FAQs/11

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) of customers including entrepreneurs/Owners of small and micro industrial, commercial and non-profit or social units who wish to avail Personal Mentoring Service (PMS) from ‘Prayas’ for improving their personal effectiveness.

Question No. 1: Why an individual requires a mentor?

Answer:  When an individual feels that he or she lacks certain skills or knowledge essential to do his work or undertake his or her profession in more effective way, he looks for somebody who possesses such skills or knowledge to acquire the same.

 

Question No 2: What is difference in a teacher and a mentor?

Answer: A teacher teaches a subject as per some prescribed syllabus and it is mostly one way and structured communication which is formal in nature in a class room setting. Whereas a mentor is an informal guide, friend and philosopher who encourages his mentee to learn a particular skill through demonstration and repeated experimentation or facilitates acquisition of knowledge through self study under his or her guidance which is unstructured in nature. Teaching is duration based passing on of information or instruction whereas mentoring is intermittent guidance as and when required.

Question No. 3: What are differences between availing mentoring services and attending training programs or availing management consultancy or other similar services?

Answer: Fundamental difference between mentoring and other services are as under.

  • Training program or other services have formal schedules and individual seeking help has to attend by them as per these programs but mentoring has no fixed schedule and meetings can be held between the mentor and the mentee on one to one to one basis with mutual consultation for durations agreed upon between them. Such discussions can also be held on phone or through video calls through Whatsapp or other similar systems. This provides total flexibility to both parties. This flexibility saves both the cost as well as the time.
  • Management consultancy service is extended in reference to current pattern of management of a unit or organization, its resources including human resource and its business environment whereas mentoring is focused on a particular individual requiring help.
  • Training or management consultancy may involve several individuals simultaneously where mentoring is one to one interaction between the mentor and the mentee.
  • Mentoring is much more flexible than any other mode of training and consultation.
  • Mentoring is the cheapest mode amongst other modes of seeking help.
  • Personal touch is highest in case of mentoring.

Question No. 4: What are advantages of mentoring to the individual seeking this service (mentee)?

Answer: Mentoring has following advantages for the individual seeking this service (mentee).

  • It is cheapest mode of practical learning in an informal setting and improving one/s personal effectiveness.
  • It is most flexible mode of seeking assistance considering the time availability with the mentee and its management.
  • It ensures desired learning in the long term without fixed time frame.
  • Digital modes of mentoring are equally effective and cost effective. Now video conferencing modes are very popular modes for distance mentoring.

Question No. 5: What are the advantages of mentoring to the mentor?

Answer: Mentoring has following advantages for the mentor.

  • Even if he has no enough time to meet the mentee physically, he can discuss matters on voice or video calls and give necessary advice to the mentee as and when required.
  • He is able to develop personal rapport with the mentee.
  • He can schedule the mentoring session (face to face or through digital modes) as per his or her convenience in consultation with the mentee.
  • He or she also learns in the process of solving the problems of the mentee.

Question No. 6: What is basic philosophy of ‘Prayas’ behind extending mentoring services at nominal cost on twin principles of ‘No Profit No Loss’ and ‘Cross-subsidization’?

Answer: The most important problem of India today is very high level of unemployment and unsustainable low wages and salaries being paid to majority of working population located in urban centers and acute economic disparity. It is extremely difficult to sustain one’s life and family in big urban centers on such low salary being paid and as such low paid workers are forced to live low quality life in slums of cities with all attendant problems. However if such low wage or salary is paid to them by units which are located within short distance which is suitable for daily commute from their village or home town, they can easily sustain their families and can live in much better and healthy fashion than they are living in cities today. Therefore it is desirable to establish large number of small and micro industrial and commercial units in semi-urban and rural industrial cum commercial clusters to absorb large number of youth coming out from our educational institutions. Therefore it is essential for a country like India with such large population to develop entrepreneurship on mass scale after identification of individuals having entrepreneurial traits like creativity, imagination, risk taking ability and leadership irrespective of their ability to pay. Considering such a national need, ‘Prayas’ have decided to provide mentoring services to entrepreneurs running small and micro units or willing to establish new units on nominal charges on twin principles of ‘No Profit No Loss’ and ‘Cross-subsidization’ as a social service initiative.

Question No. 7: Who can avail mentoring service?

 

Answer: Any individual can avail mentoring services.

 

Question No.8: What is mechanism of extending mentoring services?

 

Answer: In order to sustain the system of providing mentoring services to customers, ‘Prayas’ have formed special panel of experts , who have requisite mentoring skills and are ready to donate their spare time to ‘Prayas’..Depending upon specific need of the individual approaching ‘Prayas’ for availing mentoring service, a particular expert of this panel is assigned the role of mentorship to him or her. Thereafter the mentor holds detailed self-educating discussions with concerned individual through digital modes and suggests improvements considered appropriate, in a near paperless environment to keep the cost of mentoring to the minimum.

 

Question No. 09: How the process of mentoring conducted?

 

Answer:  Before the mentor interacts with the mentee, comprehensive psychological tests are conducted through mobile App and personality profile of mentee is prepared and his/her strengths and weaknesses are indentified and the mentor is made aware of them. Mentor interacts with the mentee through digital modes in several sessions and discusses with him or her various aspects of his or her personality in a non-directional and soft fashion and requests him to indulge in self study under his guidance and keeps on taking feedback in between to assess the progress. It happens in form of one to one brainstorming mode. Mentor tries to make the mentee realize his or weaknesses on his or her own and take steps to remove them. 

 

Question No. 12: How are the charges of mentoring services are determined?

 

Answer: As already indicated, our mentoring charges are nominal, negotiable and can be customized as per the need and financial ability of the individual by combining and following twin principles of ‘No Profit No Loss’ and ‘Cross-subsidization’. The annual mentoring charges for participants of Prayas Foundation Course is Rs. 1000 (One thousand) for general cases and Rs. 500 (Five Hundreds) for participants belonging to economically weaker sections of society.

 

Question No. 13:  How do I decide whether it is appropriate time to seek help of ‘Prayas’ for me?

 

Answer: If you feel that you are not doing well due to your own inability to manage your affaires and you are interested in improving your working then you can contact us.

 

Question No. 14: I am financially very weak and as such how I will be able to pay the mentoring fee of ‘Prayas’?

 

Answer: Please note that ‘Prayas’ is extending mentoring services as a social service on twin principles of ‘No Profit No Loss’ and ‘Cross-subsidization’. Therefore you should not bother about your ability to pay the mentoring fee. Just talk to us on phone and then meet us and discuss with us and we will fix fee etc taking into account your ability to pay. However please note that we do not spend any amount from our side. If you meet all our actual expenses which are kept at bare minimum by us, we would be happy to help you on a nominal or token payment.

 

Question No. 15: How the confidentiality of data or information furnished by me is maintained and is ensured that it is not leaked to any other person or organization?

Answer: ‘Prayas’ undertakes to keep all data and information pertaining to your unit and yourself received confidential and this is one of the most important clause of the MOU to be signed between ‘Prayas’ and the Client.

 Question No. 16: How can I visit the office of Prayas?

 

Answer:  We encourage our customers and activity partner to contact us digitally. At present, we have two offices. The registered office is located at H-19, Phase IV, Rapti Nagar Gorakhpur 273013 and the corporate Office at 513, Fifth Floor, Felix Square, Sushant Golf City Lucknow 226030. You can visit our Gorakhpur office after taking prior appointment by dialing mobile numbers 7080210612 and 7080210614 and our Lucknow Office by dialing mobile number 8127569995 and 7080210615

Why it is necessary for you to see the contents of this website?

If you have some spare time with you after discharging your duties of your current work, job or profession or as a retired person and this spare time is not being utilized constructively at present to your satisfaction then you can donate this spare time to ‘Prayas’ and utilize it for conduct and management of various services related to personality profiling and development which are socially very useful as an activity partner in exchange for a nominal income through income sharing as a part-time self-employment opportunity and enhance your self-satisfaction and social prestige.

if the personality of your own, children and adult members of your family or officers/managers/employees of your organization has some deficiencies or inadequacies which are becoming serious constraints  in achieving success in studies or work or profession in-spite of hard labor and concerned individuals are always unhappy, dissatisfied and disturbed, then you can get their personality profiled from ‘Prayas’ and get such deficiencies or inadequacies removed in a planned manner by paying the fee according to your capacity to pay. This will enable them to make future of their own liking.

Therefore you should take some time out of your busy schedule and go through the contents of this website carefully and contact us according to your requirements at the earliest.

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