A needs assessment is a process for determining the needs, or “gaps,” between current and desired outcomes. It’s a part of strategic planning—essentially, a needs assessment helps you pinpoint how you’ll accomplish your strategic goals. A need is an opportunity for improvement within a particular process or system .
When used properly, this assessment provides valuable insight into your teamÂ’s processes and highlights areas for efficiency improvements. By listening to your team members and improving any painful processes, you can help them achieve their highest-impact work faster .
A needs assessment consists of three main parts: initiation, data collection and analysis, and final production . It can be used to analyze data and inform internal changes in existing processes such as automating duplicative manual work or underperforming customer journey processes .
We have also found a practical guide to creating a needs assessment that you might find helpful .