Every company is subject to making plans and, at a certain point, realizing that things are not going exactly as expected. This can occur due to external influences, such as rapid changes in the market and customer preferences, but also because of internal problems, such as communication and interpretation problems.
Because of this, it is very common for the need to question the business model and evaluate what is working well and what needs improvement. An interesting tool to help with this assessment is the Gap analysis, also know as Gap analysis.
Understand better what this method is and what benefits it can bring to your organization:
What is a gap analysis?
Gap analysis is a method used to evaluate a company’s actual performance against its potential. It examines the current performance to identify differences between the current state of the business and where it could or wants to be.
Um Gap — ou lacuna — é uma dissonância que pode decorrer de problemas internos ou não e que gera consequências, como problemas de entendimento e interpretação, prejudicando as tomadas de decisão.
Gap analysis can highlight how resources and assets are being utilized, making it easier to achieve business goals more efficiently, whether they are short- or long-term.
What is it for?
O propósito da realização de uma análise de lacunas é auxiliar a empresa na melhoria de sua eficiência comercial, de seu produto ou sua lucratividade, já que permite a identificação de lacunas ou pontos que precisam de atenção.
Após a conclusão da análise, é possível que os recursos e energia da equipe sejam direcionados às áreas que precisam de melhoria. Isso quer dizer que o Gap analysis serve para apontar mudanças que poderão tornar a organização mais competitiva, bem como os riscos e oportunidades encontrados durante a averiguação.
What are the benefits for business management?
In addition to answering questions about where the company is and where it wants to be, gap analysis offers several advantages, including:
- Helping the company review its current management approach and implement necessary improvements;
- Promoting greater team engagement with focused efforts and directed actions;
- Providing a broader view of the current management system;
- Allowing better resource allocation and improving ROI (Return on Investment);
- Facilitating the identification of market risks and opportunities.
How to perform a gap analysis?
A gap analysis can be applied to a specific department, a single process , or the entire company. The following steps are necessary to identify problems and determine how to address them:
1. Identify the current state
The first step is to determine which aspect of the company will be evaluated. The current state does not have to be purely financial; it can relate to various metrics or attributes.
2. Define the desired state
Este é o momento de identificar metas a serem atingidas em determinado período de tempo, que é o estado desejado da organização. Se a empresa possui um planejamento estratégico, é possível encontrar nele as metas já estabelecidas.
Mapas e gráficos podem ser úteis nessa etapa, para facilitar uma representação clara do estado atual e o desejado.
3. Identify the gaps
A gap is essentially the difference between where the company is and where it wants to be. This is the stage to uncover why the gap exists. It's important to delve deeper and ask questions to determine the reasons behind the gap, such as whether the issue lies in the company's operations, customer relationships, or pricing.
4. Develop actions to close the gaps
After identifying the causes of the gaps, the next step is to devise the most appropriate actions to close them. Achieving viable and effective solutions requires considering the implementation costs of each action, evaluating available resources, and setting deadlines and milestones to track progress.
Finally, it’s crucial not only to conduct the gap analysis but also to ensure the proposed solutions are implemented and monitored for effectiveness. It's also essential to avoid attempting to address too many gaps at once unless they are interconnected. Otherwise, there’s a risk of overburdening the organization and failing to close any gaps effectively.
Agora que você já sabe tudo sobre Gap analysis e como isso pode ser feito, conheça também as Análises de Pareto e para que servem.
