Development planning template

Planning for your own development

These steps are:

1. identify development needs
2. identify development options in light of the development needs analysis (noting that it will take a couple of different development activities to give you the opportunity to learn, experiment, adapt and apply new knowledge, skills and behaviours)
3. plan for development
4. undertake development activities
5. apply newly acquired knowledge, skills and behaviours in the workplace
6. review and repeat steps 1–5.

What follows is a template to help you plan for these steps.

While you do not need to share this document with anyone else, there is considerable value in doing so, especially with your supervisor. You can use it as part of your development and performance planning conversations with them.

Note: The term ‘development activities’ covers a wide range of activities including, for example, on-the-job work projects, stretch assignments, coaching, secondments, and participation in communities of practice and courses—anything designed primarily to develop particular knowledge, skills and behaviours in a focused and systematic way.

My Development Plan

(The following is the text only of the relevant questions. The relevant pages should be printed from the PDF and completed in pencil or pen.)

Your details

Name:

Date:

STEP 1: Identify Your Development Needs

A. Why are you seeking development at this time?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

• I have never been a manager but am interested in exploring my potential for becoming a manager.
• I have had some short-term experiences of performing a management role and am interested in exploring further my potential for becoming a manager.
• I have never been a manager and am about to start in a management role for the first time.
• I am a manager and am about to start in a management role in a different environment (division or organisation).
• I am a manager and am about to undertake activities or responsibilities not previously undertaken.
• I am a manager with a record of delivering outcomes; I want to maintain this record of achievement.
• I am a manager and am finding it difficult to deliver outcomes.
• I am a manager and I find particular aspects of the role difficult or unacceptably stressful.
• I am a manager and I have recently experienced a performance set-back (or one is likely).
• I am a manager working in an organisation or environment undergoing significant change.
• I have been a manager for a long time and need to refresh knowledge, skills and behaviours in light of new ways of doing things or new demands of the job.
• I have been a manager for a long time and am seeking new challenges and/or opportunities to re-motivate or re-engage with my work.
• I have been a manager for some time and am looking to apply for another management role or have been identified by the organisation as a potential successor for a particular role.

Other reasons for undertaking development at this time:

B. What are you seeking to develop at this time?

Number, in order of priority, where 1 represents the highest development priority. Your rankings here should reflect the areas for development you identified through completing the accompanying self-assessment.

Management Role Foundations

• Understanding and developing yourself
• Different styles of management for different situations
• Resilience and achievement: keeping going when the going gets tough
• Advanced interpersonal skills
• Thinking and acting strategically

Specific areas for development:

Management Role Activities

• Overseeing operations, projects and resources in the Victorian public sector
• Managing and developing people in the Victorian public sector
• Managing difficult situations involving the people you manage
• Managing attraction and recruitment activity in the Victorian public sector
• Collaborating across and beyond the Victorian public sector
• Working with diversity in the Victorian public sector
• Managing during organisational change
• Contributing to public policy

Specific areas for development:

Role-specific Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours (specify)

Emphasis: What do you need?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

• Theory: opportunity to gain an understanding of why particular knowledge, skills and behaviours are important
• Practice: opportunity to rehearse and/or refine how to apply particular knowledge, skills and behaviours
• Both theory and practice

STEP 2: Identify Your Development Options

C. How would you like to go about developing the new knowledge, skills and behaviours?

Tick all the development activities (overleaf) that would work for you and your organisation, keeping in mind the following points.

The development and application of particular knowledge, skills and behaviours occur as a result of participation in a number of different activities, not just a single one-off activity such as a half-day course.

The majority of development (70 per cent) should be based in experience (learning by doing, experimenting, making mistakes, trying different approaches and talking about the experience). Twenty per cent of development should occur through peer or one-on-one interactions. Formal courses, classroom style learning, should be the least prevalent (10 per cent). This is known as the 70:20:10 principle.

Development activities that allow participants to influence the content, sequence, pace and similar aspects of the activity are most effective. Development activities in which the participants are passive and have little opportunity to influence the content or delivery of the activity are not very effective.

Not all development activities will be available at any given time.

Experiential Development

• Higher duties/job swaps/rotation: Performing, for a set period of time, another management role within your organisation, often in a different area or division.
• Secondments: Performing, for a set period of time, a leadership or management role in a different organisation.
• Special work projects: Participating in a project team, for a set period of time, to work on a project that is outside, or at a higher level, than your regular work.
• Scenario and simulation activities: Playing a leadership or management role within a facilitated role play or hypothetical discussion exercise that focuses on situations that are grounded in reality.
• Shadowing: Accompanying and observing, for a set period of time, a leader or a manager in a different role (whether within the organisation or in a different organisation) as they undertake their daily tasks.
• Active experimentation and reflective journaling: Maintaining a regular record of specific work tasks and challenges, different strategies you have tried in addressing these challenges, the impact and effectiveness of these different strategies, things you would try differently next time, and reflections about the emotional aspects of the challenges and response strategies.

Peer and Relational Development

• Coaching: Having a subject-matter expert work with you on a one-on-one basis for a set period of time to help you develop, apply and refine a particular management skill or behaviour.
• Mentoring/critical friend: Having someone who has working knowledge of the challenges of management and leadership roles act as a ‘sounding board’ for you as you deal with a range of management challenges.
• Learning circles: A group of managers, often working in different areas, who meet on a regular basis to discuss and collaboratively find solutions to the challenges of management roles. The topics of focus and the solutions discussed come wholly from within the group. Every member of the group equally shares the responsibility for ensuring the discussions are of value.
• Professional communities of practice/networks: A group of people, often working in the same field, come together on a regular basis to share information about topics of common interest. Unlike a learning circle, communities of practice and networks will often have formal roles (such as Chair and Secretary), will conduct activities in line with a program or agenda determined ahead of time, and often have guest speakers.
• Developing others: Taking on a role as coach or mentor to someone else. The act of helping others develop their skills provides an opportunity for the coach or mentor to consolidate their own skills and knowledge and to develop a range of people skills (such as effective communication).

Curriculum-based Development Programs

• Workshops: A series of activities (often including lectures/presentations, discussions and, possibly, role playing exercises) delivered by a subject matter expert to a group of people in line with a set or standard curriculum. Participants often have limited opportunity to influence the content and design of the workshop. Participation is often acknowledged by a certificate.
• Courses: A combination of development activities—often including workshops, set reading and written assignments—delivered by subject-matter experts to a group of people over a long period of time in line with a set curriculum. Participants often have limited opportunity to influence the content and design of the course. Demonstration of learning, based upon successful completion of assignments, is often acknowledged by a formal qualification.
• Conferences: A series of presentations or small workshops delivered by different subject-matter experts over one or two days. Typically, each individual session or workshop is prepared by the presenter in isolation from other aspects of the program, but is brought together by conference organisers around particular themes. The audience has little or no opportunity to influence the way the conference is conducted.

Reading

• Online programs: On the whole, online development involves reading (or listening to) set text and, often, viewing short videos. While many online programs do have interactive elements, typically these do not allow the participant to influence the content or delivery of the program. Also, typically, there is little or no opportunity to ask questions or to discuss the ideas presented.
• Professional books and journals

Other

• Specify

Additional notes:

D. Considerations arising from ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’

Speed: How quickly do you need to develop the knowledge, skills or behaviours identified previously?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

• Immediately
• Sometime in the next month
• Sometime in the next three months
• Sometime in the next six months
• Sometime in the next twelve months
• Sometime in the next two years

Additional notes:

Breadth: How focused do you need the development activity to be?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

• Narrowly focused (eg. focusing on only one or two topics)
• Broadly focused (eg. covering a wide range of topics)

Additional notes:

Depth: How expert do you need to become in these particular knowledge, skills and behaviours at this time?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

• Introductory (no pre-requisites)
• Intermediate (builds on some knowledge and/or experience)
• Advanced (builds on substantial existing knowledge or experience)

Additional notes:

Diversity: To what extent do you need to undertake development experiences among people who have similar or different backgrounds to you?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

i)

• Need development activities with mostly public sector people
• Need development activities with mostly community / non-government organisation sector people
• Need development activities with mostly private sector people
• Need mix of public, private, and/or community sector people

Additional notes:

Tick the one that most applies to you.

ii)

• Need development activities with people who are a similar level to me
• Need development activities with people who are at different levels from me

Additional notes:

Recognition: Do you need to have your participation in the development activity, or your achievement in it, formally recognised?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

• No formal recognition required
• Recognition through certificate of attendance
• Recognition through a formal qualification

Additional notes:

Scheduling: When is the best time for you to participate in development activities?

Tick the one that most applies to you.

• Any day (including weekend)
• Any day (Monday-Friday)
• Any day, except:

Additional notes:

E: Identify Your Development Options Checklist

Tick as completed.

• I have actively sought out a range of development activity options in line with my development needs and preferences.
• I have asked my supervisor to look out for possible development activities in line with my development needs.
• I have asked my colleagues to look out for possible development activities in line with my development needs.
• I have reviewed the development activity options in light of my development needs, the 70:20:10 principle and what is practical at this time.

STEP 3: Plan for Development Activities

F: What and How Revisited

Typically, the development and application of knowledge, skills or behaviours will require a couple of different development activities. It is common, for example, for a manager to attend a course, to engage a mentor and to participate in a professional network. Or they may work on a special project, engage a coach and undertake some professional reading. Each set of activities is designed to develop the same knowledge, skills or behaviours.

G: Preparation Checklist

STEP 4: Undertake Development Activities

The following actions will help you to get the best from any development activity while it is taking place.

• State your goals: A good facilitator will actively seek this information. If not, you may have to create your own opportunity for explaining your reasons for participating in the development activity and your expectations of it.
• Give it a go: Give any activities or exercises a go. Make mistakes and keep a sense of perspective.
• Keep the activity on track: Speak up when the development activity could be enhanced to meet your development needs better. Good facilitators appreciate feedback and suggestions about what can be done to make it work for you.
• Be careful not to confuse feelings of discomfort with dissatisfaction about the development activity. Feelings of discomfort, even frustration or anger, are a normal part of the learning experience, especially as you grapple with new ideas or behaviours.
• Learn from other participants: Interact with others who are participating in the development activity. Often some of the richest learnings will come from your discussions with other people going through the same development experience.
• Teach others what you have learnt: Explaining something new to someone else is a powerful way to consolidate new knowledge and skills. For a particularly intense activity, you may consider debriefing by phone with your supervisor or a colleague during a suitable break in the activity.
• Withdraw if warranted: Do not be afraid to withdraw from an activity if, after giving it a good go, the activity is not delivering the knowledge, skills or behaviours you need to develop.
• Keep in mind, however, that there are likely to be costs associated with a withdrawal. These can be financial. There can also be costs in terms of your reputation and the development opportunities offered to you in the future.
• If you do withdraw from a particular activity, you should seek out an alternative activity as soon as possible.

STEP 5: Apply Newly Acquired Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours in the Workplace

Tick as completed.

• I met with my supervisor soon after the development activity finished and discussed the development experience, key learnings and how I will use them.
• I met with my peers and/or staff soon after the development activity finished and discussed the development experience, key learnings and how I will use them.
• I have consciously tried out, several times, a newly acquired knowledge, skill or behaviour in my everyday work.
• I have discussed the experience of trying out the new knowledge, skills or behaviours with a trusted peer, and considered what else I might do differently the next time I try out the new knowledge, skills or behaviours.

STEP 6: Review and Repeat

Tick as completed.

• I have scheduled a time to meet with my supervisor two to three months after the development activity to discuss the impact of the recent development activities on my performance in my management role.

Date

Time

• I have scheduled a time to conduct another assessment of my management knowledge, skills and behaviours in three to six months time in order to identify improvement in the areas I have recently developed and new areas for development.

Date

Time

Additional notes: