Quick Guides for All

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.

Here are some requirements a goal should meet -

1. Inspiring

Your mentee should be excited and enthusiastic about working towards these goals. 
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2. Challenging, Yet Achievable

 Your mentee will grow if there’s a bit of a stretch to the goal, provided it’s attainable. 
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3. Measurable and Time-Based

Goals should be measurable so you both know when they are achieved. They also should have a time-frame.

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5 Steps For Goal Setting

Ideally, your mentee should have at least three primary goals. Here are steps to help your mentee set goals. Use the MentorCloud worksheet to document and track progress.

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STEP 1: Explore

You and your mentee should look at all the major friction areas of their work and personal life. Your mentee needs to identify at least three areas to focus on through their Mentoring Journey.

Here are some open-ended questions you can ask your mentee: 

• What do you want to accomplish in the upcoming months?
• What are some things you would really like to learn or do?
• What comes to mind in terms of personal or professional friction areas impacting you?
• What else have you always dreamed of doing?
• What would you like to see in your life that currently is not there?

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STEP 2: Identify

• From these areas, you can help your mentee identify their goals. Eliminate goals that are not relevant to the mentoring journey
• Encourage your mentee to record their goals using the MentorCloud worksheet. 

Here are some questions to ask your mentee:

• Does the goal meet the requirements of being motivating, challenging, achievable, and time-bound?
• How will you measure success and know when you have achieved the goal?

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STEP 3: Needs Analysis

After the goals are recorded, help your mentee think about the steps to achieve them.

Questions to ask your mentee:

• How do you see accomplishing this goal?
• What will you need to achieve it?
• What resources, knowledge, help, or collaboration will you need?

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STEP 4: Obstacles

What could prevent your mentee from achieving their goals, and how could it be overcome?

Questions to ask your mentee:

• What do you fear could prevent you from reaching these goals?
• How can I help you?

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STEP 5: Milestones And Action Plan 

Milestones will help your Mentee measure their progress. Start by identifying a milestone and timeline with each goal. Ensure your mentee has a reasonable action plan for each goal.

Questions to ask your mentee:

• What milestones will help you track each goal?
• What help, or collaboration will you need?

Once your mentee has identified some goals, discuss it with them, and ensure it’s entered in the Goals & Tasks sections under Mentorship so you can refer back to it. If a goal seems too broad or unrealistic, help your mentee break these down into doable tasks and review their progress.

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? 

Mentoring partners have expectations for each other. The better those expectations are understood, the more likely the mentoring journey will be successful. 

1. Honors confidentiality - Confidentiality is the cornerstone of a mentoring relationship. Nothing can be shared outside of the meeting unless permission is obtained to do so. You can write private messages by going into a current Mentorship and clicking on the Messages tab – other mentors and mentees can’t see these interactions.

2. Roles - Mentors are there to guide their mentees and provide support. Mentors should try to withhold judgement and keep an open mind. They offer feedback and advice if the mentee requests it.
   A mentor encourages and supports their mentee, believing in them and what they can achieve. They may also be willing to open up their network to their mentee. Since mentors usually have experience in the same field as their mentee, they can provide useful real life experiences and observations. 

3. Commits to the process - Both mentors and mentees are expected to come to meetings prepared, on time, and committed to the process. Unless it’s an emergency, don’t change or cancel meetings. 

4. Honest - Mentors are expected to be open, honest and authentic. They commit the time required to build a relationship with their mentee. They give mentees honest feedback and are open to receiving constructive feedback from them. 

Why become a mentor? Many people assume mentoring only benefits the mentee. In fact, mentoring can be mutually beneficial, with the mentor gaining as much as their mentee. 

Here are some reasons why you should become a mentor -

1. Personal Reflection: Mentoring gives you the rare chance to reflect on your own career, values and purpose, and sometimes to course correct. 

2. Learn New Things: Mentoring forces you out of your comfort zone. Your mentee can share insights on new technology and trends, and you can learn new things and stay fresh. Make sure your mentee knows you are learning from them too. 

3. Improve Your Interpersonal Skills: Mentoring requires developing your social skills, such as listening, feedback and questioning. Through mentoring, you will have a lot of opportunities to practice with them. 

4. Give Back: Experience the satisfaction of making a difference in another person’s life and seeing them grow and learn. It’s the right thing to do and will make you feel good. 

5. Strengthen  Your Leadership Bona Fides: Mentor experience is required for many executive positions and will boost your career development.