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4. Drive Active Relationships

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22 mins

What to Do in a Mentoring Meeting as a Mentor

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Having a structure can help you and your mentee make your time more productive. The format can be adapted to suit your requirements so there’s a natural flow.
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1. Feedback And Update

Remind your mentee about confidentiality as well as any ground rules.

Talk to your mentee about:

Feedback on their progress on the action plan.
An update on what has happened in their work or personal life since you last met.

Progress on what you committed to do since the last meeting.

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2. Discussion

This is where you will spend the bulk of your time. Ask your mentee to go through the discussion points on their agenda, and identify the issues they want to discuss.
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Example of prompting questions:

“What would be most useful for you to discuss today?”

“What would you like this session to focus on?”

Ask questions to clarify the issues your mentee has presented; be sure you fully understand before moving on.

Guide your mentee to think about their issue more thoroughly. Ask open-ended questions to encourage them to think more deeply.
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Example of prompting questions:

“What options have you considered?”

“What do you see as the pros and cons of each?”

You can then share some of your experiences and advice, if it's requested.

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3. Close

Action Plan - Ask your mentee to put together an action plan of what they would like to work on before the next meeting. If needed, help them to think through options. Make a note of anything you could provide, such as an article or video, to help them. Make sure you send them to your mentee.

Discuss and schedule your next meeting. Set up a recurring meeting if you mutually agree on a time that works for both of you. Finally, sincerely thank your mentee for their hard work.

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How to Prepare for Your Mentoring Meeting as a Mentor

Your mentee is responsible for most of the preparation for their mentoring meeting.

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xyz_mentor

2 mins

Your mentee is responsible for most of the preparation for their mentoring meeting; however, here are some things you can do to make it more productive -
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1. Be in the right frame-of-mind:

Take time before your meeting to reflect on your mentee’s progress-to-date. Is the relationship working as expected?
Be fully present. Eliminate distractions (especially your phone!).

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2. Review the agenda and action plan:

Your mentee should have sent you an agenda before your meeting. It should include a timeline, an update from your last meeting, and input needed from you. Be prepared to suggest any needed changes to the agenda.
Review the action plan and tasks set from your last meeting and ask for an update at the beginning of your session.

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3. Goals:

Review the stated goals and milestones from your initial meeting and reflect on your mentee’s progress-to-date.

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4. Your Action Items:

Have you done your action items from the last meeting? Be prepared to provide an update.

Your mentee should be setting the agenda and sending an invite before each meeting. Be prepared to help them at first if necessary. Ensure you have synchronized your calendar so you can set up a date, time, topic and set an agenda for your session. You can also choose your preferred video conferencing platform so that you don’t have to set up new meetings every time you schedule a mentoring session.

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