Guidance That Lasts: How UK MedComms Professionals Can Build Informal Mentoring That Sticks
Photo: US Army Africa, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Formal mentoring schemes can be valuable, particularly in larger organisations where development opportunities need to be visible and equitable. Yet many UK MedComms professionals will recognise a different pattern: the most useful guidance often comes from an informal conversation with someone who has faced a similar client, review process or career decision. The challenge is that informal mentoring can be pleasant without being useful, and useful without lasting beyond a single coffee.
In 2026, UK medical communications is a hybrid, matrixed and often fast-moving field. Teams are distributed, client demands are varied and career paths are less linear than they once appeared. Against that backdrop, mentoring by design does not mean importing a heavy HR process. It means being deliberate about purpose, cadence and reciprocity so that a light-touch relationship can sustain itself.
Begin with the development need, not the pairing
Good informal mentoring starts with a question: what is this relationship for? A mentee may need technical guidance in medical writing, account handling or compliance review. They may need help navigating a career transition, managing a difficult client or building confidence in meetings. They may simply need a sounding board from outside their immediate team.
The mentor does not need to be the most senior person available. A peer with two or three years’ more experience in the relevant area can be more useful than a director with limited time and a different frame of reference. What matters is relevant lived experience, a willingness to listen and the ability to ask useful questions rather than issue prescriptions.
Finding a mentor without awkwardness
Asking someone to be a mentor can feel like a large request. It is often easier to ask for a bounded conversation first: ‘Could I borrow 30 minutes to talk about how you approach medical review on a complicated account?’ That gives the other person a clear, time-limited request and gives both parties a chance to test the fit. If the conversation is useful, a second one can be proposed. The label can come later, if it is needed at all.
Existing networks are often underused. MedComms Networking UK events, agency communities, professional associations and former colleagues can all provide access to people who have relevant experience. A brief LinkedIn message that explains why you are asking and what you hope to discuss is usually more welcome than a vague request for mentoring.
Make the check-in low-effort and regular
Informal mentoring fails when it depends on good intentions alone. A simple rhythm helps: a 30-minute conversation every six to eight weeks, with an agenda sent a day or two beforehand. The agenda need not be formal. Three bullets are enough: what has happened since the last conversation, what decision or difficulty is current, and what the mentee wants from the time.
Virtual coffee works well for distributed teams, but a walk-and-talk or a short meeting before an industry event can be equally effective. The point is not to recreate a performance review. It is to create a reliable space in which a specific issue can be examined. For mentors, the discipline is to listen more than they speak and to share experience without turning it into instruction. For mentees, the discipline is to arrive prepared, own the actions and report back.
Reciprocity, confidentiality and boundaries
Mentoring is not charity, nor should it be treated as unpaid labour with no limits. Good informal mentoring is reciprocal. Mentors gain fresh perspective, the satisfaction of contributing to someone else’s development and, often, a broader network. Mentees gain insight and confidence. Both gain a relationship that can outlast a particular role.
Boundaries should be discussed early, even if lightly. What is confidential? What should not be shared? In UK MedComms, client confidentiality is particularly important. A mentoring conversation should not become a route for sharing sensitive client information, unpublished data or commercially confidential plans. If the mentor and mentee work for competing agencies, that boundary needs to be explicit. It is also sensible to agree that mentoring is separate from line management and does not replace formal performance or wellbeing support.
Sustain momentum beyond the first coffee
A useful test comes after three sessions. Is the relationship still serving its purpose? If so, continue with the same rhythm and review the focus. If not, it is acceptable to adjust or close it. A light charter can help: purpose, cadence, confidentiality and how either party can pause or end the arrangement. This sounds formal, but in practice it prevents drift and makes it easier to be honest.
Momentum can also come from variety. A mentee might have one mentor for technical craft and another for career navigation. An agency might support peer mentoring circles in which small groups meet to discuss shared challenges. Reconnecting at MedComms Networking UK events can give informal relationships a natural point of renewal.
Success should be measured in actions rather than meetings. Did the mentee try a new approach to review? Did they ask for a stretch opportunity? Did they make a decision with more confidence? Those outcomes matter more than the number of coffees logged. Informal mentoring that sticks is not complicated, but it is deliberate: a clear purpose, a modest rhythm, honest boundaries and a willingness on both sides to keep learning.
