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71 percent of people with mentors say the experience resulted in great career advancements.
But, two out of three mentoring programs fail. That’s because mentors and mentees aren't given the necessary guidance to succeed.
This makes sense in practice — especially when you consider that just 10 percent of us are natural-born leaders, and we aren't all intuitive when it comes to mentoring another person.
In this article, our aim is to provide you with some reliable guidelines and ideas for mentorship activities you can employ in your next mentorship meeting.
Let's explore some examples of mentoring activities that can be used in multiple settings.
What are mentoring activities?
When mentors and mentees are paired, it is often unclear as to what should happen next. Are you going to have regularly scheduled meetups? Will you talk mostly about work-related things, or is it okay to chat about personal issues too?
The answer is — it depends. And, more specifically, it depends on the goals you're hoping to achieve with your mentorship program.
Mentoring activities are simply any specific tasks or exercises that you and your mentee participate in together. They can be designed to help build relationships, impart knowledge, or solve problems.
Where casual or situational mentorships tend to take place in an informal fashion – offering advice and answering questions where needed, or providing support when a colleague is going through a tough time – more formal mentorship programs generally benefit from planned mentorship activities.
But don't be fooled; structured doesn't mean boring! In fact, well-planned mentor and mentee activities can actually make the mentorship experience more enjoyable for both parties and help to establish goals and objectives early on.
Let's jump into some examples.
Mentoring activities to try
Studies show that the best mentorships are built on a foundation of trust, respect, flexibility, and open and honest communication. If you keep these values in mind, your mentoring activities will naturally reflect that.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Ice breaker activities
Let's face it – icebreakers have a reputation of being awkward, stilted, and downright cheesy. But when mentoring games are used correctly, they can actually be a great way to get to know someone better and help jumpstart the flow of communication.
There are plenty of different mentor/mentee activities to choose from, but here are a couple of our favourites:
1. Quick Questions: Before meeting up with your mentee, suggest that each of you write down a list of 10 quick questions. This can be anything from "What's your favourite TV show?" to "How do you like to relax?" Once you're together, take turns asking each other the questions.
2. Living or Dead: Ask your mentee who they would meet and why, if they could meet any person in the world – living or dead. You'll be surprised at how much this reveals about someone's interests and values.
1-on-1 mentoring activities
If you are in a traditional 1-on-1 mentorship program, it's important to direct your mentee's development by planning activities that will help them grow.
Some great 1-on-1 activities for mentors and mentees include:
3. Skills Development: Choose a skill that your mentee would like to develop and lead a mini-workshop on how to improve that skill. This could be anything from public speaking to time management. Draw upon your own personal experiences and expertise to help them grow.
4. Career Mapping: Does your mentee have a planned-out path for their career? If not, help them create one. Map out the steps they'll need to take to achieve their goals, and offer advice and support along the way. Out of all the mentor meeting ideas, this one helps mentees see the true value of being part of a mentoring program, because they get to see how a mentor can help them shape their careers.
5. Project-Based Learning: Give your mentee the opportunity to work on a project that interests them. This is one of those fun mentoring activities that really encourages creativity and innovation. The project mentees choose can be anything from starting a business to writing a book. Guide them through the process, offer feedback, and celebrate their successes along the way.
Peer mentoring activities
There won't always be enough senior mentors to go around between the employees in your organization, which is why some teams choose to pair employees of similar rank together to form peer mentorships.
Peer mentoring activities can be a great way for employees to learn from their colleagues and develop their skills. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
6. Book Club: Thousands of excellent professional development books exist, and there's no better way to absorb their lessons than by discussing them with your peer mentor. Choose a book each month and meet up to chat about it.
7. Problem-Solving Sessions: When faced with a difficult problem, most people tend to reach out to their mentors for help. Why not do the same with a group of peers? Meet up regularly to brainstorm solutions to workplace challenges.
8. Skill-Sharing: Are you an expert at public speaking? Excel macros? Or do you want to learn a new skill? Use a tool like Together’s Colleague Connect to facilitate skill-sharing sessions. This tool helps employees connect based on shared skills and goals, making it easier to learn from peers and develop new competencies.
9. Elevator Pitch Sessions: In most cases, you only have a few seconds to make an impression on someone. Help one another perfect your elevator pitches by practicing with your mentor and offering feedback.
Group mentoring activities
Group mentorship offers many advantages for teams wanting to improve their relationship and cooperation. For example, when team members are brought together to mentor each other, it can help build team cohesion and communication.
Group mentoring also provides a greater source of feedback for individuals, as they can interact with their peers and learn from more than one person. Structured mentoring events can help increase program engagement.
Here are a few group mentoring activities to get you started:
10. Bucket List Brainstorms: What are the things you've always wanted to do? Help your mentees brainstorm a list of life goals, and offer advice on how to achieve them.
11. Career Exploration: If you are mentoring a group of people all pursuing different career paths, help them explore the different options available to them. This could involve researching different jobs, attending job fairs, or networking with professionals in their desired field.
12. Team Building: Working together to achieve a common goal is a great way to build team morale and relationships. Choose fun activities for mentors and mentees like an escape room, and let the entire group work together to complete it.
Virtual mentoring activities
Virtual mentoring activities are important for remote and hybrid teams.
If your team is spread out across different locations, or if you're working with a remote mentee, virtual activities can help bridge the gap. Some ideas and examples of virtual mentoring activities include:
13. Highs and Lows: Every week, ask your mentee about the highest and lowest points of their week. This is one of the best mentoring exercises that will help you understand them better and provide support where needed.
14. Career Updates: Keep your mentee up-to-date on your own career progress by sharing articles, blog posts, or even just pictures of your new office.
15. Mood Boards: Help your mentee visualize their goals by creating a mood board together. Collect images, quotes, and other pieces of inspiration that represent what they want their future to look like.
16. Discuss Books and Podcasts: As part of your regular meetups, discuss the books and podcasts you've been listening to lately. If you are looking for new activities to do with mentees that’ll help you learn about their interests, this is the best option out there.
17. Create SMART Goals: Help your mentee set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Make a record of these goals and check in on them regularly.
18. Virtual Event Planning: Use a tool like Together’s Events to plan and manage virtual events for your mentorship group. This tool helps with scheduling, sending invites, and tracking participation, making it easier to keep everyone engaged and on track.
Ready to kick-start your mentoring program?
Hopefully, these ideas have given you some food for thought when it comes to planning your next mentorship activity – but if the task feels overwhelming, there's no need to go it alone. We're here to help.
Our team of experienced professionals can work with you to develop a custom mentorship program that meets your specific needs. From curated mentorship plans to powerful analytics and progress tracking, our mentoring software has you covered.
Interested in building a best-in-class mentoring program? Book a 15-minute call with our team, and we'll walk you through the benefits of using our platform. We'd be thrilled to work with you.
