Growth Plan Template¶

A growth plan is a contract between a manager and a team member about what development looks like in the coming quarter. It's not a performance review, not a list of tasks, and not a promotion checklist. It's a focused agreement on where growth will happen, how progress will be measured, and what support is needed.

What problem this solves¶

Without explicit growth planning, development becomes accidental. Some people get stretch assignments; others get stuck on maintenance work. Feedback is vague. Progress is invisible until performance review time, when it's too late to course-correct.

A growth plan solves this by making development intentional:

• Clear focus on 1–2 areas, not everything at once.
• Observable outcomes, not just activities.
• Regular check-ins to track progress.
• Documented commitments from both manager and team member.

When to use this¶

Use a growth plan for:

• Quarterly development planning with every direct report.
• Closing specific gaps identified in performance reviews.
• Supporting promotion readiness.
• Helping someone transition to a new role or expand scope.

Don't use a growth plan as:

• A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)—that has different stakes and structure.
• A task list for the quarter—growth plans are about capability, not delivery.
• A one-time exercise—plans need ongoing attention.

Roles and ownership¶

The team member should do most of the work creating the plan. If the manager is filling it out for them, the team member isn't engaged in their own development.

How to create and use a growth plan¶

Step 1: Identify focus areas¶

Start with a gap analysis:

• Where is the person now relative to their current level expectations?
• What skills would help them have more impact?
• What's needed for the next level (if that's a goal)?
• What does the person want to develop?

Narrow to 1–2 focus areas. More than that dilutes attention.

Step 2: Define outcomes¶

For each focus area, define what success looks like:

• What will be different at the end of the quarter?
• What evidence will demonstrate growth?
• How will we know if it's working?

Be specific. "Improve communication" is not an outcome. "Lead a cross-team design review with positive stakeholder feedback" is.

Step 3: Identify development actions¶

What will the person do to grow in this area?

• Stretch assignments: Projects that require using the target skill.
• Learning: Courses, reading, pairing with experts.
• Practice: Repeated opportunities to build the skill.
• Feedback: Specific feedback requests from colleagues.

Mix types. Reading alone won't build skills—practice is required.

Step 4: Check in regularly¶

Review the growth plan in 1:1s—at minimum, monthly. Ask:

• What progress have you made?
• What's getting in the way?
• What support do you need?
• Do we need to adjust the plan?

Growth plans are living documents, not quarterly paperwork.

Step 5: Evaluate and iterate¶

At the end of the quarter:

• Did we achieve the outcomes?
• What worked? What didn't?
• What's the focus for next quarter?

Document the results and use them to inform the next plan.

Signals that growth planning is working¶

• Team members can articulate what they're working on developing.
• Stretch assignments are distributed intentionally, not randomly.
• Progress is visible before performance review time.
• Conversations about growth happen regularly, not just quarterly.
• People are growing—skills improve, scope expands, impact increases.

Failure modes and mitigations¶

The template¶

Growth plan document¶

# Growth Plan: [Name]

**Period:** [Q1 2026]
**Manager:** [Manager name]
**Current role:** [Title]
**Last updated:** [Date]

---

## Current state summary

[Brief summary of strengths, areas for growth, and any relevant context from recent feedback or performance discussions.]

---

## Focus area 1: [Skill or capability]

### Why this matters

[Why is this important for the person's current role or future growth?]

### Outcome

[What will be different by the end of the quarter? What evidence will demonstrate growth?]

**Success looks like:**

- [Specific, observable indicator]
- [Specific, observable indicator]

### Development actions

| Action                                                 | Type     | Timeline       | Status |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | -------- | -------------- | ------ |
| [Action 1: e.g., Lead the Q2 planning process]         | Stretch  | Feb–Mar        | ☐      |
| [Action 2: e.g., Read "Crucial Conversations"]         | Learning | Feb            | ☐      |
| [Action 3: e.g., Request feedback from 3 stakeholders] | Feedback | End of quarter | ☐      |

### Support needed

- [What the manager will provide: sponsorship, feedback, cover, etc.]

---

## Focus area 2: [Skill or capability] (optional)

[Same structure as above]

---

## Check-in log

| Date   | Notes                              | Adjustments               |
| ------ | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| [Date] | [Progress, blockers, observations] | [Any changes to the plan] |
| [Date] | [...]                              | [...]                     |

---

## End-of-quarter reflection

### Outcomes achieved

- [What was accomplished?]

### What worked

- [What development approaches were effective?]

### What to carry forward

- [What should continue into the next quarter?]

### Next focus areas

- [What's next?]

Manager's prep questions¶

Before the growth planning conversation:

• What feedback has this person received recently?
• Where are they relative to level expectations?
• What opportunities are coming up that could be stretch assignments?
• What do they want to work on? (Ask them first.)
• What skills would make the biggest difference for their impact?

Related pages¶

• People: Growth Plans — Full playbook for the growth planning process.
• People: One-on-Ones — Where growth plan check-ins happen.
• People: Performance Management — How growth plans connect to performance.
• 1:1 Agenda Template — Includes growth discussion in the agenda.