Building your team’s skills and capabilities
In a previous blog, I wrote about engaging your team by connecting them to your organisation's purpose and ensuring alignment on key goals. Now, let's think about a critical element for achieving those goals – your team members’ skills and capabilities.
As well as business leaders, this post is particularly relevant for leaders in nonprofits, charities, and community service groups, who often rely on a mix of paid staff and dedicated volunteers. It's about identifying skill gaps, leveraging your existing talent, and creating a plan for the continuous development of your team members.
Identifying the skills you need
Start by taking a comprehensive look at the skills needed to deliver your products or services and meet your challenges effectively.
A "training needs analysis" (TNA) can be a useful tool for this process. A TNA involves assessing the current skills of your team and comparing them to the skills needed to meet your team’s or organisation's objectives.
Ask yourself
• What skills are essential for our team to achieve our goals?
• What skills do we have in the team?
• Do we have any skills gaps that are hindering our progress?
Creating a skills matrix
A skills matrix is a visual representation of the skills and capabilities within your team. Here's how to create one.
1. List the essential skills needed. Identify the key skills and capabilities needed to run your team or organisation successfully (e.g. Finance, project management, communication, customer service, presenting, fundraising, volunteer coordination).
2. List your team members. Create a column for each member of your team, including both paid staff and volunteers (if you have any).
3. Assess the individual skill levels. For each team member, indicate their proficiency in each skill area (e.g. using a checkmark, rating scale, or color-coding).
Here’s an example skills matrix.
Skill Team member 1 Team member 2 Team member 3
Finance ✓
Project Management ✓ ✓
Communication ✓ ✓ ✓
Fundraising ✓
The benefits of a skills matrix are;
• Identifies skill gaps. Clearly highlights areas where your team lacks expertise.
• Reveals over-reliance. Shows if you're too dependent on one or two individuals for specific skills. This can be a risk to the team.
• Informs training plans. Helps you prioritise training initiatives to address the skill gaps.
• Supports succession planning. Enables you to identify individuals with the potential to move into more senior roles.
Addressing the skill gaps
Once you've identified the skill gaps, consider these options.
• Training. Provide training opportunities for team members to develop new skills or enhance existing ones.
• Mentoring. Pair experienced team members with those who are new to a particular skill.
• Recruitment. Seek out new employees or volunteers who possess the skills you need.
• Board expertise. Actively recruit Board members with skills that fill your organisation's gaps.
Leveraging hidden talents
Don't overlook the skills that your team members possess and use outside of their roles within your organisation. Ask them about their hobbies, volunteer activities, and other interests. You might discover hidden talents that could benefit your organisation. People often enjoy using skills they have outside of the organisation, so let them use them in the workplace.
Building a culture of continuous learning
Encourage a culture of continuous learning and development within your team. Provide opportunities for your team members to expand their knowledge and skills, and recognise their efforts to improve.
Summary
A skills matrix, that you action and keep up to date, will help highlight any gaps and help you make plans for the future.
By investing in the development of the skills and capabilities of your team, you'll strengthen your organisation's ability to achieve its mission, improve its performance, and make a greater impact on the customers, clients, or communities you serve.
If you need some help, get in touch to talk about how I could work with you to make this happen.
These observations, experiences and lessons are taken from my Exceptional Team Blueprint® book which is available on Amazon here.
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