A strong software engineer may want to become an engineering manager without yet having demonstrated every skill the role requires. Skill gap analysis compares the capabilities a role or team needs with the capabilities people have shown. An unobserved skill is not necessarily a missing one: someone may simply not have had a chance to demonstrate it. section 2.2.4
Make the comparison useful rather than subjective:
- Start with a career leveling guide or a relevant list of skills. Assess evidence collaboratively in an objective, data-driven gap-analysis document. section 2.2.4
- Assign tasks that call for the desired skills, and ask about relevant past situations when current work has not offered a chance to show them. section 2.2.4
- Use identified gaps to plan development. For team-wide gaps, consider whether external hiring would add needed expertise; cross-train to reduce the risk of a gap when someone leaves. section 2.2.4 section 7.3.1 section 8.4.3
A team capability gap
If a team needs machine-learning expertise it does not have, hiring someone with that background can address the gap. Allow time for the new hire to learn the team’s technology and culture. section 7.3.1
