CPD Plan
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Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is an important part of every professional’s life, at whatever career stage, and the plan is a vital document in effective CPD. The objective of the plan is to provide a concise summary of your identified development needs and how they will be met during the next year. Longer term aims can be included but it is generally best to break them down into a series of intermediate, shorter term, objectives that build-up to the eventual goal.
These objectives need not necessarily be work-related or even logistics and transport-related. Since this is continuing professional development there ought to be some identifiable relevance to professional life, but that might not be the primary reason (e.g. learning to do something new on a computer, speak Spanish, or improve your written communication skills). Objectives don’t have to be learning-related either; they can include things like getting a new job or taking part in the London Marathon.
There are other many types of activities which can count as Professional Development, such as:
- 1. Courses, conferences and seminars
- 2. Organised visits
- 3. Writing articles and papers
- 4. Professional Institutional committee work
- 5. Institutes technical meetings
- 6. Secondments and exchanges
- 7. Further education
- 8. Distance or open learning
- 9. On the job learning
- 10.Occasional lecturing
What do I want to achieve?
Make sure your objectives are SMART ones:
- Specific — objectives should specify exactly what you want to achieve.
- Measurable — you should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not.
- Achievable — the objectives you set must be attainable by you within the time-scale chosen.
- Realistic — the objectives must be able to be reached with the resources you have.
- Time-related — there must be a target date for achievement of the set objectives
Unless your objectives are SMART ones they may well lack focus, be too ambitious (or not ambitious enough) and meander on forever without coming to an effective conclusion.
How am I going to achieve this?
Having identified objectives, decide how you are going to achieve them. The method you choose should be appropriate to the objective. Ask yourself questions like: Where do I learn best? What support materials do I prefer to use? How do I learn best? What level of competence do I want to reach?
How will I judge my success?
You must set some indicator of satisfactory achievement, or how else will you know when you have got there? This might be the achievement of some particular qualification, the ability to perform a certain task unaided or some other quantifiable outcome and relates the “measurable” aspect of SMART objectives.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Plan
IDENTIFY GOALS/OBJECTIVES [what do I want to achieve] | HOW TO ACHIVE/ACTION [ how am I going to achieve this] | MEASUREMENT [how will I judge my success] | TARGET DATE |
Example:
1. Masters Degree in Business Administration
2. Train on the use of modern Telematics in the Road Transport industry
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Cambridge International College – Distance Learning Programme
Direct Training and short courses by Transport Management System Providers |
Award of academic transcript at the end of each section/study year. Final award of MBA degree. Ability to set and achieve business objectives and strategic thinking.
Ability to comprehend and adopt modern vehicle tracking systems In my company |
May 2010
August 2009
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