www.gro3.com
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This “How-to-Manual” is published by gro3 who is specialized in
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How to make a professional Swot Analysis
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Content
Goals how-to-manual .............................................................. 4
Introduction ........................................................................... 5
Applications............................................................................ 6
The swot matrix ...................................................................... 7
Strengths
7
Weakness
7
What strengths and weaknesses are examined
7
Opportunities
8
Threats
8
What opportunities and threats are examined
8
Opportunities................................................................ 8
Threats ........................................................................ 8
The program ........................................................................
Step1 Preparation
Participants ................................................................
Materials needed .........................................................
Step 2 Walkabout brainstorming
Step 3 Clustering
Step 4 Selection / voting
Step 5 Brainstorming
Step 6 Conclusion
10
11
11
12
13
15
16
17
18
Option: Confrontationmatrix ................................................... 19
€100 Vaucher ....................................................................... 20
Information or reservation ..................................................... 21
How to make a professional Swot Analysis
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G O A L S H O W - TO - M A N U A L
To start quickly a swot-analysis without long
preparation, research or development time
Help to run a Swot Analysis successfully
Provide hands-on step-by-step guidance, tips & tricks
and tools for a guaranteed result
Provide background information on topics and tools
Provide blended personal support for ad hoc questions
To help engage participants thinking about strategic
themes and to distill as a team the meaning of
information that is generated.
To help developed the main strategic actions for the future
How to make a professional Swot Analysis
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I N TR O D U C T I O N
When developing strategic plans for the future, every
organization needs to understand what it's internal
strengths and weaknesses are, and what opportunities
and threats are in the environment. Understanding
these four elements creates an effective foundation for
planning.
The Swot Analysis is a classic diagnostic tool that looks
at the four elements: strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats.
Getting different perspectives in the room regarding
these four areas is essential if an effective foundation
for planning is to be established.
This activity embraces the collection and sharing of the
different ideas and perspectives in an organization
while building a sense of common understanding about
the priority themes in each area.
The used workshops engage participants' thinking,
allows the sharing of different perspectives and
viewpoints, and educates everyone involved to create a
common ground about the elements and the necessary
future planning.
This “How to Manual” provides step-by-step guidance and
assistance to successfully run a Swot Analysis in the organization.
The chosen methods, techniques and program are selected from
best practices worldwide, validated on real cases by gro3 and
documented carefully for immediate usage.
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APPLICATIONS
An analysis can be used for:
•
Workshop sessions
•
Brainstorm meetings
•
Problem solving
•
Planning
•
Product evaluation
•
Competitor evaluation
•
Personal Development Planning
•
Decision Making
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TH E SW O T M A T R I X
The Swot Matrix
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
STRENGTHS
•
•
Positive tangible and intangible attributes, internal to an
organization.
They are within the organization’s control.
WEAKNESS
•
•
Factors that are within an organization’s control that detract
from its ability to attain the desired goal.
Which areas might the organization improve?
WHAT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES ARE EXAMINED
The strengths and weaknesses analysis is an internal examination
that focuses on your past performance, present strategy, resources
and capabilities. It is based on an analysis of facts and assumptions
about the company, including:
• People and skills
• Properties
• Processes
• Financial resources
• Governance
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Management/ leadership
Products
Sales and marketing
Markets
Capabilities/ scalability
Capital structure suppliers
Customers
Intellectual property
OPPORTUNITIES
•
•
External attractive factors that represent the reason for an
organization to exist and develop.
What opportunities exist in the environment, which will
propel the organization?
THREATS
•
•
External factors, beyond an organization’s control, which
could place the organization mission or operation at risk.
The organization may benefit by having contingency plans to
address them if they should occur.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS ARE EXAMINED
The opportunity and threat analysis is carried out by examining
external factors in your domestic and export markets or
environment. This is usually broken down into environmental
factors and competitors, including:
OPPORTUNITIES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Where can you find, or create, a competitive advantage?
What are some major trends in your business?
Consolidation / Diversification?
Specialization / Generalization?
Changes in technology.
Changes in the types of businesses in your potential market
Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle.
Changes in creative trends or market evolutions
Changes in demand for certain types of services
THREATS
•
•
What obstacles do you face?
What are your competitors doing that may result in a loss of
clients, customers, market share? Are the required
specifications for your job, products or services changing?
How to make a professional Swot Analysis
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•
Is changing technology threatening your position? Do you
have cash-flow problems?
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TH E P R O G R A M
Step 1
Preparation
Step 2
Walkabout brainstorming
40’
Step 3
Clustering
20’
Step 4
Selection / Voting
20’
Step 5
Brainstorming
70’
Step 6
Conclusion
30’
How to make a professional Swot Analysis
SWOT
Elements
Strategic
actions
10
STEP1 PREPARATION
PARTICIPANTS
In this workshop, you gather a diverse group of stakeholders.
TIP
All people having relevant know-how on this topic or
other relevant topics like market know-how,
technology, finance, etc.
All people who play an important role in the roll-out of
the strategy should be involved in the program. Some
people will participate to all sessions, some people will
only participate to very specific sessions.
It is critical that different organizational levels,
positions, job experience, and time with the
organization are fully represented.
It is important to make sure that all the participants
have enough experience, perspective, and wisdom.
Get the whole system in the room
The key to this design is to ensure that there is enough
internal wisdom to do an effective SWOT Analysis. Just
getting people together to do this activity will only
generate a lot of ideas. You want the right ideas and the
only way to achieve this is to have the right people
participating. More info: Marvin Weisbord & Sandra
Janoff in “Future Search: an action guide to finding
common ground in organizations & communities”
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MATERIALS NEEDED
A large and comfortable room
1 marker / person
1 x post-it notes package / person
5x flip-over board (or 5x flip-over sheets taped on the
walls)
sufficient water and some energizers like fruit
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STEP 2 WALKABOUT BRAINSTORMING
Write each of the elements as title on a flip-over. Put
the 4 flip-overs in every corner of the room.
Break the participants into groups. Assign each group
one of the four elements of the S.W.O.T Analysis.
Give the group 15 minutes to list information on the
four key elements. Every person writes down each of
his or the group’s ideas with a black marker on a postit note and puts it on the flip-over. Every group can
discuss among each other and exchange or improve
existing ideas or experiences.
After the first 15 minutes, have each group rotate to
the area next to them they didn't work on.
Let them now read all existing ideas on that key
element and let them again add their own ideas.
Provide some less time like 10 minutes to let them
record their new ideas.
After the 10 minutes, turn again and continue until all
groups have had an opportunity to make their additions
on all elements
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TIP
People get into animated discussions easily, produce a
lot of ideas but often forget to write them down. To
prevent this loss of ideas, make sure everyone pays
attention to this.
TIP
It is important to write every idea on a separate post-it
note. This will make clustering ideas later on much
easier.
TIP
In this fist phase of the workshop (divergence phase)
allow as least judgment about all ideas or concepts.
Qualification of ideas will be handled in the later phase
of the workshop
TIP
Any new ideas added may be identified with a different
color, as blue, so that participants can easily identify the
additions.
Note: the two most important phases of the creative process are
the divergence phase (the generation of ideas) and the
convergence phase (the selection of right ideas).
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STEP 3 CLUSTERING
Let every group return to the flip-over where they
started.
Some ideas or concepts are related to each other or
can be grouped in a larger idea Let every group cluster
ideas together where possible.
When finished clustering, let every group try to give
every cluster a title which best described or expressed
the overall idea or concept.
While clustering, there is still no judgment on the
quality of every idea.
TIP
In case that ideas on the post-it notes are
unclear, let people enquire in the other groups.
TIP
Some ideas can be put on different elements. Put them
on the most relevant flip-over
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STEP 4 SELECTION / VOTING
TIP
After the clustering and clarification period, participants
are given 10 colored sticky dots.
Participants then indicate in each area what they
believe are the most important ideas that the
organization needs to pay attention to as it plans for
the future.
Every participant can vote on a single idea or on the
title of a group of ideas. Maximum 2 sticky dots can be
put on a post-it note.
When everybody has put their sticky notes on, have a
volunteer read off the top 3 to 5 priority ideas for each
element and record these ideas on an overhead in front
of the room. The objective is to focus as a group on the
handful of ideas that will have the most impact.
Let the group now see and discuss as what the group
sees as the priorities in each of the strategy elements.
Make sure you have dots (votes) prepared ahead of
time to keep things moving along.
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STEP 5 BRAINSTORMING
After the top priority ideas have been recorded in full
view, put the participants into mixed groups with one
participant from the original groups in each new group.
Let every group brainstorm for 30’ on what they think
are the most important conclusions and actions for the
future focusing on the found priorities in each of the
strategy elements.
Have each group define 3 strong recommendations the
organization needs to consider if it is to plan for the
future effectively. Let them write it down again, every
recommendation on a post-it note.
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STEP 6 CONCLUSION
Make a new flip-over for the conclusions
Ask a first group to report their best recommendation.
Take the post-it note of this recommendation and put it
on the new flip-over sheet.
Ask the other groups if they have similar
recommendations. If yes, take their post-it notes and
put them all together.
Continue asking for recommendations to all groups
until all recommendations are listed.
Note common ground on ideas and prioritize the final
recommendations as you create the list.
Discuss with the group the most obvious next steps for
implementation.
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O P TI O N : C O N F R O N T A TI O N M A T R I X
After a swot analysis the confrontation matrix is often used to
reduce the number of swot-elements and to make it easier to
develop an action plan based on the found priority swot elements.
Reducing the number of elements is done by checking all swot
elements against the view of the competition and the customer.
Then, in order to develop an action plan, the matrix is made by
combining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
This matrix is used to answer the following questions:
How can a strength be used to participate in an
opportunity? (attack strategy)
How can a strength be used to defend ourselves from a
threat? (defense strategy)
How can a weakness be improved to participate in an
opportunity? (strengthening strategy)
How can a weakness be improved to defend ourselves
from a threat? (withdrawal strategy)
Where possible every action is described and checked following the
SMART-principle.
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€1 0 0 V A U C H E R
Please feel free to use this €100 vaucher. It can be used when you
order a gro3 facilitator for your workshop, brainstorm or project.
This vaucher is valid untill January 2015.
Send to or contact us:
Gro3
St Annastraat 97, 2500 Lier , Belgium
T +32 (0)3 489 32 89, F +32 (0)3 290 40 64
info@gro3.com, www.gro3.com
How to make a professional Swot Analysis
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I N F O R M A T I O N O R R E S E R V A TI O N
Please feel free to send us your questions, remarks, suggestions or
your enquiry about this Swot Analysis “How-to-Manual”, about
facilitating a workshop or hiring a skilled facilitator:
Name
Organization
Telephone
Address
Question
Email to info@gro3.com or fax to +32 3 290 40 64
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How to make a professional Swot Analysis
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How to make a professional Swot Analysis
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