It was written by Jamie Buist, a Digital Learning Partner for Technology Transformation. It was edited by Nick Saunders, a Project Officer in Business Transformation.

Personal development is where you build your awareness of your own knowledge, skills and identity. This helps to give you a vision for growth and progression. You’re more likely to be fulfilled in your personal life and could even see benefits in your professional career. Typical activities include anything from learning a new skill, developing a talent, fulfilling a personal ambition or improving your health and wellbeing.

Professional development, by contrast, is the process of gaining knowledge and skills to better meet your career objectives and to stay up to date with evolving practices in your field.

Being a project manager goes beyond managing projects and requires a host of other skills. For project managers, professional development often includes gaining professional certifications keeping on top of the latest methods.

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But project management practice is constantly evolving and it can be hard to keep up with it all. All this means that it can be difficult to figure out how to approach your personal development and what knowledge and skills to develop in professional life.

British writer and educator Neil Thompson recommends six developmental steps for anyone who works with people.

  1. Read around the topics you are learning about or want to learn about and develop
  2. Ask others about the way they do things and why
  3. Watch what is going on around you
  4. Feel - pay attention to your emotions, what prompts them, and how you deal with negative ones
  5. Talk - share your views and experiences with others in your organisation
  6. Think - learn to value time spent thinking about your work

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to approach your development: the important thing is to be proactive and to seek to learn all the time.

Carry out a self-assessment

To figure out where to start your personal development journey, you could carry out a self-assessment to understand your strengths and areas of improvement. We suggested one at the beginning of this boot camp, and take time to read what Apolitical have to offer.

The ‘self-assessment’ process should give you a clear picture of why you are pursuing professional development, what values you hold and what you consider important. It should clarify what energises and motivates you in life and at work, while identifying your learning style.

Plan for how you’ll gain skills and make improvements

The next step should focus on planning what knowledge and skills you need to learn and how you should approach your areas of improvement. In the public sector, some qualities of a project manager are particularly in demand: such as communication and presentation skills, interpersonal skills, conflict management, managing change effectively and creative problem-solving. You will have made a start at developing these skills throughout this boot camp. The thinking you’ve done so far can help you develop further.

Take courses and use online resources

Now you are ready to make the next steps in your development. You may want to take a formal course that offers certification at the end. In the UK, the government has training schemes that anyone can access via the GOV.UK website. There is also lots of free and easily-accessible online content that can support your professional development. These include podcasts, seminars and webinars, books, blogs and articles.

There are also courses that develop your application of technology and digital project management tools which are becoming increasingly popular.

Connect with your peers

It’s important to speak to others and stay connected as part of your professional development. You could consider setting up a project management working group in your organisation. These give you an opportunity to share and learn from each others’ experiences, open up collaboration and the exchange of knowledge, and ensure you’re adhering to best practice. If setting up a project management network isn’t for you, then remember it is important to find ways to speak to colleagues. Being able to discuss ideas and have someone to talk to can be very helpful, especially if they have project management experience.

Track your development

Finally, it is important to keep a log or journal of your learning and development. Aside from aiding your career progression, keeping a record will also allow you to reflect on your successes further down the line.

Reflective practice is a skill itself. It’s closely linked to learning from experience, or reflecting on lessons learned, which is a key part of project management methodology. Being able to draw upon critical, constructive and creative thinking can support your own personal development journey.

What you can do now

Managing your personal development is a lifelong process. How you approach it can change as your outlook on life and personal ambitions shift. It is important to review and revise your personal development plans to make sure they align to your goals or vision.

By completing this boot camp, you have already made the all-important first step on your personal development journey. — Jamie Buist

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