What is a mentor agreement
Mentoring relationships can range from casual to formally established. But as a mentorship platform, we’ve learned that the ones that thrive tend to have the outcomes of the mentorship clearly defined. That’s what a mentor agreement is for.
This agreement documents and establishes the key tasks, goals and objectives of a mentorship over a certain period. Here’s an example from University of Winsconsin-Madison.
Of course, many things change over the duration of this relationship. A mentor agreement must be continually updated to reflect this.
What should the document contain?
- Mentoring goals: Define what the mentee wants to achieve from the mentorship.
- Mentee and mentor objectives: What actions do you need to take to achieve these goals?
- Key performance indicators: What do you need to measure to track progress?
- Key tasks to do: what should the mentee and mentor do to help the former achieve their goals?
- Duration of mentorship: You need to define this to make sure you achieve your goals within the time frame.
- Contact information: This includes basic information, such as your email address, contact details, full name, and so on.
- Contact frequency: How often should the mentee and mentor meet?
- Contact methods: Via email, video chat, Slack? Clearly define your preferred methods of communication.
Mentor agreement best practices
- Use a mentorship platform to get expert assistance: Need mentorship but don’t know anyone in your direct circle? As a mentorship platform, MentorCruise has experts across a variety of fields. You can go through a variety of mentors and pick the right one based on their experience. Our platform also serves as an intermediary in case your mentorship goes wrong or that the mentorship agreement isn’t respected, allowing you to get your money back.
- Go digital to find the perfect mentor: A mentorship doesn’t need to be face-to-face. In fact, the mentor you’re looking for might not even be in your local area. Opting for a digital mentorship enables you to find the mentor best suited for your needs.
- Use online tools to facilitate your collaboration: Use Google Docs to draft your mentorship agreement, an esignature platform like Sign House to sign your agreement, email to communicate asynchronously, and video chat to hold your regular meetings.
- Include concrete information in your agreement. Your mentoring goals and objectives need to be specific and achievable. For instance, need help getting a remote job in Web3? Getting a Web3 mentor should be able to help you figure out the ins and outs of the industry. The objective could be to successfully apply for # of Web3 jobs throughout the month, with the main goal of securing a job in the industry.
Mentor agreement template
There are many ways to formulate a mentor agreement. Here’s a general one that you can change depending on the nature of your mentorship.
This mentor agreement serves to document, define and establish the goals, objectives and tasks for this mentoring relationship. This is an ever-evolving document that should be altered to reflect changes in this relationship.
1. What are your goals?
2. What KPIs do you want to measure?
3. What regular tasks should the mentee and mentor do to achieve these goals?
Mentee:
Mentor:
4. How often should you meet?
5. Meeting times
- Time 1:
- Time 2:
- …
6. What are your preferred methods of communication?
7. What are some confidential topics that shouldn’t be shared outside of this mentorship?
8. How long will this mentorship last?
9. What are some grounds for cancellation?
Mentee signature and date signed:
Mentor signature and date signed:
Find your ideal mentor
A mentor agreement helps establish and define expectations so that both mentor and mentee can derive value out of the relationship.
Need to find the perfect mentor? Whether you’re a founder wanting to scale startup growth or a career changer wanting to get into tech, MentorCruise is here to help you achieve your professional goals.