You are on page 1of 3

1

FACILITATIONANDSWOTANALYSIS

Inthiswhitepaper,IdiscusstheuseoftheSWOTAnalysisinmyfacilitation
practice.Idevelopedthistoolformypracticebasedonthebookentitled
StrategicPlanningforNonprofitOrganizationsbyMichaelAllisonandJude
Kaye.Thistoolinvolvesseveralsteps.

Inmystrategicplanningprocess,Ihelpagroupmineseveralsourcesofpotential
strategiestobreakdownthebarriersthatimpedeitfromachievingitsgoal.One
isalistingofstrategiestheyhaveusedinthepast,buthavediscontinued,butmay
useinthefuture.Anotherarethestrategiestheyareusingnow.Othersare
interviews,focusgroups,andsurveysofpeoplewhoarenotintheorganization,
butareinterestedinit.Thesearecalledexternalstakeholders.Igatherupallof
thedatawegatherfromthestakeholdersandcondenseitamatrixthatdescribes
theirperspectivesoftheorganizationinfourways:Strengthsoftheorganization,
Weaknessesoftheorganization,Opportunitiesavailabletoit,andThreatsfacing
it,orSWOT.Hereiswhatsuchamatrixlookslike:

Opportunities

Threats

Strengths

Invest

Divest

Weaknesses

Collaborate

Damagecontrol

2015TomRomito,
VolunteerReikiPractitioner,
Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com

Web:

http://www.tomromito.com

InthecellsunderStrengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities,andThreats,Ilistthe
fivetotenmajorperspectivesofthestakeholders.Ibringthekeypeopleinthe
organizationtogether(suchastheboardorthestrategicplanningcommittee)and
organizethemintofourbreakoutgroups.Ipairthecellswiththebreakout
groups,asfollows:

BreakoutGroup1:StrengthsandOpportunities
BreakoutGroup2:StrengthsandThreats
BreakoutGroup3:WeaknessesandOpportunities
BreakoutGroup4:WeaknessesandThreats.

Eachbreakoutgroupanalyzeshowthedatainthepairedcellsinterrelateandsee
whatpotentialstrategiesemerge.Theyplacethesepotentialstrategiesinthe
internalcellthatcorrespondstoit.Hereishowthecellsmatchup:

StrengthsandOpportunitiesmayenabletheorganizationto
invest
incertain
programsbecausetheyaredoingwell.

StrengthsandThreatsmayrequiretheorganizationto
divest
itselfofsome
programsbecausetheyarestruggling.

WeaknessesandOpportunitiesmayinspiretheorganizationto
collaborate
with
otherand,perhaps,poolresources.

WeaknessesandThreatsmaygivetheorganizationnochoicebuttodo
damage
control
bymakingharddecisionsaboutsomeprograms.

Atthispoint,theSWOTanalysisiscomplete.Wetakethepotentialstrategies
thatwecollectedintheinternalcellsofthematrixandconstructalargelist.I
makesurethatthegroupincludesinthelistthestrategiestheypreviouslyused
andarecurrentlyusingsotheyarentoverlooked.Thenwecombthroughthelist
andgrouptheideasintothreetofivecorestrategies.Allofthepotential
strategiesthatdontsurviveascorestrategiesbecomeobjectivesthatsupportone
ormorecorestrategy.
2015TomRomito,
VolunteerReikiPractitioner,
Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com

Web:

http://www.tomromito.com

TheSWOTanalysisisthehardeststepinthestrategicplanningprocess.
Everyoneworkshardtothinkthroughtheissuesthatexternalstakeholders
presentedtothemtocomeupwithpotentialstrategiestoachievetheirgoal.

2015TomRomito,
VolunteerReikiPractitioner,
Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com

Web:

http://www.tomromito.com

You might also like