GETTING STARTED: THE FIRST THREE COACHING SESSIONS
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GETTING STARTED: THE FIRST THREE COACHING SESSIONS

Step #1 | Getting Matched and Scheduled

  1. Notification: You’ll receive an email and message notification when you’ve been matched with a member.
  2. Message on the Mento Platform: Send a “quick hello” message in the Mento App within 24 hours:
    1. Go to “Messages” in the platform
      1. Head over to the lower right-hand corner for the chat box
      2. find their name
    2. “Hey [Insert Name], [Your Name] here! It’s great to virtually meet you. Looking forward to our first coaching session! Let me know if you have any questions before booking our first session.”
  3. Your member will book the first 1:1: Our team sends a match email to your Member, prompting them to book a 1:1
  4. Calendar Notification: Once they’ve booked their first session, you will receive a calendar notification! Woot woot!

Step #2 | Pre-first 1:1 | Magic Minute đŸ’«Â đŸ§™đŸŒđŸȘ„

💙 Get To Know Your Member:

  1. Magic Minute: Find something to love about your Member before meeting them for the first time. This can help you speed up the process of building rapport with the member.
    1. Member Profile: Read the member’s profile by clicking on their profile icon in the platform. Members will often include their LinkedIn, a bio, or a link to a personal website. Get to know them better and what brings them to coaching.
    2. Recent Notes Section: Use the Private Notes section in the member’s profile to jot down notes and insights about the member. The private notes section is only visible to you and the Mento team.
  2. Need Support? Qualms about coaching your first session? Email CoachSupport@Mento.co!! đŸ’„Â We got you.

Step #3 | Pre-first 1:1 | Get Comfy with the Mento Platform 📜

📃 How To Create Docs & Add Templates to Your Member’s Profile:

  1. Create a 1:1 Doc on your Member’s profile, where you both can take notes.
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Add ANY template to your Members’ profile, but DO NOT edit in the Document Templates section of the platform, as this will edit the template for all coaches.
  • Go to your Mentee’s homepage on Mento from your client list
  • Select the “Documents” tab on your Mentee’s nav bar
  • Select “Create” and then create from our template library

A Quick Demo 😄:

 

  1. đŸ‘©â€đŸ’»Â Review the Mento Platform Best Practices page or this page about how to use the platform during and outside of your 1:1 session.
    1. Use the Mento Platform to maximize your impact as a coach. It is designed to help you define goals, set to-do’s, and share documents with your member. You can find all of what you need to know about the platform in the Best Practices page.
    2. If you’re an experiential learner, consider signing up for a Mento Platform Masterclass! We will host regular masterclasses, so keep an eye out in your inbox to sign up.

Step #4 | T-24 Before Your First 1:1 | Hype People Up!

💬 Message Your Member & Generate Excitement 24 hours before your first 1:1.

Woot! Woot! This is a big moment. They’ve decided to make an important investment in themselves and their career! Let them know you’re excited to meet and remind them of what they can expect. Here’s an example to customize to your own style!

“Hey X, I’m so excited for our first session tomorrow.

I’ll be guiding us during our first few sessions, so there’s no need to prepare anything! The main focus will be on getting to know one another and setting the foundation for accelerating your growth and potential. I’ll quickly demo the platform, and share what you can expect.

I’ve added some documents to your Mento profile, that we’ll collaborate on together over the next few coaching sessions. And, if there is anything important you want to chat through during our first session, feel free to let me know.

Look forward to speaking with you tomorrow!”

Step #5 | The First 3 Coaching Sessions 🚀

The first few coaching calls set the stage for the coaching relationship. During these initial few sessions, your member needs to know, like, and trust you. Understand, value, and feel confident in the role of coaching to help members change their careers and their lives through an inspiring vision and clear goals.

At a high level, the first three coaching sessions are designed to:

  • Get to know each other and build rapport. Build credibility, and trust
  • Develop a deeper understanding of the members’ challenges and the vision
  • Identify clear growth plans, goals, and align on what success and progress looks like to help your member unlock their growth and potential.

1ïžâƒŁÂ Coaching Session 1 - Powerful Questioning Framework

  • See the Document “Coaching Kick-Off | Session #1 | Powerful Questioning (Coaches Only)” (link here) for the script/flow for navigating the first coaching session with a Member.
    • NOTE: DO NOT write directly on this template. The best way place to keep notes is in the “Recent Notes” section as this the private space.
    • At the end of Session 1, be sure to schedule a recurring 1:1 time with Member. We all live by our calendars! 😊 You are responsible for sending the recurring calendar invite. This is a must. The will create consistency to unlock growth and make it easy for both you and your Member.
    • If your member is meeting with two coaches, we’ll follow-up to confirm who they want to move forward with.
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      HOW TO SET UP YOUR 1:1s
  • Tee up your next session:
    • Mento Coaching Member Agreement (that you previously customized).
    • Encourage Member to briefly review on the platform it in advance of Session 2.
    • Leave high-level feedback on the conversation in the Recent Notes section, so that we can have a historical record. It’s amazing how helpful it is!
    • Slack your personal coaching channel to confirm immediately whether you and your member are a good fit and have scheduled your recurring 1:1.

2ïžâƒŁÂ Coaching Session 2 - Retrospective & Growth Plan

  • At the start of this session, revisit anything interesting from the member’s session 1 reflection questions and then briefly look at the Mento Coaching Member Agreement together.
    • Address any questions the Member may have on this. The goal here is to help set the context for what coaching is and how it can help them. Most people are new to coaching!
    • Let the member know where you’re headed today — to reflect and use this information to help inform your vision, goals, and the work you’ll do together in coaching.
    • See the Document Template entitled “Coaching Kick-Off | Session #2 | Retrospective and Growth Plan” for the script/flow for navigating the second coaching session.
      • Do not share this doc ahead of time with your member, but rather during the call so you can review it together. It can be a shared record and reminder of where you started together! It can be a powerful artifact. You can let your member know you’ll be taking notes in that doc, and they certainly can come back to it as well, too.
  • At the end of Session 2, assign the following TO DOs in the Mento App:
    • 3 Week Rule → Look at your calendar 3 weeks from today and renegotiate everything not aligned with your perfect day (both personally and professionally). What changes would you make?
    • Review 3-5 Year North Star, This Time Next Year & 3 Milestone Goals in the Session #2 Doc. Make any changes and finalize for discussion in Session 3.
    • If you feel like you want more, take this Strengths Test. It will be helpful for what we will accomplish in Session 3.

3ïžâƒŁÂ Coaching Session 3 - Milestone Deep Dive & Goal Setting

At the end of this session, you will have added 3 Coaching Milestones to the Goals Section in the Mento App. You should be in a place where you’re ready to start feeling like you can make clear progress toward them.

  • At the end of Session 3, the TO DOs assigned on the platform should be associated with next steps to move Members closer to their goals as outlined by the 3 Milestones.
    • Coach: Don’t forget to leave a note in the Recent Notes section recapping the convo!
    • If you feel like you’re not in a place yet where clear goals were able to be established, please email CoachSupport@Mento.co immediately for the support!
    • Discuss your working styles — have a conversation about what works for them. Some members might prefer to use part of their time together each week as working sessions to make progress, or they might be very excited about setting to-dos and making progress between sessions. It’s all about meeting your member where they are and continuing to check in on what’s working. The important thing here is aligning on what success/progress looks like so people feel like 🙏

Step #6 | Best Practices & Principles for Following Sessions

  • If you ever feel stuck with a member
    • Schedule time with Tara ASAP. Coaching is a relationship that requires time to build - we want to create a long-term experience for both you as the coach and the members. Have a conversation as soon as you start to feel this way so we can figure out a solution together.
  • Growth and progress can feel intangible, particularly at the beginning of the journey! Continue to resurface goals and help raise awareness around the progress that they’re making.
    • Sustain motivation: Pair big, ambitious goals with learning goals or working on things that feel like immediate problems vs just ones that are far off (i.e. 6 months to 1 year from now).
      • e.g. Learning goals can be more immediate to implement and can include anything from doing yoga for 5 minutes every day or starting a book to eliminating one thing from your calendar that is not serving you.
  • Structured 1:1s: Structures can be very helpful for our members who are ambitious and busy. They want to make sure their time spent is valuable. To put it in practice:
    • Use TOMMS: Each session should have a Topic, Outcome, Measurement, Meaning. Use this framework as the 1:1 agenda with the member!
  • Coaching=Mentorship+Therapy???: Coaching relationships can be blurry with both mentorship and therapy.
    • If you feel like it’s regularly falling into one or both camps, talk to Tara!
      • If the 1:1s consistently feel like therapy, members may start to feel like the coaching is losing value
      • Use TOMMS (see above) to introduce structure to “hold” the 1:1s within the bounds of coaching
    • Breaking out of the “Therapy” Cycle: It’s all about raising awareness, and bringing it into the conversation so it’s coming from a place of choice and recognition. It’s totally OK to let a member vent, but you can check-in and say:
      • “Hey, I noticed that we have XX minutes left. Is this how you want to spend our time together or would you rather focus on X goal we’ve been working on?’
    • Breaking out of the “Mentor” Cycle: Do a “live” journaling session. This is particularly helpful for people who regularly come to coaching without an agenda or if you feel like you’ve lost sight of the longer-term goals together.

FAQs

  1. What happens if a member is meeting with two different coaches?
  2. What happens if my member is READY to work on their goal (i.e. job seekers or founders who want help starting up?)
  3. How long do members usually stick around Mento?