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Casual Articles - How To Conduct A Successful S.W.O.T. Analysis
If you could cram all of your dirty laundry in the washer at once, wouldn't it make more sense than putting in the recommended load? After all, if it saves time and money, why not? It's simple: not only might you blow up the washer, but you become painfully aware that most of the "clean" laundry is still dirty. It sounds bizarre, but you can compare the amount of space in a washer to how much space you have on your business card or advertisement in the yellow pages. When you try to get too much in, you end up not getting the result you want. Just like the washing machine, your web site, business card, brochures, advertising, and other collateral materials need space. In graphic arts, this space is called negative or white space, which describes open space between design elements. Forcing too much text
your teams', your suppliers' and others.
WEAKNESSES
Ans
This is the second of a two-part article on overfilling your marketing funnel and client pipeline.Last week we discussed that, in order to quickly fill your funnel and pipeline, you will want to have these 5 tools:1. Unique Selling Proposition 2. Attention-grabbing, memorized elevator speech 3. Client attractive website 4. Effective business cards 5. A “full practice mentality”Now that you have those, you want to implement strategies that will result in clients coming TO YOU rather than you having to chase after them.1. Brand yourself. Branding isn’t just for megacompanies like Coca-Cola or Pepsi. In order to build a relationship with your prospects, you want to brand yourself and remain consistent in that brand.Do you have a logo? A tagline? Your photo? A certain m
This is a powerful and highly successful technique that can be applied to an individual, a group, a team, a company, a plan – think about it, even a website! Again, experiment with it. If it helps you to focus your (and your team’s) efforts in the right direction, it’s worth it.
The process is to ask and answer a number of specific questions for each of the 4 categories, documenting the answers. This process, in itself is simple enough. However, so that you are not disappointed with the outcome, take the time you need, get the answers you need, face the facts and above all, take action.
TIP Whether working on this for yourself or with your team, always keep in mind the goal you want to achieve for each category.
So, in this context, treat 'you' as either yourself, your team, your improvement group, your company, your business.
The starting point of a successful SWOT analysis is to understand that there are 4 general objectives, one for each part of the analysis, the goal you wish to achieve.
Typical Format - the most common approach and widely used format is to construct a 2 row by 2 column matrix with the following information...
STRENGTHS in top left quadrant
Capitalise
on your
strengths
WEAKNESSES in top right quadrant
Address
your
weaknesses
OPPORTUNITIES in bottom left quadrant
Take full
advantage
of the
opportunities
available
THREATS in bottom right quadrant
Deal with or
minimise the
impact of threats
you face
Although each of the above statements can be regarded as action oriented, they are, in themselves, meaningless. We can't use them to communicate exactly what our plans are going to be, why we have the plans in the first place, what resources we need and who will implement the plans.
So, let's ask a few fundamental questions to put some meat on the skeleton...
---Sidebar---
Add to or tailor the questions to suit you, your team, your organization.
---End Sidebar---
STRENGTHS
Answer from your own point of view, your customers’
your teams', your suppliers' and others.
WEAKNESSES
Answ
Are you finding yourself smack-dab in the middle of a corporate downsizing? Are you fed up with your current job and just want to try something different? Or have you simply decided to get involved in an industry that really excites you?Whatever the case, there is a tool you've got to use to be successful in your transition. It's called a Career Change Resume. This is a little understood but very powerful tool in the job search arena. Done correctly the Career Change Resume opens doors and gets you in at a higher level (meaning higher pay) than a regular resume.The trick is convincing employers to give you a shot at the new job and not start you out on the bottom rung! The secret is being able to show the employer that even though you are new to the industry, you have valuable skills and abilities that will benefit him an
TIP Whether working on this for yourself or with your team, always keep in mind the goal you want to achieve for each category.
So, in this context, treat 'you' as either yourself, your team, your improvement group, your company, your business.
The starting point of a successful SWOT analysis is to understand that there are 4 general objectives, one for each part of the analysis, the goal you wish to achieve.
Typical Format - the most common approach and widely used format is to construct a 2 row by 2 column matrix with the following information...
STRENGTHS in top left quadrant
Capitalise
on your
strengths
WEAKNESSES in top right quadrant
Address
your
weaknesses
OPPORTUNITIES in bottom left quadrant
Take full
advantage
of the
opportunities
available
THREATS in bottom right quadrant
Deal with or
minimise the
impact of threats
you face
Although each of the above statements can be regarded as action oriented, they are, in themselves, meaningless. We can't use them to communicate exactly what our plans are going to be, why we have the plans in the first place, what resources we need and who will implement the plans.
So, let's ask a few fundamental questions to put some meat on the skeleton...
---Sidebar---
Add to or tailor the questions to suit you, your team, your organization.
---End Sidebar---
STRENGTHS
Answer from your own point of view, your customers’
your teams', your suppliers' and others.
WEAKNESSES
Ans
America may be the Land of Opportunity, but this is also the land of the Big Trade-Off. Sure, you can have that nice house, but you’re going to have to become a mortgage slave to keep it. You can drive that fancy sports car, but you’ll have to fork over an insurance premium as hefty as the GNP of some Third World nations. In the Bible it says, in life, if you want honey, you get bees with stingers. For anything worth having, there’s price to pay.It’s the same with a career. Most professional positions require experience, but in this classic Catch-22, how does a young college student or graduate gain that experience? Well, it’s just as Mark Twain said, “Never let school interfere with our education.”I believe the intern programs in place at companies like Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, CBS,
STRENGTHS in top left quadrant
Capitalise
on your
strengths
WEAKNESSES in top right quadrant
Address
your
weaknesses
OPPORTUNITIES in bottom left quadrant
Take full
advantage
of the
opportunities
available
THREATS in bottom right quadrant
Deal with or
minimise the
impact of threats
you face
Although each of the above statements can be regarded as action oriented, they are, in themselves, meaningless. We can't use them to communicate exactly what our plans are going to be, why we have the plans in the first place, what resources we need and who will implement the plans.
So, let's ask a few fundamental questions to put some meat on the skeleton...
---Sidebar---
Add to or tailor the questions to suit you, your team, your organization.
---End Sidebar---
STRENGTHS
Answer from your own point of view, your customers’
your teams', your suppliers' and others.
WEAKNESSES
Ans
The range of activities associated with the buying of goods and services to support business operations is called procurement. When talking about procurement, planning is the first and most important step in the whole process. Planning involves selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve them; it requires managers to choose among alternative future courses of action. Plans thus provide a rational approach to preselected objectives.Planning bridges the gap from where we are to where we want to go. It makes it possible for things to occur which would not otherwise happen. Although we can never be sure what will happen in the future, and factors beyond our control may interfere with even the best-laid plans, if we don’t plan we are leaving events to chance. And that is quite risky when talking about business operations. One wron
So, let's ask a few fundamental questions to put some meat on the skeleton...
---Sidebar---
Add to or tailor the questions to suit you, your team, your organization.
---End Sidebar---
STRENGTHS
Answer from your own point of view, your customers’
your teams', your suppliers' and others.
WEAKNESSES
Ans
A postage meter is a definite asset to any enterprise for the routine dispatch of mail. It is a professional, convenient, cost-effective and time-saving piece of machinery. The primary issues to be considered before deciding on the purchase of a postage meter are the monthly mailing expenses, the average and the maximum pieces of mail dispatched, and the type of postages handled, whether it is confined to standard letters or packages of different weights.The vital piece of the equipment that prints the indicia on the mail or the package is the meter. Meters can never be purchased; they can only be leased from companies authorized by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Some meters are password protected, while others vary with respect to accounting codes, automatic postage reset, date advance, and the denomination capacity. Some may also
your teams', your suppliers' and others.
WEAKNESSES
Answer from your own point of view, your customers’ and
others. Face the Truth
OPPORTUNITIES
technology, demographics, legislation, education
Use PDCA (see footnotes) to identify those that will give you
the greatest return
THREATS
Use PDCA (see footnotes) to prioritize
O.K., we have done the data gathering, the surveys, the questioning, the 'soul searching'. Redraw the matrix when questioning round is complete replacing the questions asked in each quadrant with a summary of the answers.
Easy for me to say I know but...
As long as you have been factual
As long as you have been honest especially with yourself
As long as you are ready and prepared to accept the answers
As long as you are prepared to TAKE ACTION
You have the foundation here to take a snapshot of where you are today, what's working for and against you, and the basis for a series of action plans to get you to where you want to be tomorrow.
Regardless of which quadrant you may be studying, the key
question to ask yourself is...
"What will give us the biggest return"
Many of us are familiar with the "Pareto Principle", perhaps more familiar with the term "80-20 Rule"
Pareto Principle
Why the 80-20 rule? Approximately 80% of trouble comes from 20%
of the problems. Also, quite often, 80% of the results we
seek, will come from 20% of our efforts - as long as we are
focused and prioritize.
Although "Pareto" is named after the economist Vilfredo Pareto,
it was Dr. Joseph M. Duran who applied the thinking to
management best practices.
Dr. Juran advises us to concentrate on the "vital few" sources
of problems (and in this context, the actions which will
give us the greatest return) and not be distracted by those
of lesser impact or importance.
To conclude, be as creative as you can
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