Gap Analysis in Project Management
What is Gap Analysis?
Gap analysis is a strategic process that involves identifying the discrepancies or gaps between a current state and a desired state in a particular context. It’s basically a diagnostic tool used to assess where an entity or individual currently stands in relation to their objectives or goals and where they aspire to be. This can be achieved by comparing existing practices, processes, or conditions to recognized standards, best practices, or predetermined benchmarks.
To illustrate, let’s consider a student aiming to improve his academic performance. In this scenario, the current state represents the student’s current grades, study habits, and academic performance. The desired state, on the other hand, represents the student’s academic goals, such as achieving higher grades, earning a scholarship, or excelling in a specific subject. The gap analysis process involves an analysis of his current study routines, test scores, and areas of weakness (current state) compared to the established ways to study effectively and the specific goals he has set for himself (desired state).
By identifying the gaps between his current performance and his academic aspirations, he can develop a targeted plan to bridge those gaps. This might include adopting more efficient study methods, seeking additional help, or setting clear milestones to monitor progress.
Gap analysis, in this context, serves as a roadmap for academic improvement by highlighting areas that need attention and guiding the student toward their desired educational outcomes.
Types of Gap Analysis
There are multiple different types of gaps that can be identified using gap analysis. Some key gaps are:
- Performance Gaps: Also called Strategy Gaps, they are used to describe the variance between expected and real performance.
- Profit Gaps: Refers to the difference between actual and targeted profit
- Product Gaps: Also called Market Gaps, product gaps refer to the disparity between actual and budgeted sales.
- Manpower Gaps: Defines the gap between actual and required personnel or actual and desired workforce performance.
Applying Gap Analysis in Product Management
Gap analysis is a vital approach in product management used to bridge the gap between a product’s current state and its desired state. In product management, this method involves assessing the product’s existing features, performance, and user feedback in order to understand its current state. The desired state represents the strategic objectives and vision for the product’s future development.
For instance, consider a fintech aiming to improve financial inclusion by offering digital banking services to underserved communities in multiple countries. The current state may reveal that the product lacks key features like multi-language support and support for multiple currencies. The desired state, on the other hand, envisions a product accessible to a broader user base, including those with language barriers, and educational status.
Gap analysis helps product managers identify these gaps and develop strategies to enhance the product’s reach and functionality, such as implementing offline capabilities and expanding language options.
Getting Started
To get started, I’ve created a template with the help of Chat GPT, which you can access here, and if you want to visualize the analysis, get one for free on Miro.
You can also read about how I applied gap analysis to a project here.
Thank you for reading :)
