The pace of change has accelerated drastically. As organizations adapt to disruption and increasing uncertainty, the capabilities teams need to deliver results are shifting faster than ever. This makes systematically assessing current team skills and projecting future capability gaps essential.

Conducting a skills gap analysis ensures your group stays aligned, agile and able to execute strategic priorities in flux. Making this a regular practice sets up more dynamic, data-driven development planning that evolves as new demands emerge.

Top reasons formally evaluating team capabilities matters now –

• 1) Skill lifespan shrinks - technical fluency and niche expertise have a shorter half-life as tools automate, AI advances and virtual work transforms operations.

• Need identification lags - managers often spot underperformance late, missing windows to successfully upskill struggling employees.

• Assumptions drive disconnection - leaders lean on outdated perceptions of worker strengths rather than objectively diagnosing gaps.

• Learning curves lengthen - onboarding and adopting new competencies takes more time without in-person proximity and onboarding.

Follow these steps to conduct your own skills gap analysis –

1. Define 3-5 top priority objectives for your team in the next 12 months. What business outcomes must the group deliver on?

2. Determine what specific skills, knowledge and behaviors will be most vital to achieving these objectives.

3. Create a skills matrix cataloging proficiency data - for each teammate, assess their expertise levels across the vital capabilities identified.

4. Pinpoint priority gaps - where do the biggest discrepancies lie between required competencies and current workforce abilities?

5. Craft targeted development plans - assign training, stretch assignments, mentoring goals and upskilling activities tailored to pressing skill gaps uncovered.

Then continue iterating this process - at least quarterly - to keep up with changing demands. Employee capabilities and organizational priorities rarely stay static for long anymore. Stay on top of emerging skills gaps to build future-ready teams able to execute and thrive through ongoing transformations.