How does one genuinely identify one's own, non-technical, learning and development needs?
As a solicitor, each year, I need to make a statement of solicitor competence . Aside from the regulatory requirement, I want to do a great job for my clients: it is a source of my own personal, professional pride. Similarly, most of my work comes from word of mouth referrals so, simply from a grubby money-making point of view, doing a good job just makes sense. The requirement, at a high level, is pretty obvious: the ability to perform the roles and tasks required by one’s job to the expected standard The Solicitors Regulation Authority helpfully breaks this down into a number of different areas: Crucially, based on the SRA’s list, technical competence - the “knowing and applying the law” bit - is just one facet of overall competence. In terms of learning outcomes / knowing what continuing education I need, this is pretty straightforward: I know that I need to keep on top of my stuff. For me, this means both law and technology, since much of what I do draws heavily on both aspects. In practice, I do this through keeping track of numerous different sources of information, and most of my reflections end up as posts on my work blog . Sure, there is an awful lot of change in both technology and law, and keeping on top of all the various legal issues can be challenging, but at least I can work out what I need to do reasonably easily. I find it harder to assess my learning needs in other areas. Not in a box-ticking sort of a way - actual, genuine, “this would be useful”, development. Stuff that it is worth spending my time on. I have no colleagues, and while I’ve asked clients for feedback, specifically what I can do better, or things they’d like me to do differently, or things that they have valued in other professional advisors, I have turned up nothing. I will keep asking every so often, but I cannot rely on this as a source of learning needs. I do my best to assess my own performance, but I struggle. I keep a document of “practice reflections”, in which I note down issues which cross my mind. Looking back on it for this year, themes include ethics (below), IT and cybersecurity, and, perhaps inevitably, AI. I mentor people, but I have not been mentored. Perhaps that is something to explore. Nevertheless, I do what I can - this year, I had a particular focus on ethics, in the light of the Post Office scandal - but I’d like to be better . I could be led by what is on offer, in terms of seeing what CPD providers are offering, and what other resources are available, and seeing if I fancy any of them. But that feels like the wrong way round to me, since it is not centred on my own learning needs - but it could still be a good source of inspiration. So I asked other professionals in the fediverse what they did for their own continuing professional development. (Importantly, I did not ask what they think that I should do, but rather what they themselves did.) I got a range of answers (including many focussed on technical competence), which I have paraphrased / collated here: a company gives a week off each year for CPD, but the training must be nothing to do with their everyday work. I keep a journal, including things that I find myself hesitating to do, or something that I feel that I did poorly. A variation of this was a “leadership lessons” log, with things that the author saw others do well/poorly, and what they themselves did well/poorly. annually, I prepare a document that contains low points, high points and what I learned from the previous year, and new things I want to try or do / things I want to continue doing / things I want to stop doing for the next year. breadth first and depth first investigations. focussed time, periodically, thinking about my career and role. pay attention to the long term changes. paying for a business coach. looking at people I admire and what they can do, that I wish I could do. talking to people in relevant areas, asking them about challenges they face and skills they have, and comparing it to what I can do or struggle with, and asking what they are up to formal reflections following a template. browse the CPD section of their professional institute, for inspiration. I will see what I can take on board here, for the coming year. And, if you are a client, and you think of something that I can do differently, or better, please do let me know! A Ethics, professionalism and judgment B Technical legal practice C Working with other people D Managing themselves and their own work a company gives a week off each year for CPD, but the training must be nothing to do with their everyday work. I keep a journal, including things that I find myself hesitating to do, or something that I feel that I did poorly. A variation of this was a “leadership lessons” log, with things that the author saw others do well/poorly, and what they themselves did well/poorly. annually, I prepare a document that contains low points, high points and what I learned from the previous year, and new things I want to try or do / things I want to continue doing / things I want to stop doing for the next year. breadth first and depth first investigations. focussed time, periodically, thinking about my career and role. pay attention to the long term changes. paying for a business coach. looking at people I admire and what they can do, that I wish I could do. talking to people in relevant areas, asking them about challenges they face and skills they have, and comparing it to what I can do or struggle with, and asking what they are up to formal reflections following a template. browse the CPD section of their professional institute, for inspiration.
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