Template

SWOT analysis workshop template

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats — written by everybody, sorted together, and turned into three things to do.

60 minutesFor Founders, managers and teams planning a year or a launchAgenda room

Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

What we are looking at, and why now5 min
- Is this about the whole company, one product, or one decision?
Strengths10 min
- What do we do better than the others — and what is the proof?
Weaknesses10 min
- Where do we lose, and what do customers complain about?
Opportunities10 min
- What is changing outside that we could use?
Threats10 min
- What could hurt us that we do not control?
Match them up10 min
- Which strength lets us take which opportunity?
- Which weakness makes which threat worse?
Three things to do5 min
- What will we start, stop and protect — and who owns each?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

Strength. Customers stay: nine in ten renew.

Weakness. One person knows how billing works.

Opportunity. A competitor has just doubled its price.

Threat. A new rule on data storage from next January.

To do. Write to that competitor's customers this month (Maya). Document billing by March (Noah).

Running it well

Everybody writes on their own first, for three minutes a box, before anybody speaks. Otherwise you get the boss's four lists.
Strengths and weaknesses are inside the organisation; opportunities and threats are outside it. Most muddled SWOTs mix them up.
The four boxes are not the result. The result is the matching step and the three actions.

Ways to change it

Thirty minutes, one decisionTwo strengths, two weaknesses, two opportunities, two threats about that one choice — then decide.

With customers' wordsBefore the workshop, collect ten things customers actually said, and sort those into the boxes first.

When to skip it. When you did one within the year and nothing important has changed. Check the three actions instead.

Questions

What is a SWOT analysis?

A way of looking at a business or a plan from four sides: its strengths and weaknesses inside, and the opportunities and threats outside.

How do you run a SWOT workshop?

Agree what you are looking at, have people write alone for each box, sort what they wrote together, match strengths to opportunities and weaknesses to threats, and end with actions.

What do you do after a SWOT analysis?

Choose a few actions — usually something to start, something to stop and something to protect — and give each an owner and a date.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

More templates

BrainstormLots of ideas first, judging second — and pictures drawn from what people say.Training sessionTeach one thing so that people can do it by the end — shown, tried, and checked.Quarterly planning meetingOnce a quarter: look honestly at the last three months, choose a few things for the next three, and check there are enough people to do them.Investor pitch meetingA first meeting with an investor: ten minutes of pitch, plenty of time for their questions, and a clear ask at the end.1:1 meetingA weekly hour between a manager and one person — theirs first, yours second.Daily standupFifteen minutes, three questions, everybody once.Weekly team meetingThe numbers, everybody's one priority, and the decisions that cannot wait.Sales discovery callLearn how they work today, what they have tried, and what a good outcome is — before pitching anything.

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