self-assessment · individual or group · offline + online
Skill Radar.folder
Self-assessments collapse into one number that hides the gap — a radar keeps the shape. Rate the role's axes, overlay the target, and see your one short spoke.
// axes & step cards · 20 min · print & run · tool pack · no projector, no account
A self-assessment that ends on one spoke and one action, built as a complete workshop folder: a timed run sheet, printable step cards, and an axes → rate → plot → overlay-target → invest mechanic that keeps the detail a single average hides.
The props are poker-spec print cards (63.5 × 88.9 mm, bleed and cut guides included) — choose-axes, self-rate, plot, target-shape, the-gap and one-invest cards, with branded backs. Nothing needs a projector, and nothing needs an account to download.
the run sheet
// this is the guide file, word for word — read it here, run from it here. the .md at the bottom of the page is the same text, offline.
Folder: `skill-radar` · Category: self-assessment · 6–16 people · 20 min · offline + online · print props · tool pack License: CC BY 4.0
Each person plots their own capability across five or six axes as a radar (spider) chart, overlays the shape the role actually needs, and targets the one spoke that falls short. The shape — not the average — is the whole point: a 3.5 average that hides a sharp gap is exactly what a single number can't show.
How this differs from `advantage-compass`: The Advantage Compass audits *where your time and strengths are deployed* against a personal strategy. Skill Radar audits *the shape of what you can do* against what a specific role requires. Run the compass when the direction is the question; run this radar when the capability gap is the question — usually right after a role change, before a development plan, or at the first 90 days.
Objectives
By the end of the activity, participants will have:
- Plotted an honest self-shape — 1–5 on five or six axes the role genuinely lives or dies by.
- Overlaid the target shape the role actually requires, and seen the distance between the two polygons.
- Committed to one concrete action on the single shortest spoke, with a dated re-plot to prove the polygon moved.
When to use this activity
- A role has just changed — new hire, promotion, internal transfer — and "what should I get good at" needs a picture, not a wish list.
- Development conversations keep collapsing into one confidence number ("I'm fine overall"), which hides where investment should actually go.
- You need a first 90-day plan for onboarding, or a shared frame for a team capability review — without grading people against each other.
Setup
Clock: twenty minutes end to end. Give it thirty if every person writes their own axes from scratch — the axis quality decides the read quality.
Space: one desk or tile per person; enough wall for taping the team overlay if you run the whole-room variation.
Materials per person:
| Item | Source |
|---|---|
| 1 × blank radar grid (five or six spokes) | `skill-radar-prop-cards.pdf` print page, or draw the spokes on plain A4 |
| The six card faces — choose-axes, self-rate, plot, target-shape, the-gap, one-invest | `skill-radar-prop-cards.pdf` |
| 2 × pen, different colours | one for the self-shape, one for the target shape |
| 1 × blank card | `skill-radar-prop-cards.pdf` — for naming the one action and the re-plot date |
Grouping: 6–16 people assessing a shared role (or running it solo on a role they hold). Below 6 works fine as a pure self-assessment.
Roles: everyone plots their own radar; you keep the axes role-specific, protect the "read the shape, not the average" rule, and end on one spoke — not all of them.
How to run it
| Time | Phase | Facilitator does | Participants do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–4 | Axes | "Name 5–6 capability axes this role lives by — not generic 'communication'." Read one bad and one good example aloud. | Write the axes onto the spokes; swap generic words for the exact skills the role demands |
| 4–10 | Plot | Keep them honest: 1–5, evidence behind each mark. "Read the shape before you read any single number." | Rate themselves on each spoke, connect the points |
| 10–15 | Target | Hand the target-shape card. "Second colour now: what does this role actually require?" | Sketch the needed shape over their own polygon; measure the distance |
| 15–20 | Invest | Force the single spoke: "Not all of them — the one." Names and dates on every action. | Mark the spoke furthest from target; write one concrete action and a re-plot date |
Then run the debrief — see `skill-radar-debrief.md`.
The card
The six faces step the run in order — choose-axes, self-rate, plot, target-shape, the-gap, one-invest — so a person working solo can read the next move off the deck instead of from a facilitator. The grid keeps the spokes evenly spaced, because a lopsided template distorts the shape more than an honest rating ever will. The gap and invest faces exist to stop the classic failure: a plotted radar nobody converts into one dated action becomes wall art.
Failure modes
- Everyone rates 3s across the board. A flat safe circle means they're avoiding the read. Rescue: "which spoke, if it stayed a 3, would actually cost you this year?" — force the shape.
- Twelve axes. An unreadable radar hides the one gap behind noise again. Rescue: cap at five or six — the axes the role genuinely lives or dies by.
- It becomes a ranking of people. Rescue: re-anchor to the target shape — every radar is compared to the role's needs, never to a neighbour's polygon.
- The average gets read as the grade. "3.5 overall" is exactly what this tool exists to destroy. Rescue: cover the numbers and describe the shape in one sentence.
Variations
- Online: a shared whiteboard with the spoke grid; each person plots on their own copy, then all polygons go up at once. The overlay of shapes is the debrief material.
- Pair or manager overlay: have a trusted peer draw the same person's radar; the mismatch between the two shapes is the feedback conversation, without blame.
- Team radar: plot every member on the same axes; the collective outline shows where the team is strong and which single spoke nobody can cover.
- Onboarding: run it on day one against the role's target shape — it becomes the first 90-day plan, one spoke at a time.
Facilitation notes
- Read the shape, not the average — say it before the first plot and repeat it at the compare. A spiky polygon with one short spoke is a finding; a smooth "3.5 everywhere" is usually unexamined.
- Rate against what the role requires, not against colleagues. A radar is a self-versus-requirement picture, not a league table.
- The action written at minute 15–20 must survive a week: one move, one owner (the person themselves), one re-plot date.
Put it on the wall
Print `skill-radar-activity-poster.pdf` (A3) to keep the two rules — read the shape, target the one spoke — in view while people plot.
Props in this folder
- `skill-radar-prop-cards.pdf` — poker-spec print sheet (63.5 × 88.9 mm, bleed and cut guides): the six step faces, a blank radar grid, blank action card, branded backs
- `skill-radar-guide.md` — this run sheet
- `skill-radar-debrief.md` — the debrief questions and the failure modes of the debrief
- `skill-radar-run-sheet.pdf` — the print edition: this run sheet + the debrief, bound as one A4 document with bookmarks
- `skill-radar-activity-poster.pdf` — the whole tool on one A3 wall sheet: the run, the two rules, the watch-outs
- `skill-radar-start-here.md` — one page, thirty seconds, then print and go
- `skill-radar-license.md` — what you may do with all of this
- `SKILL.md` — machine-readable manifest for AI agents
- `*-Letter.pdf` — US Letter editions of the print documents
Agent version
Every file in this folder has a stable public URL — an AI agent can fetch the cards, the debrief and this run sheet with three curl commands (see `SKILL.md`). The paper version needs nothing but a printed grid, two pens and the deck.
the debrief sheet
// the debrief questions, in full — the .md version prints on one page for the room.
A radar is a decision tool, not a portrait — the debrief is where the polygon turns into one invested spoke. Use with `skill-radar-guide.md`. The invest phase at minute 15 is the compressed version; this sheet is the full one.
How to run this debrief
- Keep every polygon on the table, self-shape and target-shape both visible. The argument of this tool is a picture; it dies when the paper gets folded away.
- Ask "what does the shape say" before anyone reads a number aloud. The average is the enemy of this debrief.
- Close on one spoke, one action, one re-plot date. Two is already a wish list.
Read the shape
- Look at your polygon, not its average. Which spoke is obviously short? That's the finding, whatever the numbers say.
- Did the target-shape surprise you? Many people discover the role needs a very different shape than the one they've been optimising.
- Are two spokes linked — one short spoke only looks small because the other, that feeds it, is short too?
The six debrief questions
1. The mismatch.
"If a peer or your manager plotted your radar too, where would their shape differ from yours?"
→ Targets: the self-awareness signal. The gap between the two shapes is the feedback conversation, without blame.
2. Capability or confidence.
"Is the short spoke a real capability gap, or a confidence gap — you can do it but don't rate yourself?"
→ Targets: the fix differs for each — one needs learning, the other needs reps and evidence.
3. Hard or starved.
"Is that spoke short because it's hard, or because you've never had the opportunities?"
→ Targets: distinguishing a learning need from an access need; the second is a conversation about work allocation, not study.
4. The smallest push.
"What's the smallest concrete action that pushes the chosen spoke out — and by when?"
→ Targets: converting the picture into a decision. A radar without a next action is wall art.
5. The re-plot.
"When will you re-plot, and what will you look at first?"
→ Targets: the only proof the investment worked is a moved polygon; the date makes it an experiment.
6. The uncovered spoke.
"If you plotted the whole team: which single spoke does nobody cover well — and is that a plan, a hire, or a hand-off?"
→ Targets: reading the team outline from personal shapes; naming the collective hole without naming a culprit.
Failure modes of the debrief
| Failure mode | Why it happens | The rescue |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone rates 3s across the board | A flat safe circle avoids the read | "Which spoke, if it stayed a 3, would actually cost you this year?" — force the shape. |
| Too many spokes, no focus | Twelve-axis radars are unreadable and hide the gap behind noise | Cap at five or six — the axes the role genuinely lives or dies by. |
| It becomes a ranking of people | Comparisons are lazy; neighbours' polygons are visible | Re-anchor: every radar is compared to the role's target shape, never to each other. Two short spokes in two people are two different next actions. |
Who is Skill Radar for?
Someone preparing for or already in a role who wants a concrete read on where to invest, and any manager and report who need a non-blaming conversation about capability. It works with 6–16 people, or solo; it runs on paper or a shared doc online.
What does it produce?
A personal radar that shows your actual shape against the role's target, the one spoke furthest from it, and a single concrete action with a re-plot date. No pre/post measure; the artifact is the plotted shape and the one investment.
Can my AI agent use this folder?
Yes. Every folder ships a SKILL.md skill file: frontmatter for matching plus runnable prep commands — fetch the cards, pull the debrief. The three-step workflow (discover, install, run) lives on the skills page, every folder ships a one-command zip bundle, and the machine index is skills.json.
Is it really free?
Yes — CC BY 4.0, no account, no email wall inside a folder. Download it, run it, copy it, rebrand it for your own workshop. Attribution keeps everything free.
make it live
The paper version is built for a grid, two pens and one honest rating. If you want the online version — the same axes, ratings, target shape and the one invest question as a live form, with re-plots comparable and the data in your own workspace — two ways:
for AI agents
$ formlm-cli smart generate --input "Self-assessment for Skill Radar: name 5-6 capability axes specific to a role, rate yourself 1-5 on each axis, describe the target shape the role actually requires, mark the one spoke furthest from target, and commit one concrete action with a re-plot date. 20 minutes, 6-16 people, optional peer overlay of the same radar."
Step 4 of the agent workflow: npm install -g @formlm/cli, log in once, and the prep above runs itself. The form and its data live in your own workspace.
— or, with a mouse —
Open the free self-assessment template on FormLM
and paste the phase prompts from skill-radar-guide.md — the form keeps answers structured and re-runs comparable.
// optional, not required — the paper version in this folder is complete on its own. free account on their side.
make it yours
This radar runs offline with no account — a blank five- or six-spoke grid and two pens. The card faces are the one file to change: rewrite the six step prompts and the axes to the exact skills of the role you're assessing, and reprint at poker spec; the two rules stay. The white-label guide walks through it.
Files in this folder
All files are free under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: “Skill Radar · WorkshopSkill · CC BY 4.0.”