How to do a SWOT analysis (Skills Maintenance Series - Video 1) - YouTube

there are many tools and frameworks available  to help you succeed in business however choosing  

the wrong tool or using the right tool but in  the wrong way has a massive negative impact on  

efficiency productivity and engagement so this  series we will introduce some common models  

and we're going to show you how to apply them  properly so that they have value and don't become  

a stressful waste of time in today's video we  are looking at a model called the swot analysis  

ahoy bryce here from bryter training and welcome  to our skills maintenance series which is designed  

to do two things firstly introduce common tasks  and models done in business secondly we will look  

to fine-tune your knowledge and application of  them to get the best results and to keep your  

team and business driving along efficiently just  like you need to do regular maintenance on your  

car equipment and even yourself it's worth  doing an occasional audit on your processes  

to make sure that you're getting the biggest  return on investment and that no bad habits are  

creeping in there is a difference between activity  and productivity and that is what these videos aim  

to address swot is an acronym which stands for  strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats it  

provides a quantified view of where the business  is in a customer journey or the environment that  

you work in it is designed as a framework to help  you identify opportunities to grow your business  

or to protect the business that you already have  it should identify your strengths and weaknesses  

so that you can prioritize your activities and  investments it's a great model to get your teams  

thinking strategically when it is done well  there are two main things that people get  

wrong with a swot analysis first they apply all  four quadrants internally so not externally and  

only consider their own opinions for example  strengths such as i have good customer service  

or opportunities like launch newsletters  to reach more customers second they use  

vague generalizations that are not validated and  ultimately have zero meaning or impact for example  

strengths such as good relationships or quality  products weaknesses like admin or it if we were to  

delve a little bit deeper into these statements  we would find that they don't have much value  

they are too vague as to provide any useful data  and that vagueness makes devising an action plan  

really difficult what do you do with these  strengths how much money would you invest in  

someone who came to you with an opportunity like  this often people fill out a spot analysis like  

this for three reasons they don't know how to  use the tool they don't understand the value or  

process or they actually don't know the business  as well as they should so they attempt to hide  

behind generalizations traditionally people do  a spot and simply brainstorm elements that they  

think could fit each category it results  in a vague list that we looked at earlier  

so how should it be done correctly first let's  look at the various components and break down  

what they are designed to do firstly strengths and  weaknesses are internal they're about you and your  

business opportunities and threats are external  they are things that exist in the environment  

that you play in to better understand it it's  worth considering the origin of a squad which is  

a situational analysis it's actually derived  from military strategy so when you are trying to  

remember the order think of battle tactics imagine  you're attempting to capture or own a territory  

you would look at the map or out across the  battlefield and identify the opportunities that  

are there to help you move your troops forward you  would also look at any threats on the battlefield  

that could cause a problem for your troops  so you assess the opportunities and threats  

present in the external world then you would look  internally at the various strengths and weaknesses  

that could help you leverage the external  opportunities or mitigate the threats you  

would also consider the internal weaknesses so  that you can take appropriate steps to offset them  

when it comes to business it's worth mapping out  the customer journey we will cover this in another  

video however it's a way to identify exactly where  the priority threats and opportunities are for  

your business ideally your identified swots should  align with a clear customer journey since those  

are the touch points that directly influence  your customers and business as i've said a  

few times be aware of the trap of generalizing  the purpose of this section is to be specific  

however this is what we commonly see in swots  account plans and brand plans the key is to  

be more specific it's not just about what it  is it's about looking at the implication the  

so what factor so we know that opportunities and  threats are external and they need to be specific  

so let's look at our internal capabilities  to be able to respond to those in other words  

our strengths and weaknesses so the question  becomes how do you know that you have a strength  

the most common responses i hear are about  relationships reputation and product things like  

we have a good relationship with our customers  or our product or service is high quality  

so there are actually three main  factors that make something a strength  

firstly it's from our customer's perspective  secondly it needs to meet their priority needs  

and thirdly we are better or worse than the  competition as strength defines how competitive we  

are we should be able to use it to one capitalize  on an opportunity to overcome a threat a simple  

question to ask yourself is if it's a strength  how do we use it what does it allow us to do  

it's important to be honest with ourselves and  also challenge the assumptions that we make  

think about it it doesn't matter what we think  we're not buying the product so think of one of  

your identified strengths and put it through this  process for example we have good relationships  

so to start with do the customers say that  they value it i'm not asking if the customers  

say that they like you i'm asking if they've  told you that their relationship with you is  

a key driver in their decision to work with  you in the first place then do you have the  

evidence that your relationship is better than the  competitors if they also have a good relationship  

or if the customer hasn't told you that yours is  better then it's not a strength it has to be a  

relevant capability that you can use so think  of your relationship if you can't define how  

you can use it to capitalize on an opportunity  or overcome a threat then it is not a strength  

so when you apply that model you will find that  there are three main ways you can categorize  

the points you come up with they will either  meet all the requirements and be a strength  

you may find that they're not as good as the  competitor in which case it is a weakness but  

there is also a third option and it's called  a point of parity which basically means that  

it is not better or worse than the competitor so  something everyone has or does but it is something  

that you are expected to have so once again from  our customers perspective you need to have it  

if you don't then it may be a weakness an example  could be a website or an fps facility in a cafe  

people expect you to have it if you don't then  it may be considered a weakness since it makes  

you worse than their competitor however if  you do have it it isn't usually considered  

a strength it's just something everyone  is expecting you to have many strengths  

that people list on a swot are usually points of  parity relationships quality of service or product  

safety profiles marketing materials stuff  like that so remember a swat is a great  

way to identify where you are where you want to  be and what capabilities you have to get there  

it can help you identify weaknesses that exist  so that you can consider investing in resources  

and training to address them and to bring  them up to the same level as your competitors  

so the key point to remember with a swat  opportunities and threats are external  

strengths and weaknesses are internal you need to  be specific you need to be able to measurably do  

things with that list and it's only your strength  if it is better than the competitor it meets a  

need for the customer and you have evidence  that the customer values it models like swot  

help us to ensure that we have a framework to  guide us so that we can cover all bases and  

address key elements in business but make sure  that you are using them properly train your end  

users and train your managers and coaches that  will be assessing and supporting it as always if  

you would like some training for you or your team  please reach out to us via our website our contact  

details can be found in the description below  thanks again for watching and have a great day