No matter the size of your team, an overarching plan for growing capability is a must. Not a manual. A one-page plan you actually use. Here’s how to build one in an afternoon and keep it alive with 30 minutes a fortnight.
Check out our free Team Development Plan template. Fill it in as you work through the steps below.
Before you start: get honest about where you are
A development plan is only as good as the picture it starts from. Spend ten minutes answering three questions for the next 6–12 months: what is the business trying to do, what will that ask of the team, and where are the gaps between the two? You are not aiming for a perfect analysis. You are aiming for a clear-eyed starting point you can act on.
The five steps
- Map the capability the business needs next
List the two or three capabilities that would most move the needle. The ones tied to where the business is heading, not a generic skills wishlist. Think “someone who can quote jobs without me,” “a manager who can run the roster and the hard conversations,” “a 2IC for when I’m away.” Name what you are building. - Match people to growth, not just tasks
For each team member, note where they are now, where they could get to, and what they want. Your reliable, steady performers are often the most under-invested. They get overlooked precisely because they cause no trouble. A little deliberate investment in them usually returns the most. - Choose real-time methods over classroom courses
Default to development built into the work: a stretch task with support, sitting in on something they’d normally be shielded from, a short coaching conversation, a fortnightly team problem-solve. Reserve external courses for genuinely specialist skills. The test for every method is simple. Will they use it within a week? If not, it won’t stick. - Set a rhythm and make someone responsible
Development dies without a cadence. Put a recurring 30-minute slot per person or per team in the calendar, and name who owns each person’s growth (usually their manager). A plan nobody owns is a wish. A plan with a name and a date next to it is a commitment. - Review, adjust, and notice what you’ve unlocked
Every quarter, look back: what can the team now do that it couldn’t before, what freed up your time, what’s next. Development compounds when you can see it working, so make the progress visible, to them and to you.
A note on “work time” — study, training and travel
As you build development into the week, a fair question comes up: when is development paid time? In New Zealand there’s no single line in the Act that answers it; what counts as “work” turns on the practical reality of the situation. The leading case, Idea Services v Dickson, identifies three factors:
- the constraints placed on the person,
- the responsibilities they carry during that time, and
- the benefit to the employer.
Training you require, during working hours, that benefits the business will usually be work time. Optional study someone chooses to do in their own time usually isn’t. Travel between sites during the day generally counts; the ordinary commute from home to work generally doesn’t.
The point for a development plan is simple: be clear up front about what’s paid and what’s expected and put it in writing. A short policy or a line in an email beats a handshake every time. Clarity here prevents the grey areas from becoming disputes.
Practical takeaways
- One page, two or three priorities, a fortnightly rhythm and a named owner will outperform any training manual.
- Invest deliberately in your steady performers — they’re usually the most overlooked and the best return.
- Put the “what’s paid” question beyond doubt in writing before development ramps up
Want a hand turning this into a plan that fits your team? The first 30 minutes are always free. We’ll help you pick the two capabilities worth building first — talk to the Better HR Co. team.
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Disclaimer
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every situation turns on its own facts — please get advice before acting. Better HR Co. can help. Current as at 11 August 2026.
