Gap assessment template
It’s easy to see your organization isn’t where it’s supposed to be. It’s not easy to what steps to take toward progress.
It becomes easy when every single person gets regular, objective and personalized feedback.
Pointerpro is the 2-in-1 software that combines assessment building with personalized PDF report generation.
How to conduct a gap assessment for business improvement
Conducting a gap assessment is about finding out how your organization gets from point A (its current state) to point B (its desired state). A gap assessment can be conducted to help individuals take the necessary personal development steps. However, it may just as much be an evaluation of the systems an organization has in place, or doesn’t (vs the systems that should be in place).The bottom-line is this: You need to identify what’s lacking.
Questionnaire-based assessments are one of the best ways to get a full and objective picture of a situation because they gather direct input from the people involved.
Why is it so reliable? Because this method is structured: Everyone answers the same set of questions, which helps eliminate bias and gives you a clear, balanced view. Plus, it’s easy for people to engage with, so you end up with more accurate and useful data to guide your decisions.
But most of all, questionnaire responses can be quantifiable data for you to visualize and formulate objective feedback, in a report: To make progress.
3 reasons to use Pointerpro as a gap assessment tool
3 reasons to use Pointerpro as a gap assessment tool
Interactive user experience
With the Questionnaire Builder, you get to create an engaging feedback form. How? With numerous design and layout options, useful widgets, and countless question types.
Refined, score-based analysis
Our custom scoring engine helps you quantify and categorize diverse answers. The result? An objective and nuanced gap assessment that helps you take action.
Automated feedback in PDF
Thanks to your setup in the Report Builder, employees get a detailed gap analysis and action plan in a PDF report: with personalized and objective feedback.
1.500+ businesses worldwide build assessments with Pointerpro
The importance of custom scoring for your gap assessment
Custom scoring is a crucial capability for a gap assessment tool because it turns subjective answers into measurable data. In other words: Strengths and weaknesses.
When scoring is applied, the your gap assessment template can objectively rank or categorize the results, which is key for generating accurate, meaningful feedback.
An autogenerated report based on scores highlights specific gaps that need attention, offers targeted recommendations, and provides actionable insights. Without scoring, it’s infinitely harder to prioritize issues or compare results consistently, and the feedback report would not be as clear or useful for driving improvement.
In the video below, Pointerpro Product Director Bruno explains the principle of custom scoring, using a simple example.
How long should a gap assessment take?
Of course, everything depends on what you’re assessing exactly. An effective gap assessment template would probably take the typical respondent somewhere between 10 to 20 minutes to complete.
But how do you ensure the evaluation is thorough and doesn’t miss critical details, without exceeding this ideal timeframe? Enter: “assessment logic,” often referred to as “survey logic.”
If you’re developing a very thorough gap assssment that may push the limits of the ideal timeframe, one thing that will help is this: Give your respondent incentive to stay focused. This is why the Pointerpro platform’s Report Builder enables you to automatically convert gap assessment answers into a personalized report, on autopilot.
Gap assessment vs internal audit: what’s the difference?
A gap assessment and an internal audit serve distinct purposes within an organization and differ significantly in how they are conducted.
A gap assessment, set up by an expert consultant or in-house expert, is a more flexible and collaborative process. It collects input from various respondents within the organization to identify where there are shortfalls between current practices and ideal standards.
The focus of a gap assessment report is on improvement. That’s why it often involves employees at different levels to gather perspectives on where skills, processes, or resources are lacking.
An internal audit is a formal review conducted by experts who follow a predefined checklist to assess whether the organization complies with established regulations, policies, or standards. Auditors typically rely on objective criteria to determine compliance.
Here are some concrete differences:
- In a gap assessment, the questions often include the possibility to provide open-ended feedback. Often it’s also rating-based, allowing respondents to express opinions or rate current practices. The responses highlight areas of weakness or where the organization falls short of its goals. In an internal audit, the auditor uses binary evaluations (compliant/non-compliant) to determine whether processes meet pre-defined standards.
- The outcome of a gap assessment is typically an (auto-generated) feedback report that highlights potential gaps and offers recommendations for improvement based on the aggregated responses. An internal audit results in a more formal audit report that identifies any compliance failures or risks and may recommend corrective actions to fix these issues immediately.
- Gap assessments are often forward-looking, aiming to bridge gaps and enhance future performance, while internal audits are present-focused, ensuring the organization is compliant at that moment and managing risks properly.
- The process of a gap assessment encourages broad participation from different levels of the organization to generate a comprehensive view of performance, while an internal audit is narrower in scope, often led by a specialized team of auditors or compliance officers.
Gap assessment vs internal audit: what’s the difference?
Having a maturity model, based on specific expertise or experience, is highly beneficial to develop a gap assessment template. It provides you with a structured framework that outlines different levels of progression in particular areas. In the video below, Pointerpro’s Stacy Demes briefly explains what a maturity model is precisely.
When to (absolutely) use a maturity model for your gap assessment:
- Structured evaluation: If you need a clear and consistent way to evaluate different levels of performance or capability, a maturity model helps define what each level looks like. This makes it easier to measure how far along the organization is and what’s needed to reach the next level.
- Long-term Improvement: If your gap assessment aims at long-term growth and improvement, a maturity model can offer a roadmap for progress, showing exactly how the organization can evolve from one stage to the next.
- Consistency: Maturity models provide a consistent framework across teams or departments. They ensure that everyone is measured by the same standards, making results more comparable and actionable.
When it might be ok not to use a maturity model:
- Simple gap assessments: If your gap assessment is straightforward and focused on identifying specific areas for improvement without needing a staged progression (e.g., identifying skill gaps), a maturity model might be overkill.
- Short-term or specific goals:For short-term assessments focused on immediate fixes or a single improvement area, using a maturity model could complicate the process without adding much value.
Gap assessment example questions
Here are 30 gap assessment example questions divided into 3 categories
- 10 skill gap assessment example questions for sales employees
- 10 gap assessment example questions for sales operations
- 10 gap assessment example questions for customer service
10 skill gap assessment example questions for sales employees
- What strategies do you use to build rapport with new clients?
- How do you prioritize and manage your sales leads?
- Can you describe a recent successful negotiation and the techniques you used?
- What methods do you use to stay informed about industry trends and competitor activities?
- How do you handle objections from potential customers during a sales pitch?
- What tools or software do you use to track and analyze your sales performance?
- How do you adapt your sales approach when dealing with different customer personas?
- Can you explain how you set and achieve your sales goals?
- What training or resources do you believe would help improve your sales performance?
- How do you collaborate with other team members or departments to achieve sales targets?
To assess skill gaps among sales employees effectively, these gap assessment template questions explore various aspects of their role. They focus on understanding current practices and challenges faced by sales employees.
10 gap assessment example questions for sales operations
- What processes are currently in place for tracking sales performance and metrics?
- How do you ensure alignment between sales operations and overall business strategy?
- What challenges do you face with your current sales forecasting methods?
- How effective is your current sales data management system in supporting decision-making?
- What strategies are used to maintain and optimize the sales pipeline?
- How do you assess the efficiency of the sales support functions (e.g., administration, customer service)?
- What tools or technologies are used to streamline sales operations, and how well do they integrate?
- How do you evaluate and improve the effectiveness of sales training programs?
- What are the main obstacles to achieving your sales operations goals?
- How do you manage and prioritize resource allocation for different sales initiatives?
These gap assessment template questions for sales operations are effective because they cover fundamental aspects of the sales process and its supporting functions. They address key areas such as performance tracking, strategic alignment, forecasting, data management, pipeline optimization, support efficiency, tool integration, training effectiveness, obstacle identification, and resource allocation.
By focusing on these critical components, the questions help uncover gaps and inefficiencies within the sales operations. They provide a comprehensive overview of where processes might be failing or where improvements can be made, allowing for targeted action plans. This broad and detailed approach ensures that all relevant aspects of sales operations are examined, leading to a more thorough understanding of current challenges and opportunities for enhancement.
10 gap assessment example questions for customer service
- How do you measure and track customer satisfaction in your service interactions?
- What is the average response time for handling customer inquiries or issues?
- How are customer complaints and feedback collected and addressed?
- What training programs are in place to ensure staff are up-to-date with product knowledge and customer service skills?
- How effective are the tools and technologies used to support customer service operations?
- What processes are followed to ensure consistent and accurate responses to customer inquiries?
- How do you assess the performance of customer service representatives?
- What methods are used to manage and allocate resources across different customer service channels?
- How are escalated issues handled, and what steps are taken to resolve them?
- What strategies are implemented to improve customer service efficiency and effectiveness?
These gap assessment template questions for customer service are effective because they address key areas crucial to delivering high-quality customer support. They examine how customer satisfaction is measured, the efficiency of response times, and the processes for handling feedback and complaints.
The questions also explore the adequacy of training programs, the effectiveness of tools and technologies, and the consistency in service delivery. Additionally, they focus on performance assessment, resource management, issue escalation, and overall strategies for improvement.
By covering these essential components, the questions help identify gaps and areas for enhancement, providing a comprehensive understanding of the customer service function and how it can be optimized for better performance and customer satisfaction.
What Pointerpro clients are saying
Common gap assessment cases to consider for your organization
- ISO 27001 gap assessment checklist: An ISO 27001 gap assessment checklist evaluates an organization's information security management system (ISMS) against the requirements of the ISO 27001 standard. It helps identify gaps in security practices, policies, and controls that must be addressed to achieve ISO 27001 certification and maintain compliance with its guidelines.
- L&D training gap assessment:An L&D (Learning & Development) training gap assessment identifies discrepancies between the current skills and knowledge of employees and the required competencies for their roles. It helps determine which training programs are needed to close these gaps, ensuring employees are better equipped to perform their jobs effectively.
- Gap assessments for digital transformation: A gap assessment for digital transformation identifies the gaps between a company's current digital capabilities and the technology, processes, and skills required to achieve its digital transformation goals. It helps organizations pinpoint areas where updates or investments are needed to successfully transition to more digital and automated operations. Here’s an example of such an assessment we created to showcase some of the capabilities of Pointerpro as an assessment and report generating platform.
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