By Caroline Roper
After evaluating your organization’s mission and vision, the second part of the strategic planning process is assessing your environment and conducting a SWOT
analysis. SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat. According to the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas, developing a full awareness of your environment and your organization’s situation can help with both strategic planning and decision-making.
Strengths are created within your organization and make you shine. These are characteristics of the organization that give it an advantage over other organizations and your competition. Questions to ask yourself include what advantages does your organization have, what do you do better than anyone else and what do other people say makes you great? Some examples of Strengths include:
- Our organization has a strong reputation with city officials and opinion leaders.
- Our organization has a low overhead cost, allowing us to provide the cheapest
- The public has growing interest in our field of work.
- We are the first organization of our kind in the area.
Weaknesses are also created internally but they are factors that can harm your organization. These are characteristics of the organization that give it a disadvantage when compared to others. Questions to ask yourself include what could you improve, what should you avoid and what causes customers to be unhappy with your organization? Examples of weaknesses include:
- The inability to handle an increase in demand of services from stakeholders.
- Cash flow can be unreliable at times – it is dependent upon having clients pay on time.
- Outdated technology
Opportunities are created in your external environment and provide the setting for new growth or change. Many opportunities are things that your organization can take advantage of. Questions to ask yourself include what are interesting trends that you are noticing or what opportunities do you see in your community and environment? Some examples of opportunities include:
- Increased demand for products in the market.
- Growing number of stakeholders in the community, providing an opportunity for partnerships.
- Local governments are encouraging local and small businesses.
Threats on the other hand are things outside the organization that could cause harm. Threats should often be addressed and alternative solutions to these possible problems should be thought of. Questions to ask yourself include what obstacles do you face, what are your competitors doing and is technology threatening your work or relevance? Some examples of threats include:
- Increasing cost of doing business.
- Who knows if the market for what our organization does will grow in the future?
- Increasing competition.
When conducting a SWOT analysis, there are a few key factors to keep in mind. First, remember that a SWOT analysis is meant for the organization as a whole. Focusing on single individual’s efforts, or lack thereof, is not the objective of the analysis. While individual contributions are appreciated, the objective is to focus on the organization as a whole. Second, try and be as upfront and honest as possible while conducting these exercises. It is important to bring up relevant facts that could hurt or harm your organization, but make sure you do so in a non-threatening or offensive way.
It is important for your organization to conduct a SWOT analysis to gain a better idea of your environment. When used correctly, a SWOT analysis can also be used to identify areas for improvement and serve as a guide during the goal-setting process.
