Page 39 - the SyI Quarterly 8

To be most effective a PLP should focus on only one or two specific development goals, and these
should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound). Within our mentoring
platform we have an inbuilt SMART Goal Tool to assist in this stage of the mentoring process.

Stage 3 – Progression
At this stage the role of the mentor is to support the mentee in their journey to achieving their goals.
The mentor will need to provide a safe space for exploration, discovery, and true learning to take place
as the mentee faces their professional and personal challenges. This is the longest stage and where
the most meetings and activity will take place.

As part of this stage, it is good to conduct periodic reviews and to identify any milestones that have
been completed to ensure progress is being made.

Stage 4 – Evaluation
This stage involves reviewing whether the goals have been achieved, whether any changes were made
to the original goals and PLP, what benefits have been achieved as part of the process, what has the
mentee (or indeed the mentor) learnt that would lead them to do things differently in future? Is there
a need for a new PLP and set of goals to improve performance still further? If that is the case (which
is quite natural as performance needs to improve continuously) then the initial relationship can be
marked as completed within our mentoring platform, but there is nothing to stop the relationship
continuing with a new set of goals and PLP, or indeed with a new mentor.

39