Mentoring Goal Setting Worksheet: Free SMART Template
A mentoring goal setting worksheet is a one-page plan a mentee fills in with their mentor: the areas they want to develop, one to three goals in SMART format, how success will be measured, the actions and support needed, milestones with dates, and space to review progress at the midpoint and the end. The free template below is ready to print or copy.
Use it in the first or second meeting of any mentorship that runs for more than a couple of months. It turns “I want to grow as a leader” into something both people can track.
How do you use this goal setting worksheet?
- The mentee drafts it alone first. Sections 1 and 2 (profile and development areas) take ten minutes. Rough wording is fine.
- Bring the draft to the first or second meeting. The mentor’s job is to ask questions until each goal is specific and measurable, not to rewrite it. The mentee’s side of this conversation is covered in how to set goals with your mentor.
- Fill in one SMART block per goal (section 3). Stop at three goals.
- Agree milestones with dates (section 4). Put the midpoint and final review dates in both calendars now.
- Open every meeting with the worksheet. A two-minute check on milestones keeps goals from fading. The mentoring meeting agenda template has a progress block for exactly this.
- Use sections 5 and 6 for the reviews. Decide for each goal: keep, change or drop.
If you also want ground rules in writing (cadence, confidentiality, how to end the relationship), pair this worksheet with the mentoring agreement template.
The template
1. Mentee profile
- Mentee: ________ Mentor: ________
- Program or context: ________
- Current role, studies or venture: ________
- Program start date: ________ Program end date: ________
- Date this worksheet was agreed: ________
In one sentence, where I want to be by the end of this mentorship:
2. Development areas
Mark up to three areas, then write one line on why each matters now.
| Area | Why it matters now | Where I am today (1 to 5) |
|---|---|---|
| [ ] Leadership or managing people | ________ | ________ |
| [ ] Communication or presenting | ________ | ________ |
| [ ] Technical or subject expertise | ________ | ________ |
| [ ] Career direction or next role | ________ | ________ |
| [ ] Network and visibility | ________ | ________ |
| [ ] Confidence or decision making | ________ | ________ |
| [ ] Business, product or fundraising | ________ | ________ |
| [ ] Other: ________ | ________ | ________ |
3. Goals in SMART format (one block per goal)
Goal 1
- Goal in one sentence: ________
- Specific. What exactly will change? ________
- Measurable. How will we see it? ________
- Achievable. Why is it realistic in this time, with this support? ________
- Relevant. How does it connect to my role or plans? ________
- Time-bound. Done by (date): ________
- Success indicators. I will know it worked when:
-
- Actions I will take:
- ________ by ________
- ________ by ________
- ________ by ________
- Resources I need (people, courses, books, tools, budget): ________
- How my mentor will support this (feedback, introductions, practice, sharing experience): ________
- Likely obstacle and how I will handle it: ________
Goal 2
- Goal in one sentence: ________
- Specific: ________
- Measurable: ________
- Achievable: ________
- Relevant: ________
- Time-bound. Done by (date): ________
- Success indicators: 1. ________ 2. ________
- Actions: 1. ________ by ________ 2. ________ by ________ 3. ________ by ________
- Resources I need: ________
- Mentor support: ________
- Likely obstacle and plan: ________
Goal 3
- Goal in one sentence: ________
- Specific: ________
- Measurable: ________
- Achievable: ________
- Relevant: ________
- Time-bound. Done by (date): ________
- Success indicators: 1. ________ 2. ________
- Actions: 1. ________ by ________ 2. ________ by ________ 3. ________ by ________
- Resources I need: ________
- Mentor support: ________
- Likely obstacle and plan: ________
4. Milestones
| # | Milestone | Goal (1, 2 or 3) | Target date | Done on | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| 2 | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| 3 | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| 4 | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| 5 | Midpoint review | all | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| 6 | Final review | all | ________ | ________ | ________ |
5. Midpoint review
Date: ________
| Goal | Progress so far (evidence) | On track? | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ________ | yes / partly / no | keep / change / drop |
| 2 | ________ | yes / partly / no | keep / change / drop |
| 3 | ________ | yes / partly / no | keep / change / drop |
- What is helping most: ________
- What is getting in the way: ________
- Changes to goals, dates or actions: ________
- One thing the mentor will do differently: ________
- One thing the mentee will do differently: ________
6. Final review
Date: ________
| Goal | Result against the success indicators | Achieved? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ________ | fully / partly / not yet |
| 2 | ________ | fully / partly / not yet |
| 3 | ________ | fully / partly / not yet |
- The most important thing I learned: ________
- A habit or skill I will keep using: ________
- My next goal, on my own: ________
- How we stay in touch (if at all): ________
7. Sign-off
- Mentee signature: ________ Date: ________
- Mentor signature: ________ Date: ________
- Reviewed at midpoint, initials: ________ ________
- Reviewed at the end, initials: ________ ________
What are good mentoring goal examples?
Generic starting points, to be rewritten in the mentee’s own words and with their own dates and numbers.
| Audience | Example mentoring goals |
|---|---|
| Employee | Lead the next quarterly project review from start to finish, with feedback from two colleagues afterwards. · Draft a development plan for the next role and discuss it with my manager by a set date. · Learn one new tool well enough to train my team on it. |
| Student | Shortlist three career paths and do one informational interview for each. · Complete and submit two internship applications that my mentor has reviewed. · Present my thesis or project to a non-specialist audience and answer their questions. |
| Entrepreneur | Hold customer interviews with ten potential buyers and write up what they said. · Rewrite the pitch and practice it twice with my mentor before a real investor meeting. · Set up a simple monthly cash-flow view and review it with my mentor. |
| New manager | Hold a one-to-one with every direct report every two weeks for the next three months. · Give one piece of specific, constructive feedback per week and note how it was received. · Delegate one recurring task fully and stop checking it after the first month. |
Goals that do not work: “become a better leader” (not specific), “get promoted” (not fully in the mentee’s control), and anything the mentee wrote because they thought the mentor wanted it.
How should you adapt the worksheet?
Short programs need fewer goals. For a three-month or one-off mentorship, keep one goal and two milestones. Section 5 can become a short check-in.
Stuck on wording? Ask “what would someone see you do differently?” It turns most vague goals into specific ones. More prompts are in the conversation starters template.
Let goals change. A goal dropped at the midpoint because the situation changed is a good outcome, not a failure. Record why and agree a replacement only if there is time to work on it.
Keep personal details out of shared copies. If the program coordinator collects worksheets, agree first which sections they see. Development areas often contain things said in confidence.
For programs, give every pair the same worksheet. In an employee mentoring program, one format lets coordinators see which pairs have goals and which are still drifting, without reading the content. Tie the reviews to the session plan: our guide on how to structure a mentoring session shows where goal-setting and review meetings fit.
More templates for every stage of a mentoring relationship are in the guides library.