We plan at two horizons: a long-term Individual Development Plan that names where you’re headed, and quarterly goals that move you there in concrete steps. We review both in one-on-one meetings, and each one shapes the other.
Your Individual Development Plan (IDP)
An IDP is a living document that maps where you want to end up to the skills and experiences that will get you there. Revisit it at least once a year, and let it guide what you take on each quarter.
Reflect on, and bring to your first one-on-one:
- Direction: your long-term goals and likely path (academia, industry, or government). See Career planning & job search.
- Skills to build: technical and non-technical, and how you’ll practice them.
- Experiences you want: teaching, mentoring, conferences, collaborations, internships.
- Steps and timeline: the milestones between here and there, roughly when.
You don’t need finished answers. The IDP is a starting point you refine as you learn what fits you.
Set quarterly SMART goals
Each quarter, turn part of your plan into goals you can actually check off.
1. Rough goal (brain dump). Write it in natural language, without worrying yet whether it’s “SMART.”
2. SMART details.
- Specific. What exactly will be done or produced?
- Measurable. How will you know it’s done or progressing (experiments, figures, pages, submissions)?
- Actionable. What are the key actions you’ll take, and what depends on others?
- Realistic. Is this achievable this quarter given your time and constraints? What will you not do?
- Time-bound. Final deadline (end of quarter) plus early, mid, and late checkpoints.
3. Challenges, resources, and minimum success.
- Likely challenges (time, approvals, methods, data).
- Resources / skills needed (people, equipment, analysis skills, training).
- Minimum viable success (a smaller version that still feels like a win).
4. Final SMART goal (1–3 sentences). Rewrite it so someone outside your project would understand it.
Template: “By [date], I will [produce X] by [doing Y], tracked by [measure], with [minimum viable goal / backup plan] if [likely challenge] occurs.”
Meet your goals
A goal only counts once it’s done. Close the gap between plan and finish:
- Break it into action steps, each with an owner (you or someone else), a target date, and a done box.
- Make progress visible. A Kanban board or simple timeline keeps the work in front of you and surfaces stalls early.
- Review in your goals and adjust when reality shifts. A missed goal is information, not failure. Note any issues, and carry the lesson into next quarter.
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