IDP: The Process

Over the course of the past four weeks, I've described the Individual Development Plan -- why it's important to your career and what the various components are.  This week, I'm going to talk about how you can integrate an IDP into your development processes.

Initial conversations

Once you've spent the time creating your IDP, it's important to share it with your leaders and mentors.  If you don't already have a recurring one-on-one with your manager, you should schedule one.  In Episode 011, I cover How to Structure Your One-on-Ones.  I recommend having a career-focused one-on-one every four to six weeks -- more frequently and you haven't had enough time to act on the feedback and any less frequently and you aren't putting adequate focus on personal growth.

As you speak with your leader, talk about your goals and aspirations -- talk about what aspects of your road map exist within the company.  Can your leaders help you get in contact with people who already have those roles?  Can someone in that role act as a mentor for you?

Ongoing conversations

Beyond just talking about your longer term goals, talk with your manager about the items in action plan.  Are there resources available from the company -- such as budget for training -- that will support those activities?  Can your manager provide you with assignments that allow you to build the skills you need to progress?

Remember, your action plan should be targeting activities that can ideally be completed within three months.  This would imply that the activity would be discussed in up to four different one-on-ones.  In the one-on-one where the activity is introduced, talk with your manager on strategies for achieving the goal so that you start off correctly.  In subsequent one-on-ones discuss progress and any roadblocks; verify that you are still on track to meet the target date.

Once you have completed an activity, spend some time in your one-on-one doing a retrospective on how that activity has impacted you.  How has that activity improved you?  Were there any obstacles that you had to overcome to accomplish the goal -- whether internal issues or external factors that caused you trouble?  Does completing that activity open you up new opportunities?  Are there follow up actions you can take that can reinforce or build on the take-aways from the completed activity?  Use the notes from the retrospective to record them in the Successes section of your IDP.

Continue to add new activities to your Action Plan as you identify gaps in your current role or areas of growth towards your next role.  Even after you feel that you are ready for the next role, continue to plan actions that expand on your capabilities.  In many organizations, being ready doesn't get your promoted -- often, you have to have already been performing at the next level.  Work with your leader to increase your responsibilities and scope of work.

After a promotion

At some point, you'll reach the next role.  When this happens, I recommend archiving your existing IDP and starting a new version.  Much like the successes section, having an archive of your IDP gives you something that you can review later to see how much progress you've made.  In your new IDP, review each section to make sure that it still applies.

When you review your Vision Statement, is it still true?  Is the timeframe still reasonable; can you reach your goal or can you reach it sooner?  Have you learned anything that would lead you to a different goal -- whether a bigger goal or a complete shift in direction?  Update your Roadmap based on your revised Vision Statement.

Now that you have reached your next role, perform a new Assessment of your strengths and weaknesses in this role.  You should be able to transfer quite a bit from the previous version of your IDP.  Additionally, research what skills you need to build for your new Next Role.  While an additional promotion is likely several years away, you start working towards it TODAY.

If you have any open items in your Action Plan, carry them forward to the new version of your IDP, but work with your leader on a set of activities that set you up for success in your new role.

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