Free Resources

Personal Development Plan Template

A personal development plan is a means for your team members to record learning and development activities that they plan to undertake. This template provides a blank personal plan that can be used during and after a development discussion.

Completing the Template

1. Take a blank template along with you when you are holding a development discussion with a member of your team.
2. Talk through with them the purpose of a personal development plan, and explain that it is a 'live' document that should be referred and added to as time progresses.
3. During the discussion, explain that it should be completed as follows:
   • Activity. Record what the development activity is, e.g. attending a marketing conference.
   • Purpose of activity. This should outline the overall aim of the activity, and the value it will bring, e.g. to learn about new marketing techniques that can be applied to our product launches.
   • Target date. This is the date that your team member should aim to have completed the learning activity. It needs to be a realistic date, and achieving this shouldn't put the individual under any undue pressure.
   • Learning applied. Details of how the learning was actually used in the workplace, or other appropriate circumstances, should be noted here, e.g. 'used technique to help launch new line of savings products'.
   • Further action. You and your team member should reflect on the success of the activity, and decide if follow-up development or activity is necessary, e.g. 'product launch was successful and I feel confident that I could now run a marketing project'; or 'practical application of techniques revealed numerous knowledge gaps - I would like to go on a course to bridge these'. Details noted here may form the basis of a separate entry on the plan, e.g. the course noted above.
4. The intention is not to complete all five sections in one sitting. It may only be possible to complete the first two ('Activity' and 'Purpose of activity') during the course of the initial discussion. The last two sections ('Learning applied' and 'Further action') can only be completed after the development activity has been undertaken.
5. Do not feel that you have to add activities to the plan just for the sake of having something on there. For development to be successful, it must play to the talents and strengths of your team member, and should add value. If your initial development discussion does not produce any worthwhile ideas, agree with your team member that you will each give some more thought to what could be appropriate and agree to meet again at a later date.
6. Remember that the plan is a working document and should be revisited regularly to update entries and to include new ones.
7. The plan should be brought along to subsequent development discussions and talked about in detail.

Resource Bank

Below is a selection of tools for you to use - all of which have been taken directly from Eden Tree. We hope you find them useful!

Course Descriptor Template
A course descriptor is a document that gives prospective learners detailed information about a course so that they can make an informed decision regarding its suitability for them. This resource is a template that provides the means for you to create your own descriptor.

Reviewing a Coaching Relationship
A handy checklist that a coach can use to review their relationship with their coachee. It should be completed on a regular basis to ensure that both parties' expectations are being met, and that the relationship is proving beneficial.

Constructive Alignment: A Learning Design Technique
One of the challenges of course design is to put together a programme of learning that is fit for purpose for both the learning professional and the learner. Constructive alignment is a technique to ensure that learning outcomes, learning methods, and assessment are all integrated and aligned with each other, resulting in a course design which makes sense to learning professionals and learners alike.

Jane Bozarth: Social Media for Trainers
Eden Tree spoke with Jane Bozarth, the internationally known trainer, speaker and author. Jane's latest book, Social Media for Trainers, is a must read for anyone looking for an accessible how-to resource for incorporating social media into training.

During our conversation, Jane discusses: why she thinks social media is having such an impact on learning; the advantages of using social media for learning in organisations; advice for learning and development professionals looking to implement a learning initiative using social media; how to counter resistance and objections to using social media tools; why she, personally, gets so much from using social media applications.

How to Improve the Effectiveness of Informal Learning
Informal learning accounts for 80% of all learning in organisations and happens without any intervention from managers. However, it may not always be as effective as it could be. This guide highlights some actions that can be taken by an organisation to improve the effectiveness of informal learning. Also included is a diagnostic tool to help uncover where the informal learning that is already taking place can be made more effective, and identify how this can be done.

Holding a Development Discussion: A Practical Guide for Line Managers
Holding a development discussion with members of your team means more than just having a quick conversation before sending them off on a formal training course. For the development process to be effective significant thought and planning is required by both you and your team members. This article outlines the steps that should be taken before, during and after a development discussion, and provides tools to help you at each stage.

Course Design Template
Course design can often be a complex and challenging undertaking. This template takes you through a series of key questions that should be answered at the start of any course design initiative.

The Invisible Gorilla: Audio Interview
Relying on our intuition is how many of us often choose to approach decision-making. But should we really place so much trust in this method? For Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, authors of The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways Our Intuition Deceives Us the answer is a resounding 'no'. Throughout the book, Chabris and Simons support this view by presenting a number of everyday illusions that can seriously impair our judgement. In this interview we speak to Chabris and Simons about some of these illusions, and what steps we can take to over-ride their influence when making decisions.