Signs of Effective Development Planning

If you've recently been asked to create your own development plan at work, or are attempting to influence others (direct reports, managers, or senior leaders) in creating their development plans, I wanted to share some signs of a healthy development planning process.

1. Development should be viewed as a process, not as an event or series of events. Often, there is too much pressure to show short-term results, "just get things done." Development is an expansive universe, traditional training is a galaxy. Create a roadmap. What are the first steps? Where is that intended to lead? How will you measure your journey, what are the milestones? What stops do you plan to make along the way for reflection? What steps can you map into the future? What level of behavioral consistency are you comfortable with before determining some success at a development objective? Whom might give you feedback? Think through these issues very carefully, and take your time.

2. At a minimum, development plans generally consist of 3-5 stated objectives. These objectives are fairly specific (e.g., develop financial acumen in order to use business metrics to monitor division performance, and to influence decision making on budget) but not so granular as to represent quick wins (e.g., learn how to read a financial statement) and not so broad as to likely generate failure (e.g., become division VP). After stating an objective, determine how you go about developing within it. Some consultants say play to your learning style. I say use a host of learning methods and tools; on some issues, even target tools/methods that are more effective versus others for a specific competency. Your world can consist of a mix of seminars, conferences, webinars, new duties and stretch assignments (!!!), adopting new approaches/behaviors on current duties, books, workshops, manuals, group presentations, facilitation of group meetings, workbook exercises, 360-feedback, continuing ed, MBA programs, technical reports ... the possibilities are endless. Determine who can partner with you to give you feedback. Determine how you will measure your progress. If you think an attendance
checklist will serve you well, think again. Establish a timeline on each step within an objective. Effective people write out their goals and timelines. This keeps it front and center. Helps you be accountable.

3. Competencies and technical knowledge are the backbone or target to what you are attempting to develop. Regardless if you are targeting mastery at the current position, targeting areas for lateral moves, or are targeting areas needed at the next level, you will be developing competencies that are important for delivering on the business strategy. If you are fairly fuzzy about what these are, seek out a development consultant in your organization or your manager to get more clarity on what these are.

4. Development plans can and do change. They are dynamic, not static. For the right reasons, you may find yourself in a position of recalibrating your approach to development. You may also learn something extremely important along the way that engages you toward detouring and deepening your knowledge and skill in a specific area.

5. There are a lot of people you know and possibly don't know at this point in time that can be extremely helpful in your development. The manager you report to is important but is merely one source among many. Tap your current network and build important players into your network that will be instrumental for knowledge sharing, advisement, devil's advocates, feedback, etc. If possible, find or create an affinity group that is focused on a specific area of interest for your development. Ask other observers what they think about your development efforts; this is not a sign of your indecisiveness. We get so caught up in our own performance execution, we sometimes fail to fully see the effective and ineffective behaviors we are delivering.

6. Share your progress frequently. One, this creates more discussion around next steps and allows for additional coaching by your support network. Second, when it comes time for annual review processes on performance management or talent planning, individuals are already intimately aware of your progress. This indicates you take accountability seriously, as the organization has been investing in you. Second, this prevents you from appearing like you are stacking the deck just for the "incentives/kudos conversation."

7. Honesty, humility and a positive attitude are key. Don't be afraid to fall short. You most certainly will. Doing something new is a learning process. Be confident in yourself over the long run, restrain from being over-confident.

8. Keep a journal/log inside or outside of your development plan. There are some tools like Friday 5's that assist you electronically on keeping it altogether. Regardless of your resources, it is good practice to reflect weekly about what you are experiencing.

Other thoughts?