Assessing Practice Capability – Part 3 – Analyzing and Reporting Out Results

By Donna Knapp

Before you can chart a course toward higher capability levels, you need to know your current position. A capability assessment provides that orientation. It is the moment you unfold the map and mark, “You are here.”

Capability assessments reveal not only how well individual practices are established, but how deeply they are embedded into the organization’s culture. They are not about chasing a number. They are about obtaining a clear, evidence-based understanding of where your capabilities stand. Well-scoped and well-conducted assessments shine a light on both strengths and weaknesses, and perhaps most importantly, they allow you to determine where targeted improvement will create the greatest value.

Assessments transform perception into data and data into direction.

Once you have gathered scored criteria, evidence, and data from across the organization, now comes the part of the assessment process where insight begins to take shape.

Each of the most widely used assessment models – Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), the ITIL Maturity Model, and ISO/IEC 33020 – define distinct capability levels that describe the degree to which a practice is established, managed, and continually improved.

To identify the current capability level for each practice within the scope of your assessment, compile the collected participant scores and evidence for each of the assessment criteria. Then, analyze those results by examining where evidence consistently support achievement, where interpretations differ, and where performance is different across teams and practices.

The level at which all of the criteria are being achieved with supporting evidence reflects your current capability level. This is not about counting votes or producing an average score. It is about looking for a consensus. If participants disagree on whether a criterion has been fully or partially achieved, next steps might include reexamining the evidence or clarifying participants’ interpretation of the criteria. It is the responsibility of the lead assessor or facilitator to either drive the group to a consensus based on evidence or, when that is not possible, declare that the lower rating prevails.

The capability level provides a baseline of the current state, but the analysis does not end there. The criteria that are being partially achieved or not achieved at the next capability level represent performance gaps that need to be filled. They may also represent untapped potential – areas where capability exists but is not being fully leveraged. For example, a practice that partially achieves data capture may already have tools in place but lacks the data quality, consistent usage or integration needed to produce meaningful information. In such a situation, a small improvement could make a big difference. Similarly, if communication or collaboration scores are low because teams lack a shared vocabulary, introducing a common language through targeted training can reduce confusion and misunderstanding, improve collaboration, reduce rework, and accelerate the adoption of best practices across the organization. 

Look for the story the evidence is telling. Look for patterns, outliers, contradictions, areas of strength that can be expanded, and weak spots that indicate structural or cultural challenges.

Patterns suggest areas where improvements may be needed and include:

• People (e.g., clarifying roles, providing needed education and training, addressing cultural debt)
• Processes (eliminating waste, optimizing workflows, introducing or removing controls)
• Technology (automating activities, integrating tools, leveraging AI or machine learning)
• Information (improving data quality, enhancing reporting and analytics, promoting knowledge sharing and making knowledge accessible)

Now that you have illuminated where improvement may be needed, the next important step is to report out the results. Effective reporting blends narrative with evidence. Summaries should highlight capability levels for each practice, key strengths that can be leveraged, and the most critical performance gaps that require attention. Visuals such as heatmaps, radar charts, or before-and-after comparisons can make patterns immediately understandable. Narrative context helps stakeholders see not just what the results are, but what they mean in terms of the objectives that have been set for the assessment. 

How the results are communicated, and how they are socialized, determines whether the assessment inspires action or gathers dust. 

Socialization is the collective learning and shared understanding that occurs as stakeholders compare perspectives, ask questions, and explore the implications of the results. Think of it as a two-way conversation that encourages alignment, reduces misinterpretation, and strengthens the accuracy and usefulness of the results. 

A myriad of methods enable effective socialization. If your stakeholders are used to speaking up in town hall meetings or Ask-Me-Anything webinars, that’s great. If they are more comfortable contributing to threads in Teams or Slack, take that route. There is no one right way, and the best method(s) should reflect your organization’s culture and the desired depth of interaction.

Feedback from circulating and socializing the assessment report provides invaluable insight that can be used to fine-tune the results and prepare the organization to act on the findings. Most importantly, the report must connect the findings to decision-making.

Once people have had a chance to digest and respond to the results, the focus shifts to “what are we going to do about it?” It is at this point that the organization is ready to translate the findings into concrete improvement opportunities. In other words, figure out how to improve.

Optimally, all improvement opportunities are captured in an improvement register or backlog and then prioritized based on the value they deliver. Considerations include:

• The assessment scope and objectives
• Your ITSM roadmap

Part 4 of this series describes the ITSM roadmap. 

A clear view of your current capabilities is powerful. It replaces assumptions with insight and enables leaders to make decisions rooted in data and evidence rather than perception. With that clarity in hand, the organization is ready to turn understanding into action—and that is where meaningful improvement begins.

Adapted source: The ITSM Process Design Guide

Other relevant webinars and blogs include:

It's Not About the Number: Assessing Practice Capability 

ITIL Maturity and Practice Capability Assessments

Assessing Practice Capability – Part 1 – Planning and Preparation

Assessing Practice Capability – Part 2 – Conducting Assessments

Assessing Practice Capability – Part 4 – Creating and Executing an ITSM Roadmap

Relevant ITSM Academy certification courses include:

• Certified Process Design Engineer (CPDE)
• Value Stream Mapping Fundamentals (VSMF)
• ITIL 4 Foundation (a prerequisite for all advanced ITIL 4 courses)

Our advisory services also include Process to Practice Workshops in which we help your team to successfully and rapidly evaluate and improve your selected service management practices.

In the ITIL 4 Qualification Scheme, a Practice Manager designation is available for professionals who want to prove and validate their skills in specific practice areas. Each of the ITIL 4 Managing Professional and Strategic Leader courses also introduce a set of practices that are relevant to the focus of the course.

Click here to learn more about the ITIL 4 Qualification Scheme.