What a SWOT Analysis Reveals About Your Team

Where is the next big idea for my company coming from? This is a strategic question that business owners have been asking since the Industrial Revolution.

The business tool they have often turned to is the SWOT Analysis.  And not just to find new market or product ideas.  It’s also a great tool for the development of defensive strategies.

If you haven’t been involved in a SWOT, it is a proven brainstorming technique to identify your firms’ Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It’s often used in the early stage of developing a strategic marketing plan to pinpoint the company’s most marketable assets and the things that might get in the way of achieving goals.  Perhaps most important of all, it will bring to light where your organization is headed.

This post isn’t a step-by-step guide on how to conduct a SWOT. There are plenty of articles and books for that.  Rather I’m going to share three observations about the process and what it reveals about the makeup of your company, team and culture.  I’ve thrown in a few recommendations too.

STRATEGIC COMPETENCIES

Here’s where you find out what’s really of value to your best customers.  To expand your market share, you’re going to have to do more than employ good people, make quality products and provide customer service.  In fact, those are simply the cost of entry in today’s hyper-competitive markets.

Did Jimmy John’s become a strong brand on the quality of its ingredients? Not really. It succeeded by first recognizing and then fulfilling a need in the market place – very fast, well-made sandwiches for busy people.  That wouldn’t be possible without matching its strength (operational excellence) with a viable customer need (good food, prepared & delivered quickly).

The strategic question you’re looking to answer is: What will provide customer value and differentiate my product?

HOW MANY “MAD SCIENTISTS” ARE ON THE TEAM?

To be effective at SWOT Analysis, tap into a diverse group of folks you trust.  Most of the companies I’ve worked with engage a cross functional team to conduct a SWOT.  Fill the meeting with different types of personalities, levels, areas of expertise.  That’s how the best brainstorming takes place.  If your SWOT Analysis isn’t producing potential big ideas, you may have to examine who’s on the bus.  Find a way to add mavericks or radical thinkers to the team.  They’re also known as “mad scientists.”

THE WORLD IS FULL OF POSSIBILITIES

If your team goes silent during the Opportunity brainstorming, you have an issue.  It points to several possibilities that need addressing.

Your team may be short on ideas because they haven’t thought hard enough about the growth opportunities that are present in the market place.  It’s also possible they haven’t been provided with the right stimulus for the analysis.  It’s very difficult to brainstorm unless participants have been given something to start with.  Examples include well-worded open-ended questions or small team exercises.  Send them into the field to visit with customers or observe end users to discover unmet customer needs.

Once Opportunities have been identified, the real work begins in prioritizing and selecting them.  Eliminating the ideas that don’t fit with your organization’s brand, culture and resources is where to start.  If your team is good at this part of the process, you’ve got a decisive staff, ready to take action on the next big idea.

Who is Affinity Strategy Marketing, Inc.? Affinity is a marketing firm that works with small to mid-size companies that need both strategic and tactical marketing support. Clients access as much assistance as they need in growing their business profitably.  Sign up for our newsletter on our Facebook page.