Skill
Development
—
Professional
Goals
1.
Skill
inventory
Thirty
-
eight
skills
across
five
groups
.
They
are
listed
in
the
order
they
tend
to
matter
early
in
a
career
,
though
most
professionals
end
up
working
on
all
five
groups
at
once
.
1.1
FOUNDAT IONAL
AND
T RANSFERABLE
1.2
PEOPLE
AND
LEADERSHIP
Written
communication
Structured
email
,
memos
and
reports
;
editing
for
plain
English
.
Verbal
communication
Concise
spoken
updates
in
meetings
,
stand
-
ups
and
client
calls
.
Active
listening
Asking
better
questions
and
checking
understanding
before
responding
.
Time
management
and
prioritisation
Weekly
planning
,
task
batching
,
defending
focused
time
.
Problem
-
solving
Five
whys
,
fishbone
analysis
,
separating
cause
from
symptom
.
Attention
to
detail
Reviewing
your
own
work
properly
before
it
reaches
a
stakeholder
.
Adaptability
Picking
up
new
tools
and
processes
without
losing
output
.
Digital
literacy
File
structures
,
permissions
,
confident
use
of
collaborative
tools
.
Giving
and
receiving
feedback
Specific
,
timely
,
behaviour
-
focused
and
actionable
.
Coaching
and
developing
others
Asking
questions
that
build
capability
instead
of
answering
them
.
Delegation
Matching
work
to
skill
level
and
defining
the
outcome
,
not
the
steps
.
Difficult
conversations
Raising
performance
or
conduct
issues
early
and
clearly
.
Conflict
resolution
Resolving
disagreement
between
colleagues
before
it
escalates
.
Influencing
without
authority
Making
the
case
to
people
who
do
not
report
to
you
.
Cross
-
functional
collaboration
Working
productively
with
finance
,
IT
,
sales
and
service
.
Decision
-
making
Choosing
with
incomplete
data
and
documenting
the
reasoning
.
1 / 7
1.3
ANALYT ICAL
AND
ST RAT EG IC
1.4
T ECHNICAL
AND
DIG ITAL
1.5
PERSONAL
EFFECT IVENESS
AND
CAREER
Data
literacy
Reading
dashboards
,
understanding
variance
,
spotting
unreliable
numbers
.
Spreadsheet
modelling
Lookups
,
pivots
,
scenario
models
and
clean
worksheet
structure
.
SQL
and
querying
Pulling
your
own
data
rather
than
waiting
for
a
report
.
Data
visualisation
Tableau
,
Power
BI
or
Looker
Studio
;
chart
choice
and
clarity
.
Business
and
financial
acumen
Budgets
,
cost
drivers
,
unit
economics
,
margin
.
Process
improvement
Mapping
,
measuring
and
removing
waste
using
Lean
basics
.
Project
management
Scope
,
schedule
,
risk
register
and
stakeholder
communication
.
Strategic
thinking
Connecting
daily
work
to
company
priorities
and
trade
-
offs
.
Automation
and
low
-
code
tooling
Zapier
,
Power
Automate
,
Apps
Script
.
AI
-
assisted
workflows
Prompting
well
and
verifying
output
before
it
is
used
.
Productivity
platforms
Configuring
Asana
,
Jira
or
Notion
rather
than
only
using
them
.
Business
intelligence
reporting
Building
a
report
once
so
it
refreshes
itself
.
Technical
literacy
APIs
,
HTML
,
version
control
concepts
,
system
diagrams
.
Data
privacy
and
security
awareness
Handling
personal
data
,
access
control
,
incident
reporting
.
Documentation
Writing
an
SOP
someone
else
can
follow
without
asking
you
.
Emotional
intelligence
Reading
the
room
and
managing
your
own
reactions
under
pressure
.
Resilience
and
stress
management
Recovering
from
setbacks
and
heavy
delivery
cycles
.
Negotiation
Scope
,
budget
,
timelines
and
your
own
compensation
.
Public
speaking
Presenting
to
a
room
rather
than
reading
from
slides
.
Personal
branding
Being
known
for
one
thing
you
are
genuinely
good
at
.
Networking
Building
relationships
before
you
need
to
call
on
them
.
Mentoring
and
knowledge
sharing
Raising
the
standard
of
the
people
around
you
.
2 / 7
2.
Professional
development
goals
Twelve
goals
for
the
2026
cycle
,
drawn
from
the
inventory
above
.
Each
one
has
a
success
measure
,
a
milestone
that
lands
before
the
deadline
,
and
a
completion
date
.
01
Publish
a
one
-
page
decision
memo
every
week
WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION
Replace
long
email
threads
with
a
short
written
brief
that
states
the
decision
,
the
options
considered
and
the
recommendation
.
Circulate
to
the
team
each
Friday
and
ask
for
replies
within
48
hours
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
40
memos
published
;
manager
rating
on
clarity
of
written
work
moves
from
3
to
4.5
out
of
5
at
both
review
points
.
MILESTONE
First
10
memos
reviewed
with
manager
in
March
.
TARGET
DATE
31
December
2026
02
Lead
the
monthly
operations
review
PUBLIC
SPEAKING
Own
the
20-
minute
monthly
business
review
end
to
end
—
the
performance
narrative
,
the
exceptions
worth
discussing
,
and
the
two
decisions
we
need
from
leadership
each
month
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
12
reviews
delivered
;
average
audience
clarity
score
of
4.2
out
of
5
or
better
across
three
feedback
rounds
.
MILESTONE
First
solo
delivery
in
February
;
recorded
and
reviewed
in
April
.
TARGET
DATE
18
December
2026
03
Move
routine
reporting
onto
a
self
-
refreshing
dashboard
DATA
VISUALISATION
Rebuild
the
three
monthly
operations
reports
in
Looker
Studio
so
they
refresh
automatically
,
then
retire
the
manual
spreadsheet
versions
and
the
copy
-
paste
steps
that
go
with
them
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Report
build
time
cut
from
4
hours
to
45
minutes
per
cycle
;
zero
manual
copy
-
paste
steps
remaining
.
MILESTONE
First
dashboard
live
by
31
March
;
all
three
live
by
30
June
.
TARGET
DATE
30
June
2026
04
Query
operational
data
without
waiting
on
the
analytics
team
SQL
AND
QUERYING
Work
through
a
structured
SQL
course
,
then
rewrite
five
recurring
data
pulls
as
saved
,
commented
queries
that
anyone
on
the
team
can
run
and
understand
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Five
saved
queries
in
production
;
average
wait
for
ad
-
hoc
numbers
drops
from
two
days
to
under
30
minutes
.
MILESTONE
Course
complete
in
March
;
first
query
in
production
in
April
.
TARGET
DATE
31
May
2026
3 / 7
05
Coach
two
junior
analysts
through
a
structured
development
plan
COACHING
Hold
fortnightly
45-
minute
coaching
sessions
focused
on
their
goals
rather
than
task
status
,
and
hand
over
one
recurring
process
to
each
of
them
during
the
year
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Each
analyst
completes
two
documented
development
milestones
and
takes
full
ownership
of
one
process
.
MILESTONE
Plans
agreed
by
15
February
;
first
ownership
handover
by
30
April
.
TARGET
DATE
30
November
2026
06
Complete
a
finance
fundamentals
course
and
rebuild
the
team
budget
FINANCIAL
ACUMEN
Cover
income
statements
,
cost
drivers
and
unit
economics
in
a
formal
course
,
then
apply
it
by
rebuilding
the
annual
team
budget
from
the
ground
up
rather
than
rolling
last
year
forward
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Course
completed
with
a
passing
grade
;
budget
model
accepted
by
Finance
with
two
or
fewer
revision
rounds
.
MILESTONE
Course
complete
by
30
April
;
budget
model
drafted
by
31
August
.
TARGET
DATE
30
September
2026
07
Run
one
process
improvement
project
with
measured
savings
PROCESS
IMPROVEMENT
Map
the
order
-
to
-
invoice
process
end
to
end
,
identify
the
three
largest
sources
of
rework
,
and
run
a
ten
-
week
improvement
cycle
with
the
operations
team
to
close
them
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Order
processing
cycle
time
reduced
by
at
least
12%;
rework
rate
down
from
8.4%
to
below
5%.
MILESTONE
Process
map
and
baseline
complete
by
30
April
;
improvement
cycle
closed
by
31
August
.
TARGET
DATE
31
August
2026
08
Deliver
quarterly
feedback
training
to
the
wider
team
GIVING
FEEDBACK
Design
and
run
a
90-
minute
practical
session
on
giving
specific
,
timely
feedback
,
repeated
each
quarter
using
real
scenarios
from
the
team
'
s
own
work
rather
than
generic
role
-
play
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Four
sessions
delivered
to
30+
colleagues
;
80%
report
a
change
in
practice
at
the
60-
day
follow
-
up
.
MILESTONE
Pilot
session
in
March
;
full
rollout
from
Q
2.
TARGET
DATE
15
December
2026
4 / 7
09
Build
twelve
new
cross
-
functional
working
relationships
NETWORKING
Meet
one
colleague
outside
the
operations
function
each
month
—
deliberately
choosing
finance
,
IT
,
sales
and
customer
service
—
and
find
one
shared
problem
to
solve
together
before
the
next
introduction
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Twelve
new
contacts
logged
;
at
least
six
collaborative
outcomes
—
a
joint
fix
,
a
shared
report
or
a
co
-
authored
proposal
.
MILESTONE
Six
contacts
and
two
outcomes
by
30
June
.
TARGET
DATE
31
December
2026
10
Earn
a
recognised
project
management
certification
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
Study
for
and
pass
the
CAPM
certification
,
then
put
the
standard
template
set
—
risk
register
,
stakeholder
map
,
weekly
status
report
—
into
use
on
two
live
projects
at
work
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Certification
passed
by
Q
3;
project
templates
in
active
use
on
at
least
two
projects
.
MILESTONE
Study
plan
started
in
March
;
exam
booked
by
30
June
.
TARGET
DATE
30
September
2026
11
Speak
at
one
industry
event
PUBLIC
SPEAKING
Submit
a
talk
proposal
built
on
the
process
improvement
work
from
Goal
07
and
,
if
accepted
,
present
at
a
regional
operations
or
supply
chain
meet
-
up
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
One
accepted
talk
or
panel
seat
;
post
-
event
attendee
feedback
of
4
out
of
5
or
better
.
MILESTONE
Abstract
submitted
by
31
May
;
event
delivered
by
30
November
.
TARGET
DATE
30
November
2026
12
Protect
a
four
-
hour
weekly
deep
-
work
block
PERSONAL
EFFECTIVENESS
Hold
a
recurring
Thursday
morning
block
with
notifications
off
and
the
calendar
defended
,
used
only
for
the
highest
-
value
analytical
or
writing
work
of
that
week
.
SUCCESS
MEASURE
Block
held
for
at
least
40
of
52
weeks
;
self
-
rated
ability
to
complete
complex
work
rises
by
one
point
.
MILESTONE
First
10
weeks
audited
in
April
.
TARGET
DATE
31
December
2026
3.
Twelve
-
month
roadmap
The
same
twelve
goals
,
sequenced
so
that
nothing
depends
on
a
skill
that
has
not
been
built
yet
.
5 / 7
QUARTER
PRIMARY
FOCUS
KEY
ACTIONS
DELIVERABLE
BY
QUARTER
END
Q
1 ·
Jan
–
Mar
Foundations
:
writing
,
listening
,
protected
time
Weekly
decision
memos
begin
;
SQL
course
starts
;
deep
-
work
block
established
;
order
-
to
-
invoice
baseline
mapped
10
memos
reviewed
;
deep
-
work
habit
running
;
process
map
and
baseline
data
Q
2 ·
Apr
–
Jun
Data
,
finance
and
first
visible
delivery
Looker
Studio
dashboards
built
;
saved
SQL
queries
in
production
;
finance
course
completed
;
feedback
pilot
delivered
3
dashboards
live
; 5
saved
queries
;
first
training
session
run
Q
3 ·
Jul
–
Sep
Leadership
,
certification
and
measurable
results
Coaching
plans
in
progress
;
CAPM
exam
sat
;
improvement
cycle
closed
;
budget
model
submitted
to
Finance
Certification
passed
; 12%
cycle
-
time
reduction
;
approved
budget
model
Q
4 ·
Oct
–
Dec
Consolidation
and
visibility
Industry
talk
delivered
;
second
and
third
feedback
sessions
;
full
-
year
evidence
pack
assembled
; 2027
plan
drafted
Post
-
event
feedback
;
evidence
pack
;
next
-
year
plan
Indicative
budget
for
the
year
:
$
720
total
—
SQL
course
$
180,
finance
course
$
160,
CAPM
exam
and
materials
$
300,
event
travel
$
80.
Any
spend
above
this
needs
sign
-
off
from
the
department
head
before
booking
.
4.
Baseline
and
target
proficiency
Scored
honestly
at
the
start
of
the
cycle
.
The
gap
between
current
and
target
is
what
determines
priority
,
not
how
interesting
the
skill
is
.
6 / 7
COMPETENCY
CURRENT
TARGET
PRIORITY
Written
communication
3
5
High
Data
literacy
and
reporting
2
4
High
SQL
and
querying
1
3
High
Coaching
and
developing
others
3
4
High
Business
and
financial
acumen
2
4
High
Process
improvement
3
4
Medium
Project
management
3
4
Medium
Public
speaking
2
4
Medium
Influencing
without
authority
3
4
Medium
Automation
and
AI
-
assisted
workflows
2
3
Low
Negotiation
3
3
Low
Mentoring
and
knowledge
sharing
4
4
Maintain
7 / 7
