activities.
The first day was an all-day event and the programme started with an ice-breaking session, where the mentors were given exercises aimed at giving them a chance to network better. They were then divided into six teams where they were given various tasks and assignments to complete for them to be acquainted to Group work, after which each assignment had to be presented infront of all mentors present. Each team were also shown a video of an entrepreneur after which the team then discussed on the entrepreneur’s profile, assumptions, biases and blindspots, as part of Empathy Building in mentorship. All the tasks and assignments were aimed to encourage entrepreneurial engagement. There was also a discussion on Business Model and on the ‘What’, ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Mentorship. Towards the end of the programme, each team had to design a prototype based on a problem.
The second day also continued with an ice-breaking session which was immediately followed by the ‘Personas Rapid round of Mentoring’ wherein each PRIME team member were given entrepreneurs to personify after which the mentors raised important questions based on their observations of the entrepreneur and his/her story. The result of this particular session was an important one as at the time of discussion, the mentors asked important questions to clear their doubts which were clarified by the Program Head of PRIME. There was a session on Pre-Incubation Program Design where the mentors were given an insight on the procedure of mentoring entrepreneurs who are still in the idea stage.
The programme concluded with the participants’ thoughts and reflections and their feedback.