The concept of growth plans often carries a corporate undertone, but in reality, they are a fundamental element in fostering a healthy and thriving team. The premise is simple: as individuals grow, the team expands, and consequently, the entire company flourishes.
Outlined below are key considerations for formulating an effective growth plan:
Demonstrate Genuine Interest: Show authentic interest in facilitating the growth of your team members. Encourage them to reach a point where they can seamlessly handle your responsibilities, enabling both your and their upward mobility.
Alignment on Areas of Improvement: Ensure alignment between you and your reports on areas requiring improvement. These identified areas should become integral components of the growth plan.
Leverage Strengths: Identify and enhance the strengths of your team members. Prioritize making their strengths even more robust, transforming them into true assets for the team.
Personalized Growth Plans: Encourage your reports to create their own growth plans. Personal responsibility for growth is crucial; otherwise, it transforms into a Performance Improvement Plan if imposed externally.
Objective Reflection: For each growth plan objective, consider how it contributes to personal development. Focus on what individuals are learning and the behavioral changes expected.
Inspirational yet Achievable: Design growth plans to be inspirational and challenging. They should motivate individuals to surpass their limits, aiming for approximately 70% achievability.
Solution Design Emphasis: Prioritize designing solutions in the growth plan over mere execution. Emphasize designing, followed by delegating and deciding, with execution taking a smaller share.
On-the-Job Training Approach: Structure growth plans as on-the-job training, enabling team members to acquire or enhance skills while tackling crucial organizational problems. Avoid solving random problems solely for skill improvement, as this may be counterproductive.
Aligned Performance Reviews: A well-crafted growth plan ensures that performance reviews do not come as a surprise. The plan should accurately reflect the individual’s progress and development.
Learning from Alternatives: It’s acceptable not to achieve everything in the growth plan. What matters is demonstrating alternative learning and skill development.
Regular Review in 1o1s: Incorporate growth plan reviews as a routine part of one-on-one meetings, fostering continuous improvement and development.
Addressing Non-compliance: Individuals falling short of their growth plans for two consecutive quarters should be considered for a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).
Some employees may express reluctance to grow, assuming it differs from seeking promotion. Emphasize that growth pertains to skill development and rejecting a promotion while growing in skills is acceptable.
Refusing to engage in growth planning implies a stagnant mindset, hindering innovation. Individual growth directly correlates with company growth, making such reluctance unacceptable.
To assist in analyzing growth plans, consider utilizing the template provided below:
Template Plan:
This [month/quarter/year],
I would like to [achieve/learn/experience/grow]
the skill of [name the skill]
by [designing/delegating/deciding/doing]
project [name the project/objective].
This project is providing value [insert value here] to the company.
We can measure success with [success measurements]
Example:
This quarter,
I would like to
improve my communication skills
by doing
Knowledge-sharing sessions about our APIs.
This will help in the faster adoption of our APIs.
I will consider it a success if we get 40% fewer support tickets and our developers provide positive feedback in the survey.
Behaviorally, I would like to make it part of my routine, that every new API introduced, I would like to do a documentation or Knowledge sharing session about it.
This methodology draws inspiration from “Clockwork” by Mike Michalowicz, a book I strongly endorse. The core principle emphasizes the importance of prioritizing design over mere execution.
Here’s my interpretation of the framework:
I gauge performance by the number of successful design-oriented initiatives in an individual’s development trajectory.
With these key considerations in mind, you are now equipped to craft powerful growth plans for your team. Remember, fostering individual growth unlocks collective potential, propelling your team and your company toward remarkable achievements. Embrace the journey, celebrate successes, and watch your team blossom into a high-performing, unstoppable force.