Team Competency Matrix

A team competency matrix is an excellent tool for mapping the necessary and available skills for a team.  To formulate a competency matrix:

• Define the relevant skills.  What are the pertinent skills and core competencies the team needs in order to succeed?
• Assess team members on their current skill levels.  For each skill, rank a person’s current proficiency.
• Develop insights.  Use the matrix to understand where you have adequate coverage and where you have deficits.  The visual nature of the matrix helps you see these opportunities very quickly and clearly.
• Keep it up to date.  This is an excellent way to monitor the impact of your learning and development efforts.

Some teams will also track how interested team members are in developing certain competencies.  This can help ensure that development efforts focus not just on the team’s needs, but also on the needs and interests of the individual team members.