The date has been on your calendar for a week, and you’ve been waking up in the middle of the night wondering what you will put on this year’s performance development plan that will make sense and motivate you. The dreaded review is due, and you’re stuck on what to put in for your annual goals.
You are not alone. I routinely get emails asking me what should be in the PDP (Performance Development Plan): things that will motivate you, make you look good, and make sense to add to the list.
Easier said than done. For many, it feels like setting New Year’s Resolutions. It’s something you do once a year, but they are quickly forgotten until it is time to set new goals.
However, we know they are important to do properly so they provide you and the company value.
Here is a list of ideas on what you can add to your PDP this year:
– Create a Standard Operating Procedure manual.
I am a checklist girl and have checklists in my head and on my computer for most things. It makes my life much easier. Warren, on the other hand, doesn’t do this. On the weekend, we were discussing the things that we need to do as we transition from our Fort Myers home to our Ottawa home. He has arranged a series of inspections this week for the house (air conditioning, termites, etc.), and I asked him if he had this all written down. As expected, he looked at me like I had a third head and said he didn’t. He, more or less (sorry Warren), relies on the providers to contact us when it is time for our inspections. When it comes to the house’s clean-up, he says he just looks around and figures out what needs to be done. He instinctively knows what to do, and I’m betting you likely feel the same about your job.
Well, that’s a hard no for me. I asked him what would happen if I had to do this clean up without him. He assured me that I could figure it all out.
Of course, I can. But should I have to spend time and think about what needs to be done? Wouldn’t it be so much easier if there was an SOP or a checklist?
Think about your job. As my parents deteriorated, I realized that my first priority was spending as much time with them as I could. That meant I had to delegate tasks. If I hadn’t had checklists and SOPs for my job, it would have been stressful for me to worry about things that needed to be done when my mind was a million miles away.
It doesn’t have to be your entire job. Pick one task that you know someone could take over and start writing a process on how to do it.
– Continuing education.
There is always something new to learn and continuing to grow your skills and enhance your value is always a good investment of your time.
Search the job postings for jobs similar to yours and see what certifications, designations, or associations they are asking for. Do a gap analysis to see what you need.
You may not need to enroll in a four-year degree program and your continuing education may not cost a fortune. It could be that you need to update some skills, perhaps work towards a designation, or get more involved in your chosen association. Become the in-house expert at work.
Focus on one skills area. It could be investigating how AI can benefit you or your company. You may want to get a designation that makes you stand out at work when it comes to technology—project management, business writing, HR, payroll, conflict resolution, and more. The list of skills that bring you and your employer benefit is never ending.
See what the world is looking for on existing job postings and ask your manager what they see as valuable and how they see you as adding more value with new skills.
– Streamline processes.
If you were to look at one process (as you are creating your checklist or standard operating procedure), could you find ways to improve it and reduce inefficiencies? I’m betting you rolled your eyes with a “yes” in mind!
Most of us see how we do things and don’t bother to try to improve them. I agree that people don’t like change and when we change a process it is always an uphill battle at first.
However, if streamlining and improving processes is on your list of goals for the year, it gives you more motivation to continue, even when you reach resistance from others.
If your performance is being measured on you streamlining processes and removing inefficiencies, you will be committed to making a difference. We both know that when we make things more efficient, we feel better too!
When we re-did our website about a year ago, we streamlined the process for registering for webinars. That saved Warren a ton of time with each registration and made the process easier for you.
Is there still room for improvement? Absolutely. Do we feel better knowing we improved it? Absolutely. It motivates us to continue to make things easier and smoother and get away from cumbersome and clunky processes. It takes time to streamline and to learn and adapt to the new process, but it saves time once it is all up and running.
– Work/Life balance.
It is very easy to pop into my office and get an hour or two of work done on the weekends. We don’t have cable television and don’t spend a ton of time watching TV. We like to be outside, but if it is cold or raining, it is too easy to stay in the office. As the days get longer, I don’t realize the workday is done as quickly (the dark tells me my workday is over)!
It’s too easy to worry about the lengthy to-do list and justify why we should work a little longer. It’s too easy to spend “just a little bit longer” in the office or on my phone/laptop.
Until I set some hard boundaries on my time. I did it for me. You need to set those goals for you but make your office aware of their importance by putting them in your annual goal list so your company can help you achieve that goal too!
Taking time to set annual goals is more than just the standard, “let’s get this over with” exercise to satisfy the checkbox. It is far more important than New Year’s goals because it helps you professionally as well as personally.
Challenge yourself to grow. Add value to what you bring to work but add value to your own motivation and pride by selecting goals you can be rewarded for both personally and professionally.
This article was written by Rhonda Scharf and not from artificial intelligence.
