REGROUP Planning for the Growth of Your Professionals By Kimberly "Casey" Tullos A how-to guide for cultivating a departmental professional development plan Cultivating a cohesive plan for the ongoing professional development of your team or department is a process that essentially involves finding the answers to a series of critical questions. By paying attention to your team's unique characteristics and situational context and answering the questions in ways that make sense for your department, you can design a plan to address specific skill development needs or job performance gaps. Don't be intimidated if this effort seems overwhelming in the beginning. You can manage the process of developing your plan by equating your efforts to taking on a small home improvement 20 TALKING STICK or gardening project. Proceeding step by step and expanding your plan as you achieve success, you can cultivate a professional development program that best fits the nature and structure of your particular environment. ASSESSING THE FIELD Because the design and creation of a professional development plan is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor, a first step toward success is understanding that a plan may not directly translate from one department or institution to another. Ideally, you should begin the project by exploring the climate and context of