In plain English
It is a piece of work designed to challenge someone in a useful way. It goes beyond their normal duties or current experience, and its purpose is to help them build new skills.
In context
Here, it names a proposed work task or project that would be more demanding than the person's usual duties or current experience, with the aim of helping them develop new skills.
- Situation
- Setting goals, receiving feedback, completing reviews, and discussing performance
- What it communicates
- names a proposed work assignment for skill development.
Meaning limits
The term alone does not show whether the assignment is suitable, mandatory, or certain to lead to successful development.
Examples
“Her manager chose leading the regional budget review as a stretch assignment to build her planning skills, even though it was far beyond her usual scheduling duties.”
“For next quarter, I’m proposing a stretch assignment for Malik: coordinating the branch move so he can practise cross-team planning.”