How is SWOT Analysis Used in Strategic Planning?
A SWOT analysis is often used as part of a strategic planning process, as well as to evaluate projects or parts of an organisation.
Historically, strategic planning was always difficult. Most companies would fail at coming up with one because they couldn’t get everyone on board and agree to the specifics of a plan.
Hence, the origination of the SWOT analysis. Today, the SWOT analysis is one of the most important concepts in the business world and is widely used by all types of organisations to help build a strategic plan.
A SWOT analysis can be a lengthy process and requires careful planning and execution.
Benefits of a SWOT Analysis
You can use a SWOT analysis to identify your key success factors, define your target markets, and set realistic objectives for your business. It gives you an opportunity to think about what makes your business unique and how it fits into the marketplace. In addition, it allows you to develop a clear plan for where your business needs to go next.
By looking at each quadrant; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; we can see how we compare to others in our industry and where there are gaps in our knowledge. This gives us the opportunity to plan strategically and develop plans to close those gaps.
The benefit of doing this exercise is that it forces us to take a step back, look at ourselves objectively and identify what we want to achieve. We can use this information to set goals and objectives and work out how we can reach them. Other benefits include:
- It simplifies complex problems
- Takes external factors into consideration
- Can be applied to almost every business
How Do You Complete a SWOT Analysis?
A SWOT analysis is generally conducted by collecting input from the people inside your organisation. This process typically involves holding a workshop where participants discuss what needs to happen within your company. During the discussion, it’s important to collect data about your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and internal environment. This is also an opportunity to involve the team and encourage their participation and influence in the resulting strategy.
You can use outside sources such as industry reports and news articles to help formulate your SWOT analysis. You might even consider hiring a strategic planning consultant to facilitate the workshop. Once you have gathered all of the necessary information, you can begin creating a matrix from which you can determine how best to allocate resources internally and externally.
A SWOT analysis can be broken down into the following steps:
- Determine Your Objective
- Gather Resources
- Compile Ideas for Each Category
- Refine your Ideas And Findings
- Develop a Strategic Plan
How To Use a SWOT Analysis in Your Strategic Planning
It is essential to use your SWOT analysis to develop your strategic plan. This should include concrete steps to utilise your company’s strengths in order to target the opportunities identified in your analysis.
Your action plan should set a deadline and clarify who is responsible for carrying them out.
Donna Bates Strategic Planning Consultant
A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for brainstorming and strategic planning. It can help you take advantage of a new business opportunity, respond to market trends or implement new technology. Start the conversation, contact me today.
