What to expect
You will have an initial meeting with your mentor at a mutually convenient time. During that meeting it will be up to you both to agree how you wish the relationship to work – how frequently you need to meet, what you want to achieve and how the mentor can support you.
The most common subjects that mentors/mentees should discuss together at the outset are:
- What do we expect to learn from each other?
- What are our responsibilities towards each other?
- What are the limits?
- How often shall we speak? For how long?
- What limits are there on confidentiality?
- When and how shall we check if this relationship is right for both of us?
- Is there anything that either of us does not want to talk about?
You can probably expect to meet every six weeks or so and it may be for a fixed period of time or on an on-going basis. Subsequent meetings don’t have to be structured rigidly beforehand – you may find it works better to adopt a more spontaneous approach and talk about issues as they arise.
One of the most important precepts of the programme will be that of confidentiality. All communication between mentee and mentor must be treated with the strictest of confidence.
We hope you find your mentoring relationship to be fruitful and beneficial in your continuing personal and professional development!