When autumn begins, I always feel like I should be going back to school, or at least learning new things. Helpfully, this coincides with the DFCI performance review period. Having a performance review with a manager provides the opportunity to develop a professional development plan that is tailored to your job responsibilities, personal strengths, and interests.
We are fortunate to work in an organization where professional development is valued and opportunities abound. But effective professional development doesn’t magically happen. Your manager or a co-worker may be able to guide you by identifying skills that you can develop that are related to your role at DFCI, but you are responsible for ensuring your professional development is relevant to, and supportive of, your personal and professional goals.
Here are some tips for making your professional development plan effective, using principles of self-directed learning (SDL). The idea behind SDL is that the individual takes the initiative to plan, execute, and evaluate their own learning experiences. The initial questions upon which your plan will be based are:
- What is to be learned?
- Why should it be learned?
- How should it be learned?
The first step in developing your professional development plan is to identify what is to be learned. This information can come from a few places. Your manager is a source; perhaps a skill or knowledge area has been identified in your performance review as an area for improvement. Or a co-worker may advise you about professional development they have taken that they found useful.
Another potential source is to think through the tasks that you work on during the day. Do any tasks cause you angst because you’re not as confident doing those as you would like to be? Perhaps this indicates an area that you can pursue for professional development. For example, are you required to design and develop PowerPoint slides for yourself, or others, and you would like to make your slides more impactful? Is using Excel part of your job responsibilities and whenever you are required to use this tool, you feel overwhelmed? These situations pinpoint areas where expanding your skills can make you a more effective and confident worker.
Next, identify why these skills or knowledge areas are important to learn. You will be more likely to complete professional development for a skill or knowledge area if you’ve identified for yourself why learning these things will be helpful to you. Think about how this new skill or information will benefit you.
To determine how best to interact with professional development resources, you need to consider logistics such as: cost; the amount of time you have available for training; how much time the training will consume, both for in-class and out-of-class tasks; where the training is delivered. Is this a class that is offered at a specific time or location, or is it available online at any time that is convenient for you?
Here are some professional development resources available to DFCI staff:
- DFCI Learning & Organizational Development– The L&OD group offers a variety of classes and programs for DFCI staff. Enhance Your Professional Skills (dfcionline.org)
- DFCI Project University – Sponsored by the Project Management Office, this program offers courses in project management, process improvement, change management, tools, and soft skills. DFCI Project University (dfcionline.org)
- LinkedIn Learning – DFCI has a pool of LinkedIn Learning licenses that are available to any DCFI employee. This resource consists of a vast library of online, video-based courses. The topics include many subjects and skills that can enhance your professional development. To request a LinkedIn Learning license, send an email from your DFCI email address to: dfci_pmo@dfci.harvard.edu.
- IS Professional Development hub: For technical training IS Professional Development Hub – Home (sharepoint.com)
- MOOC Providers (Massive Online Open Courses) – Many world-renowned universities have made their most popular courses available world-wide through MOOC providers. The two most popular MOOCs are EdX (https://www.edx.org) and Coursera (https://www.coursera.org). Both of these organizations have partnered with prominent universities, including Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, University of Texas/Austin, University of Michigan, University of Cambridge (England), and many others to offer their courses. Generally, you can opt to audit a class free of charge or you can pay a fee to receive a certificate indicating completion of a course from the MOOC.
- Southern New Hampshire University – DFCI Workforce Development offers an affordable way to get your Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University. Email workforce_development@dfci.harvard.edu for more information.
We are surrounded by a wealth of professional development opportunities; it’s up to you to take advantage of them. Pick a skill and develop it!