img(height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2939831959404383&ev=PageView&noscript=1")

How architects can construct a personal development plan for the new year

Words:
Neal Morris

Learn more about putting together a plan to help set achievable goals and provides a practical way of getting there

Personal development plans need to start with some self-reflection before someone can begin to jot down their thoughts on where they would like to get to.
Personal development plans need to start with some self-reflection before someone can begin to jot down their thoughts on where they would like to get to. Credit: iStock Photo

What is the average life span of a New Year’s resolution? Despite their relatively poor track record, people are still intent on making them when the fireworks go off and the clock chimes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

However, a better alternative for professionals thinking about about how they keep their New Year career promises to themselves is to construct a development framework that helps to set achievable goals, practical ways of getting there, and has a timeline that’s easy to follow and check against. 

Leadership coach Britta Siggelkow from THINK:BUILD, who works almost exclusively with architects and designers, says a framework like this  - called a personal development plan - can be considered your own personal business plan.

After all, a personal development plan has a lot in common with a business plan: a person starts by identifying their development needs and then they get into more and more detail about the steps they need to take to get there. A Personal Development Plan can also provide a clear idea of what success could and should look like.

How can you put together a personal development plan?

“If you were to Google ‘personal development plan’ you would instantly find 10 different versions,” Siggelkow says. “They can be personal (I want to be fitter, healthier or happier), and of course they can be work-related and professional: I want to get that promotion, I want to be a better team leader, I want to be a better communicator. But they will all follow similar principles.”

Personal development plans are often born out of what Siggelkow calls “pain points”: conditions or situations that an individual knows they need to address and do something about.

"A personal development plan... can be considered your own personal business plan"

Plans need to start with some self-reflection before someone can begin to jot down their thoughts on where they would like to get to. There needs to be an evaluation process in which a person properly examines what is currently happening, says Siggelkow.

Identifying and setting down the “gaps” or obstacles standing in someone’s way is often a useful next step, she suggests.

Honest questions that identify the real issues that are causing a person concern, holding them back, frustrating their progress within the practice. Perhaps an acknowledgement that perhaps they’re not good at giving feedback, or delegating, or presenting, or communicating in meetings would be a great starting point.

What are the differences between a personal development plan and a wishlist?

Personal development plans should be focused, refined and very clear about intentions, actions to be taken, leadership or other courses to go on, and day-to-day routines a person might put in place. There should be a formality to it, whether someone set it all down in a notebook they carry with them, or even a spreadsheet, which Siggelkow says project manager-minded people tend to prefer.

The point of a personal development plan is that it's not just a wish list, or even a set of well-articulated goals, it’s a detailed plan with actions to be taken - a pathway to follow with timelines, way marker achievement points, and a clear idea of what success should look like at completion. All of the goals should be as specific as possible.

For an architect concerned about communication skills, success might be a senior manager’s decision that they are ready to start presenting in client meetings.

It’s not just saying that you want to become a better leader for instance, explains Siggelkow. A person has to know what that will actually mean, and how it will be demonstrated.

Can a personal development plan dovetail with work goals?

And, a personal development plan can dovetail with goals in the workplace, too, as Siggelkow recommends that it always helps to set out on a development plan with someone else. And this might be with someone from work.

They might be a manager or team leader, a mentor, a coach brought in to facilitate some sessions, or perhaps a work colleague who’s happy to act as a sounding board. A plan buddy or mentor can help to define goals, and might also usefully ask some awkward questions during the initial assessment, the sort of questions you might shy away from asking of yourself.

Some practices are very proactive in supporting personal growth and professional development plans. However, others not be as much, in which case Siggelkow suggests that an architect finds an opportunity to bring up their aspirations in conversations with managers, and ask what sort of support they might be able to offer.

“You can say: ‘This is where I want to get to’,” she suggests. “Ask how the office can support you in what you want to achieve. Maybe it doesn’t mean coaching, it could be shadowing someone who is in a different role, or who is a more experienced leader, or getting a mentor with more experience.”

There is a danger that this relationship becomes an alternative to the plan, Siggelkow warns. This has to be avoided - the mentor is there to support the plan, not replace it.

She continues: “Whoever you are collaborating with, the point of the plan is that it is always there, and you are always following. That will be your personal development path.”

Thanks to Britta Siggelkow, Leadership Coach and founder of THINK:BUILD.

This is a Professional Feature edited by the RIBA Practice team. Send us your feedback and ideas.

RIBA Core Curriculum topic: Business, clients and services.

As part of the flexible RIBA CPD programme, professional features count as microlearning. See further information on the updated RIBA CPD core curriculum and on fulfilling your CPD requirements as a RIBA Chartered Member.

 

 

Latest

25 February 2025

Colour in Design webinar

A rationalisation of local policies could help give us better homes, says Eleanor Young

A rationalisation of local policies could help give us better homes

Propose artist-led installations for London’s high streets, win a place on the £37 billion new hospitals framework, create a biodiverse campus - some of the latest architecture contracts and competitions from across the industry

Latest: Public realm art commissions

Leaving behind his job at Camden’s architect department and his self-designed London home, Gibson moved to Shetland, setting up an award-winning practice and realising a significant and sensitive body of work

With his sensitive designs, Gibson made a significant contribution to Shetland's built environment

The 14-storey Capella is one of the last residential schemes in London’s King’s Cross masterplan, with 120 market sale homes and 56 social rented flats. Allies and Morrison partner Angie Jim Osman and associate Arpad Toth discuss the choices made for its doors and windows

The door and window choices for the 14-storey Capella housing scheme in King’s Cross