T13: Mentor | Domain 1 | PMP Study Guide

📖 Coaching vs Mentoring vs Consulting

Type	Definition	Focus	Who leads	Example
Coaching	Helping someone discover their own answers through questions	Performance, unlocking potential	Coachee leads — coach asks questions	"What options do you see for solving this?" not "Here's what to do"
Mentoring	Sharing experience and guidance from someone who's "been there"	Career development, wisdom transfer	Mentor shares — mentee asks	Senior PM sharing how they handled a similar stakeholder situation
Consulting	Providing expert advice and recommendations	Solving specific problems	Consultant provides solutions	"Based on my analysis, I recommend approach X because..."
Training	Teaching specific skills or knowledge	Skill acquisition	Trainer teaches, trainee learns	Go microservices workshop for new team members

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Exam Tips — Mentor/Coach

PMP ưu tiên coaching approach — help people discover answers, don't just give them
Khi PM "asks questions to help team member think through problem" = coaching (đáp án đúng trong nhiều câu hỏi)
Mentoring ≠ training. Mentoring là long-term relationship, training là specific skill session
In Agile: SM coaches team in self-organization and agile practices

🔧 GROW Coaching Model

🇺🇸 English

GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will/Way Forward) is the most widely used coaching framework. It's conversation-based and empowers the coachee to find their own solutions.

Mind Tools — GROW Model →

🇻🇳 Tiếng Việt

GROW là framework coaching được sử dụng rộng rãi nhất. Dựa trên cuộc trò chuyện và trao quyền cho người được coached tự tìm ra giải pháp.

GROW Coaching Conversation

G — GOAL "What do you want to achieve?" → "What would success look like for you?" → "What specific outcome are you aiming for?" → "Why is this important to you?" R — REALITY "Where are you now?" → "What's happening currently?" → "What have you tried so far?" → "What obstacles are in the way?" → "What resources do you have available?" O — OPTIONS "What could you do?" → "What options do you see?" → "What else could you try?" → "What would you do if you had no constraints?" → "What would you advise someone else in your position?" W — WILL/WAY FORWARD "What will you do?" → "Which option will you choose?" → "What's your first step?" → "When will you take it?" → "What support do you need?" → "How confident are you on a scale of 1-10?"

💼 Thực chiến / Scenario

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FinTech Company X — Coaching Junior Developer

Tình huống: Junior developer (PH) struggling với system design — code works but không scalable. Họ biết có vấn đề nhưng không biết cách improve. EM/PM có thể consulting (đưa ra solution) nhưng muốn develop long-term capability.

GROW coaching session (30 phút):

G: "What would you like to get from this conversation?" → "Tôi muốn hiểu tại sao code của tôi không scale và cách thiết kế tốt hơn."

R: "Tell me about the current design. What problems have you noticed?" → Developer explains. PM asks clarifying questions only, không evaluate yet. Root cause xuất hiện: không có separation of concerns.

O: "What patterns have you seen in senior code that might apply here?" → Developer mentions having seen the repository pattern. "Any other approaches?" → They recall service layer from a course. "What are the tradeoffs?"

W: "Which approach will you try?" Developer chọn repository pattern. "What's your first step?" "By when?" → Concrete commitment. EM agrees to review PR và discuss.

Outcome: Developer solved problem themselves with guidance. Understanding is deeper and more durable. Next similar problem: they'll apply the thinking independently.

✏️ Practice Questions

Question 1

A team member comes to the PM frustrated about a conflict with a colleague. Rather than solving the problem for them, the PM asks: "What have you tried? What options do you see?" This is an example of:

A. Delegating the problem back to the team member
B. Coaching — helping the team member discover their own solution
C. Consulting — providing expert advice
D. Mentoring — sharing personal experience

✅ Answer: B — Asking questions to help someone discover their own answer is coaching (GROW model). The PM isn't sharing their own experience (mentoring), providing a solution (consulting), or abandoning the person (delegating). Coaching builds long-term capability and is the PMI-preferred approach when the person has the capability to solve it themselves.

Question 2

A junior developer asks their senior colleague: 'How do I handle this complex API integration?' The senior responds: 'What approaches have you already considered?' This is an example of:

A. Mentoring
B. Consulting
C. Coaching — asking questions to develop the junior's own thinking rather than giving the answer
D. Delegating

✅ Answer: C — Coaching uses open questions to develop the person's own thinking rather than providing direct answers. Mentoring (A) involves sharing the mentor's own experience and knowledge. Consulting (B) provides expert advice or solutions directly. Delegating (D) assigns responsibility without a development focus. The senior's question 'What have you already considered?' is a classic coaching move.

Question 3

A PM wants to help a mid-level team member grow into a technical lead role. The team member has strong skills but lacks confidence in making architectural decisions. Using the GROW model, what is the FIRST step?

A. Options — list possible paths to technical lead
B. Goal — clearly define what 'becoming a technical lead' looks like and what success means to them
C. Reality — assess their current skill level
D. Will — commit to specific next actions

✅ Answer: B — GROW always starts with Goal: what does the person want to achieve? Without a clear, shared goal the rest of the conversation has no direction. Reality (C) comes second — assessing where they are now relative to the goal. Options (A) come third — exploring possible paths. Will (D) comes last — committing to concrete actions. Skipping Goal and jumping to Options or Will is a common coaching mistake.

🤖 AI Tools for PMs

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How AI Augments This Process

AI helps PMs prepare coaching sessions, generate powerful questions using GROW or CLEAR models, draft development feedback, and create mentoring frameworks for high-potential team members.

Sample Claude Prompts

GROW coaching session preparation I'm preparing for a coaching session with [coachee name / role]. Their goal for this session: [what they want to achieve / work through] Background I know: [context — their situation, challenge, what they've tried] My coaching style: [directive / non-directive / blended] Session length: [30 / 45 / 60 minutes] Using the GROW model, generate: G (Goal): 2 questions to clarify their goal for this session R (Reality): 3 questions to explore current state without judgment O (Options): 3 questions to generate possibilities (not give advice) W (Will): 2 questions to build commitment to action Also give me: - One powerful opening question to set the tone - Watch-outs for this session (e.g., "they may deflect to blaming others — stay curious") - One closing ritual question ("What's your biggest takeaway?")

Mentoring relationship structure I'm setting up a formal mentoring relationship. I'm the [mentor / mentee]. Context: Mentor profile: [background, expertise, time available] Mentee profile: [role, experience level, goals] Relationship duration: [6 months / 1 year] Meeting frequency: [bi-weekly / monthly] Primary focus areas: [technical skills / leadership / career navigation / industry knowledge] Design the mentoring relationship: 1. Session structure template (what each meeting covers) 2. First meeting agenda (relationship-building + goal-setting) 3. Development goals framework (what the mentee should own vs. what mentor provides) 4. Mid-point check-in template 5. Closing session structure (celebrate growth, next chapter) 6. Boundaries: what mentoring IS vs. IS NOT (vs. coaching, managing, doing the work)

Feedback for growth conversations I want to give growth-oriented feedback (not performance correction) to [team member]. Observation: [specific situation where I saw something worth discussing] What they did well: [specific strength to reinforce] Growth edge: [specific capability to develop further] Their career aspiration (if known): [where they want to go] Draft feedback using the "Feed Forward" approach (not just past feedback, but future-focused): 1. Acknowledge the strength with specificity (name the behavior, not just "good job") 2. Connect it to their career aspiration 3. Identify the growth edge as an opportunity, not a deficit 4. Suggest 1 specific action or stretch opportunity 5. Close with a question that invites their perspective Keep it conversational, under 5 minutes verbal delivery.

Jira / Confluence Template

Confluence — Mentoring Session Log

── CONFLUENCE: MENTORING SESSION LOG ──────────────────── Mentor: [Name] | Role: [title] Mentee: [Name] | Role: [title] Duration: [6 months: Start — End] Focus areas: [leadership / technical depth / stakeholder management] ── SESSION RECORD ──────────────────────────────────────── Date: [YYYY-MM-DD] | Duration: [45 min] Topic: [What was discussed — mentee's agenda] Key insights: [What the mentee surfaced / discovered] Resources shared: [Articles, frameworks, introductions made] Commitments: Mentee will: [action before next session] Mentor will: [intro / resource / feedback] Next session: [YYYY-MM-DD] | Topic: [agreed focus] ── GROWTH TRACKING (MENTEE) ────────────────────────────── Goal 1: [Leadership presence in cross-functional meetings] Session 1: Identified trigger behaviors Session 3: Tried new approach → feedback received Session 6: Consistent behavior change observed Overall growth rating (mentee self-assessment): [1-5] | Mentor: [1-5]

Mentor Relevant Stakeholders