In addition to preparing your own heart for the mentor session, there are some important steps to preparing for the session itself. While these steps need not take long, please be intentional about them so you can capitalize on your time together with the mentee.
There are probably countless ways to facilitate a mentor session. This book teaches you a simple five-phase method.[1] The mentor helps the mentee rest in Christ more fully and reflect Christ faithfully in all his/her vocations by:
Filling up the mentee with encouragement
Reviewing the mentee’s progress
Helping the mentee determine what to work on
Helping the mentee craft a plan
Sending the mentee out with God’s power
The details of each phase will be explained in following sections. For now, just familiarize yourself with the steps you should take to prepare for the five phases of the mentor session itself.
First, review your notes from the previous mentor session and any interactions you have had with the mentee between sessions. Are there any specific areas of stress or struggle that you have observed in the mentee? Have you noted any progress you might want to highlight with him/her?
Be sure you are prepared to share a devotional thought (See Phase 1: Fill Up the Mentee with Encouragement). As much as possible, base it upon your notes. Be sure you have your Bible with you if you need it for the devotional thought.
Review the goals and action steps that the mentee agreed to work on between sessions, so you are prepared to ask about his/her progress. This is important! Usually, the reason a mentee asks a mentor to hold him/her accountable to goals and action steps is that those issues are challenging for him/her to address, e.g. praying with his/her spouse or starting a new workout routine. If a mentee is trying to avoid difficult work (consciously or unconsciously), this will give the mentor an opportunity to challenge him/her, even using the law when necessary. On the other hand, if a mentee feels ashamed about falling short of his/her goals and action steps, the mentor has an opportunity restore him/her with the gospel.
Once you have reviewed your notes and prepared for the mentor session itself, give yourself a ten-minute buffer by:
Arriving at the meeting location 10 minutes ahead of time; or
Preparing the office or meeting room 10 minutes ahead of time; or
Setting up the online meeting 10 minutes ahead of time.
Rushing to arrive or prepare last minute leads to rushed sessions.
Review: Prepare for the Mentor Session Itself
by:
Crafting your devotional thought for mentor session.
Reviewing your notes from the previous session’s discussion.
Reviewing the mentee’s goals and action steps from Phase 5 of the previous mentor session (Send the Mentee out with God’s Power).
Giving yourself a ten-minute buffer before the session.
Preparation for each mentoring session does not require hours of work—if you have already prepared a devotional thought, the other steps may only take 10 or 15 minutes—but it facilitates a great launch to your meeting. Your mentees will appreciate the extra investment in your time with them
Activity: Prepare for the Mentor Session
It’s your turn to prepare for the mentor session by scheduling it, preparing your heart for it, and preparing for the session itself.
Step One: Set the Mentor Session Schedule and Location
Work with your mentee to setup the regular mentor session schedule and record the experience here to evaluate it later. If you don’t know whom you will be mentoring yet, set up a mock regular mentor session schedule based upon the principles learned above.
Step Two: Prepare Your Heart for the Session
Out of the 6 temptations listed in a previous post, pick the two or three that are the most troublesome for you and share why that might be. Also, feel free to add other temptations you have experienced in similar situations.
Step Three: Prepare for the Session Itself
Write a paragraph where you describe in story fashion how you have (or would) prepare for a mentor session, including the different tasks we discussed. Example: “I walk into the coffee shop 15 minutes before my mentee arrives; since it is not too full of people, I pick a small table that is in a corner away from most of the other patrons…”
[1] After you learn this method and get comfortable with it, feel free to adapt it, find another method, or create a method that works for you.