Introduction:
Gap Analysis is a strategic analysis tool that helps businesses identify their true potential and whether they require any further improvements in their performance. This tool gives businesses a broad framework about who they are today, where they want to be, and how will they get there.
What is Gap Analysis?
Gap analysis meaning– This process compares the actual performance or results with the expected performance or results. You can identify missing strategies, structures, processes, capabilities, skills or technologies. Further, it recommends the steps that will help the company to meet its goals. Companies can also analyse individual or team performance with the gap analysis process. Their focus shall be on task competency, productivity, and performance level.
When applied to business processes, gap analysis acts as a reporting process for improvement. Similarly, when applied to a manufacturing or production unit, it balances the integration and allotment of resources from their current allocation level closer to an optimal level. The resources can be money, material, time, or human resources.
Gap Analysis Template:
A gap analysis template states the differences between the expected results and the actual results. It further states the opportunities where the organisation has room to grow. It can visualise your data and show where your organisation is struggling. A gap analysis template can be shown department-wise for the entire business and a single process. You can conduct the Gap Analysis template in four steps:
- Identify the organisation’s current state- Always identify the priority of a strategic plan or a balanced scorecard with your organisation’s current stage.
- Identify where you want to be with your organisation- To achieve the future goal or target, you must think about how you are doing today in your current state. Also, decide where do you want to be in a reasonable timeframe. Always look up to your targeted strategic plan while doing a gap analysis.
- Identify the gaps in your organisation- After you have recognised your organisation’s current state and where you want to be in the future, it is time to bridge the gap. While bridging the gap, keep the following things in mind:
- Be specific about the gap that occurred- Whether it happened while planning or how you work with the customers or prices.
- Get to know why the gap occurred- Complete this process by questioning yourself with the ‘five whys’ –
- Why there was a problem working with the customers? – They want something customised.
- Why do they want customised work? – They are suffering from an unimaginable problem.
- Why didn’t we think about the problems of customers earlier? – Because we started in a different industry than what our most customers are.
- Why haven’t we made any specific product for the industry having problems? – Because the product development team is not thinking to offer new products
- Why aren’t we thinking to offer new products? – Because we are busy in building custom products.
- Identify the places to improve the gaps in the organisation- After discovering the reason, it is time to take proper action to bridge the gap. Based on the following guidelines, make your improvements accordingly:
- Collect all the basis of information that you discovered while identifying the gaps.
- Compute the cost to implement each solution.
Gap Analysis Example:
There are a vast number of business areas where you can use the gap analysis method. Here is a few gap analysis examples where you can use this method:
- Launch of a new product- After launching a new product, do a gap analysisof why the actual sales didn’t meet the targeted sales.
- Sales performance- Manufacturers can look at the sales performance and use the result to maximise their production. They can analyse whether they are producing the right mix.
- Productivity- If the factory’s productivity is not meeting the targeted expectations, customer needs, or other business requirements.
- Supply Management– In case the organisation is running short to supply their product to meet the demands, they can do a gap analysis to find out why.
- Product Evaluation– Companies can do a gap analysisto ensure that their products have all the features and functions needed for the business requirements.
Conclusion:
The Gap Analysis technique helps to uncover the differences between expectation and reality. Hence, it guides the decision-makers to make better decisions for their businesses. This is a growing field of a career with ample job opportunities. Therefore, if you want to establish a career in this field, you can do a business analytics course offered by Jigsaw Academy.
Reference:
https://www.smartsheet.com/gap-analysis-method-examples
