Everything you need to know.

Anyone responsible for a team's capability. That includes line managers, team leads, HR business partners, learning and development specialists, operations leaders, quality and compliance managers, and small business owners.

If you need to know what your team can do and where to invest in growth, this is for you.

A skill is an outcome-focused capability that is observable in action, measurable to a standard, and learnable through practice. "Microsoft Excel" fails (product name); "Builds defensible financial models with named ranges and documented assumptions" passes.

Both hard skills (technical / task-based) and soft skills (behavioural / people-based) belong on the matrix. The full four-trait test, plus why soft skills are rising fastest in the AI era, is laid out on What is a skill?.

Just Microsoft Excel. The template works on Excel for Windows, Mac, and Excel 365 in the browser.

No installation, no IT department, no training course needed. Most users have their first matrix populated within 30 minutes of opening the file.

Every Excel template purchase includes a £1 upgrade offer to PulseAI® at any time during your first year of template ownership. PulseAI is the AI-powered, web and mobile version of the same skills matrix you'll already be using.

RRP £199 per year. Your first year, just £1. No catch, no auto-renewal trick. After year one, PulseAI continues at standard pricing only if you choose to renew.

The Excel template is a one-off £199 payment. No subscription. No renewal. You own the file and can use it for as long as you like.

PulseAI, if you choose to upgrade, is a separate annual subscription, £1 in your first year, with a standard rate of £199 per year afterwards if you choose to renew.

Nothing renews automatically without your say-so. After your first £1 year, PulseAI continues at the standard rate of £199 per year only if you actively choose to keep using it.

Whether or not you renew PulseAI, the Excel template remains yours forever. You're never left without a working tool.

The Skills Matrix Template is a digital download. The moment your payment clears, the file is sent to your inbox and the download link is opened in your browser. That delivery cannot be reversed. For that reason, every purchase is non-refundable on delivery. The full terms are written in plain English on the digital licence page.

If you have any concerns before you buy, please reach out first. We will happily send extra screenshots, answer questions, or walk you through the workbook on a free 15-minute call. The free 5x5 builder also lets you try the method end-to-end before paying.

One purchase covers a single team of up to 30 people and up to 30 skills. You get lifetime updates to the version you bought, plus the optional £1 PulseAI upgrade in your first year of ownership. The full plain-English terms live on the digital licence page. For larger groups, multiple teams, or partner arrangements, contact us about a site licence.

The template comfortably supports teams from 5 to around 60 people on a single sheet, with unlimited skills. For very small teams (under 5), it still works beautifully, you'll just have a sparser heat map.

For larger organisations or multi-team rollouts, the PulseAI upgrade is worth considering, mostly because of the multi-team views, real-time data, and centralised reporting.

Yes, completely. The template ships with example skills and a default 0-5 competency policy, but every part of it is editable. Swap in your own skills, your own scoring descriptors, your own role-specific targets.

The visualisations and roadmaps update automatically as you make changes. No formulas to write, no macros to maintain.

On your machine, inside your Excel file, governed by your existing IT and information governance policies. Nothing leaves your network.

The template doesn't connect to any cloud service or external system. Full data control sits with you. This is one of the main reasons regulated industries (healthcare, financial services, defence) prefer the Excel template over cloud-based alternatives.

Free templates give you a blank grid. The advanced template includes:

A pre-built editable narrative descriptors on a fixed 0-5 scale, automated heat mapping, automatic individual development roadmaps, current vs target Speedo dashboards, matrix-level analytics, a step-by-step setup guide, and the £1 PulseAI upgrade option.

It's the difference between starting from scratch and starting from a refined, proven framework that's already been used in 106.5 million skills assessments.

The template is in English, designed primarily for UK and US business contexts, but used by teams across the world including organisations based in the United States, United Kingdom, India, and Europe. The terminology and scoring scale translate easily to any business culture.

Email support for setup questions, plus access to the implementation guide and learning lab resources. The setup guide built into the template covers the first run end to end.

Most users don't need additional support, but it's there if you do. We aim to respond within one business day.

The £1 PulseAI upgrade is available at any time during your first year of Excel template ownership, as described throughout this site. PulseAI is optional; the Excel file remains yours whether or not you upgrade.

After checkout you receive a ready-to-use Excel file by email, along with the setup guide and information about your optional £1 PulseAI upgrade in your first year.

PulseAI activation is a 3-step process designed around how real organisations actually adopt the tool:

1. Organisation account first. A team leader, HR partner, or business owner creates the organisation account at app.upleashed.org/create-organisation-account. (Individuals can't self-register, the org always comes first.)
2. Claim your £1 first-year code. Email team@upleashed.com with your template order reference (from your PayPal receipt). We'll send back your £1 upgrade voucher and apply it to your organisation account.
3. Invite your team. From inside PulseAI, invite each team member by email. They download the iOS or Android app, sign in with the invite link, and start contributing to the matrix.

Full visual walkthroughs: see the 3 short videos on the PulseAI page.