An SDD is a chance to talk to your manager about your own and the organisation’s development – and it is an opportunity for you to give your manager feedback and to influence your career and your assignments.

How to get the most out of the SDD:

Prepare for the SDD

Start by considering whether there is a balance between your assignments, the competences you need to perform your work – and what makes you thrive in your working life. You might reflect on the following:

• How well are your current competences (academic, personal and social) aligned with your assignments and your wishes for your career/working life?
• What makes you thrive and what motivates you in your assignments and cooperative relations?

Consider whether there are any special issues in relation to these questions that you need to discuss with your manager.

It is a good idea to run through previous SDD forms to refresh your memory about previous agreements, and to see if they are still relevant, or if follow-up is needed on any issues.

Please also read the 'Guide to Staff Development Dialogues (SDD)' and prepare for your dialogue using the 'SDD Dialogue Guide'.

All relevant material can be found under 'For employees' at www.au.dk/en/sdd

Agreements and conclusions

The last part of the SDD is important. This is when progress is created, thus making the dialogue worthwhile.

As an employee, you can help ensure that conclusions on the dialogue are drawn and that it is specifically agreed who does what and when.

After the dialogue

It is a really good idea to fill out an 'agreement form' immediately after the dialogue as a way of recording the things you talked about and to facilitate follow-up.

The AUHRA system can be used to fill out and file the agreement form, so that you avoid having to keep track of a piece of paper. The form can always be retrieved from AUHRA – even if your work situation and/or line of reporting at AU should change.

The filed agreement form can be accessed by both you and your manager, and you can set a follow-up date for each agreement. If relevant, you could agree on a date for a follow-up meeting right away.

Download agreement form and see the IT guidelines available here