A Personal Development Plan (PDP) Guide & Template

You might have a positive outlook on life, a good job, stable relationships and take care of your health. If you have all of those things, that’s awesome! But you shouldn’t stop reaching for ways to improve. Personal growth is a lifelong undertaking. No matter how accomplished we think we are, there are always aspects of our lives that we can work on or personal goals that we can work toward.

A Personal Development Plan (PDP) helps us clarify our goals and develop a framework for achieving those goals. It’s a self-evaluation method commonly used in professional circles and academia. You can utilise a PDP to help you accomplish anything, from learning a new language, developing a skill, or improving your health.

A PDP is super helpful in identifying what strengths and weaknesses you have. A PDP can help you improve your job prospects or boost your performance. You can use a PDP to keep you motivated and track your progress toward achieving your goals. A well-thought-out PDP can provide you with a clear sense of purpose. This helps reduce your stress levels and enhance your mental health. A PDP can also help you identify any blocks that might stop you from reaching your aims.

Whether you want to focus on your personal life or professional career, writing a PDP is a great idea. So, how does one go about putting together a PDP? The easiest way is to follow a personal development plan template.

What is a PDP personal development plan example? It really depends on who you ask. Some experts recommend following a SWOT analysis template. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You start by identifying your strengths and weaknesses, then focus on growth opportunities, and finally, look at any obstacles hindering you in accomplishing your goals. The CIPD have a helpful factsheet on SWOT analysis uses.

Another personal development plan template involves following these six simple steps:

• Define how a PDP can help you
• Undertake a self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses
• Set your goals
• Plan how you will reach your objectives and set deadlines
• Keep track of your progress
• Evaluate and reflect on your accomplishments

We’ll go into each of these steps in detail to give you a complete picture of how to assemble a PDP.

The very first thing to focus on when writing a PDP is to fully understand just why you are doing it in the first place. If you don’t have a clear purpose or set of goals, you won’t be able to devise a practical path to accomplishing them.

Maybe you want to improve your health or develop a new work skill. You might like to learn how to play Moonlight Sonata on the piano or come to grips with speaking Spanish. Whatever you want to accomplish, defining your PDP is essential.

Once you’ve defined why you’re writing a personal development plan, you can assess your strengths and weaknesses. This can be a difficult task, depending on your personality. A positive person with an overly generous view of themselves may lean toward thinking they have very few areas of weakness. A person with low self-esteem might concentrate on the negative aspects of their personality and overlook their strengths.

Be honest with yourself and take a systematic, balanced view of where your talents lie. It can be helpful to get an opinion from someone you trust or take a skills and personality test. (Just make sure you use a reputable provider!)

Now you know why you’re writing a PDP and your strengths and weaknesses. At this point, it’s time to set out your goals. You may have long-term or short-term goals or a mixture of both. Following the SMART formula is a good idea when setting out your dreams. Your goals should be:

• Specific: Be clear about what you want to achieve
• Measurable: Make sure you can measure your progress
• Attainable: Be realistic about your goals
• Relevant: Make your goals relevant to your life
• Time-bound: Set goals that can be reached within a realistic time

Goal setting is complex, so don’t be surprised if this process takes longer than you think.

Having a set of realistic goals is excellent, but now you have to develop a plan of action and set deadlines. Think of a linear path towards achieving your goals and set milestones.

For instance, you might want to learn to improve at a specific computer program. So, you could say: In the next week, I will obtain a copy of the program and find a course. In a month, I will have mastered the basics of the program. In six months, I will have become proficient in using the program. After this time, I will apply for a new job or a promotion.

At this stage, you might also want to consider any obstacles. Maybe the program will be more expensive than you initially thought, or you might get sick and be unable to complete the lessons.

Developing a way of tracking your progress toward your goals is incredibly important. You can lose focus if you don’t have a suitable tracking method. A calendar can be a valuable tool for planning your timeline and tracking your progress. You’ll need to be disciplined and stay motivated to reach your goals. Having a way of continuously monitoring your progress can help keep you on track.

If you suffer a setback, don’t be too hard on yourself. Sometimes, life gets in the way of our plans. The important thing is to keep working towards your goals. Make your progress tracker adjustable so you can factor in any unexpected delays.

Making it to the end of a PDP is a huge accomplishment, so this is a time to congratulate yourself. But it’s also a time to reflect on how the process went and evaluate any things you could have done differently.

Were there areas where you could have changed to speed up your progress? Obstacles that you could have avoided? Note them all down. They’ll be helpful when planning your next Personal Development Plan!

Knowing how to prepare a Personal Development Plan is a skill that every good Human Resources expert should know. As well as developing your skills, you can pass your PDP knowledge on to your colleagues to help them reach their goals.

Taking some of our HR Compliance Courses is a great way to hone your workplace skills.

You can learn how to manage stress, make the most of your time, resolve workplace conflicts, or even dig deeper into setting and achieving your objectives.