It’s time that we finally updated the method of creating a workplace personal development plan to suit the 21st century. The future of work is changing more and more each day, and updating your manual processes will help your company keep up with this rapid change. By moving everything online, your company will be prepared to work remotely, even potentially hiring permanent remote workers. So, it’s time to learn how to create a personal development plan that can be created and used even by remote staff.

What Is A Personal Development Plan?

The first thing to cover is exactly what a personal development plan is. A personal development plan is completed by an individual. The purpose of someone doing this is to create goals and identify future opportunities for themselves, such as attending training or taking on a secondment. A personal development plan helps people to define what they want to achieve and then create actionable steps to get there.

Many personal development plans will include both work-related and personal goals. For example, ‘exceed my KPIs for this quarter’ or ‘sign up for a half-marathon’.

This differs from employee development plans which are more company and job focused. Personal development plans will usually also include more life goals or long-term goals, as well.

How to Create a Personal Development Plan When Working Remotely

List Your Goals

The first step you need to take is to consider what goals you want to achieve in the provided timeframe. A good start is to think about where you want to be ten years from now. Then decide what you must do between now and then to get there. Then you can begin to refine it down just to your yearly goals. This time next year, do you want a promotion? To have completed a course of study? Whatever it is you want to accomplish, write it down clearly.

Make a Plan

The next step is to then define the actions you will need to take to achieve that goal. For example, if yours was ‘to get better at communication’, you will need to get more specific. What does good communication look like to you? How will you improve your communication skills? This could be as simple as sending out a ‘hi’ on Slack every morning when you log on and having a chat with your colleagues. You could take a short online course in communication and then track how you implement what you learnt. There are so many paths you can take to achieve any goal you set for yourself.

Technical Skills

There has never been a better time than right now to learn technical skills. If you’re working remotely, then hopefully that means that you’re working from a quiet corner of your home. No more being interrupted by co-workers stopping to chat or shooting off to your next meeting. You will have the time and space to watch videos, learn, and practice your technical skills. For example, if you think that learning to use Photoshop will really help you in your job. You can watch YouTube videos and play around on Photoshop uninterrupted to try out different techniques. A remote workplace is an ideal environment for learning new skills.

Get A Mentor

Getting a mentor is one of the best things that you can do for yourself to accelerate your learning and move towards your goals. By connecting with someone who has achieved what you want to achieve or has the skills you would love to acquire, you can learn a tremendous amount. Just because your work is remote, it doesn’t mean that you can’t meet with a mentor. You could have regular chats using online video conferencing and other methods of communication.

The main challenge will be finding a suitable mentor. Consider reaching out to your connections and ask if they know of anyone. If you already know someone in your company or from a past role that you would love to have as a mentor, don’t be afraid to ask. Most people enjoy the opportunity to help out someone who looks up to them.

Focus on Strengths

Look at the list of goals you created. Are they designed to improve on your weaknesses or increase your strengths? Many of the most successful people don’t focus too much on what they lack and instead capitalize on what they are good at. For example, small business owners who aren’t the best at marketing usually outsource this to someone who is. This allows them more time to focus on where they can add the most value, such as sales or strategic planning. In your career, find ways to do the same. This is especially simple if you’re at the management level because you can delegate tasks to your staff. This has the added benefit of providing your team with opportunities to take on more responsibility.

One Step at A Time

While you are improving yourself and developing new skills, remember that you will not master them overnight. It takes time to see improvements, so just take it one step at a time. Whether that’s practicing a new skill once a day, signing up for a course, or something else, every step towards your goal will help you to get there eventually. You must be patient and stay committed; one day, you’ll wonder why you ever doubted yourself.

If you want to improve on certain abilities or traits, a personal development plan is an excellent way to do this. Just because you work remotely doesn’t mean that you can’t create one. In fact, remote work is the ideal situation for learning new skills and techniques completely uninterrupted. So, what are you waiting for? Start creating your personal development plan now and begin making moves to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself. Your future self will thank you for it. Once you’ve created yours, you will have a template that you can share with colleagues and with your team. Get others to fill theirs out and then you can hold each other accountable.