The Ntrinsic S.W.O.T. Workout™ is a team session designed to reveal many things about a group, team or organization. The process is broken down into multiple steps including:
- SWOT Intake Questionnaire – members of the group are asked to complete a short questionnaire that is highly effective at revealing key insights into the factors that determine a group’s effectiveness.
- The SWOT Meeting – usually a half-day work-out session that takes the group through the 4 key categories of the SWOT. This session includes a review of the data collected in the intake questionnaires. The participants are taken through an alignment / consensus process around the data. The group is also taken through a prioritization process on the agreed upon issues.
- Action Plan – finally, an action plan is proposed which might include the development of specific actions focused on some of the categories of prioritized issues or the development of a complete Balanced Scorecard strategic plan.
The S.W.O.T.
A SWOT analysis is a matrix comprising Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is an analytical tool with which an entity (individual, organization or industry) can map out its current situation. Ntrinsic believes that the insights derived from the analysis are essential in developing strong and sustainable strategies and effective messaging to prospects.
The goal of the SWOT Analysis is to define areas of strength and weaknesses in your company and in your market in a proactive manner. This means isolating areas that need improvement before they become an operational detriment.
Ntrinsic analysts use the results of the SWOT analysis as a tool to construct business and marketing plans for clients. The goal is to define the 5 key most significant issues in each category. Remember that Strengths and Weaknesses look at your company from the inside and Opportunities and Threats look outside your company at market opportunities, competition etc.
The following questions are asked to build the SWOT:
1. Assess your company’s strengths. Where does your company excel? What properties make your company successful, profitable? Where is your management team the strongest? What characteristics have contributed to your company’s growth? Why do customers use your products or services? Why do they remain customers and buy again or buy more?
2. Assess your company’s weaknesses. Where does your management fall short? What areas of your operations seem to generate problems over and over again. Is cash-flow a problem or do you have consistent difficulties in customer service? What types of tasks does the organization fail to get done on time? In what ways does the team not work well together? What management should be added if possible? What individuals skills do you lack that would help you do your job more effectively?
3. Assess your market opportunities. Is the economy booming? What market opportunities exist for your company today? Based on the strengths listed, what new markets can you conquer? Why do you consistently beat the competition? Are you ready to go international or to expand your market area? Has a competitor ceased operations allowing a new opportunity? Have your customers requested additional services?
4. Assess your threats. What is going on in the market that threatens your company? Is the competition heating up? Is the economy down causing your customers to buy less? Is there government legislation that could affect your business? Are there problems with getting materials that you need because of external demand? Is there a customer pain that your products address that may disappear because of a new technology? What other external factors could hurt your business?