Information & Support

GENERAL TIPS FOR THE MENTORING SESSIONS

Meetings are proposed to be once a month. If once a month is not possible, other  approaches suiting both members of the couple best will be equally fine.

In order to optimize time investment in programme, we would recommend to set up a calendar  for the 6 regular meetings from the beginning (e.g. first Thursday of the month) and try to  stick to it. Afterwards, you can reschedule as needed under mutual agreement. In any case,  it will be the responsibility of the mentee to contact the mentor and confirm every  meeting.

Take some time to build up a space of trust and connection among the two of you: introduce  yourself to each other, agree on some basic items that will define your mentoring  relationship. Try to answer the following questions as guidance in this step:

• In what ways do you believe your experience and knowledge could be beneficial for  each other?
• What are your expectations of each other’s (mentee/mentor)?
• What is the best way you can communicate your concerns/suggestions to each other?

Below are some ideas on what to think about before each session, along with suggested content for some of the meetings.

To make the sessions more productive, you can also share in advance items and documents that you will be working on in the next mentoring session, through shared spaces on Google.

In order to make the most of this experience, experts suggest keeping some tracking of each  meeting that takes place: recalling key points discussed and agreed or disagreed can be very  useful after a few sessions.

To share experiences, articulate conversation around:

• Stories of your professional life (your own, or from colleagues and relatives).
• Specific situations: how did you face them, what could you have done differently, etc.
• Self-awareness: see yourself as others view you.
• Skill-Building: review skills you had or needed at that moment.
• Structure your conversations.

Programme Support Guide