Continuous Learning
Level:
Expert / leading
Expert / leading
Takes initiative to develop the policy skills of themselves and others. Learns from colleagues, training opportunities, and on-the-job experience.
- Models effective ways of giving and receiving feedback and challenge.
- Can have courageous and difficult conversations on quality, performance, and ways of working.
- Creates learning opportunities for other staff, and upskills colleagues.
- Cultivates a culture of celebrating achievements and learning from mistakes.
- Finds new ways to build their professional development, and takes active steps to build their policy and leadership skills.
70% on-the-job learning
- Think about how you exchange knowledge and practice with others.
- Share your experiences and reflect on how you might have approached things differently.
- Consider developing some ‘show and tell’ sessions where you critically deconstruct your work.
- Lead policy training in your organisation or across the public service.
- Coach less experienced colleagues, or enter into formal mentoring agreements.
- Critically appraise work of your peers in a constructive and encouraging manner.
- Lead or participate in your agency’s quality assurance panels (e.g. for Cabinet papers, select committee material and Regulatory impact assessments).
- Use the Development Pathways Tool to help mentor less experienced staff on ways to develop their range of policy skills, and use Map your team’s policy skills profile with the Policy Skills Framework to identify areas in which your team needs to develop.
20% learning from others
- Seek review on your ideas from peers in other agencies.
- Participate in an expert review panel to learn from others (or allow them to learn from you).
- Find a mentor or coach to work with on specific goals.
10% formal learning
- Take a coaching or mentoring course (e.g. Feedback Made Easy by New Zealand Coaching and Mentoring Centre).
- Take a course in inspiring, influencing and motivating others.
PDF version
Use the Development Pathways Tool
The Development Pathways Tool can help you identify how to develop your skills (or your team’s skills) to the next level of policy practice.
Explore the tool further by selecting the skill you wish to develop and by selecting the development level you want to achieve.