Continuous Professional Development: What Ideas Do You Have?

Posted by Ady Howes on September 16, 2015 at 11:03am in Being An Effective Practitioner

When I kicked off with my CIPD studies, I really struggled with the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) log that was required of us. It wasn't that I didn't understand what CPD was or how to record it. It was more that I didn't really think about the things that I did on a regular basis that could be classed as CPD. After all, CPD isn't just a formal course that you go on. It can be a whole manner of things that you do formally, but probably even more so informally.

I wonder how many others are in that same boat I was in. Wouldn't it be great if as a community, we pull together, share and discuss our ideas for how people can contribute to their CPD as they progress through their programmes?

So what ideas have you got? What do you do for your CPD? What can people do for theirs that doesn't cost a fortune in time and money?

Thinking caps on, let us know..... I'm on a mission!

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Replies

Zoe Lewis September 29, 2015 at 11:39am

Thanks Alison :)
Alison Simmons September 29, 2015 at 11:19am

That's great Zoe. I'm right with you on the use of audio books. I have recommended to CIPD that they make their workbooks available as audio books, as travelling is a great time to listen to them and as you say, it saves feeling that time is wasted.

I agree with everything else you've mentioned too!
Zoe Lewis September 28, 2015 at 9:26am

I love informal CPD, a chat with someone over Twitter or a cuppa and a shared topic of L&D /coaching interest. I also love using what would otherwise be wasted time - so I've taken to Audible and downloaded some great development audiobooks - I am always amazed when I think I haven't been listening for 3 hours on a long journey, I'll later find myself sharing one of the nuggets I've learned in a course and think "hey, it must be subliminal learning"! I also love doing anonymous post it feedback on my courses, at the end of the day I'll invite the feedback on a post it - no names, just a + and - column and people note their likes and dislikes, I ask them to chuck it in a box and then later that evening I review. The CPD is immediate as I work out what is liked and disliked and what can I work on for the next day to improve their experience, sometimes this is more coffee and biscuits, other times really useful for me to develop my own CPD, such as exploring how to bring alive a topic which hasn't quite landed right. I love CPD, I find that chunking my CPD record works better for me, so I'll go back and review things, I don't think my CPD record is accurate as I do more than I actually capture on my CPD - I'd rather have it that way that the other way though :) Thanks for great topic Ady!
- Martin Couzins > Zoe Lewis September 28, 2015 at 9:34am
  
  Hi Zoe, I love the idea of listening to books on journeys. I had thought about doing that but not actually done it so you have prompted me to give it a go!
  - Zoe Lewis > Martin Couzins September 28, 2015 at 10:54am
    
    :)
Sarah Loates September 27, 2015 at 6:40pm

Hi Ady

Some interesting ideas on this post here about the top 50 CPD interventions for sports injuries and advanced massage! I can relate to many on the list such as lecturing and getting involved with committees in the business community.

Although it is for massage alot of them you could undertake in an HR role.

My personal favourite is current affairs I think I am addicted to news and thinking about how this relates to my job and profession and what it will mean for clients etc, Also I noticed alot on reflective practice, I recently completed a basic teaching qualification and they are big on reflective practice in teaching.

I hope this helps with your quest!

Sarah

http://www.gcmt.org.uk/portals/0/documents/50_ideas_for_cpd.pdf
- Alison Simmons > Sarah Loates September 29, 2015 at 11:23am
  
  Golly, that list is gre4at Sarah, and reminded me of many other things I also do that can be classed as CPD. I liked the idea of a journal club, meeting with a group on a monthly basis to review a journal article. Great idea.
Alison Simmons September 16, 2015 at 2:34pm

I do loads of things in a quest for continuous professional development Ady.

One of the main things recently was signing up for the L7 diploma with DPG, which does cost a fortune in time and money, so perhaps isn't what you want in the reply! The reason I signed up was to ensure I didn't miss a trick on behalf of my company and that I was "cutting edge" in my business offerings.

I also attend local CIPD branch events which are great not only for their content, which always provides food for thought, but also for meeting and learning from others with different views and different ideas, experience, perspectives, objectives and so on.

I try to look at TED talks if I get a spare few minutes (they often lead me to look at other related items on Youtube) and frequently do internet searches to learn more about particular topics. If I find anything interesting I post about it internally on our Yammer, and ask people to contact me if they are interested in more information - that way, I can then have further chats on the subjects with others who have an interest internally.

I check back at the CIPD profession map to remind myself of areas I could be concentrating on, if I run out of ideas or feel I want to refocus.

I sometimes do "after action reviews" at work and always try to obtain feedback on as many pieces of work delivered by my team as I can. I always get feedback on any training offered and carry out evaluations of the benefits as well as any obstaclesaround delivering the anticipated outcomes.

You may be interested to know I have just volunteered to take part in the CPD pilot study that the CIPD are working on. I will be part of a group helping to trial a new tool for the next 6 months :)
- Martin Couzins > Alison Simmons September 17, 2015 at 11:21am
  
  Great points, Alison. I think gathering feedback is really important as it provides a fuller picture of what you have been doing.
  
  I use my blog to reflect on what I learn. I run my own (small) business so there is no formal L&D which means I scan the web for useful content and take part in Twitter chats where relevant and also have conversations on Twitter around links that have been shared by others. That's my CPD!
  
  In my last corporate role I ran an internal blog where I shared my work and reflections on what I did. After 18 months it became the de facto comms tool for the business unit with 70 readers! An unexpected outcome for my CPD activities but one that showed that colleagues are interested in what others are looking at and sharing.
  - Alison Simmons > Martin Couzins September 17, 2015 at 5:39pm
    
    I really like the idea of an internal blog around the key things my team are working on, but I doubt many people here would read it. I post all sorts of "curated" goodies onto our internal Yammer, but unfortunately Yammer isn't widely used. I think staff feel they suffer from receiving too many e mails on a day to day basis and then actively avoid looking for any more information!
    
    I have recently set up a noticeboard in the main factory entrance corridor which my team post "themed" materials onto, but I haven't worked out a way of gauging how many people look at it :) I have asked individuals for feedback on it and they go and look then! Whether they then continue to keep an eye on it I'm not sure. Early days yet though. (It is meant to be the responsibility of one of my team as part of her CPD as it happens.)