Developing a Learning Plan

Developing a Learning Plan

A Learning Plan can serve as a useful tool for planning and managing professional development.

Developing a Learning Plan requires that you:

1. Identify a Learning Goal, the ability (i.e. knowledge, skill or attitude) to be developed;
2. Identify the learning experience needed to develop that ability; and
3. Identify the support required to develop and apply that ability.

Then the coach and employee simply need to manage the plan:
A. Agree to the plan – discuss and sign to show commitment;
B. Do it – following through;
C. Set time aside to “check in” with each other to discuss progress; and
D. Provide ongoing feedback and recognition to help guide and reinforce progress.

Please refer to the Learning Plan when planning and managing individual development.

As well, please see Appendices A, B, C and D as food for thought when identifying the “Learning
Experiences” and “Support Required”.

Contents

Seven Steps to Success

Learning Plan
Section 1: Learning Opportunities
Section 2: Play to Your Strengths

Appendices
Appendix A: Learning Experiences
Appendix B: Support Required
Appendix C: Adult Learning
Appendix D: References

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Seven Steps to Success

Step 1: Collect
Collect information from various people regarding what they perceive to be your top
strengths and areas for improvement.

Step 2: Reflect
Reflect on the information and identify what you personally believe are your top two
learning needs and top two strengths.

Step 3: Complete Draft Learning Plan

Translate your top two learning needs into tangible Learning Goals, and then complete
the corresponding Learning Experience and Support Required sections of the Learning
Plan. Identify how you will use your top two strengths to help you perform your role, by
completing the Play to Your Strengths section.

Step 4: Finalize Learning Plan

Meet with your coach to present your draft Learning Plan. Your coach will either support
the plan as presented, or will work collaboratively with you to refine the plan. Once
finalized, you and the coach sign off on your commitment to the plan.

Step 5: Keep it for Future Reference

If the Learning Plan is being completed as part of the Performance Development Plan
(PDP), then it is used to support the brief Development Plan section, and should be
attached to the PDP as an appendix and submitted to Human Resources. You and the
coach should each keep a copy of the Learning Plan in your files for reference
throughout the year.

Step 6: Act
During the course of the year, you are responsible for following through on your
commitment to the plan, and so is your coach. You should periodically take the initiative
to check in with your coach to confirm your progress by asking for feedback, and to
adapt the plan to suit a new situation, as required.

Step 7: Return to Step 1:

If the Learning Plan was completed as part of the PDP process, you will once again
receive feedback from your coach for your reflection and response. If this is being
completed for any other reason, you should consider seeking feedback from others.

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Learning Plan

Employee Name:
Title:

Section 1: Learning Opportunities

A. Learning Goal 1 C. Learning Experience

What do I want to be able to do? What action(s) will I take to develop the skill required to
(e.g. I want to be able to chair an efficient meeting) achieve this goal?
(Please see Appendix A for helpful ideas)

B. Importance D. Support Required

Why is achieving this goal important to me? What do I need from others in order to achieve this goal?
(e.g. Our meetings will be more productive and I will (Please see Appendix B for helpful ideas)
feel more comfortable chairing meetings)

A. Learning Goal 2 C. Learning Experience

What do I want to be able to do? What action(s) will I take to develop the skill required to
achieve this goal?

B. Importance D. Support Required

Why is achieving this goal important to me? What do I need from others in order to achieve this goal?

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Section 2: Play to Your Strengths

A. Strength 1 C. Strategy
What is one of my main strengths? How can I use this strength to help me perform my role?
(e.g. Asking probing questions) (e.g. When managing and developing others, I can ask
more questions and listen more to what others would
propose, as opposed to always just telling them “the”
answer).

B. Benefit D. Support Required

What does this strength help me to do? What do I need from others in order to do this?
(e.g. Helps me to uncover important things that might (Please see Appendix B for helpful ideas)
not otherwise come forward)

A. Strength 2 C. Strategy
What is one of my main strengths? How can I use this strength to help me perform my role?

B. Benefit D. Support Required

What does this strength help me to do? What do I need from others in order to do this?

Employee: Type name here Date:

Signature:

Coach: Type name here

Signature:

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Appendix A: Learning Experiences

All too often, people believe that a formal training course is The Answer: the only means by which we can
develop and refine the skills for success. Although formal training programs can provide considerable
value when designed and facilitated properly, the reality is that there are many other methods for
fostering adult skill development.

Example Learning Experiences

- Present a report to management - Attend a presentation about a different team or

process
- Attend internal training workshops
- Design and deliver a course or presentation
- Participate on a committee or project team
- Lead an article discussion
- Troubleshoot a problem that would typically
be escalated to others - Participate in a benchmarking study
- Attend another department’s meeting - Pursue a career development assignment
- Participate on a hiring panel - Pursue an acting assignment
- Become active in a community organization - Launch a change (e.g. process, procedure, policy,
etc.)
- Coach a sports team
- Run or chair a meeting
- Mentor someone
- Attend external training workshops
- Serve on a community board
- Lead or participate in a focus group
- Job shadow someone for a day
- Supervise a co-op student
- Pursue a degree or professional certification
- Read a book or article
- Meet with someone who is particularly good
at something and interview them on their - Become active in a professional organization
skills
- Ask someone for feedback
- Participate in a 360-feedback process
- Interview a senior person in the organization about
- Participate in a career planning or job their experiences and lessons learned
enrichment discussion with your boss or a
- Help your boss prepare for a presentation or
trusted advisor
address a work-related problem
- Use your boss or someone at a higher level
- Pursue an “executive coach” (e.g. external
as a mentor for a specific skill or set of skills
consultant/industrial psychologist)
that he/she is particularly good at
- Participate in peer discussion groups
- Attend seminars and conferences
- Participate in book clubs or article discussion
groups

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Appendix B: Support Required

The main supports that a coach can provide are to:

a) Have honest and respectful discussions with employees about what you perceive to be their
strengths and key learning needs;
b) Allow employees to be fairly self-directed, by empowering them to develop draft learning goals
for your review, and by allowing them to choose from and gain access to a wide range of learning
resources and opportunities;
c) Provide constructive feedback if an employee strays off course;
d) Provide guidance and advice, but stop short of simply providing the answer unless the situation is
desperate; indeed, strive to help the employee to “think it through” and find a workable answer
on their own; and
e) Provide ongoing recognition to acknowledge and encourage their progress.

Everyone is unique; therefore, employees must reflect on their own learning needs and how the coach
can support them, and then clearly communicate this to their coach.

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Appendix C: Adult Learning

The field of “Adult Learning” was pioneered by Malcolm Knowles. Knowles has identified several key
characteristics of adult learners that we can consider when planning adult learning experiences. These
characteristics are organized and summarized as follows:

• Adults have a need to be self-directing. As such, employees should be provided with an

opportunity to actively participate in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals,
identifying helpful resources and learning experiences, and evaluating the success of learning
initiatives. As well, employees should be given general guidance, and then an opportunity to
“learn by figuring it out on their own” instead of simply being provided with the answer.

• Adults have considerable life experience. The practical “lessons learned” from life experience
can be shared to help others develop. As well, connecting learning experiences to past
experience(s) can make the learning experience more meaningful for the employee, and can help
the employee to acquire the new knowledge.

• Adults are relevancy-oriented. Employees must see a reason for learning something – it has to
be applicable to their work or other responsibilities. As such, it is essential to communicate that
developing the skill is important for the employee’s “real life” success (for example, by relating
this need to feedback provided, an upcoming assignment and/or their personal or professional
goals).

• Adults are task-oriented. Adults generally are not interested in knowledge for its own sake, and
are generally not interesting in simply listening to a presenter. As such, it is important to
demonstrate how any theories or concepts can be practically applied to real life situations.

• Adults want respect. It is important to acknowledge the wealth of experiences that adults have,
by allowing employees to have adult to adult conversations in which they can safely voice their
opinions and share their experiences.

Appendix D: References

Center for Creative Leadership, Ideas Into Action Guidebooks for the Practicing Manager
• Reaching Your Development Goals
• Preparing for Development – Making the Most of Formal Leadership Programs
• Three Keys to Development – Defining and Meeting Your Leadership Challenges
• Setting Your Development Goals – Starting With Your Values
• Setting Priorities
• Tracking Your Development

Management Development Program (MDP)

http://www2.carleton.ca/hr/for-managers/learndev/
• There are several workshops in the MDP that will help support you as manager in the area of
managing and developing your staff.

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