Agenda for your first mentoring meetings
Aims:
- Establish trust
- Agree on goals
- Set ground rules
- End on a high note
- Establish trust
Building your mentoring relationship around trust is the key to success! Here are some good starting points to help you get to know each other:
- Introduce yourself and your work
- Discuss your local business community , environment and culture
- Introduce your family
- Introduce your support network – who helps out in difficult times?
- Who is your hero and why?
- Discuss general goals
This is a two-way learning experience, so developing your goals together will help ensure you start off on the right foot:
- Think carefully about what you would both like to learn.
- Then set out 3 general goals to help you track your progress, taking into account:
- Mentee’s interests and potential areas for development
- What the mentee hopes to achieve
- How the mentor can help
- What the mentor would like to gain
- How you would like your business and life to change as a result of this relationship
- Once you have agreed on general goals, we suggest you discuss more specific objectives on a regular basis. Your objectives will emerge and take shape as your relationship develops.
- As your objectives develop, remember to list them on your calendar and update the list regularly!
- Set ground rules
Clear, shared expectations and processes are important. Discuss rules and logistics and, at a minimum, agree on:
- The confidential nature of your conversations
- Methods of communication:
- Planned frequency and duration of meetings on the platform
- Agreement on availability for brief, ad hoc conversations via email or chats
- How to communicate what makes you feel uncomfortable
- How you plan to give constructive feedback and support to one another
- How you will measure progress
- Boundaries, “no-go zones”, such as requests for funding
- End on a high note
Good practice is to:
- Review the meeting – Have you made a good start? Any questions?
- Confirm when you will next meet/talk/chat
- Agree on your next topic in advance. Choose something engaging that interests both of you, such as:
- How to start writing a business plan
- Getting the most out of the platform
- Learning from each other’s business cultures
- Agree on the agenda and share it prior to your next meeting – the mentee can take the lead on this task.
- Have fun! Mentoring relationships should be rewarding for both parties, so relax and enjoy it!