Worksheet for Determining Skill Gaps

INSTRUCTIONS

Use this worksheet to identify the skills required to complete team tasks, assess the relevant skills of current
and potential team members, and uncover any skill gaps. Does your team have the skills you need? Do you
have enough resources in each skill area?

Part I. Identify Required Skills

List the team’s goals.

To achieve these goals, what tasks (and subtasks) does the team need to complete? List the required tasks.

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© 2014 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business School Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School
To complete these tasks, what specific skills does the team need? List the required skills.

As you list your required skills, consider each of these skill sets:

• Technical: Expertise in specific areas, such as market research, finance, and software programming
• Problem-solving: Ability to analyze difficult situations and craft solutions that others may not see
• Interpersonal: The capacity to work effectively with others
• Organizational: Understanding the organization’s political and logistical landscape, and forming networks of
contacts throughout the organization
• Communication: The ability to effectively and efficiently exchange information and listen to others

Part II. Assess Relevant Skills

List your current and potential team members. List each team member's relevant skills (i.e., those relevant to
the required skills identified in Part I). You may uncover some overlap in skills. In the third column, write
down your initial thoughts about what tasks you might associate with a person to accomplish the tasks
identified in Part I. By associating skills and tasks, you may discover that you have too much skill in one area
or not enough in another.

TEAM MEMBER RELEVANT SKILLS ASSOCIATED TASKS

Example: Mary management skills coordinate team work

IT knowledge act as liaison with IT

Part III. Uncover Skill Gaps

Compare the table you completed in Part II to the required skills and tasks you listed in Part I. Using your
existing and potential team members, can you cover all the skills required to complete the team tasks? Are

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© 2014 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business School Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School
there any skill gaps? If so, list the skills you still need to complete all the tasks.

If you have not identified a team member to cover each of the required skills and tasks, how do you plan to
fill the gap? Consider whether any team members could acquire the needed skills. Also, consider whether
you need additional resources in any skill area.

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© 2014 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business School Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School