Team Skills Matrix / Capability Map Template
One spreadsheet mapping every rep's proficiency across every core competency, with tenure and role metadata — the system-of-record input every coaching, hiring, and promotion decision should start from.
What's inside
- The full column set (role, tenure, all 10 competencies, composite, flags)
- A blank matrix ready to populate
- The allowed data-source hierarchy for scoring
- Decision rules mapping the matrix to coaching, hiring, promotion, succession, and territory calls
- Refresh-cadence guidance
- The Matrix-vs-Heatmap usage distinction
Purpose
The single spreadsheet every coaching, hiring, promotion, and succession decision should start from. Where the Skill-Gap Heatmap is a fast, frequently-refreshed diagnostic, this Matrix is the system of record: it carries metadata (tenure, role, last-assessed date) and is built to answer questions beyond "who needs coaching this month."
Columns
| Column | What Goes Here |
|---|---|
| Rep Name | |
| Role / Level | (e.g. AE, Senior AE, SDR, Team Lead) |
| Hire Date | |
| Tenure (months) | auto-calc from hire date |
| Manager | |
| Prospecting | 1-5 |
| Discovery & Needs Diagnosis | 1-5 |
| Qualification Rigor | 1-5 |
| Value Articulation | 1-5 |
| Objection Navigation | 1-5 |
| Negotiation | 1-5 |
| Deal Control & Closing | 1-5 |
| Stakeholder & Multi-thread Mgmt | 1-5 |
| Account Growth & Expansion | 1-5 |
| Process Discipline & Forecast Accuracy | 1-5 |
| Composite Score | average of the 10 |
| Last Assessed | date |
| Assessed By | |
| Promotion-Readiness Flag | Ready / Developing / Not Yet |
| Flight-Risk Flag | Low / Medium / High (informational, not punitive) |
| Notes | free text |
Blank Matrix (copy this row per rep)
| Rep | Role | Hire Date | Tenure (mo) | Manager | Prospecting | Discovery | Qualification | Value Artic. | Objection Nav. | Negotiation | Deal Control | Stakeholder | Acct Growth | Process Disc. | Composite | Last Assessed | Assessed By | Promo Flag | Flight Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Data Sources — What's Allowed to Feed a Score
- Call Coaching Observation Scorecard results (primary source — most defensible)
- Manager direct observation, logged with date and example
- Deal outcome patterns, used only to flag a competency for review, never to set the score directly
- Rep self-assessment, always paired with manager calibration (see the Rep-to-Manager Readiness Assessment for a self-assessment scoring model you can reuse)
Never back-fill a score from a performance review or comp decision — that reverses cause and effect and corrupts the matrix as a coaching tool.
How Each Decision Should Read the Matrix
Coaching allocation — sort by Composite Score ascending, and separately scan each competency column for team-wide softness (see the Heatmap's Priority Flag rule).
Hiring gap analysis — before opening a req, look at which competency columns are weakest across the whole team, not just individuals. If your team is systemically weak at Negotiation, hire for demonstrated negotiation strength this cycle, and coach the rest through the Framework Builder and coaching cadence tools instead of hiring around every gap.
Promotion readiness (IC → Senior IC or IC → Manager) — Composite Score alone is not sufficient. Cross-reference with the Rep-to-Manager Readiness Assessment for management-track promotions; for senior IC tracks, require Composite ≥ 4.0 with no individual competency below 3.
Succession planning — identify, per role, the rep(s) with Composite ≥ 4.0 and Tenure ≥ 12 months as your bench; track how many roles have zero qualified bench candidates — that's your succession risk list.
Territory/account assignment — match Account Growth & Expansion and Stakeholder & Multi-thread Management scores to account complexity; don't put a rep with a 2 on Stakeholder Mgmt on your most multi-threaded enterprise account and expect a different outcome.
Refresh Cadence
Full re-assessment quarterly. Update Composite immediately after any competency score changes by 1 point or more (triggered by a coaching cycle closing, a new scored call, or a self-assessment cycle).
Matrix vs. Heatmap
Use the Rep Skill-Gap Heatmap Template week-to-week for fast reads. Use this Matrix as the quarterly system-of-record that hiring, promotion, and succession decisions are built on — and that you can hand to a new manager on day one to get them oriented on the team instantly.
How to use it
Build one row per rep, score from the Call Coaching Observation Scorecard and direct observation, and re-derive the Composite each quarter — then use the decision rules above whenever a hiring, promotion, or territory question comes up instead of relying on memory or recency bias.