Mentoring Meeting Agenda Template (Free, Printable)
A mentoring meeting agenda is a short, timed plan for one mentoring session: check-in, progress on last time’s actions, one main topic, practice or feedback, next actions with an owner, and the date of the next meeting. The free template below fits a 45 to 60 minute session and comes with versions for the first, midpoint and final meetings.
Use it for any mentorship that meets more than once. The structure stays the same every time, so both people spend their energy on the content, not on deciding what to talk about.
How do you use this agenda template?
- Copy the reusable agenda into a shared document or print it. One copy per meeting.
- The mentee fills in the main topic and sends it two or three days before the meeting. The mentee’s side of this is covered in how to prepare for a mentoring meeting.
- The mentor adds follow-ups from last time’s notes: open actions, anything they promised to bring.
- Run the blocks in order. Watch the clock lightly. If the main topic needs more time, take it from practice, never from next actions.
- Fill in the notes and action log in the last five minutes, together. Both keep a copy.
- Book the next meeting before you leave. The open actions in the log become the first item of the next agenda.
For the very first meeting, use the first-meeting variant below and read how to run your first mentoring meeting for what to ask and what to avoid.
The template
1. Reusable mentoring meeting agenda (45 to 60 minutes)
- Mentor: ________ Mentee: ________
- Meeting number: ________ Date: ________ Time: ________
- Format and place or link: ________
- Main topic (from the mentee, sent by ________): ________
| Time (60 min) | Time (45 min) | Block | What happens | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | 0–5 | Check-in | How are things? Anything urgent that changes today’s plan? | ________ |
| 5–15 | 5–12 | Progress on last actions | Go through each action from last time: done, partly done, not done, and why. | ________ |
| 15–35 | 12–27 | Main topic | The mentee describes the situation; the mentor asks questions before giving advice. | ________ |
| 35–48 | 27–37 | Practice or feedback | Rehearse the conversation, review the draft, test the plan, or give direct feedback. | ________ |
| 48–56 | 37–42 | Next actions and owner | Two or three actions, each with one owner and a date. | ________ |
| 56–60 | 42–45 | Next meeting | Book the date and choose a working title for the next main topic. | ________ |
Questions the mentee wants answered today:
Next meeting: date ________ time ________ booked by ________
2. First meeting agenda (60 minutes)
| Time | Block | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Welcome | Introductions, the purpose of the meeting in one sentence. |
| 5–15 | Backgrounds | Each person shares their path in a few sentences, including one setback. |
| 15–35 | The mentee’s situation | What is going on now, what prompted them to join, what they have tried. |
| 35–45 | Goals | One or two goals in the mentee’s words, each with a sign of success. |
| 45–55 | Ground rules | Cadence, who schedules, cancellations, messages between meetings, confidentiality. |
| 55–60 | Next meeting | Book the second meeting; agree one action each before then. |
- Goal 1: ________ We will know it worked when: ________
- Goal 2: ________ We will know it worked when: ________
- We meet every ________ weeks for ________ minutes. ________ books the meetings.
If you want the ground rules in writing, a one-page mentoring agreement fits here; there is a template for it linked at the end of this page.
3. Midpoint review agenda (60 minutes)
| Time | Block | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Check-in | Quick update since the last meeting. |
| 5–25 | Goal review | For each goal: where we started, where we are, what evidence shows it. |
| 25–40 | Keep, change or drop | Decide for each goal. Add a new goal only if one is dropped. |
| 40–50 | How the mentorship is working | Cadence, format, preparation, what to do more or less of. Both give feedback. |
| 50–60 | Plan for the second half | Actions, owners, dates, and the date of the final meeting. |
- Goal 1: keep / change / drop. Change to: ________
- Goal 2: keep / change / drop. Change to: ________
- One thing the mentor will do differently: ________
- One thing the mentee will do differently: ________
4. Final or closing meeting agenda (60 minutes)
| Time | Block | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Check-in | Settle in; name that this is the closing meeting. |
| 5–25 | Results | Each goal against its success sign. What changed, and what did not. |
| 25–40 | What the mentee keeps doing | Habits, contacts and tools that continue without the mentor. |
| 40–50 | Feedback both ways | What helped most, what could have been better. |
| 50–60 | What comes next | Stay in touch or not, how, and how often. Thank each other. |
- The most useful thing from this mentorship: ________
- The mentee’s next goal, on their own: ________
- How we stay in touch: ________
5. 30-minute quick check-in
| Time | Block | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | Check-in | One sentence each. |
| 3–10 | Actions | Status of each open action. |
| 10–25 | One question | The single thing the mentee most needs help with today. |
| 25–30 | Next step | One action, one owner, one date. Confirm the next full meeting. |
6. Meeting notes and action log (one page)
- Mentor: ________ Mentee: ________ Meeting number: ________ Date: ________
- Main topic: ________
What we discussed (three lines at most)
Decisions
Actions
| # | Action | Owner | Due date | Status at next meeting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ________ | ________ | ________ | done / partly / not done |
| 2 | ________ | ________ | ________ | done / partly / not done |
| 3 | ________ | ________ | ________ | done / partly / not done |
To revisit next time: ________
Next meeting: date ________ time ________ place or link ________ main topic ________
How should you adapt the agenda?
Protect the last ten minutes. Next actions and the next date are the blocks that get cut when a conversation runs long, and they are the ones that keep a mentorship moving. If you must shorten something, shorten the main topic.
One main topic per meeting. Two topics in an hour means neither gets practice time. Park the second one in “to revisit next time” and open with it next meeting.
Change the practice block to fit the person. For a career question it might be a mock conversation with a manager; for a startup founder, a review of the pitch deck; for a student, a read-through of an application. If there is nothing to practice, use the time for direct feedback.
Keep the format light in informal pairs. Peer mentors and reverse mentoring pairs can skip the timings and keep only three lines: actions, topic, next date. If you are stuck for a way into the main topic, the conversation starters template has prompts by stage.
For programs, give every pair the same skeleton. When pairs in an employee mentoring program or a cohort use one agenda, coordinators can compare progress without reading everyone’s notes, and first-time mentors have a structure to lean on. Let pairs decide what to put inside it.
Keep notes short and factual. Record decisions and actions, not a transcript. Anything personal that the mentee shared in confidence does not belong in a shared log.
More templates and step-by-step guides for every stage of a mentoring relationship are in the guides library.