PMP lesson · People & Team Leadership · Building the team · lesson 6 of 6 · about 6 minutes
Training, skills gaps and knowledge transfer
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Goal: After this lesson you can find skills gaps early, plan training as part of resource management, and protect the project from single points of knowledge.
1The situation
Four weeks' notice
The robot cell uses a PLC platform nobody on the team has used before. The sponsor says: “They're good engineers; they'll learn on the job.”
Then Ana, the only person who knows the safety PLC, announces she is leaving in four weeks. Nobody else understands her work.
Skills are a resource like money and time. They must be planned, and knowledge must not live in one person's head.
2Plan skills like any other resource
During resource planning, compare the skills needed with the skills available. Gaps are risks. Close them with training, mentoring, pairing or hiring, and include the time and cost in the plan.
“Learn on the job” for a critical, unfamiliar technology is a risk, not a plan. Assess the gap and propose a targeted approach.
3A skills matrix shows the gaps
Skill
Ana
Ben
Chen
Dmitri
Eva
New PLC platform
✔✔
–
–
✔
–
Vision system
✔
✔✔
–
–
–
Safety PLC
✔✔
–
–
–
–
Robot programming
–
✔
✔✔
✔✔
✔
✔✔ expert · ✔ can work with help · – none. The safety PLC row shows a single point of failure: if Ana leaves or is sick, nobody can do it.
One look shows where the project is fragile.
4How it looks on the exam
Exam-style question 1. The project will use a PLC platform none of the six controls engineers has used. The schedule is tight, and the sponsor suggests the engineers 'learn on the job'. What should the project manager do?
A. Accept the suggestion
B. Assess the skills gap and its risk, then propose a training approach, such as targeted training with vendor mentoring, in the resource management plan
C. Replace the team with contractors
D. Delay development until all engineers complete a long course
Show the answer and the decode
Answer: B.
In simple English
A critical skills gap and a sponsor who wants to skip training.
What is the question really asking?
The right action.
Key words / trigger
“none of the six … has used”
PMP logic
Skills gaps are identified and closed in planning; a targeted approach balances risk and schedule.
Why the wrong answer looks attractive
A long delay seems safe, but a targeted approach manages the risk with less impact.
5Remember this
Your memory card
Skills are a resource: compare needed vs available in planning
Close gaps: training, mentoring, pairing; include time and cost
Avoid single points of knowledge; spread knowledge continuously
Departure → prioritised transfer now, by working together
The full lesson in the PMCLEAR app also has:
the rest of the lesson (Avoid single points of knowledge)