Download the free training needs analysis template
A training needs analysis (TNA) compares the work people need to perform with their current skills and the conditions around the task. The purpose is to identify a useful learning priority and check what else needs to change.
Download the TNA template (.txt)
No sign-up is required. The plain-text file includes a blank form and the fictional example below. Copy the fields into your own planning document and complete one form for each priority task.
A completed TNA example: supervisor handovers
This is an illustrative example, not a client result or an assessment of a real team. Replace the sample observations with evidence from your own work.
| Template field | Fictional completed example |
|---|---|
| Team and roles | Supervisors who hand over unfinished customer requests between shifts. |
| Work task | Prepare and explain a handover so the next shift can act. |
| Expected standard | Every open request identifies its status, next action, responsible person and deadline. |
| Current evidence | In a fictional review of six sample handovers, four leave the next owner or deadline unclear. Ask staff what information was available at the time. |
| Skill to practise | Summarising the task, asking clarifying questions and checking the receiver’s understanding. |
| Other barriers | The existing form has no owner field. The operations lead will revise it alongside the learning activity. |
| Participant needs | Record starting experience, working language and shift coverage before agreeing the session. |
| Learning goal | Given a fictional request, prepare a handover with all four required details and check understanding with a partner. |
| Practice and feedback | Try a handover role-play, use the four-point checklist and repeat once after feedback. |
| Follow-up | The supervisor and manager agree a review date after there has been time to use the revised form at work. |
Start with the work, not a course title
Ask the manager and the people doing the work to describe one recurring task. What should a good result look like? What happens now? What evidence shows the difference? A request such as “we need communication training” becomes more useful when it names a situation: shift handovers, customer explanations, meeting decisions or project updates.
Keep the first review small. Look at a few recent, suitable work samples and talk to the roles involved. Record what you observed separately from what someone thinks caused it. Remove personal or commercially sensitive details before sharing examples with a training provider.
Check whether training can address the gap
| Question | What to check next |
|---|---|
| Do people know what good work looks like? | Clarify the expected result and show a suitable example. |
| Can they perform the task in a supported practice setting? | If not, plan instruction, practice and feedback on the missing skill. |
| Do they have the time, information and tools? | Resolve access, workload or process barriers alongside any training. |
| Does the manager reinforce the expected behaviour? | Agree how the manager will observe practice and give follow-up feedback. |
A workshop cannot by itself fix conflicting instructions or a system that staff cannot access. A mixed problem may need both a process change and a learning activity. Record the owner of each action so that “send everyone on a course” does not become the only response.
Turn a broad request into a learning goal
Fictional starting request: “Our supervisors need better communication.”
Observed task: Handover notes often omit the next owner and deadline.
Practice goal: Given a sample handover, a supervisor can identify the current status, next action, owner and deadline, then check the receiver’s understanding.
Follow-up: The manager reviews a small sample of real handovers against the same checklist after the team has had time to apply it.
The goal gives the trainer something concrete to teach and the manager something concrete to observe. It also helps distinguish a general awareness session from a workshop that needs individual practice and feedback.
Choose a manageable first priority
Compare potential needs by their frequency, effect on work and opportunity to practise. Ask which task the team can realistically improve next. A new employee learning an unfamiliar process may need a different starting point from an experienced manager practising a difficult conversation.
Group participants by the work they need to do and their starting experience. Do not assume that a shared job title means everyone needs the same level. Record training language, access needs and any tools participants must use so the provider can plan a suitable session.
Create the brief and a follow-up plan
- Name the audience and the task.
- Describe the current gap using a work example.
- Define one or two observable learning goals.
- List the practice and feedback participants need.
- Agree a manager follow-up and a realistic review date.
Download the training needs analysis template (.txt). Then compare public and in-house training and decide how to review the learning afterwards.
Share the brief when discussing customised corporate training. For a handover or listening need, explore Workplace Communication; for people who teach colleagues, compare Trainer Skills & Facilitation.