How to plan your professional development
The first step to plan your professional development is to assess your current situation. You need to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) as a contract manager. You also need to understand your career goals, expectations, and preferences. You can use tools such as self-assessments, feedback, performance reviews, and career maps to help you with this step.
The second step is to identify your learning needs and objectives. You need to determine what skills, knowledge, and competencies you need to develop or enhance to achieve your career goals and meet your employer's and client's expectations. You also need to prioritize your learning needs and objectives based on their urgency, importance, and feasibility.
The third step is to select your learning activities and resources. You need to choose the most suitable and effective ways to learn, such as online courses, webinars, workshops, conferences, books, podcasts, blogs, etc. You also need to find reliable and reputable sources of information and guidance, such as industry associations, professional bodies, mentors, coaches, peers, etc.
The fourth step is to implement your learning plan. You need to schedule your learning activities, allocate your time and budget, and track your progress and outcomes. You also need to apply your learning to your work, practice your skills, and seek feedback and support.
The fifth step is to evaluate your learning results. You need to measure your learning outcomes, such as improved performance, increased productivity, enhanced quality, reduced errors, etc. You also need to reflect on your learning experience, identify what worked and what didn't, and celebrate your achievements.