Companies who are in constant chaotic crunch time build tech debt partly because the people who would mentor do not have time or energy to help others.
I know that several times in my career, I've had a good mentor and I've grown hugely during those times.
I've found that you can mentor in different ways, some more effective than others:
Writing good, clear documentation depends on people reading it, which depends on them knowing it's there! Showing them during a group meeting rather than just mentioning the docs has a much better result.
Simply saying "my door is always open" doesn't get much in the way of engagement. You, as a mentor, have to put in some footwork attracting people and maintaining the contact. It's all too easy for a junior person to feel overwhelmed by sprints and deadlines, for them to push the mentor session out a week over and over. Or even remember to schedule a session.
It's also easy for the juniors to depend on the mentor-level folks taking care of the more complex things. It's faster, and during the everlasting crunch time, less burden on the junior. So to get the team benefit you have to spend the time going through the "pain" of having someone slower and less knowledgeable do The Thing.
(Maybe more as I wake up, I hope this is useful to someone and not complete bullshit!)
I know that several times in my career, I've had a good mentor and I've grown hugely during those times.
I've found that you can mentor in different ways, some more effective than others:
Writing good, clear documentation depends on people reading it, which depends on them knowing it's there! Showing them during a group meeting rather than just mentioning the docs has a much better result.
Simply saying "my door is always open" doesn't get much in the way of engagement. You, as a mentor, have to put in some footwork attracting people and maintaining the contact. It's all too easy for a junior person to feel overwhelmed by sprints and deadlines, for them to push the mentor session out a week over and over. Or even remember to schedule a session.
It's also easy for the juniors to depend on the mentor-level folks taking care of the more complex things. It's faster, and during the everlasting crunch time, less burden on the junior. So to get the team benefit you have to spend the time going through the "pain" of having someone slower and less knowledgeable do The Thing.
(Maybe more as I wake up, I hope this is useful to someone and not complete bullshit!)