With the craziness of our daily personal and work lives, it’s easy to forget the importance of building our professional development. But can we really afford to let something so significant pass us by? Professional growth is essential in succeeding in your career but how can you build that and continue to do all your normal day to day activities? Below are some tips to help!

Education Connection 

Take a class that will benefit you and your career. Many schools offer late night or online classes that can work around your schedule and many companies will reimburse tuition costs.  Some other options are to join an industry group, attend workshops, educational sessions or conferences. Find one that will be most beneficial to your industry, where you can learn new skills and even make new contacts. Networking is very important in succeeding in your career and associations, classes and conferences are a great time to network with others in your same industry and career.   

Become a Padawan

It is important to find someone who you can run ideas past and go to for guidance and advice. Whether your company has a mentoring program or you find someone outside of your company it important to find someone who has an interest in helping you and has more experience than you. Learn from your mentor, ask them what path they took, what worked and what didn’t. 

Listen and Learn

It is essential to continue to work on your communication skills. In order to be successful you need to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently. This includes being able to communicate your vision, goals, skills, intentions and expectations. You must also be a great listener and listen to what others are communicating.  

Accept the Challenge

Getting involved in projects outside of your normal responsibilities can be a great way to learn, grow and expand your skills. Learning new skills is a great way to grow your professional development. Sitting with a co-worker for even a few hours can be beneficial.  

Through all of these, it is very important to not neglect those “soft skills.” It is always important to improve on those every day skills such as organization or time management. These skills are your building blocks to better professional development. 

What are some things you have done to build upon our professional development?