DevelopmentPlans.mp3 - powered by Happy Scribe

You're listening to the MentalNotes podcast. In this episode, founder Scott Dow explains five different ways you can develop people.

Let me ask you a question. What if your boss developed a plan for your growth? How would that make you feel? What if they had you collaborate on that plan, too? What if they managed the plan like a project and even helped you execute it? What if they pushed you, held you to high standards and made you accountable for progress against the plan? How would that make you feel?

Would it make you feel valued, safe, confident? Chances are it would. Would it make you work harder? Probably. So why don't more managers do this? They don't do it because it's easy not to. Everyone's busy. This stuff is easy to talk about, and it's really really hard to do.

I'm going to give you a workaround solution, a hack for developing your people. I want you to be a unicorn, that rare manager that has custom development growth plans with every employee. You're ready? First, a little context. Let's start with how people learn. People learn by socializing, through trial and error, experience, observation, and rehearsal. This hack is based on these five learning methods. Let's take a look at each.

Knowledge is shared between people and within groups. That's why socializing is a common learning method. Every failure creates a learning opportunity. That's why trial and error is an important learning methodology. Nothing beats hands-on or on-the-job learning. That's why experience is the best teacher. But vicarious experience is always the next best thing. That's why observing others work is a very important learning method. And finally, preparation shortens the learning curve. That's why rehearsal or practice is an important learning method.

So here's the hack. You simplify a growth plan into monthly tasks. You base the tasks on these learning methodologies and then you track their progress against each task. There are five growth tasks you can focus on. You give people someone to meet, something to try, something to achieve, something to observe, and something to practice.

These tasks reflect those five learning methods, and you don't have to come up with five tasks, you can use two or three. It depends on the individual. You don't have to use every learning strategy, you can pick and choose from the five I've shared. Identify tasks that can be completed in 30 days and review their progress each month. Push your peopl. If you think they can complete three tasks, give them four tasks, five tasks to accomplish.

Set aside 130-minute meeting a month to review their growth plan. If they met someone, ask them to share their impressions. If they tried something new, ask them what surprised them. If they accomplished something, ask them what hurdles they had to overcome. If they observed something new, ask them what best practices they discovered, and if they practiced on something, ask them what they're still struggling with and coach them through the issue.

No, I don't want to discount this by referring to it as a hack. This is one of the most important routines you can build as a leader. Nothing will pay performance dividends like the systematic, strategic, and consistent focus on employee development. The hack I've described takes about an hour each month per employee. That's it. It's half an hour in the meeting with your employee. It's 15 to 20 minutes strategizing on their growth tasks.

You really want to put some thought to them in 10 to 15 minutes facilitating their growth task. You might have to pick up the phone and call one of your colleagues who you want your employee to meet. So to be a unicorn, to be that one manager out of a hundred, that has high impact growth strategies enabled for every employee, you need to find the equivalent of one to two days a month. You can do it. The ROI on this investment is well worth it. Remember, how would you feel if your manager did this for you?