Everyone needs a plan.
Regardless whether your goal is world domination, smashing the annual bonus scheme or something more personal, we believe that when you put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, you are way more likely to get stuff done.
Research has shown that people who write down their goals are 42 percent more likely to achieve them than those who don’t.
Having something as simple as a basic Personal Development Plan (aka the PDP) can often be the start of something brilliant.
You can download a simple template from us here. It’s amendable if you’d like to make it a little more ‘you’.
Here’s 5 Tips to Get You Started.
1. Think about the work you’ve already done
Before you get started on what it is that you want to achieve, spend some time thinking about your progress over the last 12 months. This will help you get a picture of what’s going well and any areas that you can improve on, it will also help you to recognise the strengths and weaknesses in your skillset.
2. Write a list of your strengths and weaknesses
Your strengths are a mixture of your talents, knowledge and skills. By getting an idea of what your strengths are, you’ll be able to identify activities where you can add value. And by recognising your weaknesses, you can start to get involved in work that allows you to develop gaps in your skills and knowledge.
3. Set some goals
Goals can be anything from short-term to long-term, big or small. Whatever you decide you want to work towards, the key thing is to make sure that you’re setting goals based on what you want to achieve, not what you think your manager would like to see. Once you’ve set your goals, consider prioritising them – and try not to tackle too many at once.
4. Get SMART
Now that you have an understanding of what you want to achieve, it’s time to set some concrete actions. Think about what you’re working towards and then work backwards from there, outlining the steps you’ll need to take. It’s also important that the actions you set for yourself are clear, measurable and obtainable. A great way to make sure of this is to follow the SMART method: keep them Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timed.
5. Make time for updates
For your PDP to work, you need to update it regularly. Setting a weekly reminder in your calendar is a great way to get yourself into the habit of spending time reviewing your progress and updating the areas of your PDP that you’ve been working on.
