Before you get into the detail of goal setting, we recommend that you take a look at:
8 Considerations for your Development Plan,
and also STRAM not SMART Objectives.
What is the difference between a development plan and an action plan? Your development plan is a broader, more strategic, and higher-level plan. It will consider the different types of development options and support systems available to you. Your development plan is likely to consist of multiple goals. Each of these goals is likely to have an individual and more detail action plan associated with it.
Some advice on writing your action plan:
- Be flexible – as Napoleon said “your first plan never survives contact with the enemy”. You may need to rewrite and adjust your plan as time goes on and learning happens. Review your plan frequently.
- Enough detail – include as much detail as you think is necessary for suitable preparation. You can always add more once you are underway.
- Include metrics – if you can’t measure it, you can’t track progress.
- Celebrate small wins – Remember to take time to acknowledge and appreciate your successes along the way.
GATE Goals
- Write your overall objective. Writing it as a problem statement, using the 1H5W (How, Who, What, Where, When, Why) method can also help you to think about potential solutions and actions. For example, “How can I develop my skills in empathy, with my direct reports, during performance reviews, by *date*, in order to increase the quality of my relationship and better meet their needs?” How do you turn this into an objective? Replace “How can I” with “To”.
- G – Goals. Time to break your objective down into smaller milestone goals. There might be multiple options and strategies to choose from. List them.
- A – Actions. What specific actions or behaviours are needed to get you underway, and to get results?
- T – Time. What is the difference between an action plan and an intention plan? Action! So when specifically will perform these actions?
- E – Evaluate. How are you going to measure the effects of your new and different actions and behaviours? What metrics are you going to put in place that tell you if your actions are having the desired effect; driving you towards the achievement of your overall objective?