How to Use SWOT Analysis Made Easy for Managers

The key components to doing it well are by selecting the right people to participate and using an effective process to develop a wealth of initial brainstorm ideas. Then focus on the few things that matter and work at the right level of detail to develop specific tailored business strategies from SWOT Analysis.

Select the Right People

The business manager needs to select the right people to participate very carefully; to blend knowledge, experience and expertise into a working team of people. The intent is that the whole is greater than the sum of parts and especially that the team work well together and can build on each other’s ideas. Some of the people should know the business or their part of the business and some should know competitors and the market. In particular, those with an external focus should have facts and/or figures rather than bland anecdotes or speculation.

Use an Effective Process

It remains a truism that interaction is best achieved face-to-face and so the right people should be gathered to the same location. An effective process can be anything that is agreed but must include the following elements:

• Preparation by participants especially as it relates to inputs
• Plan of tasks, inputs and outputs and scheduled time element
• Facilitator, someone who must facilitate the activities to manage time and discussions that are overly active, too detailed, too vague or off topic. [Facilitator can be a role of a participant but is usually better as an independent person focused on just that role]
• Flexible scheduling and some contingency, managed by the facilitator, that allows topics to expand or contract dependent on how much is needed and how well it is going but effective time limits to prevent the entire time allocation being excessive