This is the third activity for helping your mentees with their goals and plans. (If you missed the first two, you and your mentees should print and complete Tools #1 and #2 before starting this month's work.)

1. Go to Writing Your Development Plan (Tool #3), read the instructions, and pay particular attention to the completed sample Development Plan.

This is a plan completed by a typical mentee. Notice how measures are built into the objectives. Encourage your mentees to determine the "proof" that each objective has been met.

2. Print out a copy of the blank Plan, and use it to write your own personal Development Plan for the year.

3. Share your completed Plan with your mentees so they can learn from your example.

4. Ask your mentees to complete Tool #3 before your next mentoring sessions with them.

5. At those meetings, ask your mentees to share their proposed Development Plans with you.

Don't discourage them from their ideas. Give them positive feedback on their work and together determine if the plans need any additions or other modifications.

6. Define any help you can provide for reaching the objectives.

Ask them what they'd specifically like from you. For example, they might shadow you for several hours on your job. You could agree to critique some of their writing or role-play an upcoming meeting with them. They could also complete learning activities that don't involve you and report the results to you at your next meeting.

Be honest about any boundaries you have. For example, "I can't read everything you write, but I'll be willing to review and edit the two documents you believe are most important."

Use their completed Development Plans throughout your mentoring relationships to gauge progress and provide encouragement. Help your mentees improve the plans (add or delete goals and objectives as well as activities and measures) whenever it makes sense. The plans should be "living" in the sense that they change and grow with your mentees' accomplishments and needs.

If you use the ideas and the three planning tools with your mentees, you'll be a tremendous help as a mentor.