Gap Analysis is a method used to compare the current state of a business, department, or project with a clearly defined future goal. It helps identify the “gap” between where things are now and where they need to be. This gap can include missing resources, inefficient processes, low performance, or unclear strategies.
By laying out both the current condition and the desired outcome side by side, project managers, product teams, and leadership can figure out what actions are needed to close that gap. It is commonly used in process improvement, strategic planning, skill assessments, and performance evaluations.
A well-structured Excel Gap Analysis Template like ours can help simplify this process. Instead of starting from scratch, the template offers a built-in format to list objectives, compare outcomes, track action steps, and set priorities. Whether you are working on product development, team performance, or long-term business goals, this tool provides a practical starting point to measure gaps and plan ahead.
How Our Template Works
Now let’s explore the fully customizable features of our Gap Analysis Template in a bit more detail:
Define your objectives
It’s important to start your gap analysis with a particular goal in mind, usually an improvement in the way things are. For example, you might want to make changes to achieve specific goals or meet certain KPIs.
Once you know your desired performance levels or outcomes, you basically have a specific objective or a business goal to hit – say, a company that operates regionally now wants to expand into new markets.
But a gap analysis is not the only game in town when it comes to problem-solving. The process of identifying gaps or areas of improvement is quite different for a root-cause analysis, where it is common to start the analysis with a specific problem that you’re trying to get to the source of. You can also use our 5 Whys technique templates to identify the heart of an issue quickly and easily.
If you are having trouble formulating or phrasing your objectives, feel free to use our SMART goal-setting framework to create realistic and measurable goals and define the right objectives for Gap analysis.
Current vs. desired State
In the next column of our template, you record your findings about things as they are. In other words, examine your status quo, preferably based on data-driven insights, to develop a better idea of what needs to improve. For example, you may find that only 50% of your staff has undergone relevant training. This will be your current state.
In the next column, you specify your target or desired state. This will naturally be an improvement on how things stand. For example, you might want to generate 10x more sales than last month or increase website traffic to 100,000 views a day. Regardless of which industry you work in or the size, nature, or complexity of your project, a predefined target state will steer your analysis in the right direction.
Identify & describe gaps
Based on this information, our next column simply tells you whether a gap has been identified or not. We also add a separate column in our template where you can describe the gap identified. Remember, be as specific as possible when describing gaps so all relevant teams or stakeholders can easily understand the problem or discrepancy you are trying to address.
Build an action plan
This is the actionable part of our template, where you come up with action plans to help you bridge any gaps identified. Let’s say you identified high overhead expenses as a gap – your action plan will be to ‘automate manual tasks’, a strategy that will (presumably) help you cut down on overheads.
To make sure that there is someone in your team ensuring that action plans are implemented in a timely way, it’s important to assign the responsibility to a relevant member of the team. This person (or Owner) will be responsible for taking whatever action is needed to close the gap between the current and future state.
You can also assign each objective a specific deadline using our built-in calendar to help you more effectively monitor your progress once the project gets moving. It will also give you an idea of what needs to be completed immediately and what can be left on the back burner for now.
We also added a separate column where you can identify which team or department will be involved in leading the corrective action. This helps your project manager gain a bird’s-eye view of the different people or groups involved and ensure team accountability.
Additional Features
Priority status breakdown
Right at the top of our mainsheet, we also added a pie chart that shows the status of your tasks priority-wise at a quick glance. But why do I need to know this? Well, the fact is not all tasks are equally important. While some may be an urgent priority for a client with the fate of a whole project counting on it, others may be better off on the back burner, say, minor bug fixes or responding to irrelevant emails.
In this column, we use a color-coded system to assign a particular priority level to each objective by assessing its importance in light of overall project needs or client demands. Our drop-down menu lets you choose from three options: ‘High,’ ‘Medium,’ and ‘Low’; however, we have added a configuration sheet in case you want to use different categories to suit your project context.
Any data you enter in the mainsheet will be automatically updated and shown in the Priority Status Breakdown above.
Task status checker
In our template, we use a color-coded system where you can check the status of each task using three default options:
- Not Started
- In Progress
- Completed
If you want to customize this list, we also provide a configuration sheet so you can add, replace, or remove categories to suit your own project needs, organizational, or individual context.
We offer built-in pie charts and bar charts above our mainsheet to give you a quick snapshot of how many tasks of each type have been completed on any given date and how far you still have to go.
Who Is Our Template For?
- Business managers
- Project managers
- Process improvement teams
- Product developers
- Consultants
- Quality Assurance teams
- Stakeholders involved in strategic planning, performance assessments, or organizational change initiatives.
Other Names for a Gap Analysis
- Efficiency tracker
- Needs assessment
- Variance analysis
- Situation analysis
- Performance assessment
Wrap Up
Whether you’re a project lead in an IT firm or an HR manager who wants to know the difference between your team’s current skills and the skills needed to meet your business goals, a gap analysis is a great way to break down complex problems so you can make informed decisions, build actionable plans, and increase productivity. By streamlining the analysis, a pre-made template allows for more efficient use of resources, freeing up more time for actionable steps.
Use our Gap Analysis Template to identify your strengths and weaknesses, set realistic goals, and create the right action plans to achieve your desired outcomes.
