Developmental

At this level, one is growing into greater responsibility; beginning to manage tasks or small teams; builds functional expertise and leadership readiness.  This is often the point at which one moves from having selected a job to choosing a career.  Decision-Making and Impact may include executing routine decisions with moderate guidance; and direct impact on small projects or teams.  This is the KNOWLEDGE stage of one’s journey – conceptual understanding of the competency and skill; knows terminology, theory and frameworks; and developing understanding of application of the skills. 

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Audience – This is the usual group of people with which an individual at the specified responsibility level will interact. The interaction may take many forms; who you communicate with, who you influence, and who you serve.
Focus – What the interaction is about in the moment.  Think of it as what needs to occur if one is to achieve the goal.
Tools – These are resources that an individual at this responsibility level may access or deploy to interact with the specified audience.  
Goal – This is an indicator of what the intended outcome of the audience interaction is.
Development Guide - This section lists examples of where an individual can gain education, knowledge and experience in the skill areas that will aid in mastering a skill and preparing one to move to the next level of skill and/or responsibility level.

• Provide feedback to direct reports and to supervisors
• Facilitate team discussions
• Influence peers or stakeholders without authority
• Escalate issues accordingly

• Write press releases and create media kits
• Monitor media coverage and prepare basic reports
• Respond to public inquiries professionally within established policy

• Coordinate public events and community outreach
• Collaborate with partners for cross-promotion
• Develop content for social media, newsletters, and print
• Analyze engagement data and adjust tactics

• Attend crucial conversations training
• Participate in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) assessments
• Role-playing difficult dialogues

• Review and understand team communication playbooks
• Write press releases and prepare media kits
• Coordinate public events and outreach efforts

• Track media coverage and prepare basic reports
• Assist with creating content, posting, and distributing digital media
• Coordinate outreach campaigns and partner promotions

• Interview, hire, manage employees (volunteers)
• Conflict resolution
• Motivate and engage employees

• Situational leadership
• Performance appraisals and development plans

• Build team culture
• Manage interpersonal dynamics
• Delegate tasks effectively

• Attend leadership fundamentals training
• Read industry magazines, articles, newsletters; basic knowledge building

• Obtain coaching certifications or attend workshops
• Participate in peer learning groups

• Gather Developmental 360 feedback

• Understand program/project/event management fundamentals - life cycles
• Utilize tools to manage program/project/event  (e.g. Gantt charts, Smartsheets, etc.)

• Track issues, update timelines, and adjust workflows
  Manage program/project/event  budget
• Understand program/project/event phases and deliverables

• Identify trends and potential new programs
• Develop a plan to implement a new program/project/event 
• Determine staffing levels and instructors needed for program implementation

• Attend program/project/event management fundamentals (lifecycles, monitoring, evaluation, etc.) training
• Utilize risk/issue log templates

• Attend training on tools used to manage all stages of program/project/event
• Develop program/project/event review and assessment templates

• Regularly scan magazines, articles, news, and industry events surrounding trends on new programs/projects/events

• Implement delegation and task coordination (multi-tasking)
• Effectively resolve conflict and execute discretion

• Provide constructive feedback
• Coach and develop others (social awareness)

• Decision-making within scope
• Network - personal and professional

• Lead small projects or programs
• Attend conflict management workshops

• Shadow experienced leaders

• Participate in community outreach initiatives

• Facilitate open communication
• Understand and practice conflict resolution

• Build rapport with team members and volunteers

• Network within Department
• Encourage collaboration

• Lead team meetings and debriefs
• Attend conflict resolution training

• Shadow experienced leaders in networking opportunities
• Participate in community organizations

• Intra-departmental collaboration on programs, projects, and initiatives

• Monitor variances and prepare financial reports.
• Identify financial risk indicators, communicate concerns, and support corrective actions

• Ensure budget actions align with financial policies and internal controls
• Support contract and vendor administration; escalate procurement concerns

• Forecast expenses and assist in developing program fee structures

• Complete intermediate budgeting and financial reporting courses
• Practice forecasting and scenario planning to support budget planning

• Review procurement and payment procedures
• Attend ethics training focused on procurement and spending accountability

• Assist in preparing budget justifications for grants or capital requests
• Shadow finance staff during monthly closing or reporting cycles

• Utilize data entry and reporting tools effectively
• Employ basic data analysis for program improvement

• Manage digital communication channels (social media, newsletters, website)

• Learn new applications relevant to programs, facilities and services

• Utilize data entry and reporting systems
• Learn new applications relevant to programs

• Manage digital communication channels effectively

• Begin basic data analysis to inform programs

• Schedule and coordinate staff and facility use
• Track and reorder supplies as needed

• Monitor usage trends (attendance, utilities, etc.)

• Support sustainability practices

• Facility scheduling software training
• Basic budget and inventory control training

• Collaborate with purchasing/maintenance teams

• Understand the importance of efficiency and implications on budget planning

• Conduct simple field assessments (soil, vegetation, water)
• Implement restoration and habitat protection activities
• Educate the public about conservation practices

• Coordinate volunteers for stewardship projects
• Participate in field surveys and documentation
• Support interpretive programming about cultural heritage

• Assist in implementing preservation strategies
• Begin collaborating with tribal or community liaisons

• Participate in cross-training in water quality, GIS mapping
• Co-lead nature education workshops
• Complete coursework or certifications in cultural resource management or anthropology

• Attend local meetings of allied groups to understand common issues (ecological, urban forestry, etc.)
• Understand systems impacted by natural resource management

• Participate in surveys with senior staff regarding cultural awareness
• Learn introductory legal frameworks (e.g. Section 106 of NHPA)
• Practice crafting culturally informed narratives for programming

• Review and implement safety briefings
• Conduct basic risk assessments, train and supervise staff on safety protocols
• Monitor risk indicators

• Conduct daily safety inspections, and develop simple mitigation strategies
• Investigate and document incidents, and collaborate with team members for risk solutions

• Document and communicate risks effectively
• Apply corrective action for non-compliance

• Lead risk assessment workshops
• Participate in project risk management training

• Use project management tools to track risks
• Facility inspection training

• Role-playing scenario emergency response training
• Staff safety meeting facilitation

• Interpret and apply policies in program and staff management
• Conduct internal audits and inspections

• Conduct staff training and corrective action

• Communicate compliance expectations

• Attend policy compliance refresher courses
• Attend supervisor-specific compliance training (harassment prevention, HR training, etc.)

• Understand and implement use of behavior coaching tools
• Understand compliance issue resolution reporting records

• Staff feedback and evaluation
• Participation in compliance audit training

• Design schedules and timelines for programs
• Coordinate logistics (space, supplies, staff)

• Identify risks and create basic contingency plans

• Evaluate results and adjust future planning

• Design and implement short-term program and event plans
• Coordinate logistics and manage resources efficiently

• Develop simple contingency plans
• Attend workshops on project and time management

• Gather and apply participant feedback for improvement

• Assist in drafting program or site-level plans
• Coordinate small projects or improvement tasks
• Understand local, state, and federal government programs and processes

• Conduct simple condition assessments
• Support stakeholder communication and articulate planning issues to a wide variety of audiences

• Provide recommendations for park/recreation/planning/asset management issues
• Understand the social, economic, and environmental impact of planning decisions on communities

• Assist in program/site-level planning and project coordination
• Conduct simple condition assessments and report findings
• Review data reports and KPIs

• Understand industry technology used for these framework plans
• Attend training on basic planning frameworks and asset management tools

• Support communication to organizational leadership providing critical input for integration into plans

• Conduct more advanced data analysis (trends, comparisons)
• Use data visualization tools

• Perform simple predictive analyses
• Understand data quality and validation

• Summarize research findings effectively

• Training in intermediate Excel or business intelligence programs
• Workshops on evaluation methods and logic models

• Practice writing short data-based summary reports
• Use feedback and survey data to guide decision making

• Understand how to analyze trends in program performance, satisfaction, and impact

• Prepare project/grant/contract applications and budgets
• Coordinate multiple project/grant/contract components simultaneously

• Monitor project/grant/contract compliance, budget, scope of work, and timelines
• Communicate status updates to stakeholders

• Identify and escalate potential issues
• Manage project/grant/contract renewals and amendments

• Take responsibility for coordinating routine projects
• Support grant applications and contract monitoring
• Engage in problem-solving and issue escalation
• Prepare and review  project/grant/contract applications and budgets

• Track deliverables and financial expenditures
• Communicate with project, contracting, and grant staff and funders
• Use project/grant/project management software effectively
• Draft and review simple contracts with supervision

• Track contract compliance and performance metrics
• Communicate effectively with vendors, contractors, stakeholders, and internal teams
• Utilize contract management software proficiently

• Evaluate multiple options using basic criteria
• Prioritize tasks and allocate resources effectively

• Use feedback to adjust decisions
• Begin anticipating consequences of choices and understand their impact

• Executes routine decisions with moderate guidance
• Direct impact on small projects or teams

• Apply decision-making models to program challenges
• Evaluate alternatives using criteria and data

• Learn to anticipate consequences and risks
• Seek and incorporate feedback

• Develop awareness of when and how to seek guidance

• Facilitate team meetings
• Give and receive constructive feedback

• Motivate and encourage team members
• Build rapport and trust

• Manage minor conflicts proactively

• Attend conflict management workshops
• Shadow experienced team leaders or managers

• Engage in coaching and mentoring relationships

• Build rapport with diverse participants and volunteers

• Identify inefficiencies in team workflows
• Support job description updates

• Participate in redesign initiatives

• Communicate structural changes effectively

• Identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies in workflows
• Assist in updating job descriptions and role responsibilities

• Communicate changes clearly to impacted staff

• Participate in small-scale redesign projects