2. 充分利用现有的技术手段。瑞奇和她的学习者们“一开始会安排每月谈一次，然后随着学徒的需求发生变化，交流调整成了每个季度一次，”瑞奇说。“但我每天都会在Facebook上看到她。她经常更新，内容既涉及工作内容，也涉及个人兴趣。这些确实帮助我们保持了联系。此外，我们还在Twitter上留言，互发短信。”

    3. 寻求指导时要具体而直接。一旦到了中国，你的导师会非常忙碌，可能没有时间去仔细琢磨你到底需要什么样的帮助，因此表述清楚是你的任务。瑞奇给雅加达学习者的指导既包括重大的问题（比如，是否应该接受一家竞争性公司一项职责更大的工作？），也涉及一些细节性的小问题（比如，在某个特定项目上她应该利用谁的技术专长？）。

    “每次她需要问我什么样的信息或意见，她都非常直接，”瑞奇称。“这有助于我给出最好的答案。”同理，福迪表示，在每次约定会谈前，给导师发一份电子邮件，描述一下你现在的处境发生了什么变化，或者你具体希望讨论什么问题。她说：“这样就能直奔主题。”

    4. 会面后的跟进。首先，每次谈话后，“发送一份谈话摘要，概括谈话的内容，确保没有遗漏和误解，”福迪建议。“什么时候这都是个好主意，但当两人相隔遥远时，它尤其管用。”

    其次，瑞奇说，让导师知道她的建议效果如何。“我很乐意知道我的建议是否成功，或者不太成功。让我知道什么奏效了，什么需要再次斟酌，这些都是很宝贵的信息，”她说。“听到结果如何也让我学到了很多。这就是教学相长。”

    反馈：如果你有过一位远程导师——或者自己就是这样一位导师——什么样的方式是有效的？请在下面留下宝贵意见。

    译者：老榆木

    2. Tap into all the available technology. Nicki Rich and her mentee "started out scheduling meetings once a month, then went to once every quarter as her needs changed," says Rich. "But I see her on Facebook every day. She posts a lot, both about what she's doing at work and her personal interests, which really helps us stay in touch. We also tweet and text."

    3. Be specific and direct in asking for guidance. Once she gets to China, your mentor is going to be so busy that she probably won't have time to figure out what you need help with, so articulating that is going to be your job. Rich has coached her Jakarta mentee on large questions (should the mentee accept a bigger job at a competing company?) and smaller ones (whose technical expertise should she seek out for a particular project?).

    "She is very direct in asking me for exactly the information or insight she really needs at that moment," says Rich. "That helps me give her my best answer." Along the same lines, Forte adds, before each scheduled session, send your mentor an email description of any changes in your situation or other issues you want to discuss. "That way, you can get right into the substance of the discussion," she says.

    4. Follow through between meetings. First, after each conversation, "send a summary of what came out of the discussion, just to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks or was misunderstood," Forte advises. "It's always a good idea, but especially when great distances are involved."

    And second, says Rich, let your mentor know how her advice worked out. "I appreciate knowing whether what I suggested was successful, or less so. It's valuable for me to know what works and what I need to rethink," she says. "I learn a lot from hearing how a situation turned out. It really is a two-way street."

    Talkback: If you've ever had a virtual mentor -- or been one -- what worked for you? Leave a comment below.