Having completed your review, the next step is to set yourself specific targets in the form of a CPD action plan.  Most of us already make plans to help us with our everyday activities (eg writing shopping lists or ‘things to do’ lists at work) and the same principles apply to planning for CPD.  Without targets your CPD activities are likely to lack direction and therefore be less effective.

However, before you being this process, you should remember that the benefit of setting targets is much greater if they are SMART targets:

Specific – define exactly what it is that your will accomplish
Measurable – to give direction so you know what you have to do to meet your goal
Agree/Accepted – agreed with necessary people in terms of time, cost and support
Realistic – be ambitious, but don’t aim too high
Timed – set yourself deadlines for achieving your goals.

Using the above as a guideline, an example of a SMART target related to developing knowledge of spreadsheets would be:

“To be able to set up a basic Miscrosoft Excel spreadsheet through self-study and relevant training by the end of December”.

In addition to your SMART targets, your plan should also include specific action points to show how you will meet your targets and success criteria to show how you have achieved them.  When deciding on action points, questions you will need to ask yourself include:

What level of competence do you want to reach?

• Aware?
• Capable?
• Skilled?
• Expert?

Where do you learn your best?

• At work?
• On curses?
• Classroom?
• Library?
• At home?

How do you learn best?

• Attending talks?
• In groups?
• On your own?
• Hands-on?
• Watching others?

What support materials do you prefer to use?

• Books/journals?
• Computers?
• Study packs?
• Audio/video?

Drawing up your CPD programme is just like managing any other project.  To achieve your key objectives you need to set specific targets, taking into account timescale, cost, environmental/personal and performance factors.

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