Mentoring When the Ground Keeps Moving

If you’ve worked in data analytics for more than a month, you already know this. The hardest part of the job is rarely the data itself. It's everything around it. The people, the shifting demands, the sudden restructures, the unclear questions from someone five levels above you who wants a quick answer to something they haven’t properly thought through.

Right now, that pressure is more intense than ever. Especially in public services like the NHS. People are watching their teams shrink. Some are being asked to reapply for their own roles. Others are left trying to hold things together with fewer staff, less certainty, more scrutiny. This isn’t just affecting those on the ground. Senior analysts, team leads, even data directors are operating with the same level of stress. It just comes packaged differently.

This is where mentoring moves from “nice to have” to “absolutely necessary”. And not just for junior staff. Everyone in the analytics chain, from new starters to heads of function, needs some form of support that goes beyond skills training.

New analysts often need help with the basics, but not the kind you find in a textbook. How to cope when the goalposts move. How to sit through meetings that don’t make sense and still come out with something useful. How to manage being the only person in the room who understands the data and still make yourself understood.

Mid-level staff face a different problem. They’re often stuck between demands from above and confusion from below. They’re expected to make judgement calls without enough time or information. They may also be dealing with team members who are struggling but don’t feel safe saying so. This group often needs mentoring around boundaries, resilience, time management, and learning when to stop tweaking and just send the thing.

Then there’s the senior crowd. People assume they’ve got it all figured out. But when you’re responsible for strategy, planning, people, and politics, and you’re doing it during a period of active change or downsizing, it can get lonely fast. Senior leaders often need different kinds of mentoring. Less about techniques, more about having someone to test ideas with. Someone they can be honest with without it turning into rumour. Someone who helps them work through how to support their team when they don’t feel entirely supported themselves.

This is where an external mentor, like those offered by CHAIn, can be incredibly useful. Someone outside your immediate ecosystem. They’re not caught up in the same organisational tensions. They don’t have a stake in your politics. That means they can offer a fresh view. They can ask things no one on the inside feels comfortable asking. And you can be more open, because there's less risk of your words being misunderstood or repeated.

External mentors often have wider experience too. They’ve seen how other organisations approach similar problems. They might offer a different way of doing things, or at least confirm that no, you’re not the only one dealing with that particular issue. Sometimes, just hearing “yes, that’s common, here’s what others try” can take a weight off.

Another advantage is that an external mentor isn’t affected by your reporting lines. Internally, even with the best intentions, mentoring can blur with management. With someone external, the space tends to feel safer and more neutral. You’re not being evaluated. You’re just being listened to and nudged gently in a direction you might not have seen for yourself.

The idea that mentoring is something for “junior” people is also outdated. So is the idea that mentoring means one person teaching another. In healthy organisations, mentoring takes many shapes. Sometimes it’s peer to peer. Sometimes it’s informal. Sometimes it’s a long-term relationship. And sometimes it’s a quick five-minute chat that makes a lasting difference.

In the NHS and similar settings, where pressures are climbing and morale is under strain, building a culture of mentoring is more than a feel-good exercise. It’s a practical way to help people stay capable, calm, and connected. And it must include everyone. That means analysts working on their first dashboard, and data leaders trying to steer the ship during a storm.

You don’t need a full programme in your organisation to begin with. Start with a conversation. Offer to check in with someone regularly. Or ask for support yourself. There’s no shame in it. In fact, with the current changes in the NHS it might be one of the smartest things you can do. Because when the structure around you keeps shifting, it helps to have someone steady beside you. Even if it’s just for a little while. And sometimes, that steady voice is best found outside the building.

If you’re looking for external mentoring or just want some honest advice on how to set up something that works for your team, we can help with that. Drop us a message for a proper chat about what might help and how to get started.

hdavies@chainintelligence.org

jrvarlow@chainintelligence.org