How to Do a Gap Analysis

A gap analysis is a great tool for a company to evaluate where it is presently in relation to where it wants to be. In a sense, a gap analysis is a way for a company to assess their performance when it comes to meeting their goals that they have set for the company. By performing a gap analysis, you can see how far away you are from your goals and then evaluate what you need to do in order to meet those goals. The object of a gap analysis is to find the gap and then to close the gap. While a gap analysis is a common business term, it can be utilized in any situation including in your personal life. So while the examples below utilize business, the steps can be applied to any situation.

Assess where you are now. To start a gap analysis you need to determine where you are now in relation to your goal or goals. It is important to be as detailed as possible. For instance, instead of saying you are now selling books, you would say that you are selling 20 books a day.

Assess where you want to be. Remember where you wanted to be, meaning what is the end result or goal that you hope to achieve. Again, it is important to be specific here. For example, instead of saying that you want to be selling books daily you should quantify the goal by saying that you want to be selling 50 books a day.

Look for the gap. Now that you know where you are and where you want to be you need to see if those are the same place or if there is a gap. In most instances, there will be a gap between where you want to be and where you are.

Determine how to close the gap. Once you have identified the gap you should brainstorm for ways to close the gap so that you can get to where you want to be. If you have a team that you work with it will be best to do this exercise with them. Try to come up with several strategies that will help to close the gap.

Implement new strategies. Once you have determined ways you can take action to close the gap you should set about doing those things. By putting those new strategies into action you will be able to work towards closing the gap and meeting your goals.