mentoring-guide

name: mentoring-guide description: Structure effective PM mentoring relationships — setting goals, choosing discussion formats, giving actionable feedback, and tracking growth over time. type: component domain: leadership difficulty: intermediate estimated_time: "15-20 min" prerequisites: ["pm-career-ladder"] outputs: ["mentoring-plan"] triggers: - "How do I mentor a PM" - "Set up a mentoring relationship" - "I'm mentoring a new PM" - "Mentoring framework"

Purpose

Structure effective PM mentoring relationships with clear goals, regular cadence, actionable feedback, and growth tracking. Whether you're mentoring or being mentored.

Application

Mentoring Kickoff Template

# Mentoring Plan

## Relationship
- **Mentor:** [Name, role, experience]
- **Mentee:** [Name, role, experience]
- **Cadence:** [Biweekly / Monthly]
- **Duration:** [3 months / 6 months / ongoing]

## Mentee Goals (Choose 2-3)
1. [Specific skill to develop — e.g., "Improve stakeholder communication"]
2. [Specific challenge to navigate — e.g., "First product launch"]
3. [Career goal — e.g., "Get promoted to Senior PM"]

## Discussion Format Options
| Format | When to Use |
|--------|------------|
| **Problem workshop** | Mentee brings a current challenge |
| **Skill building** | Practice a specific PM skill |
| **Career strategy** | Long-term planning and positioning |
| **Shadow + debrief** | Observe mentor in action, discuss |
| **Reverse mentoring** | Mentor learns from mentee's perspective |

## Session Template
1. **Check-in (5 min):** How are things going? What's top of mind?
2. **Topic (20 min):** [Pre-agreed topic or current challenge]
3. **Action items (5 min):** What will you do before next session?
4. **Feedback (2 min):** Was this session useful? What to adjust?

## Growth Tracking
| Month | Goal | Progress | Next Step |
|-------|------|----------|-----------|
| [Month 1] | [Goal] | [Assessment] | [Action] |

Quality Rubric

References

Related Skills

• skills/leadership/pm-career-ladder/SKILL.md — Level expectations
• skills/leadership/influence-without-authority/SKILL.md — Common mentoring topic
• skills/communication/executive-presentation/SKILL.md — Skill to practice

Skill type: Component Domain: Leadership & Career