Practical 1:1 Mentoring Guide

Theme

Example Questions

Relationship Building

What are you excited about outside of work right now? What are some of your favorite ways to relax? What interesting things have you been watching, reading, or listening to lately? What do you most enjoy doing on a day off? How do you like to organize and/or structure your day? What are your greatest strengths?

Engagement

What part of your job do you dislike? What do you like the most? Since you started here, has it been what you expected? Any good or bad surprises? Do you find meaning in your work? If not, what changes could help? Do you feel our unit is a place where you can grow, develop, and thrive? What could make this job more attractive so you'd want to stay long-term? Are you comfortable with your work productivity and well-being balance? Is there anything I can do to help you with that?

Periodic Check-in

What are you working on that I might not know about but should? Let's review your main work or performance goals. How are things? What help can I provide? What has worked well/not so well for you lately? What are your priorities for the next few days? What can I do to help you with them?

Productivity & Challenges

Are your roles and responsibilities clear? Anything I can clarify? We all have things that feel like a waste of time at work. What are yours? What is slowing you down or blocking you? What help can I provide? Do you feel like a valued team member? Do you think we have an inclusive team environment? What opportunities for improvement do you see in our team?

Feedback

Do you feel I give you enough feedback? Is my feedback helpful? If not, how can I improve to help you? Where could I provide more feedback or guidance? Think of a work activity or a skill you're developing where you'd like more input. What feedback can I share with you today that might be useful? If you were training me to be the best leader I could be, what advice would you give me? Is there anything I could do differently to help you or other team members? What are your thoughts on our team meetings? How can we make them more productive?

Development & Career

Where do you hope to be in your career in 5 to 10 years? Tell me about your long-term goals. How can I best help you achieve them? Do you feel you are making progress on the long-term goals you've set for yourself? Is there anything not part of your current role that you would like to be doing? Is there a role or job you aspire to have after this one or as a side role?

Diversity & Inclusion

Have you ever been in a situation in a previous job where you felt uncomfortable or discriminated against due to gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, age, religion, or origin? What was it like? How do you think we can prevent such situations here? Have you recently experienced a situation at work where you felt uncomfortable sharing about your experiences related to your race, sexual orientation, origin, or disability? Do you feel you are having the same opportunities as others on the team? Do you feel uncomfortable discussing diversity? Whether due to questions about language, attitude... How can we work on this in our 1:1 mentoring? Do you have any questions about diversity you would like to address in the 1:1? If I don't know something, we can find out together!