Short Assessment · 10 Questions
Dependency Assessment
How much of the business still depends on one person?
Think of the person everyone turns to when something goes wrong. This assessment looks at what still comes back to them, whether anyone else can carry it, and how soon that may matter.
The questions
Where would Mike leave the widest gap?
0 of 10 answered
About this assessment
About this assessment
This is a Skagway practitioner screening tool, not a validated actuarial, psychometric, or financial-risk model. It is designed to help organizations identify dependencies worth investigating more closely.
How the bands are determined
Dependency scores of 0–3 are lower, 4–7 meaningful, and 8–12 high. Readiness-gap scores of 0–3 are shown as stronger readiness, 4–7 developing, and 8–12 limited. Time-pressure scores of 0–1 are low, 2–3 moderate, and 4–6 high.
A compressed window requires high dependency together with high time pressure, or high dependency and a high readiness gap with at least moderate time pressure. High exposure means high dependency, or meaningful dependency with a high readiness gap. Any remaining dimension above its lower band produces meaningful exposure.
Research basis
The questions borrow their attention from established work. The scoring remains Skagway’s.
NASA and the International Atomic Energy Agency have published practical guidance for identifying knowledge at risk during workforce transitions. Their work draws attention to departure timing, position criticality, access, knowledge-transfer methods, and the need to monitor whether continuity plans remain useful.
SHRM treats succession planning as preparation for critical functions rather than a one-time naming exercise. Deloitte’s 2026 family-business research examines plan maturity and next-generation readiness in its stated survey population. Together, these sources help explain why dependency, readiness, and time deserve separate attention.
None of these organizations created, validated, or endorsed this assessment. Skagway selected the questions and thresholds as a transparent practitioner screen.
- Knowledge Management and Its Implementation in Nuclear Organizations(opens in a new tab)
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series · International Atomic Energy Agency
- Ensuring Knowledge Continuity during Employee Transitions(opens in a new tab)
NASA Knowledge Capture and Transfer Working Group · NASA Technical Reports Server · NASA · 2022
- Knowledge Management: Knowledge Capture and Transfer Resources(opens in a new tab)
NASA · 2026
- Modernize Succession Planning for Better Results(opens in a new tab)
SHRM Toolkit · SHRM · 2026
- Family business succession planning and the next generation(opens in a new tab)
Family Business Insights Series · Deloitte Private · 2026
A result is a place to begin looking.
Where is your intuition pointing you?
The road ahead should remember how the company came this far.