Help and FAQ

Last updated: 28 October 2026

Mentoring Programs runs a mentoring program inside Microsoft Teams. The program owner works in a tab in the team; mentors and mentees only ever see private messages from the app in Teams chat. Can't find your answer? Email support@crosstowntech.com.

Get started

Add the app to a team. In Microsoft Teams, open Apps, search for Mentoring Programs, select Add to a team and pick the team your group already uses. Choose a channel for the Mentoring tab. Your organization's Teams policy decides whether team owners can add apps themselves.
Look around first (optional). In the Mentoring tab, select Try it with sample data. It adds a running and a finished program with made-up people, so you can see the dashboard, matching and the end-of-program report. Sample programs never send a message. Remove sample data deletes them.
Create a program. Select New program, pick 1:1 mentoring or Onboarding buddy, set the length and how often pairs meet, and add the mentors you want to invite by name or email. Only team owners can create programs.
Recruit mentors. Each invited mentor gets a private card in Teams chat, says what they can help with and how many mentees they can take.
Open mentee sign-up. On the Sign-ups tab, open sign-up. The app posts in the channel; each person who taps Sign up gets the form in their private chat.
Match and launch. The Matching tab suggests pairs with a one-line reason each. Swap, pin or block pairs, then select Launch. Nothing is sent until you do.
Watch it run. Each person gets an intro with a first-meeting agenda and a Book 30 min button. Every meeting cycle the app asks "Did you meet?". The Dashboard shows each pair as On track, Quiet or Stalled, and you can nudge, re-match or close a pair.
Close and report. When the program ends, everyone gets a short closing survey and the Report tab shows sign-ups, meetings per pair, mood over time, goal progress and the quotes people chose to share.

Talking to the app

In a team channel, mention the app:

@Mentoring Programs help: what the app does and how to start
@Mentoring Programs status: the mentoring programs in this team

In your private chat with the app:

help: what the app does and what you can type
What do you have on me?: everything the app stores about you
Delete me: leave every program and erase your answers, check-ins and notes

Personal data is only ever shown in your private chat. If you ask about it in a channel, the app answers you privately.

Common questions

"New program" is greyed out

Only owners of the team can create a program. Hover the button to see why, and ask a team owner to create it or make you an owner. Microsoft 365 Global and Teams administrators can always create one.

Someone got a card that says to add the app first

People can read the app's messages before they've added it, but they can't press its buttons. The card has an Add Mentoring Programs button; once they add it, the app sends the card again, ready to answer, within about a minute.

How does it know whether a pair met?

By default it asks one question per meeting cycle. If a Microsoft 365 administrator approves calendar access once (the dashboard has an Approve now button for admins and a link to send them), the app reads only the date two people met and stops asking. It never reads meeting titles or descriptions and never writes to calendars.

What does it cost?

Mentoring Programs is free. There is no limit on programs or participants.

Can an administrator see every program?

Yes. Microsoft 365 Global and Teams administrators see an Admin view in the app's personal tab listing every program in the organization, and can reassign owners, archive or delete programs, and appoint other app admins.

What happens to our data if we remove the app?

Removing the app from a team pauses its programs. Data is kept for 30 days in case it was a mistake, then deleted. Details are on the privacy & security page.

Support

Email support@crosstowntech.com with what you were doing and, if you can, a screenshot.