When evaluating a project or a business opportunity, SWOT analysis is one of the tool which is used often. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

While the S & W is more inward focused, O & T is more outward. Another way to put this is that Strengths and Weaknesses are the internal factors which are favorable or unfavorable for your objective while Opportunities and Threats are the external factors which are favorable or unfavorable to your objective. Internal factors are the attributes of the organization which are under your control and external factors are a result of the environment you operate in. Porter's five forces often give you a good idea about the opportunities and the threats while a good inside look at your organization will give you Strengths you can leverage on and the weaknesses you should be careful about.

How to use?

It is best to gather key people representing various functions within your organization with a good precursor on your objective. This is done to ensure that the preparation is done and meeting will be productive. You may choose to call it Brainstorming. You must be very careful in co-ordinating the session as there is a tendency to drift and start discussing about all the elements at the same time. If needed, wear different hats at different time but limit your discussion to one element at one time except for the end when you tie everything and discuss strategies.

It is a very good practice to use guide question to further refine the discussion on one element. For example, when you want people to discuss about the strengths - do not let them free to discuss anything. Have a set of 10-15 areas which you want to explore. Resources, competitive advantage, Cost structure, talent pool, processes, culture, experience, capabilities etc can be discussed one by one. Keep notes during the brainstorming and do not arrive at the resulting strategy in the same meeting. Take some time to study your notes and make sense of what was discussed. Then, call for a follow up meeting and discuss the proposed strategy and debate the pros and cons of each one of them to come up with the best option.

All the Best !

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