Plan your development
Guidance on completing a plan for your professional development, including a template planner you can use.
After you have reviewed you skills, the next step is setting clear priorities for your development. This will make it more likely that you will achieve change, whether it is within your current job or for your future career goals.
Completing a development plan
Everyone’s needs are different so there is no right or wrong way of planning your development.
We provide here a short planning document for you. It outlines why planning is important and prompts you to consider how best you like to learn. It also asks you to set yourself defined goals and deadlines. You can complete this and keep it on file to help track your progress.
Speaking to someone whose advice you value, about development and future career goals, will also help. This could be at work with your manager, a colleague, your mentor, a careers adviser, or at home with a family member.
What options are available?
Realistically, most skills are developed by learning on the job. You should consider firstly if you can meet your goals through work, and if so, how best you could achieve them. This could be, for example, through self-directed learning, by observing or with help from colleagues.
If this is not appropriate, or if you wish to explore other ways of learning, take a look at the courses, resources and other development activities we provide and signpost you to.
Be clear in yourself about what you need to change and how your chosen activity can help you do it differently. If you cannot find the type of development that you need, contact us and we will try to help.
This article was published on Aug 10, 2011