This article outlines the following, related to the formal warning phone call  Program Mangers (PMs) complete with mentors that are not meeting programmatic expectations.   The article is broken into three sections (click the hyperlinked text below to skip to each section):

• Objectives for the call;
• Best practices in completing formal warning calls;
• Talking points to support high quality execution of the call.

PMs are encouraged to read through these talking points prior to the call as it is entirely possible that the discussion will not flow as cleanly as outlined in this article.  What is most important is the PMs engage the mentor in a discussion that meets the objectives of the call.  Prior to completing a formal warning call with a mentor, PMs are encouraged to leverage their manager to work through any anxiety around the discussion.  

Objectives of the Warning Call

The formal warning call is designed to achieve the following:

• Support the mentor in increasing their program consistency in service of having a positive impact on mentee;
• Setting up a strategy with the mentor to help them work toward meeting basic program requirements;
• Discuss implications of not meeting basic program requirements via the strategy listed above (probationary status).

Warning Call Best Practices

Over the years, the following best practices have been developed by PMs with regard to completing warning calls in a way that fosters the objectives listed above:

• Be clear and direct while maintaining a warm tone;
• Actively listen—paraphrase your mentors’ comments back to them;
• When possible, let the mentor do the talking—they often know what they could be doing differently;
• Avoid judgment and stay objective—try using phrases like, “I’ve noticed…” or “I saw that…”;
• Take great notes—especially about next steps - and ensure these are reflected on the mentor's platform profile;
• Don’t take it personally—these conversations can be hard for mentors to hear, so adopt a supportive tone while maintaining some emotional distance from the mentor’s response;
• Practice the call!  Leverage your manager or a colleague to complete a mock call.  Share the context of the mentor such that your manager/colleague can effectively "play the role" of the mentor that you will be completing the call with.

Warning Call Talking Points

The following talking points are designed to support PMs in high-quality execution of the formal warning call with mentors by covering the topics below (click the hyperlinked text below to skip to each section):

• Framing the discussion;
• Presenting the concern that led up to the call;
• Strategizing next steps to get the pair back on track;
• Setting up time to review progress following the call;
• Summarizing action items and next steps.

Frame the conversation

Begin by framing the conversation at a high level - simply noting that you are calling to discuss the mentor's relationship with their mentee.

"Hey [mentor], how’s it going?  I’m calling because I wanted to talk about your relationship with [mentee] —do you have 5-10 minutes to talk?"

• If yes: "Great!Thanks for taking the time to talk, [mentor].
• If not: "Alright, can we set up an alternate time?" (confirm that you will call the mentor and send a calendar appointment for the agreed upon time).

Present the concern

In honest and direct terms—and with a warm tone—present the concern to the mentor, discuss the reasoning behind your concern, and introduce a formal warning about probationary status. 

The talking points for this element of the conversation are broken into common warning call scenarios, listed below (click the hyperlinked scenario to jump to that set of talking points):

• Stood up their mentee at an event without calling or emailing;
• Not meeting mentee  in person for two months;
• Missing three consecutive emails AND not returning the calls and emails sent by the Program Coordinator.

Stood up their mentee at an event without calling or emailing

"I need to speak with you because of what happened the night of our last event.  I know you had confirmed your attendance with both me and Manuel, but I also know you didn’t end up making it to the event that night—was everything okay?" 

• Allow for mentor to explain situation.

"I recognize that things come up, and I know the last thing you would want to do is hurt your mentee’s feelings, but I wanted to let you know that Manuel was pretty frustrated about it.  I’m telling you this not ‘cause I want to make you feel bad, but to ask you to call ahead to both me and Manuel if you feel like you’re going to be late or unable to attend an event."

• Allow time for mentor to respond to suggestion.

"I’m sure this won’t happen again, but I do want to let you know that when this sort of thing does happen, we have to give mentors a formal warning.  We do this for two reasons: The first is to let you know that if this happens again and again we’ll have to place you on probationary status, which is typically the last step before moving toward closing a match.  We have this policy in place because we know that honoring the mentoring commitment sets a positive example for mentees and is in the best interest of our students. The second is for us to talk about how I can support you in keeping the lines of communication open and making sure we’re always on the same page for events."

Click HERE to skip to the next set of talking points regarding strategizing next steps with the mentor.

Not meeting mentee in person for two months

"I need to speak with you because I’ve noticed you and [mentee] haven’t met in over two months—it looks like your last meeting was [date of last meeting], is that right?"

• Allow time for mentor to respond.

"I’m a bit concerned about the effect that this is having on [mentee]—I know he’s really wanted to meet up with you and I feel like it’s going to take some extra work to get you guys back on track.  I’m telling you this not because I want to make you feel bad, but to ask for your help in setting up some meetings with [mentee] and, going forward, making sure the two of you meet up at least once a month—I know that will be really positive for your relationship with [mentee]."

• Allow time for mentor to respond.

"At this point in the year, we expect mentors to have met up with their mentee at least [5] times and it looks like you two have only met [twice]—is that right?

• Allow time for mentor to respond.

"Since it’s been over two months since you and Manuel last met up, I’m also required to give you a formal warning.  And we do this for two reasons; the first is to let you know that if you and Manuel aren’t able to meet at least once a month going forward, we might have to place you on probationary status, which is typically the last step before moving toward closing a match.  We have this policy in place because we know that honoring the mentoring commitment sets a positive example for mentees and is in the best interest of our students.  But the second reason is to start a conversation about how I can support you in getting together with [mentee]."

Click HERE to skip to the next set of talking points regarding strategizing next steps with the mentor.

Missing three consecutive emails AND not returning the calls and emails sent by the Program Coordinator

"I need to speak with you because I’ve noticed you’ve been messaging [mentee] very sporadically on the platform over the past couple months.  In particular, I noticed you missed [number of lessons] lessons in a row this month and [additional inconsistent behavior, if applicable]."

• Allow time for mentor to respond.

"I’m a bit concerned about the effect this is having on [mentee]—it seems like [s/he] was pretty frustrated in class and I feel like it’s going to take some extra work to get you guys back on track.  I’m telling you this not because I want to make you feel bad, but to ask for your help in really building trust and consistency with [mentee] and to talk about how I can help you message [mentee] more regularly on the platform."

• Allow time for mentor to respond.

"I totally recognize that things come up, but it was also really hard to get a hold of you by email or phone to discuss the situation. I don’t think this will happen again, but I do want to let you know that when this sort of thing happens, we have to give mentors a formal warning, which is typically the last step before moving toward closing a match.  We do this for two reasons; the first is to let you know that if you aren’t able to message [mentee] with greater consistency, we might have to place you on probationary status.  We have this policy in place because we know that honoring the mentoring commitment sets a positive example for mentees and is in the best interest of our students.  But the second reason is so we can start a conversation about how I can support you in making sure Manuel has an message in his inbox for class each week.'

Click HERE to skip to the next set of talking points regarding strategizing next steps with the mentor.

Strategize about next steps

Open this portion of the discussion by asking how you can support him/her to overcome this challenge.

"So, to start with me, what kinds of things can I do or continue to do to help you meet up with Manuel more frequently? "

• Allow time for mentor to respond and coach them through brainstorming next steps.

"Great, I’m happy to help out with those things!  Now what on your end do you think will make it easier for you to meet up with [mentee] at least once a month?  Can I offer some tips in terms of scheduling meetings with your mentee?"

• Provide mentor with tips if applicable (i.e., consistently mention the next meeting time via weekly online communication, text mentee day of event to confirm meeting, leverage PM in scheduling make-up events, etc.) and then move on to the next portion of the call: setting up time to follow-up.

Set up time to review progress two weeks from call

Before summarizing the call, set up a time to follow up with the mentor to check in on their progress toward becoming more consistent.

"Thanks so much for talking this through with me [mentor]. Can we set up a time a couple weeks from now to check in, review how the plan is working, and make sure things are going as planned?"

• Arrange a time to check in approximately two weeks in the future.  Send the mentor a calendar appointment for this discussion after the call (see follow up email template HERE).

Summarize actionable items & next steps

After thanking the mentor again for taking the time to speak, reiterate what each of you will do going forward, remind the mentor about the possibility of probationary status as well as your call in two weeks.

"I want to thank you again, [mentor], for taking the time to speak with me today.  Please know that, on my end, I am committed to supporting you as best as I can in your relationship and helping you and [mentee] get back on track with your match. As we discussed,"

• Summarize next steps brainstormed with mentor.

"On your end, I need you to commit to meeting [mentee] each month and sending [her/him] a message before class session each week.  Please know that you can reach out to me for any support you in your relationship.  You also mentioned

• Summarize any support needs the mentor voiced while strategizing next steps.

"Please be sure to do that and please let me know if I can help with anything!  I’m here as a resource for you and will do whatever I can to support you as your PM, but, ultimately, I need you to meet our basic program requirements of one meeting a month and communicating with [mentee] online once a week in order to make this relationship work.  I’m always happy to hear from you, whether to talk about things that are going great or to strategize about ways I can help—this is what I’m here for!  Thanks again and I look forward to talking to you on [date agreed upon to check in on progress]!