What's In Your GAP...Analysis?

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

 

I can remember back in the hay days of SDLCs: Everyone got good at using the lingo, but few actually understood or deployed the concepts and tools. In the 1980s as today, one person's systems design is another person's scratching on the back of a napkin. The only thing the two have in common is the spelling of the word "design."

So it is with GAP analysis.

So here is one man's definition and rules related to the performing and construction of a GAP analysis. In order not to confuse this approach to others I will call it RGAP (Rapid GAP Analysis Process).

There are two basic phases to performing a RGAP: facilitation (phase 1) and diagnostics (phase 2). During phase 1, the facilitator shares with the participants a set of specific objectives that need to be achieved. The facilitator's goal is to draw out of the participant's two basic views:

1.       The current issues/situations (Current Situations – CS) that are preventing the organization from achieving the goal presented

2.       A consensus on what a solution would look like (Preliminary Goals – PG)

Typically this process will take about an hour to complete.

Personally, I use a low-tech approach--a flip chart--for the facilitation process. I like flip charts because as pages fill up they can be posted on the walls so all can see…

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