In my second post for the Hotel Marketing Association, I look in more detail at using the time, whilst you have been furloughed, to develop your skills.  It is about how to decide what to focus on and has some good tips whenever you are reviewing your development plan.

If you’ve been furloughed, you may be looking to use this time to develop your marketing skills and leadership competencies so here are a few tips that will provide some focus.

1. If you were to ask your boss/team/future self what you need to learn now to be a more effective leader/marketer/colleague, how would they answer?
2. Revisit your last performance review and projects completed. What areas of development were highlighted?  What do you feel it would have been useful to know more about?
3. Review your current job description and look at ones for your ideal next role. What are the key skills needed? What do you need to develop to be ready for when an opportunity arises?
4. As well as catching up on Influencer Marketing, Automation and your Copywriting skills, consider your leadership competencies. In hotel marketing you will often see stakeholder management, being customer centric and strategic thinking featured heavily but what about resilience, managing complexity and optimising work processes? Our current situation has shown marketing leaders need all these too.
5. Consider your strengths and natural talents. Which ones can you take from good to great?
6. Be specific and focus on 1-2 areas that you can research and absorb a breadth of learning materials during lockdown. How can you put it into practice now and when you go back to work?  Consider projects you have coming up.  Do you need to create an initiative to practice your new Google Analytics or collaborative working skills?  Who do you need to speak with to make this happen?  If it can’t be applied immediately at work what can you do outside of work that would enable you to practice the skill further?
7. Consider where can you get this learning: books, webinars, online courses. Speak with colleagues and associates who can point you to useful resources.
8. If you need structure or are missing being set deadlines, write yourself a study plan and consider having an accountability buddy that will keep you on track. Just knowing your buddy will be asking you how you are getting on will stop you from procrastinating too much. Do this plan and buddying only for the period you have been furloughed.  You want it to be achievable in the time you have available now and get that sense of achievement.  We all need a win right now.
9. Give yourself time and space to learn.

If you want to have a chat about how Coaching Confidential can support your leadership development get in touch.