What Your Personal Development Plan Can Look Like

You have decided you need a PDP (Personal Development Plan). Great! Where do you start and what should your Personal Development Plan look like? That is what I want to try and help you with. There are 5 steps: Where. What. How. When. Do.

Before we start let me state, there are no hard rules as to how you do this. It can be on paper, on a computer or even on a chalkboard! It can be in whatever format you choose. The most important thing is that you have a plan and you ensure it is a working document.

As with anything, the trick is trying different ways and seeing what works for you. I find things work best when they are kept simple so that is my way of approaching this.

If you are still trying to decide whether you need a PDP or not then have a read of my previous post and hopefully it will convince you of its benefit.

Objectives/Goals

I would start here. This is the the "Where". Write down where you want to get to. What do you want to achieve? This is important. How can you know which way to go if you don't know where the destination is?

You could probably come up with quite a few objectives but having too many will confuse things and will make your plan too complex. You want to keep things simple so it is more manageable. So I would come up with one or two objectives at a maximum.

If you have come up with a long list then just prioritise them and pick your top two.

Areas of Focus

Great, you now have your objectives/goals, but "What" do you need to improve on to get to achieve your objectives?

For example, if one of my objectives is to be more confident around others. I know that I am not confident in certain situations because I feel I don't belong there. So one of my areas of focus would be dealing with my Imposter Syndrome to appear more confident when in those situations.

Similar to how you came up with your objectives I would make a list or brainstorm ideas of what areas of focus you could have for each of your objectives.

I would pick one area of focus for each objective. You may also find that an area of focus applies to more than one objective - that is great as once you nail that you will have made progress against more than one objective.

Actions

Now for the "How". How are you going to deal with your areas of focus.

Once again I would brainstorm ideas and this should hopefully give you a pool of which to select from. You will be tempted to put them all on your PDP however this will just overwhelm you and will probably discourage you every time you look at the long list.

So just like you did with your objectives you should prioritise them. Which one will have the most impact on your area of focus?

I would again select one of two actions for each area of focus.

Timeline

Nearly there. Now for the "When". You have your objectives and actions. Before you put that pen down or turn your laptop off, write down a timeline of when you want to do each action by e.g. within 2 months, within one year, etc.

What Next?

Next I would show it to someone. Whether that is your manager, mentor or a friend whose opinion you value. Take on their feedback and act on it if you agree with it.

Perfect! You now have a Personal Development Plan! Congratulations!

But hold up, don't stop there. Now do what you have put on that page. Keep revisiting the plan and hold yourself to account. Get yourself into a routine and you will soon find yourself crossing things off your plan as you have completed them and you can move on to something new.

Your PDP is a working document. You will never be done with it if you're using it in the right way. If you are using it in the right way it will give you a real sense of achievement and you will continue to improve.

What do you think of my PDP structure? How would you structure your PDP? Feel free to share it with me.

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Thanks for reading,

Gav