Section 1. Professional Development Needs Identified by the Assessment Or Other Sources
- Staff Effectiveness
- Communication and Information Sharing
Section 2. Learning Goal
Instructions: The learning goal should relate to improving skills that will help your job performance; however, the professional development activities that you plan should be study of those skill areas, not your actual work activities.
Sample: Of the practice areas identified above, this year I plan to focus on communication and information sharing. My goal is to improve my ability to speak publicly and communicate with residents so that I can, for example, do a better job of communicating the reasons for decisions that are made by the local government. Improving communications with residents and the media will help to strengthen my confidence and will improve the credibility of the local government’s decision making capability.
Section 3. Planned Professional Development Activities Related to My Practice Areas
Instructions: This is the most important part of your professional development plan. Please be detailed. Tell which conferences and/or sessions you plan to attend. As in the sample below, identify some specific books. Do not include work activities. Only professional development counts to meet your credentialing requirements. For example, doing a strategic plan is work. Attending a workshop or studying a book to improve your strategic planning skills is professional development. If you are on a tight budget, remember that you can fulfill your 40-hour commitment through professional reading from the library coupled with book club discussions with colleagues.
Sample: I will look for sessions on communication and information sharing when I register for the ICMA Annual Conference and state association meetings (the agenda has not yet been published). I will study at least two books and discuss with my colleagues. One of the books I have identified is ICMA’s Ten Steps to Effective Presentations Training Workbook. I will also take a college-level course on media relations, and will identify what I have learned from all these activities when I submit my annual report.
