When it comes to improving business performance, how do you determine the distance between your current state and your goals? That’s where gap analysis comes in.
You might ask, ‘What exactly is a gap analysis?’ or ‘How can it help me in my project endeavors?’ Simply put, a gap analysis identifies the difference between current and desired performance, helping to highlight areas for improvement in your project.
In this blog, we’ll guide you through everything you need to know about gap analysis—from understanding what it is and how to conduct one, to exploring different types and offering free templates you can use. Ready to bridge the gap?
At its core, gap analysis is a strategic project management process that seeks to identify the difference between the existing position and the ideal position of a project or a business. Whether it involves process improvement, skills set of a team, or business alignment, gap analysis helps organizations identify where they are falling short.
But how does gap analysis fit into project management? Simply put, it helps you understand where inefficiencies or misalignments are, so you can drive improvement. The gap between the current state and where you want could be missed deadlines, underutilized resources, or even team skill shortages.
By identifying these gaps early on, you can correct them before minor issues become major problems.
What Role Does A Gap Analysis Template Play?
A gap analysis template gives you a framework to systematically assess and document gaps. It saves time by breaking down data into clear sections, so you can see where you’re underperforming and where you need to improve. Instead of starting from scratch, templates help you along the way, so you can maintain consistency and thoroughness across all your projects.
Smartsheet software can simplify this process by offering customizable templates, helping you efficiently track gaps.
Ultimately, gap analysis is a powerful tool for assessing project performance, ensuring your team stays right on track, and aligning resources with your business objectives.
Download a free gap analysis template and start minimizing the gap.
The process of carrying out a gap analysis consists of several vital steps to discover and close the gaps between the current and the future state.
By following these steps, you will systematically address the gaps in your processes and improve the overall performance.
There are various types of gap analysis and understanding them can help you tailor your approach to address specific needs within your organization. These include:
The following are a number of various gap analysis templates at your disposal:
General Gap Analysis Template
Use this gap analysis template for any situation—regulatory compliance or cost-benefit analysis. If there isn’t a template for your exact situation or you’re not sure from where to start, use this template to identify the gaps and get the process moving towards closing or resolving them.
Skills Gap Analysis Template
This template helps employees improve their skills, making them more qualified for promotions or enabling them to perform better in their jobs. It includes sections for documenting skills, proficiency levels, desired goals, and a space for devising an action plan with specified start and end dates to facilitate the employee's skill development journey.
Process Gap Analysis Template
Use this process gap analysis template to review processes, identify gaps, and plan improvements or updates. This template has sections to document the process, specifying the process owner, and current vs desired outcomes. Use the action items and target date fields to start developing a plan to fix the process.
Market Gap Analysis Template
Use a market gap analysis to find new sales opportunities, to identify mismatches between supply and demand or to identify diversification opportunities. This approach uses the Ansoff Matrix methodology. Once you understand the current situation, this template will help businesses to navigate towards the identification of potential top-tier enhancement options.
Data Gap Analysis Template
Carry out a data gap analysis to determine what data is required in order to respond to user’s questions and start the process of obtaining the missing data. Make use of the templates for outlining data resources, queries, necessary data to resolve and rationales for data absence to get an understanding of the data environment.
Use action plans, deadlines, and the responsibilities assigned to begin the process of tackling the outcomes of the analysis.
Vendor Gap Analysis Template
Use this template to choose a new vendor or evaluate an existing vendor. It has spaces to define your requirements, costs, and priorities for vendor selection or evaluation.
By now, you should have a clear understanding of gap analysis and how to leverage various templates to enhance your business performance. Whether addressing skills shortages, process inefficiencies, or strategic misalignments, gap analysis provides a structured approach to pinpointing and bridging the gaps.
Utilizing these free templates to streamline your assessment, develop actionable plans, and drive meaningful improvements. Ready to transform your performance? Download your gap analysis templates today and start closing those gaps.
Please visit our project management resources center section for further assistance.
