Establishing a trusting mentoring relationship takes an investment of time for both you and your mentee. It typically takes a few sessions to build trust and an understanding of which approaches work best for each of you. The first session should focus on agreeing goals and what success would look like. Ideally, you leave this and every session with the mentee deciding some actions they will take as a result of the discussion. It is a good idea to document these and refer to them at the start of your next session.

To ensure sessions are valuable, you may like to use the following agenda for a one-hour mentoring session.

Reconnect -  (three to five minutes)

Objective/ focus for today's session - (one to two minutes) 
It's a good idea to notify the menee of this in advance

Review of actions and the insights gained/lessons learnt - (10-minutes)

Discussion of topic of focus for today - (35 - 40 minutes)

Wrap up - (six to eight minutes)
Agreed actions
Reflect on key learning and insights from session
Agree and carry forward items
Check on value of process, what is working and what you could improve
Confirm logistics for the next sessions.

Having structure for mentoring meetings keeps you both on track and can help to ensure that your valuable time is well spent.