Starting a mentoring program is an essential investment for any organization, as it can help improve employee metrics such as retention. But how do you get started? This comprehensive guide will provide you with all the information you need to know about how to start a mentoring session. The initial step is to pair up mentors and mentees. Once this is done, contact them and provide them with everything they need to begin.
In the first session, it's important to spend time getting to know each other. Ask the mentee to share what they want from the mentoring relationship. Some trainees may have specific objectives, while others may seek general guidance. Ask open-ended questions that encourage them to think about their aspirations and dreams. Once expectations have been set, both parties should prepare for the mentoring sessions.
This includes sending an email with questions or suggestions for topics before the session. It's also important to understand mentoring behavior in order to identify obstacles and opportunities. Regardless of the size of the program, easy-to-use mentoring software can help your program start and run smoothly. As the mentoring connection progresses, establish checkpoints where mentors report on their progress. This will help ensure that the mentoring sessions don't become superficial conversations or unnecessary records of the project.
It's also important that the mentee arrives prepared for each session. Designing a mentoring program plan around these exercises provides an excellent structure for successful mentoring. These don't need to be word-for-word scripts for mentoring sessions, but something that participants can use as a starting point. Evaluate various combinations of games before finishing them, as ensuring quality mentors for trainees that are difficult to match can be a challenge. University mentoring has been shown to improve student retention, increase employment rates and increase alumni participation when they are chosen as mentors. To help you get started, here are some interesting questions to ask yourself if you're a mentee and thoughtful questions to ask yourself if you're the mentor.
