Course Outcomes

This mentor training and mentoring course will:

  • Outline best practices for creating and running a mentoring program.
  • Explain the benefits of a mentoring program and how the role of a mentor differs from that of a supervisor.
  • Review the mentor’s and protégé’s responsibilities.
  • Provide meeting templates.
  • Suggest troubleshooting strategies to address common problems.
  • Prepare participants to function as mentors to others in the organization.

Course Overview

A successful mentoring program can grow the strength of a business. Top organizations have taken advantage of this strategy for years. They understand the importance of leveraging talent, growing people, and engaging members of the workforce. This interactive course introduces participants to mentoring and shares best practices for establishing and managing a successful mentoring program. During this workshop, participants will also look at guidelines for establishing a positive mentor-protégé relationship and templates for preparing for the first mentoring session and subsequent meetings.

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Describe the benefits of mentoring and how mentoring differs from supervision.
  • Explain the role of mentor and the role of a protégé.
  • Discuss ten guidelines for making sure mentoring is successful.
  • Decide on a schedule for formal mentoring meetings.
  • Ask a series of questions to establish a growth and development plan.
  • Help their protégés think through and commit to a plan.
  • Hold check-in conversations.
  • Troubleshoot common problems in the relationship between a mentor and a protégé.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

What Makes a Program Work: Creating Favorable Conditions

This program begins with a discussion around best practices for creating a workplace mentoring program and the conditions that usually exist in environments where mentoring programs thrive and add value to an organization. During this introductory module, we’ll walk through the process of setting up and managing a mentoring program and the critical steps that should be considered by any group attempting the process.

Why We’re Doing This: The Benefits of Mentoring

This portion of the workshop looks at the benefits of mentoring for both the mentor and the protégé. During this part of the program, participants will consider a range of positive outcomes and identify those they believe would most benefit them, their protégés, and their organization. 

Roles and Responsibilities: Understanding Who Does What

It is important that anyone in a mentoring role understand his or her responsibility. In this part of the workshop, we will look at the roles and responsibilities of a mentor and his or her protégé. Working in teams, participants will review a series of responsibilities and then develop an approach for meeting those obligations. For example, “identify the protégé’s goals” is one of a mentor’s responsibilities. In this exercise, participants will determine exactly how they will accomplish that objective and others.

Great Guidelines: Setting the Stage for Success

At this point in the program, participants should understand how top organizations implement a mentoring program, the benefits of mentoring, and a mentor’s and protégé’s roles and responsibilities. In this segment, we will look at interactions between mentors and protégés and guidelines that, if followed, can solidify the relationship between the parties and drive the process forward.

Template Time: Planning the Work

This workshop segment looks at a template for planning an initial meeting and another for subsequent discussions. Working individually, participants will review the forms and modify them as needed in preparation for their first mentoring session.

Troubleshooting: Getting Back on Track

In this seminar segment, we will look at problems that can negatively impact the mentor-protégé relationship and solutions for addressing those challenges.

Preparing Protégés: Managing Expectations

In this final part of the course, we’ll discuss the importance of preparing protégés to navigate the mentoring process. Upon request, this portion of the program can be delivered directly to the protégés. Alternatively, we can review the process and the mentors can incorporate the information into their kickoff meeting.

By the conclusion of this workshop, participants should understand the benefits of formal mentoring programs, best practices for running them, and how to work with a protégé to realize his or her goals from the mentoring relationship.