Learn from your experience

Consider, Discuss, Plan & Track


Development Planning Process

After you’ve used the Better Development Plans tool, you should take some time to:

  • CONSIDER your options
  • DISCUSS your insights with a trusted advisor or manager
  • PLAN & TRACK your experience to be sure you get the most out of it

CONSIDER

If you’ve thought about a few different experience options, you’ll want to consider them side-by-side and pick the best one for your development.

  • Look for the right type of experience.
    Do you need more Delivering? Are you up for a FrameBreaking experience? Or maybe what you really need is Broadening? The experience type is like a compass that can point you to experiences in the right general direction. Next,
  • Look for a good fit with your job and personal goals.
    The best development experiences involve Significant work (for both you and the organization); work that will be developmental in areas that are important for you, and work that you’ll find Engaging. The chances of having a great development experience tend to be highest for plans that meet all three criteria.
  • As a final check, review the insights in your report to ensure that they include learning you need and risks you can manage.

DISCUSS

Talking about development with your manager or trusted advisor is pretty straightforward once you’ve identified an experience that looks like a good fit.

  • Describe your development experience
  • Explain why you picked this experience—what you hope to get from it, and how it is a good fit with your job goals
  • Ask for input, and be open to hearing a different perspective
  • Clarify any support you need
  • And confirm agreement on the plan

PLAN & TRACK

Once you’ve decided what to do, put your plan into a system for tracking progress and learning—you can use our development plan or another tool provided by your organization.

The best practice is to routinely discuss progress with your manager or trusted advisor…Taking just 10 or 15 minutes a month to talk about your development can make all the difference.

Here are a few questions to guide your discussion:

  • What new challenges are you facing and what are you doing to address them?
  • What’s working and what isn’t?
  • Where else can you apply what you are learning?

That’s all there is to it. You now have everything you need to make the most of your better development plans.