Using and Presenting SWOT Analysis
No matter the issue or the situation, it is important for both the leader and the team to have a common and aligned view to the current state of the organization, from the inside and outside. The traditional environmental scan is called SWOT, brainstorming to assess the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats you, your organization, department or team face internally and externally. While we typically have a good sense of internal issues, the outside look is more challenging and often incomplete.
Because you are building strategy on your assumptions, they need to be clear, explicit and reliable, not based solely on intuition, hunches and unstated assumptions. Your strategy should take full advantage of strengths and opportunities, compensate for and backfill weaknesses, and plan effectively for threats. The figure depicts key considerations on each aspect of the SWOT analysis using the Mind Mapping technique.
Creating a SWOT
Begin to think about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the organization or situation, and cluster them into categories in your mind.
Schedule a meeting with your team and ask their input to the identification of these key factors.
Using a matrix like the one provided below, determine and record the strengths: items and factors that add value and differentiate the organization from competitors or other departments. Expertise, recent successes, growth history are all factors to consider.Identify and record weaknesses, the value diminishing factors that could hurt your growth, potential, performance, reliability, including financial performance issues. Compare the strengths and weaknesses once you have exhausted ideas for both lists. They represent your internal factors.
Next evaluate the external factors: opportunities and threats. Opportunities are value-creating factors from the outside environment things beyond your control that will influence your organization positively. Think about the threats you face, items that affect your organization from the outside that you will need to respond or react to. Watch market trends, consider external factors like regulation, research discoveries, pricing effects, social, demographic and cultural shifts, as well as legal, political and economic factors. To the extent possible, gather data to support your conclusions. Compare opportunities and threats and look for patterns in the comparisons. Begin to plan for those items you can address immediately, and those that will require positioning over time. Consider how a threat might also be an opportunity using some creative thinking to consider alternatives, reframe the path to analyzing a situation in its broadest sense, and to capitalize on seeing a new vision for moving forward strategically and tactically.
The SWOT is a valuable leadership tool for creating a snapshot of how an organization is doing at any point in time, and a line of sight to future direction, achievement and potential. It is frequently used by senior leadership to frame strategy, plans for future development and new service and product lines. Departments can use the process for strategic planning, to frame retreat meetings, and to monitor changing environmental factors. Teams can use the SWOT approach to deal with emerging service demand, conflict resolution, growth planning and budgeting for resources, staff and capital.
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