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2. Initiate Relationship

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22 mins

How to Prepare for Your First Mentoring Meeting with Your Mentee

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Your first meeting is about getting to know each other and determining if it’s a good fit. Will you be able to guide your mentee and help them achieve their goals?

It’s worthwhile to spend some time preparing for your first meeting. Here are some useful tips to make it more productive -

1. Contact

The mentee needs to reach out to you to set up the first meeting. Making your dates visible on MentorCloud will make scheduling easier. If you have synchronized your calendar, it’ll be easier to set up a date and time for your session without any scheduling conflicts. Ensure you have selected the correct time zones to avoid any confusion later.

Your meeting place, whether in-person or virtual, should be a quiet, safe space where you can both share openly. You could also select your preferred video conferencing tool.

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2. Background

Read up on your mentee on MentorCloud. Your mentee might also have added a link to his/her LinkedIn profile for you to learn about their background and professional experience.

What is their background and experience, achievements and interests?

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3. Agenda

Your mentee should send you an agenda a few days before your meeting. When you create a Session, there is space for you to note down an agenda for your meeting.

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PREPARATION

1. Who are you?

What do you want to share about yourself?
What are your strengths, values and achievements?
Have you mentored before?
What lessons did you learn from that experience?

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2. Why are you a mentor?

What do you hope to get out of the relationship?
What do you hope to learn?

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3. What are your expectations?

Reflect on what you expect from your mentee and how you see your role in the mentoring relationship.

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4. Parameters?

How often do you expect to meet, how you want to communicate, and any needed boundaries you want to establish?

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What to do in a Mentoring Meeting as a Mentee

Mentoring works best with a structure.

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xyz_mentee

2 mins

Mentoring works best with a structure. After having mentored thousands of people across many countries, we’ve developed a tested structure.

A structure will help both you and your mentor make your meetings more productive. Discuss the format with your mentor and ensure it suits them as well.

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1. Feedback And Update (10 Minutes)

Do a time check. “We scheduled an hour for this meeting. Does that still work for you?”
Describe your progress-to-date.
Keep track of the time.

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2.Discussion (30 minutes)

Spend most of your time on the Discussion. Your mentor may ask questions to help you think more deeply about your options. Don’t just ask for advice straight away; explore the possibilities. This is your time to have an in-depth discussion. After you’ve thought through the options, you can ask your mentor to share their experiences and advice.

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3. Close (20 minutes)

Review your tasks and goals with new timelines. Make edits if necessary.

Discuss each action. Do you understand them?
Do a reality check. Is your plan doable given other constraints? Update your goals to be realistic.

Determine when and where you will meet next. Set up a recurring meeting if you mutually agree on a time that works for both of you. Make sure this is in both of your calendars. Set an agenda, sync your Calendars, select your preferred video conferencing tool or choose a location for meetings.

Thank your mentor.

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