Team Skill Matrix

To have more clarity on the composition of our team, the use of a Team Skill Matrix can be particularly interesting. The version proposed by the Management 3.0 seems to me particularly useful because it is simple, visual and effective.

I propose in this article to describe to you how it works 🙂

How to use it ?

The basic principle is to collectively complete the Matrix described below, of which here is an example:

Let's take a look at the different sections together to make this more explicit. I will describe them to you in the sequence that seems to me the most coherent in terms of animation but you can of course do otherwise 🙂

Section 1: Activities

In this first section, we describe all the activities carried out by the team. In the example given, the team seems to be working in a restaurant. Thus, there are the following activities: Cocktails, Customer service, Food, non-violent communication and Accounting.

I find it interesting to see Nonviolent Communication listed here. Indeed, showing soft skills can be a good idea to give a more global vision to the team's activities.

We see that the level of detail is not particularly high and it actually depends on you: the more precise you are on the description of the activities, the easier the answers to the following questions will be. However, this risks extending the list to a level of detail that may not be necessary.

For example: Cocktails could also be described as " design cocktails " Or " Make cocktails“, which could be different activities requiring different skills.

Section 2: Team Members

In this section, nothing very complicated, you just have to list all the team members you want to study. Indeed, the difficulty lies above all in the choice of the perimeter of the team that you wish to study.

Do I consider:

• the entire production team, all disciplines combined?
• all the developers even if it means making another matrix for the BAs?
• external people who contribute punctually?

As always, keep in mind the information you want to get from the exercise, this will clarify which team members to show on this matrix at this time. 😉

Section 3: Minimum desired skills

This section is for me the heart of the interesting conversations of the team. It is split into 2 parts:

1. the definition of skill levels
2. the minimum structure necessary to function serenely

Definition of skill levels

For the definition of skill levels, it is usual to use a 3 level ladder. This simply allows you to have an intermediate level between the expert and the newbie. You can of course have more, but is it really necessary? 🙂

An example could be:

• Green : Expert, Autonomous on the activity, Can train others on the subject
• Orange : Has sufficient knowledge to advance but may require assistance
• Red : Doesn't know anything about it, has never worked on the subject

Now, the important thing is mostly the conversation that will take place to make sure everyone understands what is meant by each level.

Minimal structure needed

When the skill levels have been defined, we will determine the minimum team structure that we think is necessary for each activity to run smoothly. Each activity is then scrutinized in order to have a clearer vision of the “ideal” conditions for the team.

If we take the example above:

• The "Cocktail" activity requires one person at the green level and one at the orange level
• The "Customer Service" activity requires 5 people with an orange level but a green level
• …

Important to note: we are talking about the team structure minimal, which implies that the total need not equal the number of team members. Indeed, it is by discussing the importance of the activity in relation to the challenges of the team that you will realize the realistic cursor to place.

Now, keep in mind that nothing is set in stone and this will be a good starting point to calibrate the team no matter what!

Section 4: Self-assessment

When each activity has its minimum structure defined, we can move on toself-assessment of each member of the team. Thus, each person indicates for each activity his level of competence as he/she perceives it.

Moreover, it is an important factor to take into account to use the results wisely. Indeed, one could add here a sharing phase where everyone could give their opinion on the evaluation of each other for refine the grid.

For once, I never do it because it is an inaccuracy that I consider acceptable. Besides, I consider (perhaps wrongly) that people have more tendency to underestimate only to overestimate yourself which leads to good surprises on the ground! 😉

Anyway, the exercise is usually done individually and does not require much time (between 5 and 10 minutes). This obviously depends on the number of activities you have listed!

Debriefing

When the matrix is completely filled, we then move on to the debriefing phase where we will compare the minimum structures with the actual reality of the team. We will thus be able to see the areas of activity where the team is rather calm and those on which to put an action plan in place.

In our example, we see that:

Conclusion

The team competence matrix is an excellent way to concretely improve the functioning of a collective. More than the result, it is the exercise itself that helps to consolidate the team.

Indeed, its reflexive side allows you to take a step back and establish the right bases for conversation between the members. In addition, this tool has the advantage of being visual and therefore easy to understand and apprehend by the participants. Finally, the animation is facilitated by the very structure of the matrix which can help in the sequencing of actions and reflections.

So I invite you to test it with your teams and let me know! 🙂

For my part, I will offer you in another article, a contextualized use of this tool.