# 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.

Free template for sales managers. Topic: [Skills, Competencies & Career Growth](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/topic/skills-competencies-career-growth/). Published by PeerLab in the [Sales Enablement Resource Library](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/). Source: https://www.peerlab.ai/library/team-skills-matrix-capability-map-template/

## 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.

## 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
1. Call Coaching Observation Scorecard results (primary source, most defensible)
2. Manager direct observation, logged with date and example
3. Deal outcome patterns, used only to flag a competency for review, never to set the score directly
4. 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.