A training matrix in Google Sheets, with email before the dates
Keep people, topics, and the dates your team records in one sheet. Email someone before a date you choose to follow.
A training matrix you can actually keep in a sheet
In a spreadsheet, a training matrix is a list: one row for a person and a topic, with a status and the dates you care about. Teams use it to see who has finished something and when a later date is coming up.
People also search for a skills matrix or a competency matrix. Those can be drawn as grids too, and a sheet of names and topics can resemble them. They are not automatically the same record. A skills matrix often rates what someone can do. A competency matrix often describes levels. This page is the training list: topics, status, and dates, plus an email before a date you store. It does not score skills or assign a competency level.
Fields a training matrix can contain
Use the columns that match how your team already talks about training. You do not need every field.
| Field | What it stores | Why keep it | Reminder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Person | The employee or learner | The row has to say who the topic belongs to | Map this as the name |
| Department or team | Where they sit | So a manager can filter their own group | Sheet only |
| Topic | The course, refresher, or training item | A person with three topics needs three rows if each date is tracked | Sheet only, unless you map it as the name instead of the person |
| Type | Onboarding, refresher, or another label you choose | Tells you why the row exists | Sheet only |
| Status | Not started, completed, due, or your own words | A person updates this. The add-on does not | Sheet only |
| Completed on | The date training happened, if you record it | History. Useful on the row, and usually not the date you want emailed | Sheet only, unless you deliberately map it |
| Next required date | The future date the team wants to watch | The date a reminder is usually for | Map this as the date |
| Manager | Who is responsible for the person or the topic | So the sheet shows ownership | Sheet only |
| Reminder email | Who should get the email | The manager, the person, or a training inbox | Map this as the recipient |
| Link or notes | A URL you already host, or a note | Points at material or a sign-in page. It does not host the course | Optional mapped link |
If both the completion date and the next required date need an email, make two rows. One reminder follows one date column.
Onboarding dates, refreshers, and recurring topics
The sheet can hold all three. You type the next date. Nothing here calculates a training requirement or a legal interval.
A due date for new training
Status can say not started. The next required date is when you want the email. The recipient is whoever chases it, often a manager.
A refresher
Completed on records the last time. Next required date is the later date you decided to watch. When that date is met, someone edits the row and types a new next date if there is one.
A topic that repeats
Keep one current row per person and topic, and replace the next date when the cycle moves on. The add-on does not generate the next cycle for you.
How to build the matrix in Google Sheets
1. List people and topics as rows
Start from the training you already track. One row per person and topic is easier to filter than a wide grid of dates across many columns, and it gives each date a recipient.
2. Separate history from the date you want watched
Put the day training happened in completed on. Put the future date in next required date. Map the future date if that is the email you want.
3. Add a status your team will maintain
Pick a few words and use them the same way on every row. Update the status when training happens. The reminder will not flip it to completed.
4. Name a manager and a recipient
The manager column is for the sheet. The reminder email is the address that should actually get the message. They can match.
5. Link material you already host, if you have a link
A page, a shared drive file, or a sign-in URL can go in the link column. The sheet is not storing the lesson.
6. Save the reminder on the date column
Choose 30 days before, 7 days before, 1 day before, and/or the date itself. When the email arrives, someone still has to do or schedule the training. The email does not enroll them.
Example: five training rows
Fictional. Jordan has a completed orientation and a later forklift date, so those are two rows. The next required date is the one to map.
| Person | Team | Topic | Type | Status | Completed | Next date | Reminder email |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Lee | Warehouse | Orientation | Onboarding | Completed | 2 Mar | lead@example.com | |
| Jordan Lee | Warehouse | Forklift refresher | Refresher | Due | 4 May 2025 | 4 May | lead@example.com |
| Sam Ortiz | Support | Safety orientation | Onboarding | Not started | 19 May | hr@example.com | |
| Priya Shah | Design | Security refresher | Refresher | Completed | 11 Jan 2026 | 11 Jan 2027 | priya.manager@example.com |
| Alex Kim | Field | First aid | Refresher | Due | 8 Aug 2024 | 8 Aug | ops@example.com |
Use dates your sheet recognizes. An empty next date means that row has nothing to email yet. This table does not assign the course.
When the sheet is enough
Use the matrix when the training record is a date you already keep. Use a learning system when the system itself has to run the training.
A Google Sheet fits
- You already know the people and topics
- Status is something a person updates
- You want an email before a date on the row
- Course files already live somewhere else
A learning system fits better
- The product should assign the course
- Lessons and quizzes live in that product
- Completion has to be recorded there
- You need enrollment, not a date email
Date & Email Reminders is not training management software, an LMS, or a certification system. It emails the address on the row about a date in the sheet. Employee certificates and other expiring documents have their own page.
Questions
A list of people and the training topics you want to see, with a status and the dates your team records. In Google Sheets that is usually one row per person and topic, not a course catalog.
Those phrases overlap with a training matrix, and a spreadsheet can look similar. This page is about training dates you store and email about. It does not define skills scoring or competency levels, and it does not treat the three names as the same system.
Map the future date you want someone told about, often a next required date or a renewal date. A completion date can stay on the row as history. If both dates need an email, use two rows, because each reminder follows one date column.
Yes. Use a type or status column so you can tell them apart. You type the next date. Date & Email Reminders does not decide how often training is required.
No. It does not enroll anyone, host lessons, or record quiz results. If the date is already in the sheet, it can email the recipient on that row.
When you need the software to assign training, store the course, and keep the completion record inside that system. Use the sheet when you already track the dates in Google Sheets and want an email before one of them.
An employee certificate or another expiring document is a different list from this matrix. Employee document expiry reminders
Related pages
How the email is set up, and where employee certificates live, are separate pages.
The matrix stays in Google Sheets
When the dates are on the sheet, install Date & Email Reminders and map the date column plus the recipient. There is no matrix file to download.