SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis helps teams evaluate their current position relative to a desired goal by identifying internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. This structured approach fosters a shared understanding of the landscape and informs strategic decision-making.
Use this method when you need to assess an organization or team's likelihood of success in achieving a specific objective, especially when facing uncertainty or complex challenges.
Solves: Lack of shared understanding of internal capabilities and external factors impacting a project or organization; difficulty prioritizing strategic initiatives.
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Step 1: Before the session, define and visualize the 'Desired End State' on a flip chart. (5 min)
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Step 2: Create a four-quadrant grid labeled 'Strengths,' 'Weaknesses,' 'Opportunities,' and 'Threats' using flip chart paper or a whiteboard. (5 min)
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Step 3: Individually, have participants brainstorm and write down strengths related to the desired end state on sticky notes (one idea per note). (10 min)
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Step 4: Repeat the brainstorming process for weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, allocating 10 minutes for each quadrant.
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Step 5: Gather all sticky notes and place them in their respective quadrants on a visible surface.
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Step 6: As a group, sort the sticky notes within each quadrant into clusters based on affinity. (20 min)
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Step 7: For each cluster, create a broad category that summarizes the ideas. Write these categories in the appropriate quadrant. (20 min)
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Step 8: Have participants dot vote on the most relevant categories in each quadrant (2-3 votes per quadrant). (10 min)
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Step 9: Summarize the findings and discuss the implications for achieving the desired end state. (20 min)
- Encourage honest and open contributions by framing weaknesses as areas for improvement and threats as catalysts for performance enhancement.
- If the group is small (5 or fewer), consider skipping the sticky note clustering and directly capture responses as they are verbalized.
- Use a pre-defined list of categories to guide the brainstorming process.
- After the SWOT analysis, conduct a TOWS matrix to develop strategic options by matching strengths to opportunities, strengths to threats, weaknesses to opportunities, and weaknesses to threats.