Talking To Your Supervisor

Step 2: Talk To Your Supervisor

Your manager will have to be on board with your plan, so it’s time to do some upward management! All IT managers have been asked by the CIO to help their team plan their professional development, so they’ll be motivated to help you choose something. Further, they will be eager to have you learn new skills so that the whole team will benefit. They may have their own ideas about areas for your development, so you can work together to come up with a mutually beneficial plan. Remember too, that you can take more than one professional development activity (depending on their costs), so if you and your supervisor have different ideas, propose doing both options if you’re up for it!

Illustration of two people meeting and shaking hands

You are responsible for coordinating the development of your Learn IT plan. Schedule time with your manager to discuss your plan, and be ready with details and explanations when you meet. Your manager will have to approve your formal Learn IT plan proposal before it will be presented to the CIO, so use the time before submitting the request to make the formal approval process go as smoothly as possible.

Some questions to clarify with your manager:

  1. What do you and your manager see as your strengths and talents?
  2. What potential do you have for future career development?
  3. What do you and your manager see as the areas that would be beneficial for you to learn more about, in general?
  4. What specific professional development activity or activities would meet the goals of both you and your manager?
  5. What problems might be road blocks for approval of your plan by IT leadership? What strategy and justification can you two come up with together for your formal proposal, to account for these problems before it’s submitted?
  6. What timeline will you set for yourself to finish your work on researching and developing your Learn IT plan proposal and request form?

You might also look at the page titled For Managers, as it will give you some insight into your manager’s perspective on the development of your Learn IT plan.

Ready to move on? Your next step is to Find Professional Development