---
title: Development plans for managers
description: "How managers support development plans in Career Bird: review each person's plan, add cards, create a team plan, comment and track progress."
---

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# Development plans for managers

## A development plan is a set of cards.

Each card pairs one skill with a work project that helps build it, a goal, learning resources, a mentor who already has the skill and a due date. Employees create their own plans. As a manager, you help choose the right projects, add cards, encourage progress and see how your team is growing.

**Who can do this:** Managers, for people in their reporting line.

### Before you begin

- Development plans must be turned on for your organization. If you don't see them, ask your admin.
- Complete your team's skill surveys first. Career Bird uses your answers along with each employee's to suggest the skills worth developing.

### See a person's plan

1. Go to **Team management \> My employees** and open the person.
2. Select the **Development** tab. Click a plan to open it. Check **Show completed** to see finished plans.

For each card you can see the skill, the work project, the goal, the mentor, the learning resources and progress. The **Overview** tab shows a snapshot: whether the plan is on track, the number of cards and the timeline.

### Add a card for someone on your team

1. Open the person's **Development** tab.
2. Click **Add card** and choose a skill.
3. Review the suggested work project and edit it to fit what's coming up for them.

You can edit cards you created. Cards the employee created stay under their control; you can view them and comment. The person needs to have set up their development plan before you can add cards.

### Help choose work projects

When a card is added, Career Bird suggests a work project for that skill. Look for something already on the person's plate, where practicing the skill also moves the work forward.

Good questions to ask in a one-on-one:

- Which upcoming project would give you practice with this skill?
- Who on the team already does this well, and could be your mentor?
- What would finishing this card look like?

### Comment on a card

Leave an encouraging comment on a card to recognize progress or suggest a next step. The employee sees your comment on the card and in the recent activity on their development plan. Career Bird doesn't send them a notification, so mention it in your next one-on-one.

### Create a team development plan

When several people on your team need the same skill, for example a team adopting a new tool, create one group plan instead of having everyone build the same cards. Your group plans can include people in your reporting line. Describe a card in plain language and Career Bird suggests the title, skills, goals and resources. You can also choose to send a skill survey when the plan starts.

Organization-wide plans are created by your admin.

### Set team goals

Team goals describe what your team is working toward. They're turned on when development plans are, unless your admin has turned goals off.

1. Go to **Team management \> Development plans \> Goals**, or click **Goal** at the top of the page.
2. Create a goal for your team. You can link it to one of your organization's goals, which your admin sets.
3. Connect goals to development work. Cards on a team development plan can include team goals directly. Employees link their personal goals on their own cards to your team goals.

Linking goals this way shows how each person's development supports what the team and the organization are trying to achieve.

### Track progress

Each card shows its status and due date, and plans roll cards up into overall progress. Employees get an email seven days before a card is due, and one more the day after if the card is still incomplete. People can turn these emails off in their notification settings, and admins can turn them off for everyone.

### Frequently asked questions

**Is a development plan the same as a performance review?**  
No. A development plan focuses on building skills for the role. Many organizations reference it in reviews by exporting the plan or linking to it.

**Do cards need a goal?**  
No. Goals are optional on cards, and your admin can turn goals off for the organization. When goals are off, the Goals tab is hidden.

**I can't see a plan for someone on my team.**  
They may not have set it up yet. The Development tab will say the employee has not set up their development plan.

### Related articles

- [Development plans for employees](https://support.careerbird.ai/development-plan-overview-for-employees?hsLang=en-us)
- Turn on and configure development plans (admins)
- [Get started with Career Bird: manager guide](https://support.careerbird.ai/manager-getting-started?hsLang=en-us)

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