Investing in Each Other

WBG Mentoring Toolkit

for Mentors and Mentees
Version 1.3
June 2018
THE WBG MENTORING TOOLKIT

This toolkit provides resources—guidance, tips, and tools

to facilitate participation in mentoring relationships.

This toolkit contains:

• An overview of mentoring at the World Bank Group
• Information about the mentoring process lifecycle
• Responsibilities of mentors and mentees
• Tips for building successful mentoring relationships
• Tools to maximize your learning and development

We hope that you will find these materials useful

in creating a productive mentoring experience.

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 1

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4 WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees
MENTORING AT THE WORLD BANK GROUP

Because we operate in an increasingly competitive development market where staff need to have cutting
edge knowledge and capabilities to engage with clients, develop partnerships and provide high quality
integrated services, we consider development to be a priority. Mentoring increases the WBG’s capacity
to achieve business results now and in the future through increased knowledge sharing and a culture of
collaborative leadership.

What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is a developmental relationship between a mentor— someone with a specific skill set or sub-
ject matter expertise and a mentee—a less experienced individual who desires to acquire skills or knowl-
edge in that area. Mentors and mentees should see themselves as partners for the benefit of mutual
learning. Mentoring serves as a complement to other forms of development, and should not be viewed
as a route to a promotion.

The Benefits of Mentoring

The mentoring relationship is often cited as being one of the most meaningful developmental experi-
ences in an individual’s career— it is an opportunity that benefits the mentor, the mentee and the organi-
zation.

Mentees have the opportunity to:

• Increase their knowledge and skills and build confidence in targeted areas
• Gain perspectives and insights from more experienced leaders or technical experts
• Build relationships outside their team/VPU
• Gain exposure and build networks within the institution
• Increase knowledge of different job functions and career paths
• Gain insights into organizational culture
• Build the core WBG competencies, especially Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries and
­Create, Apply and Share Knowledge

Mentors also benefit by being able to:

• Develop leadership skills such as coaching and giving feedback
• Enhance ability to work with staff to address variety of development needs
• Get exposure to diverse perspectives and approaches outside their team
• Gain access to new information channels and networks
• Increase awareness of available talent
• Gain better understanding of issues faced by more junior staff
• Build WBG leadership competencies, especially: Influencing Across Boundaries,
Fostering Openness to New Ideas, and Building Talent for the Future

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 5

 In addition to helping individuals enhance performance or develop in their careers,
mentoring also provides numerous benefits for the World Bank Group as a whole by:
• Facilitating knowledge sharing within and across functions
• Increasing job satisfaction and retention, and accelerating productivity of new hires
• Building a more confident, effective leadership talent pool
• Promoting career development

Mentoring Relationships
A mentoring relationship differs from the relationship between a staff member and his/her manager. The
mentor/mentee relationship occurs outside of the direct reporting chain and is based on the learning
goals of the mentee. Conversations between a mentor and mentee are confidential and the relationship
is meant to be a safe, risk-free environment.

The focus of a mentoring partnership can be on different topical areas, as determined by the
mentee including:
• Operational knowledge
• Technical skills
• Leadership or management skills
• Interpersonal or business skills
• Organizational knowledge for staff new to the WBG, the VPU or unit
• General career development

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Mentoring Relationship Life Cycle
Some mentor/mentee connections maintain relationships long after the program that matched them.
However, for the purpose of the time they have together within the program, it can be helpful to consider
phases within the relationship and what activities typically take place during that stage.
The phases of the relationship, activities that occur in each, along with responsibilities and tools provided
in this toolkit are listed below. Information on selecting a mentor for those who are not part of a formal
program, is included in Phase 1.
Phase Key Activities
• Identify individual with
desired expertise or
skills to be mentor
1
• Assess strengths and
areas of development
• Identify what you want
to achieve through
mentoring
prepare
• Conduct first meeting
• Build rapport and trust
• Agree on goals and
2
mentoring outcomes
• Establish ground rules
set goals
• Execute development
plan towards learning
goals
3
• Assess progress
• Adjust when necessary
learn
• Redefine relationship
• Evaluate mentoring
experience
4
• Assess progress
against goals
close
Mentee Mentor
Tools
Responsibilities Responsibilities
• Define desired char- • Accept or decline • Mentor Preference
acteristics of mentor mentoring partner- Worksheet
• Initiate contact with ship request • Goal Setting
potential mentor (s) • Reflect on what you ­Worksheet
• Reflect on areas for expect from the men-
professional growth toring relationship
• Begin identifying • Consider your own
learning goals areas of develop-
ment
• Determine area of
mentoring focus
• Initiate scheduling of • Be transparent about • First Meeting
first meeting own development Checklist
• Define SMART goals goals • Goal Setting
• Be honest about • Be clear about goals ­Worksheet
development needs you can and cannot • Mentoring
help with
• Share information Partnership
about self • Share information Agreement
about self
• Test assumptions
• Test assumptions
• Actively drive learn- • Provide guidance for • Suggested Learning
ing agenda mentee development Activities
• Request and receive • Recommend • Learning Log
feedback ­activities
• Consider new • Partnership Progress
­perspectives • Provide feedback Check
• Practice new skills/ • Facilitate ­connections • Mentoring Resources
behaviors • Follow through
• Follow through on on commitments
commitments
• Assess progress
• Assess progress
• Apply learning • Provide feedback • Closure Worksheet
• Provide feedback on experience
on experience • Celebrate success
• Celebrate success • Recommend next
• Consider next steps steps for mentee’s
for learning learning
WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 7
 Mentoring relationships are focused on achieving a variety of developmental goals and as such can have
durations of days, weeks or months. A sample timeline for a six-month relationship is as follows:

First Progress Mentoring

Meeting Check Evaluation

Month 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

prepare set goals learn close

Program Coordinator
If you are participating in a formal mentoring program, a program coordinator will manage the overall
program, including mentor/mentee pairings, program events and program evaluation. S/he can also be a
resource for issues that may arise during the mentoring program.

8 WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees

GUIDANCE FOR MENTORS

Deciding Whether to Accept a Mentoring Request

Being a mentor requires a certain investment of time and energy. If you are considering whether to enter
into a mentoring partnership, you may want to ask yourself the following questions before making a deci-
sion:

• What is my motivation for participating in mentoring?

• Do I possess the appropriate skills/knowledge to help the person—is it the right fit for me?
• Do my personal and professional commitments permit me to dedicate the time needed to
participate in this type of relationship?
• Do I have access to development opportunities and networks to support this person?
• Is there positive mutual intent—do I feel good about committing to this person?

Make sure you are clear about what the mentee expects from you and be honest about the time you can
commit to the process.

Declining a Mentoring Request

If you must decline, be respectful of the person making the request—and recognize it may have taken
courage for them to approach you. Recommend someone else to be their mentor whenever possible.

Identifying Development Objectives

Mentoring is a developmental opportunity for the mentor as well as the mentee. Take time to reflect on
what you would like to get out of the relationship, so you can discuss it with your mentee and let him/her
know how to be helpful. You may want to consider feedback you’ve received from peers, direct reports,
performance review or a 360 evaluation.

1. What do you want to know or do more effectively as a result of this relationship?

2. Why is this important to you?
3. What would a successful outcome look like?

Engaging Your Mentee

It is important to understand what motivates your mentee. While some people are driven by a need
for achievement, others value relationships, recognition and job security. It is also possible that what
motivates you will not motivate your mentee, so the best way to identify motivators is to listen and ask
probing questions. Always try to relate to the experience, issues and concerns of your mentee, and be
respectful of cultural differences.

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 Communication Skills to Build Trust and Facilitate Learning
People learn and process information in a variety of ways. In the course of your mentoring relationship it
is important to use approaches that draw on different learning styles. There are many ways to encourage
growth and development of others—you undoubtedly have found a number of things that have worked
well for you in the past.

One of the most important ways to build trust is through good communication. Here are some time-
tested approaches to communication and examples that can help you effectively promote the learning of
your mentee.

Approach Example

• G
 estures like nodding one’s head,
Convey positive intent. maintaining open body posture
• Maintaining eye contact

• What is your greatest concern?

Ask open-ended questions to encourage • What do you think would be a good way to…?
­comprehensive and thoughtful responses,
stimulate reflection, and challenge thinking. • Where have you seen the problem occur?
• Have you thought about…….?

• What specifically will you do next week?

Be a proactive listener; ask clarifying questions.
• What do you mean by…?

Paraphrase what your mentee said
using your own words.
• S
 o, the members of the team haven’t been
honoring their commitments.
• If I understand what you are saying,
your ideal outcome for the situation is…..
• I think what I heard you say was.....

Summarize learning and actions at the end of each
meeting; omit judgment and opinions
• W
 e’ve agreed that you will work on putting together
a plan and send it to me by next Friday?
• It would work better for you if I would do……..
• Today we discussed…..

Allow for silence during your conversations. Since • What are you thinking?
it can have multiple meanings including confusion
• You seem hesitant…
or discomfort—encourage reflection by asking the
­person what it means for them. • What isn’t clear?

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GUIDANCE FOR MENTEES

Selecting a Mentor
If you are not participating in a formal mentoring program, you will need to identify a mentor. Compat-
ibility between you and your mentor is an important component of a successful partnership, and thinking
about what is important to you in a relationship will help guide the choice of a mentor. Some key ques-
tions to ask include:

• How much time are you willing to commit to the relationship?

• What are your meeting preferences (e.g. face-to-face, telephone, email)?
• Does the guidance, knowledge or skill you want to acquire reside in a specific unit
inside the institution?
• Does your mentor need to possess any technical certification or be a certain level in the organization?
• Do you prefer a mentor in a specific location, of a certain ethnicity or gender?

There are no right or wrong answers—everyone has different preferences.

If you don’t already know someone you can ask to mentor you, consider the following sources for mentor
recommendations:

• Team members on project team

• Manager or respected colleague
• HR Business Partner
• Professional association or other external group
• WBG Mentoring Team

Don’t hesitate to take advantage of relationships that colleagues may have within the institution.

Approaching a Mentor
The prospect of approaching someone you don’t know very well to be a mentor can be intimidating.
Make an appointment to speak with them or request a brief face-to-face meeting. When making a re-
quest, consider which of the following approaches might work best for you.

(1) Informally ask a person for guidance or an opinion about a situation, and then on the basis of that
interaction, follow-up with a request for further guidance and a more formal mentoring relationship.
For example:

I know that you work with the finance department on a frequent basis. They don’t seem to
be very responsive to me and I wondered if you could offer me some insight on how to more
­effectively communicate with them so that I receive the information I need?

The follow up would be to let the person know their advice worked well and suggest the idea of ongoing
interaction.

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 11

 (2) Tell the individual you admire their abilities in a certain area and ask them directly whether they would
be willing to share their knowledge or expertise with you as a mentor. For example:

I really admired the way you diffused the tension in the meeting yesterday. I am working to im-
prove my conflict skills and wondered if you would consider being my mentor?

Or,

I would like to be more effective when presenting to executive audiences, and Joe Smith men-
tioned you are respected for your ability to engage your audience. Would you consider working
with me as a mentor?

Make sure you clearly state what you are looking for and the time commitment you will need from the
person. Be sensitive to the timing of your request. A recent job change or existing mentoring commit-
ments may impact an individual’s ability to work with you. Finally, if a person is unable to serve as your
mentor, respect his or her decision and ask for a recommendation of someone that he/she respects and
has similar expertise.

Once a person agrees to be your mentor, thank the person and take responsibility for moving the rela-
tionship forward by scheduling the first meeting and sharing the link to this Toolkit.

Prepare Yourself
Before meeting with your mentor for the first time, set aside time to reflect on the following:

• What are your assumptions about being a mentee?

• What is important to you in a mentoring relationship?
• How do you want to grow professionally through the mentoring relationship?
• What are your expectations of your mentor?
• What motivates you?

Identifying Learning Goals

Think about where you are in your career and where you want to do in the future. Reflect on feedback you
have received from your manager, performance evaluation, leadership assessments and other sources.
Spending time to take stock of your needs and expectations will prepare you to set meaningful learning
goals.

It is impossible to achieve a goal that has not been clearly articulated. It’s equally important for your men-
tor to understand and agree with your goals so that you are not working at cross-purposes. Your mentor
will usually have insights that will help you better refine your goals, and it’s advisable to discuss them with
him/her before finalizing them.

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• Consider your current position and the work you are doing. What is satisfying? What is challenging?
• Where do you want to be in 1, 3 or 5 years?
• How do you see your professional contribution and impact changing?
• What are your manager and colleagues expecting of you?
• What feedback have you received? What is your professional reputation?
• What new assignments will you be taking on? What skills, knowledge and experience
will you need to be successful?
• What are the gaps in skills or abilities that you feel need to be filled?
(Consult the WBG competencies to help identify these)

Be Proactive
Do not hesitate to take lead in the mentoring relationship. Your mentor may be a busy person, but this
does not mean that you are being intrusive if you make requests of him/her. Your mentor will expect you
to schedule meetings and will want you to be clear about what you need from him/her.

Learning Style
Research tells us that people learn in a variety of ways—some by doing, others by listening or observing.
Since not everyone learns in the same way, it is important for you to understand your own learning style.
Be sure to communicate with your mentor about how you learn best. Learning as part of a mentoring
relationship is active learning so you should also be open to trying new things.

Application of Learning
The Learning Log found in the Tools and Templates section of this guide provides a structured format for
documenting your conversations with your mentor. After each meeting, review your notes and reflect on
your learning, how your can apply it and how it relates to your goals.

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14 WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees
TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

Build a Strong Foundation

Defining objectives, communicating expectations and establishing ground rules upfront are essential to
building a productive mentoring relationship. It’s strongly recommended that you document these items
in a mentoring partnership agreement. An agreement template, in addition to a list of suggestions for
your first meeting can be found in the Tools and Templates section of this guide.

The most successful mentoring relationships are driven by the goals of the mentee, with the mentor offer-
ing advice and insights focused on the mentee’s specific needs. Both individuals in the partnership play a
role in keeping the relationship focused and on track.

Develop Trust
Trust promotes learning. When there is trust in a relationship, mentoring partners are more confident the
other party will respect ground rules about information they share in confidence. It is important that men-
tors and mentees invest in building rapport through honest, open dialogues and show commitment to
the partnership.

Behaviors that engender trust include:

• Listening in a way that shows respect for your partner and values their ideas
• Openly sharing thoughts and feelings
• Demonstrating congruency in actions and words
• Admitting and accepting accountability for mistakes
• Maintaining confidentiality
• Accepting and withholding judgment
• Following through on commitments
• Encouraging and supporting others
• Testing assumptions

Building trust only in the beginning of a relationship is an important start. Mentoring partners need to
continue to maintain one another’s trust throughout their relationship.

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 15

 Effectively Structure Meeting Time
In order to ensure the mentoring process is productive, it is important to determine how best to use your
time together. A meeting of 60-90 minutes should enable you to have a productive discussion and ensure
you have an opportunity to discuss immediate concerns as well as progress toward your longer-term ob-
jectives. Work with your partner to determine what timing works best for your situation. One suggestion is
to set up a recurring meeting through the length of the program.

A recommended time allocation for a one-hour meeting is 10/15/35.

First 10 Minutes: General conversation and check-in

Next 15 minutes: Discuss high priority issues or concerns
Last 35 minutes: Focus on specific mentoring objectives, “homework,” action items etc.

Foster Virtual Relationships

Engaging in a long-distance mentoring relationship can be just as rewarding as one where the partners
are co-located. Although more complicated since you are not physically present to observe visual clues
and cannot hear the tone in written words, it is possible to have a productive relationship if you observe a
few simple practices:

• Dedicate more time to building the relationship at the beginning

• Strictly adhere to agreed-upon ground rules
• Increase frequency of communication between partners
• Establish guidelines for sharing confidential information in writing
• Be sensitive to demands of work and time zone of partner
• Experiment with different methods of connecting to find the most effective way to communicate

Give and Receive Meaningful Feedback

Effective feedback is timely, focused on specific observations of behavior, and targeted to emphasize
desired actions.

When providing feedback you should:

• Suspend judgment of the behavior

• Align feedback with the agreed upon objectives
• Be aware of differences in communication styles or culture that could impact receptivity

16 WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees

When receiving feedback, the following principles will help facilitate a constructive
­conversation:

• Seek to understand what is being said

- Listen actively
- Check for understanding

• Be open to what is said

- Acknowledge the feedback
- Avoid being defensive
- Resist explaining
- Assume positive intent—view feedback as a gift

• Don’t personalize the feedback

• Try on the “fit” of the feedback—does it ring true?

- Obtain feedback from another source
- Evaluate consistency

• Determine course of action you will take

Address Relationship Challenges

Challenges are not uncommon particularly in longer-term mentoring relationships when circumstances in
the business environment change—for example, a change in job responsibilities may impact the ability of
one party to devote time to the relationship. Other examples could include repeated meeting cancella-
tions, commitments that are not met, failure to honor confidentiality and/or lack of communication. The
following steps will help you work through challenges if they arise in your relationship:

• Tell your partner if you feel a boundary has been crossed

• Reference the ground rules you established as part of the mentoring agreement
• Describe/offer examples of the behavior
• Discuss ways to get the relationship back on track
• Reach out to the program coordinator if necessary

Assess Progress Toward Goals

Keeping things on track is sometimes more difficult than it sounds. Each partner in the relationship is
extremely busy and has competing priorities. Periodic check-ins on what is working/not working, as well
as progress towards achieving objectives will pave the way for discussions that result in a more productive
relationship. If you are part of a formal mentoring program, you should receive mid-process and end-of-
process evaluations from your program coordinator.

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 17

 Plan for Close and Transition
It is important to have a plan for handling the end of your mentoring partnership. By taking a few min-
utes during your first meeting to discuss how you will handle the transition of your relationship, you will
minimize the risk of unfulfilled expectations whether the conclusion of the relationship is expected or
unexpected.

Unanticipated endings may be the result of external or internal forces—a family crisis, a new boss, or
simply a time crunch. In other instances, symptoms such as the ones below may be indicative of deeper
issues:

• Lack of real purpose or agenda for your meetings

• Multiple breeches of confidentiality occur
• Progress is not being made over course of time
• You resent the time you spend to sustain the relationship

When signals are present that might indicate it is time for closure, it is important to validate your percep-
tions before taking action. When a decision is made to end an unproductive mentoring relationship, the
participants should acknowledge the situation without blame, respect the decision and leave the door
open to resume the relationship, if appropriate.

Acknowledge Contributions
Most mentoring pairs will choose to acknowledge their work together in some way. A written expression
of appreciation, a note of encouragement or a small token symbolizing a shared interest is a meaningful
remembrance. You may even want to plan a special event such as lunch to celebrate. For mentoring pairs
who elect to redefine their relationship and maintain contact with each other, each party should be open
about their desires and negotiate relationship terms that are mutually acceptable.

Document Mentoring Activities

Finally, mentoring is important to the institution. Make sure you take the opportunity to document your
mentoring contribution or involvement. There are currently several places to do so:

• Include in your end of year performance evaluation under contributions or development objectives.
• Include mentoring in Skill Finder in the “I Work On…“ section.

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MENTORING TOOLS AND TEMPLATES

• Mentor Preference Worksheet

prepare • Goal Setting Worksheet

• First Meeting Checklist

• Goal Setting Worksheet
set goals • Mentoring Partnership Agreement

• S uggested Learning Activities

• Learning Log
learn • Partnership Progress Check

• Closure Worksheet
close

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 19

 prepare set goals learn close

MENTOR PREFERENCE WORKSHEET

Ask yourself the following questions when considering who to select to be your mentor.
There are no wrong answers—everyone has different preferences and needs.

1. How much time (per week or month) are you willing to commit to the relationship?

2. How much time do you expect your mentor to spend working with you?

3. What are your meeting preferences—do you prefer to communicate face-to-face, by telephone
or email? Are you comfortable using Skype or other virtual meeting technology?

4. Does the guidance, knowledge or skill you want to acquire reside in a specific unit inside
the institution?

5. Given what you want to accomplish, does your mentor need to have a technical certification,
hold a specific position or be at a certain level in the organization?

6. Do you prefer a mentor in a certain location, of a certain ethnicity or gender?

7. What other characteristics or values are important for your mentor to possess?

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 prepare set goals learn close

GOAL SETTING WORKSHEET

Well-defined goals are the foundation of a productive mentoring relationship. Use this worksheet to de-
velop the goals you will discuss with your mentor when you create your partnership agreement.

Goal Inputs
Mentoring goals should be aligned with business direction and existing performance expectations. Infor-
mation from the following sources will be helpful when identifying your mentoring goals:

• Performance feedback
• Development plan
• Leadership assessment
• Input gathered from other sources—manager, peers, direct reports, clients etc.

Goal Setting Criteria

The “SMART” criteria we utilize in our performance management process also provide an effective
framework for writing well-defined mentoring goals.
• Specific: Concrete and clear.
What will you know or be able to do as a result?
• Measurable: Seeks improvement that can be demonstrated or measured.
How will you know if you achieve your goal?
• Action Oriented: Requires effort and time.
What will you do differently as a result?
• Realistic: Achievable, practical.
Can it be accomplished with reasonable time and support?
• Time-bound: Can be completed within the timeframe of the mentoring cycle.
What is the target for completion?

To clarify your objective, it might be helpful to think in terms of the following four elements for each
­mentoring goal:

1. What action?
2. For what result/impact?
3. How will success be measured?
4. By when?

Be sure to review and reassess objectives at the mid-point and completion of your mentoring relation-
ship, and in the event of changes in job responsibilities, skill requirements or occurrence of a significant
business event.

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 21

 PREPaRE sET Goals lEaRn closE

FiRsT MEETinG chEcklisT

Getting to know your mentee or mentor is a critical step in creating a successful partnership. Make sure
you devote a significant amount of time at your first meeting - or take multiple meetings - to learning
about each other—including interests outside of work at the World Bank Group.

GET acqUainTED
• Share information about your professional experience and personal life.
• Learn about your partner’s professional experience and personal life.
• What events, books, experiences have had the greatest impact on you? Why?
• Discuss previous mentoring experiences.
• Understand each other’s expectations, concerns and vulnerabilities.
• Share learning style preferences.

EsTaBlish GUiDElinEs anD GRoUnD RUlEs

• Where will our meetings take place?
• How long will we meet?
• How frequently will we meet?
• How will meetings be scheduled?
• Who is responsible for what?
• How will we communicate informally between meetings?
• How will we manage our relationship if one of us is on mission?
• What is the agenda/format for our meetings?
• How do we define confidentiality?
• What are the boundaries for our interactions? What topics are off limits?
• How will we measure success?

sTaRT PaRTnERshiP aGREEMEnT

• Agree on mentoring objectives.
• Define ground rules.
• Modify Partnership Agreement as needed.

DETERMinE nExT sTEPs

• Review action items.
• Plan future meetings.

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MENTORING PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

Mentor: Mentee:

Title: Title:

Mentoring Goal:

Key learning objectives and measures of success:

Objectives Measure of Successful Accomplishment
1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

Ground Rules:
We agree to abide by the following ground rules for our mentoring partnership (e.g., meeting frequency,
communication, confidentiality. Additional suggestions in First Meeting Checklist):

Mentor: Mentee:

Date: Date:

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 23

 prepare set goals learn close

SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES

While each mentoring relationship has a unique set of objectives, the list below provides some ideas for
structuring activities with your mentee.

Opportunities for mentor to support mentee learning:

• Share your career/personal experiences, insights, challenges and lessons learned
• Explain unwritten rules you have learned about being successful in the WBG
• Share a difficult decision you made; discuss the inputs you considered and ask mentee
what he/she would have done differently
• Provide feedback or coaching on a deliverable-- presentation, proposal, project plans etc.
• Introduce mentee to other resources and/or people in your network that can assist them in
­accomplishing their goals
• Offer encouragement for important milestones or assignments

Opportunities to reinforce mentee learning:

• Check-in conversations between meetings
• Homework assignments
• Plan an event/meeting together
• Design and deliver a presentation together

Opportunities to accelerate mentee learning:

• Stretch assignments
• Teach others (e.g., BBL, blog)
• Mission

Opportunities to get exposure to new skills/knowledge:

• Task force and/or project assignments
• Job shadow (e.g. mentor, other colleagues)
• Meetings outside department or area of responsibility
• Conferences/seminars
• Professional associations
• Books and articles
• Activities with other mentoring pairs

Opportunities for mentors to learn from mentees:

• Ask mentee for advice or perspective on a situation or problem you are encountering
• Request feedback on memo, article, report or presentation
• Ask mentee for tips or coaching in his/her area of expertise or interest
• Role play a difficult conversation you will be having
• Ask for an introduction to someone in mentee’s network who has specific knowledge or experience

Adapted from The Mentors Guide, L. Zachary, 2009

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LEARNING LOG

Use this form to record notes from discussions with your mentoring partner.

Date:

Check In:

Important Issues:

Development Objectives:

Follow Up Action(s):

Questions for further reflection:

• What are the key take-aways from our meeting?
• How do they relate to my mentoring goals?
• In what ways can I apply the knowledge, information or skills I’ve acquired?
• In what area(s) can my mentoring partner offer additional insight?

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 25

 prepare set goals learn close

PARTNERSHIP PROGRESS CHECK

In order to keep the relationship as productive as possible, you are encouraged to set aside time peri-
odically to assess how the mentoring relationship is going. Before talking with your mentor or mentee,
consider the following questions and come prepared to share your perspective with your partner:

1. How would you describe the current interactions?

2. What things are going well?

3. What has been our greatest challenge?

4. Are the frequency and duration of the meetings adequate?

5. What do we need to work on?

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CLOSURE WORKSHEET

It’s important to formally close your mentoring partnership at the end of the mentoring cycle. Take the
time to reflect on what you are taking away from the experience and how you have grown. Closure is
also a good time to acknowledge your accomplishments. Below is a worksheet to guide you through the
closure phase.

• What would you like to happen when your mentoring relationship ends?
• How do you want to structure your closure conversation?
Planning • How will you ensure that your relationship reaches a positive learning
conclusion?
• What might get in the way of a positive learning conclusion?

• What worked well for you in the relationship?

Learning Conclusion
• What did you learn? Did you achieve your goals?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• What did you learn about mentoring? About being a mentor/mentee?
• What would you do differently next time?
• What do you still have questions about?
• What were you most surprised to learn?

• How will you apply what you learned?

• Name one thing you plan to share with your colleagues.
Integrating Learning • What will you do differently as a result of what you’ve learned?
• What is going to be your biggest challenge in applying your learning?
• What is your action plan for continued learning?

• What are some meaningful ways to celebrate what you’ve

Celebrating Success ­accomplished?
• How might you express your appreciation to your mentoring partner?

• Your relationship with your mentoring partner will be different once

Redefining the
the relationship ends. You may decide to continue the relationship infor-
Relationship mally. Talk about these changes before they take place.

• Once you have redefined your relationship, it’s time to let go of

Moving On what it was and embrace what it will be.
• What will your next steps be?

Adapted from The Mentees Guide, L Zachary, 2009

WBG Mentoring Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees 27

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