How to Create a Skills / Competency Matrix (Using Free Templates in Matricsy)

How to Create a Skills / Competency Matrix (Using Free Templates in Matricsy)

A skills or competency matrix doesn’t need to be complex to be useful.
What matters is clarity: knowing what skills matter, where the gaps are, and how people can grow.

Below is a simple, practical approach to building a matrix.

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Step 1: Decide What You’re Mapping

Start by choosing the scope:

• Skills matrix - when you want to map specific abilities (tools, technologies, methods).
• Competency matrix - when you want a broader view: skills plus behaviours, collaboration and delivery.

Don’t try to map everything at once. Start with what’s actually needed.

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Step 2: Define What Really Matters

Before listing skills or competencies, ask:

• What does the team need to deliver in the next 6-12 months?
• Which skills or behaviours truly affect outcomes?
• Where do we feel the biggest risks or gaps today?
• Are you creating the matrix at a company level (as a translated strategy), or for a specific team with more focused needs?

This distinction matters.
A company-wide matrix reflects long-term strategy and shared expectations.
A team-level matrix should stay narrower, closer to daily work and delivery realities.

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Step 3: Group Skills and Competencies (Keep It Maintainable)

Use clear categories, for example:

• Technical / role-specific skills
• Delivery & process
• Communication & collaboration
• Ownership & leadership

Keep the matrix at a level of detail that supports decision-making. If competencies are too generic, they don’t drive meaningful conversations. If they are too detailed, the matrix becomes heavy, difficult to maintain, and quickly outdated.

A well-designed matrix focuses on a manageable set of clearly defined competencies - enough to guide development and decisions, but not so many that the tool stops being used.

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Step 4: Use Progress States Instead of Numbers

Avoid 1-5 ratings.

Numeric scales are highly subjective and often depend more on the manager than on reality.
One manager’s “3” is another manager’s “4”.

Instead, use clear progress states:

• Early Progress
• In Progress
• Advanced Progress
• Done

Everyone understands what progress means - numbers don’t. These states support growth-focused conversations instead of debates about scoring.

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Step 5: Turn the Matrix Into Action

Use the matrix as a shared growth roadmap, not a static assessment.

Work with people on the matrix during regular conversations - especially in 1:1s.
Translate competencies directly into clear yearly and quarterly goals, derived from concrete matrix points.

Each competency should show a visible path: from junior-level expectations, through growing independence, to expert-level impact.

When used this way, the matrix becomes:

• a clear development path, not a vague ambition,
• a reference point for reviews and goal-setting,
• a common language for discussing progress,
• and a practical guide for moving from junior to senior and expert roles.

If the matrix doesn’t influence goals, conversations and development decisions, it’s just a spreadsheet.

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Step 6: Treat the Matrix as a Living Tool

A skills or competency matrix must evolve with the organization.

Update it as priorities and expectations change, remove what’s no longer relevant, and refine descriptions when they stop reflecting reality.

For soft skills, include engagement-related competencies - such as contributing to the matrix itself, refining definitions, or sharing insights. This isn’t administrative work; it’s active participation in shaping how the company grows and works.

That’s how the matrix becomes part of the organization - not an external HR artifact.

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Use Free Templates in Matricsy

To get started faster, Matricsy provides free skills and competency matrix templates:

• clear structure and categories,
• progress-based levels instead of numeric ratings,
• easy to adapt to your team or role.

Matricsy provides a growing set of ready-to-use competency and skills matrix templates, covering both technical and non-technical domains, including:

• Frontend and React
• Backend
• DevOps
• QA
• Software House (cross-functional setup)
• HR
• Marketing
• Healthcare
• Manufacturing

Each template is designed as a practical starting point - not a fixed framework.
You’re expected to adapt it: remove what doesn’t apply, refine definitions, and extend it with competencies that reflect your team’s real work, priorities, and growth direction.

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Final Thought

A good skills or competency matrix is simple, focused and regularly used. It supports better conversations, clearer expectations and intentional growth.

Keep it practical. Keep it alive, and use it to make decisions - not to tick a box.