Customer Service Management Training 101 Chapter 1 Excerpt 6: Create Your Developmental Action Plan and Set Goals

Now that you completed your list, what do you do with it? Since your strengths are your assets, focus on your areas needing improvement. Creating your developmental action plan and setting goals is the next step in skills development.

Have someone you trust review your list. Before writing your development plan, ask someone you trust to sit down with you and go over your areas needing improvement. This could be a mentor, a coworker, or a friend. It is important that you ask someone who will remain unbiased and objective. Ask the person to read through both columns and give you feedback as to whether you should have listed a skill in the opposite column, or if there are any skills that you inadvertently omitted.

Meet with your boss for feedback on your list. Next, meet with your boss. Tell him or her that you are going to write a personal developmental action plan but before you do you would appreciate feedback on your strengths and areas needing improvement. Because you already had someone review the list with you, you should feel confident that you noted all pertinent skills and noted them in the correct columns. After agreeing on the list with your boss, state that after creating your development action plan you would like to meet again to review it.

Write your developmental action plan and set goals. Your action plan is your goal sheet. For each area of improvement, note the skill, what you need to do to develop this skill, and the date by which you will complete the necessary tasks. For example, if you listed making presentations to large groups as one of your areas needing improvement: Is there in-house training available or can you enroll in a class at your local college? What community groups can you join to develop this skill? What job tasks or projects can you take on in which you will need to make presentations? List all opportunities available that will help you. Note completion dates by each.

Meet again with your boss to finalize your plan. After creating your action plan/goal sheet, meet with your boss to review each item. If you were unable to come up with specific goals for an item, ask your boss to help you. Perhaps he or she can make a suggestion or offer to train or work with you.

Periodically review your action plan. Set a time schedule to go over your action plan. Every quarter will be a good starting point, particularly if you listed quite a few skills to work on. Think how great it is going to feel when you start moving areas needing improvement into your strength’s column. When you conduct your analysis and can honestly assess that you move freely across the continuum depending on the employees and circumstances, you have become a participative manager.

Remember, though, we all have areas needing improvement. We are all a work in progress. Even if you can easily move along the continuum, there is some skill you can develop or strengthen. Periodic self-analysis and continual self-awareness will only increase your effectiveness and keep you from falling back into old habits and behaviors.

from Customer Service Management Training 101