Record the assignment frame first. Everything in the report header, and the filename of anything you export, comes from this page.
Assignment record
Units in scope
Name every department, division or team you will analyse. These names populate the overlap matrix, the gap register and the staffing plan, so enter them before moving on. For a small organization, list functions or individuals instead.
| Unit | Stated mandate | Head / reports to | Staff | Notes |
|---|
Score each statement on how far it holds true in practice, not on paper. Score what you can evidence; mark anything else N/A so it is excluded from the average rather than counted as a zero. The evidence box is what makes the score defensible in the report.
Capacity profile
List every function the mandate requires, then judge whether it is actually being performed and by whom. A function nobody owns, or one owned by a unit without the means to deliver it, is a gap. The seeded rows are a generic backbone — delete what does not apply and add the functions specific to this organization's mandate.
Functional gap register
| Required function | Owner now | Performed? | Nature of gap | Evidence | Consequence if unaddressed | Severity | Priority |
|---|
Map who does what across units. Click a cell to cycle through A (accountable — the single unit answerable for the result), R (responsible — does the work), C (consulted), I (informed). The tool flags every function with two or more accountable units, with no accountable unit, or with work spread across three or more units.
Responsibility matrix
Units come from the Setup page. Add units there and the columns appear here.
Overlap findings
| Function or process | Units involved | Type | Effect observed and proposed resolution |
|---|
Coordination fails in predictable places: undefined handovers, forums without follow-through, and information that moves up but not across. Score the practice, then inventory the actual mechanisms and judge whether each one works.
Coordination strength
Mechanism inventory
| Mechanism | Type | Who takes part | Frequency | Written terms? | Decisions tracked? | Works in practice | Note |
|---|
Separate what leadership can fix from what it can only manage around. Rate severity and how much control the organization actually has; the tool ranks constraints by severity weighted towards those within reach.
Constraint register
| Domain | Constraint | Root cause | Effect on delivery | Severity | Control | Rank |
|---|
Translate the gaps into establishment terms. Start from the functions you marked absent or partial, then state the post that would carry them. The gap column is calculated; the sourcing column is where the recommendation actually lands.
Establishment and post gaps
| Post / role | Unit | Level | In post | Needed | Gap | Function it carries | Sourcing | Urgency | Cost note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Skills and competency gaps
| Competency | Where it is needed | Current level | Level required | Gap | How to close it | Timeframe | Who |
|---|
Every score below 2, every unowned or duplicated function, and every severe constraint is a candidate finding. Generate the draft list, then edit it into the findings you will actually defend — the register is what carries into the report.
Findings and recommended actions
| Area | Type | Finding | Recommended action | Owner | Horizon | Priority | Effort |
|---|
Drafting again adds only findings that are not already in the register, so you will not lose your edits.
Report
Builds from whatever is entered. Print gives you a clean document with the tool chrome removed.
A working sequence for using this instrument on assignment. It is designed so one consultant can run it alone, from a two-person office up to a ministry.
Before fieldwork
- Complete Setup and paste the mandate. Everything downstream is judged against it.
- Enter the units. For an organization under about 15 people, enter functions or named individuals instead of departments — the logic is identical.
- Request in advance: organogram, strategic plan, approved establishment and current staff list, job descriptions, last two annual reports, latest audit and management letter, minutes of the top two management forums, any service charter or SOPs.
Evidence to gather against each module
- Capacity — documents plus interviews. Ask for the artefact, not the assurance: "may I see it" separates 3s from 1s.
- Functional gaps — read the mandate clause by clause and ask who does this, how often, and what it produced last quarter.
- Overlaps — build the matrix from the job descriptions first, then correct it in interviews. Where a unit's own account differs from another unit's, you have found something.
- Coordination — ask for minutes and the action log. A forum that meets but tracks nothing scores 1.
- Constraints — ask managers what stops them delivering, then test whether the cause sits inside the organization.
- Staffing — compare the approved establishment against people actually in post, then against the workload the mandate implies.
Interview prompts that work
- Describe what your unit is accountable for, in one sentence.
- Which decisions can you take alone, and which must go up?
- What arrives late or incomplete from elsewhere in the organization?
- Which piece of your work does another unit also do?
- If one post were added tomorrow, what would it be and what would it fix?
- What did the last management meeting decide, and what happened to it?
Reading the scores
- Below 40% — the function is not dependable; treat as a redesign candidate.
- 40–64% — exists but inconsistent; usually a process and supervision problem, not a structure problem.
- 65–84% — established; improvements are incremental.
- 85% and above — a genuine strength; say so explicitly and protect it in any restructuring.
Cautions
- Scores are structured judgement, not measurement. Their value is the evidence attached, so never present a number without the note behind it.
- Triangulate before recording a low score: one aggrieved informant is not a finding.
- Distinguish a structural gap from a staffing gap. Adding posts to a broken process multiplies the problem.
- Validate the draft findings with management before the final report. Disputed facts are cheap to fix at draft stage and expensive afterwards.
Your data
- Work is kept in this browser as you type, so you can close the page and come back on the same device and browser.
- Use Save file for the durable copy and to move an assessment between devices, and Open file to load it back. Export CSV when you want the tables in Excel.