As a manager, you know that one of your most important jobs is to develop your team. But where do you even start? Creating a Personal Development Plan (PDP) from scratch for each team member can feel like a huge task.
Generic examples often don’t help. A plan for a high-potential junior employee is very different from a plan for a solid, reliable team member who might be getting bored. You need practical, real-world blueprints you can use.
To give you a powerful starting point, we’ve compiled 5 detailed PDP examples. These cover the most common situations managers face. Use them as a guide for your own coaching talks. They will help you turn your team’s development from a once-a-year task into a real, strategic advantage.
Before the Examples: The Manager’s Role as a Coach
Remember, a PDP is a partnership. It is not a command. Your role is not to write the plan, but to act as a coach and a guide. The best plans are created with the employee, not handed to them. This sense of ownership is key to their motivation.
For a complete guide on how to lead this process, read our Manager’s Guide to Using a PDP for Your Team.
Example 1: The High-Potential Junior Employee
Scenario: You have a junior team member who is great at the technical parts of their job. They deliver excellent work. But they lack the “soft skills,” like communication, needed to get to the next level.
Coaching Focus: Help them build communication and leadership skills to prepare them for more responsibility.
Coaching Questions to Start:
- “When you look at the senior people on our team, what skills do they have that you’d like to develop?”
- “What’s one part of your job that feels a bit scary or outside your comfort zone right now?”
The Plan:
- 1. Self-Assessment Summary: Technically strong and highly motivated. Needs to improve presentation skills and how they talk with other teams.
- 2. SMART Goal: To develop basic leadership skills over the next 6 months. They will do this by leading a small, internal project and improving their presentation confidence.
- 3. Strategies & Actions:
- Action: Enroll in the company’s “Presentation Skills 101” workshop.
- Action: Volunteer to present the team’s monthly numbers in the next two department meetings.
- Action: Take the lead on the upcoming “Website V2” internal project. They will be responsible for working with one other developer.
- 4. Resources & Support:
- Manager will provide weekly check-ins and feedback on the project.
- A senior team member will act as a “presentation buddy” for practice sessions.
- 5. Timeline & Metrics:
- By end of Q1: Complete the workshop.
- By end of Q2: Successfully give both presentations and finish the internal project.
- Success Metric: Get positive feedback on their clarity and confidence from you and their teammates.
Common Pitfall to Avoid:
Don’t just assign them a project to lead. Sit with them and help them break it down into smaller steps. Your job is to set them up for a win.
Example 2: The Solid, Reliable Team Member
Scenario: You have a consistent, reliable employee who does their job well. But they have been in the same role for several years. You worry they might be getting bored or disengaged.
Coaching Focus: Reignite their engagement. Help them learn a new, related skill that benefits both them and the team.
Coaching Questions to Start:
- “Of all the tasks you do, which ones give you the most energy?”
- “Is there any part of another team’s work that looks interesting to you?”
The Plan:
- 1. Self-Assessment Summary: Very good at their core job. Showed some interest in data analysis but has no formal skills.
- 2. SMART Goal: To learn the basics of data analysis. The goal is to automate one of their current weekly reports by the end of the quarter.
- 3. Strategies & Actions:
- Action: Complete the “Introduction to SQL” course on a platform like DataCamp.
- Action: Schedule two 30-minute talks with a data analyst from another team to learn about their work.
- Project: Use the new SQL skills to automate the “Weekly Performance Metrics” report.
- 4. Resources & Support:
- Company’s education budget for the course.
- Manager to make the introduction to the data analyst.
- 5. Timeline & Metrics:
- Month 1: Complete 50% of the SQL course.
- Month 2: Complete the course and have the informational talks.
- Month 3: Successfully automate the report.
- Success Metric: Reduce the time spent on the weekly report by at least 75%.
Common Pitfall to Avoid:
Don’t let the plan feel like just “more work.” Frame it as an investment. Show them how this new skill can lead to more interesting projects or a new career path in the future.
Example 3: The Aspiring Leader
Scenario: A senior team member has told you they want to move into a management role. They are respected by their peers but have no real leadership experience.
Coaching Focus: Help them develop key leadership skills like mentoring, delegating, and strategic thinking.
Coaching Questions to Start:
- “What part of management is most exciting to you?”
- “What do you think is the biggest difference between being a top performer and being a great leader?”
The Plan:
- 1. Self-Assessment Summary: A top performer and an informal leader on the team. Needs to learn how to lead through others, not just by “doing.”
- 2. SMART Goal: To get real leadership experience over the next 12 months. They will do this by mentoring a new hire and taking a lead role in a team project.
- 3. Strategies & Actions:
- Action: Be assigned as the official mentor for the next new hire on the team.
- Action: Read “The Making of a Manager” by Julie Zhuo. Discuss key lessons in your 1-on-1s.
- Project: Act as the “deputy lead” on the next major team project. They will be responsible for delegating tasks to two junior members.
- 4. Resources & Support:
- Manager to provide coaching on how to give good feedback and delegate work.
- An opportunity to sit in on higher-level strategy meetings.
- 5. Timeline & Metrics:
- Within 6 months: Successfully help the new hire get up to speed.
- Within 12 months: Complete the project in the deputy lead role.
- Success Metric: Get feedback from the junior members that the mentorship was helpful. The project is delivered successfully.
Common Pitfall to Avoid:
Don’t just give them the title of “deputy lead.” You must actively coach them through the challenges of delegation and trust. This is the hardest transition for a new leader.
Example 4: The Employee in a New Role
Scenario: An employee has just been promoted to a new, more challenging role. The first 90 days are critical for their success.
Coaching Focus: Help them get up to speed quickly. Build their confidence by focusing on early wins and key relationships.
Coaching Questions to Start:
- “What is the most exciting part of this new role for you?”
- “What is the one thing that makes you most nervous?”
The Plan:
- 1. Self-Assessment Summary: Excited but nervous. Strong in their old skills, but needs to quickly learn new processes and meet new people.
- 2. SMART Goal: To be fully up to speed in the core parts of the new role. They will also build strong working relationships with key people within the first 90 days.
- 3. Strategies & Actions:
- Action: Create a “30-60-90 Day Plan” that lists key learning goals.
- Action: Schedule 30-minute introductory meetings with all key people within the first two weeks.
- Action: Find and complete one “early win”—a small but visible project that can be done within the first 60 days.
- 4. Resources & Support:
- Manager to provide a list of key people and make introductions.
- A “peer buddy” in a similar role to answer informal questions.
- 5. Timeline & Metrics:
- Day 30: Have met all key people.
- Day 60: Have completed the “early win” project.
- Day 90: Get feedback from the manager that they are meeting expectations.
- Success Metric: Feel confident and be working on their own in the new role by the end of the first quarter.
Common Pitfall to Avoid:
Don’t assume they will figure everything out on their own. The first 90 days are when a new person needs the most support and feedback from their manager.
Example 5: The Underperforming Employee
Scenario: A previously solid employee’s performance has been going down. They are missing deadlines and seem disengaged.
Coaching Focus: Use the PDP as a supportive tool, not a punishment. The goal is to find the root cause of the issue and create a clear, collaborative plan for improvement.
Coaching Questions to Start:
- “I’ve noticed some changes in your work lately. How are you feeling about your role right now?”
- “What is one thing that we could change that would help you feel more successful?”
The Plan:
- 1. Self-Assessment Summary: (To be done together) Find the specific areas of underperformance. Explore possible causes (e.g., skill gap, burnout, lack of clarity, personal issues).
- 2. SMART Goal: To meet all core job expectations consistently. They will also improve the quality of [specific task] to a “meets expectations” level within the next 60 days.
- 3. Strategies & Actions:
- Action: Start each day with a 5-minute check-in to align on priorities.
- Action: Enroll in a specific refresher training course for [a key skill].
- Action: Break down large tasks into smaller sub-tasks with clear mini-deadlines.
- 4. Resources & Support:
- Manager to provide more frequent feedback and coaching.
- Access to the company’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) if personal issues are a factor.
- Clear, written documentation of expectations.
- 5. Timeline & Metrics:
- Weekly: Review progress against sub-task deadlines in 1-on-1 meetings.
- Day 30: Mid-point check-in to assess progress.
- Day 60: Formal review of performance against the SMART goal.
- Success Metric: The employee is consistently meeting all job expectations by the end of the 60-day period.
Common Pitfall to Avoid:
Don’t make the PDP feel like a punishment. Frame the entire conversation around support and your belief in their ability to get back on track.
Conclusion: From Manager to Coach
These examples are blueprints, not rigid scripts. The most powerful Personal Development Plans come from real conversations and a shared commitment to growth.
By using this framework, you can change your role. You can move from a manager who just assigns tasks to a coach who develops people. This is the key to building a truly great team.
Ready to put this into practice? Download our Free Professional Development Plan Template to structure your conversations.
For a deep dive into the theory and philosophy behind development plans, explore our Ultimate Guide to Mastering Your PDP.
