Mentoring Circles
A modern, small-group take on mentoring — five or six people and a facilitator — that grows the team faster and with less awkwardness than one-to-one.
One-to-one mentoring that doesn't scale, feels awkward, and leaves most of the team without access to the people who could grow them fastest.
Mentoring Circles is an expand engagement and a modern approach to developing your team. Instead of a traditional one-to-one mentorship, a circle brings together about five or six mentees with one or more expert facilitators to discuss a topic of shared interest. The group setting removes much of the awkwardness and anxiety of a one-to-one relationship, makes it easier to introduce new ideas, and helps people feel comfortable interacting and learning from each other. For the best results we recommend a Team Performance Review (C-003) first.
- Mentoring that scales — five or six people per facilitator, not one.
- Less of the awkwardness and anxiety of a one-to-one relationship.
- A group setting that makes new ideas easier to introduce and adopt.
- Peer learning that builds relationships across the team.
A bounded, phased engagement. Each bar below is proportional to its estimated duration on a shared calendar.
Set the topics, group the mentees and match facilitators.
Run recurring small-group circles on a cadence.
Capture outcomes and adjust topics and groups.
Concrete artefacts you keep — delivered in editable, open formats your team owns.
Circle Design
Topics, groupings and facilitators matched to your team's goals.
PlanFacilitated Sessions
Recurring small-group circles led by expert facilitators.
SessionsOutcomes Summary
What each circle covered and where to take it next.
Report
The edges of this engagement, and what we’ll need from you to run it.
- One-to-one coaching or line management.
- Formal certification or accredited training.
- Recruiting or performance decisions.
- Building product features for the team.
- Five to six participants per circle, plus their time on a cadence.
- The topics or skills the team wants to grow.
- A sponsor to protect the sessions from delivery pressure.
- Ideally, a recent Team Performance Review (C-003).
Fixed-scope and outcome-priced — one agreed figure for a defined set of deliverables, with no hourly billing.
Per member, per month.
- Fixed scope, agreed before we start — no open-ended hourly billing.
- One figure covers the full set of deliverables listed alongside.
- The number only moves with system complexity, and only by agreement.
- Circle Design
- Facilitated Sessions
- Outcomes Summary
Answers to the questions we hear most about this engagement.
What is a mentoring circle?
About five or six mentees sitting down with one or more expert facilitators to discuss a shared topic — group mentoring rather than one-to-one.
Why circles instead of one-to-one?
They scale, and the group setting removes much of the awkwardness of a one-to-one relationship — making it easier to raise new ideas and get comfortable interacting.
How big is a circle?
Usually five or six mentees per facilitator, which keeps it intimate enough for everyone to contribute.
How does it relate to Team Training (E-001)?
Circles are one format within the broader Team Training program; you can run them standalone or as part of it.