Professional development goals are a crucial part of obtaining a successful and fulfilling career. As in all areas of our lives, it’s always a good idea to consider where you are now, what you want to accomplish next, and where you want to be in the future.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS, IN SHORT
Professional development goals are objectives you create for yourself that aim at advancing your career and enhancing your skills and talents in the workplace. You can set a variety of professional development goals to help you succeed at work, and the specific goals you choose should be based on your specific professional ambitions.
Learning new abilities, earning certifications, gaining more experience in a specific field, moving forward in your company, and pursuing any other career aspirations are all examples of professional development goals.
The 9 examples below are sorted with the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create (ERRC) Grid, a Blue Ocean Strategy tool developed by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne: what to eliminate and reduce, and what to raise and create in your working life.
The ability to define and fulfill professional development goals is often what separates those who progress in their careers from those who are stuck. And we all get stuck sometimes. Maybe you’re stuck right now.
Consider your current job situation. Are you satisfied with how things are going? Do you find yourself occupied with tasks that don’t make sense to you? Are you not doing the things that motivate and inspire you? Do you have a vision for where you’ll be in five years from now? What are your work goals now?
If you struggle to come up with responses that make you excited about the future, then you’re probably trapped in your career. In that case, now is the perfect time to set some new work goals that will help set you apart.
A Strategic Approach to Setting Professional Development Goals
We could simply list some examples of professional development goals here but at Blue Ocean Strategy, we like to think a bit more, well, strategically.
So, let’s look at some examples of professional development goals using the Eliminate, Reduce, Raise and Create (ERRC) Grid, a blue ocean strategy tool developed by professors of strategy and world-renowned management thinkers, Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne in their global bestsellers Blue Ocean Strategy and Blue Ocean Shift.
The ERRC grid is an analytical tool that focuses you simultaneously on what factors to eliminate and reduce, raise and create in pursuit of a blue ocean, an uncontested market space where the competition is made irrelevant. A brilliant tool for companies, it works just as well in other areas of life, such as identifying professional development goals for career advancement.
“To value-innovate, the company must decide which factors to eliminate and reduce—and not only those to raise and create.”
Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy
Applied to your own work, that means your list of goals should include what you will stop and cut back on, not only what you will add.
The ERRC Grid, © Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.
9 Examples of Professional Development Goals for Work
What to eliminate
Is it time to put the brakes on your current career trajectory? Are you distracted at work by things that don’t matter? Here are two things you can consider eliminating to help you achieve your work goals.
1. Stop competing on what everyone else offers
Look at what people in your role compete on: longer hours, the same certificates, the same lines on a CV. Then ask whether the people you work for actually value each of them. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne ask the same of companies: “Often those factors are taken for granted, even though they have no value or even detract from value.”
Pick one factor you keep up only because everyone else does, and stop. The time and energy you free up is what you invest in the goals further down this list.
2. Stop wasting time
How often do you get to the end of the day and think, “Why didn’t I get more done? What was I doing all day?” If only you could eliminate distractions from your working life!
Learning how to properly manage your time will help you perform better at work. Switching off social media and other distractions enable you to get more done in less time, giving you more successes to brag about at the end of the day.
The best place to start is to track how much time you spend on different tasks and find places where you might save time. You may need to eliminate some of your existing time-sucking behaviors, such as checking your Twitter during work hours.
The good news is that, just as there are a thousand apps to distract you, there are plenty of apps to help us understand and track the way you use time and eliminate time-wasting distractions.
Make this one of your work goals and take the distraction out of your working day. Learn how to work smarter not harder to jump-start your career development.
Make one of your work goals to switch off social media.
What to reduce
Some of what you do is worth doing, just not as much of it. Here is one professional development goal where less gets you further.
3. Stop over-polishing your work
Many professionals spend hours perfecting reports, slides and emails beyond what anyone needs. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne describe the same trap in companies: “The second question forces managers to determine whether products and services have been overdesigned in the race to match and beat the competition.”
Your work can be overdesigned too. For each regular piece of work, ask who uses it and what they need from it. Then set a standard that meets that need, and put the hours you save into the goals that matter.
Ask what your work really needs before you polish it further.
What to raise
Consider all the things you do already that you could improve on. Here are three professional development goals examples where you can raise your game.
4. Improve presentation and interpersonal skills
Working life today often entails attending lots of meetings, either online or in the office. At some point, during one of these sessions, you’ll be asked to give a presentation.
Improving your public speaking and presentation skills can make this a lot easier. It can also help you establish a reputation as a dynamic speaker who can hold an audience’s attention and persuade them to believe in the message you wish to convey.
Effective communication will benefit you in all aspects of your life, from professional to personal. You may relate successfully to your superiors, coworkers, customers, and clients with good communication, which expands the types of opportunities open to you.
Excellent interpersonal skills also enable you to engage and communicate with your team, as well as motivate and inspire them – a work goal that everyone can get on board with.
5. Build your professional network
Whether you like it or not, networking is essential for career advancement. Building and maintaining mutually beneficial working ties is the goal of networking. Your network provides you with a group of people with whom you may share ideas, seek advice, and receive support.
A strong network and solid networking abilities can help you raise your profile, establish a positive reputation, and open up a world of prospects. Make building your professional network one of your work goals.
6. Find a mentor
A mentor who has done the job you want can show you which skills really matter, and which only look important. Look for someone one or two steps ahead of you, inside or outside your company, and agree on a simple rhythm, such as one conversation a month.
Effective presentation skills will boost your career development.
What to create
Finally, here are some examples of professional development goals that you may not even have considered before, such as earning a certification, stepping into a leadership role, or learning a brand-new skill.
7. Earn a certification
A certification shows employers and clients that you have learned something and can apply it. Choose one that adds something new to your profile rather than one everyone in your field already holds. That is the difference between raising what everyone offers and creating something new.
8. Become a leader or thought leader
Taking on more managerial tasks at work can help you stand out and serve as a steppingstone into official leadership roles when the time comes.
Consult with your present boss to see where you can improve and what new responsibilities you may take on to demonstrate your leadership abilities.
Step up and take leadership when you perceive a vacuum that needs to be filled. This will help you improve your talents, gain much-needed recognition, and prepare you for a managerial role in the future.
For many, this is the professional development goal that tops the list, but for that reason, it’s also the one where you need to think differently to make your mark. Don’t just be another leader of disengaged employees. Be a blue ocean leader who can unleash the ocean of untapped talent and employee potential in your organization.
Or maybe you already have unique experience and knowledge that others would benefit from? Consider shaping your career towards becoming a thought leader. There are many opportunities in this field that are both lucrative and highly fulfilling. In the era of social media, it’s never been easier to use a public megaphone to spread your message.
Learn to think like a blue ocean strategist.
9. Learn a whole new way of thinking
Continuing your education is an excellent method to keep up with current information and developments in your field. It can also help you develop your skill set, learn new knowledge, and stand out in the workplace.
Many firms offer possibilities for their employees to further their knowledge through career development programs. Check with your company’s human resources department to determine if such programs are available.
Or why not stand out from the pack and learn to think like a blue ocean strategist? Blue ocean strategy offers a powerful methodology to help you be innovative systematically, differentiate yourself from the competition and create new market space.
Learn how to work smarter not harder, think differently, create value while simultaneously reducing your costs, and set yourself on the path to profitable growth.
Check out the Blue Ocean Creation Program and get started today and make your resume stand out by earning your certificate of completion. This professional certificate will help to push you forward.
If there’s one professional development goal from this list that will help set you apart, this is it.
Learn how to create your career development plan to keep you on track achieving your professional development.
How to set professional development goals
Start with the question this post opens with: where you are now, what you want to accomplish next, and where you want to be in the future. Then turn the answers into goals in four steps.
1. Ask all four questions. Go through your working week and ask what to eliminate, what to reduce, what to raise and what to create. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne’s point about companies holds here too: “Asking the full set of questions — rather than singling out one or two — is necessary for profitable growth.”
2. Make each goal specific and time-bound. Many managers use the SMART test: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. “Stop wasting time” becomes “Track how I spend my time for two weeks, then cut two recurring meetings by the end of the quarter.”
3. Mix short-term and long-term goals. A short-term goal takes weeks or months, such as tracking your time (goal 2). A long-term goal takes a year or more, such as earning a certification (goal 7) or becoming a leader (goal 8).
4. Review them every quarter. Ask the four questions again. What you eliminated frees time for what you want to raise and create.
Setting development goals for your team
If you manage people, you can use the same four questions to set development goals with each member of your team:
- What should you stop doing?
- What should you do less of?
- What should you do more of, and to a higher standard?
- What should you start that you have never done before?
The questions apply to your own role as a leader too. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne developed Blue Ocean Leadership around the acts and activities leaders should eliminate, reduce, raise and create. As they put it: “When a leader’s energy is spent on wrong acts and activities, there is no competent leadership to talk about.”
Frequently asked questions
What are professional development goals?
Professional development goals are objectives you create for yourself that aim at advancing your career and enhancing your skills and talents in the workplace. Learning new abilities, earning certifications, gaining more experience in a specific field, moving forward in your company, and pursuing any other career aspirations are all examples of professional development goals.
What are some examples of professional development goals for work?
The nine in this post are: stop competing on what everyone else offers, stop wasting time, stop over-polishing your work, improve presentation and interpersonal skills, build your professional network, find a mentor, earn a certification, become a leader or thought leader, and learn a whole new way of thinking.
How do you answer “What are your professional development goals?” in an interview?
Pick one or two goals from your own list and connect them to the job. Say where you are now, what you want to accomplish next and where you want to be in the future, then explain how the role helps you get there.
What is the difference between professional goals and professional development goals?
The two terms are often used interchangeably. Professional development goals put the weight on growing your skills and talents. Professional goals can also be outcomes, such as a promotion or a sales target.
What is the difference between career development goals and professional development goals?
Career development goals are about the path you take: the roles, companies and industries you aim for. Changing roles or industries is one. Professional development goals also cover the skills you build in the job you have now. To map the path itself, see how to create your career development plan.
What are PDP goals?
PDP stands for personal or professional development plan. PDP goals are the few goals written into that plan for the year, each with actions and dates.
What is the difference between personal and professional development goals?
Personal development goals cover your life as a whole. Professional development goals are about your work. Some goals serve both: effective communication “will benefit you in all aspects of your life, from professional to personal.”
What development goals should managers set for their team?
Ask each person the four ERRC questions about their own work: what to stop, what to do less of, what to do more of, and what to start. Then agree on one or two goals from each answer.
Add blue ocean thinking to your development goals
The Blue Ocean Creation Program is a self-directed workspace, online course and workbook that will help you learn and apply the tools, frameworks and processes to create a blue ocean.
It is the only online program endorsed by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, and it comes with the official certificate of completion.
Explore the Creation Program
