How SWOT Analysis Helps Me For Self-Improvement and Business Success
Before Starting Any Decision, I Always Create a SWOT Chart To See Real Picture
What Is SWOT Analysis?
SWOT analysis is a strategic technique used to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to be faced.
SWOT is an acronym formed from the initials of four English words:
S — Strengths
W — Weaknesses
O — Opportunities
T — Threats
The SWOT analysis method was developed in the 1960s by a group of Harvard University professors.
Where Is SWOT Analysis Used?
The subject of the SWOT analysis is an institution or business, an initiative, activity or project, a technique to be used, a process or situation; It could even be a person.
It can be used to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the subject, situation, process or person, and the opportunities and threats against it.
SWOT is an analysis that can be of great use when planning an activity or developing a project.
SWOT analysis is used in many areas such as determining the current situation, defining a problem and creating a solution, planning activities, evaluating project ideas, developing business processes, analyzing the structure of the environment in a new venture, creating a marketing strategy.
However, it is an analysis technique that can be used not only in business life but also in decision-making processes related to personal life.
What Are The Benefits Of SWOT Analysis?
As a result of the SWOT analysis, various gains can be obtained. First of all, ambiguities about the subject being discussed are eliminated, all the details become visible.
Thus, it is possible to predict in advance to what extent the decisions to be taken will be right or wrong.
SWOT analysis helps you to see the strengths and weaknesses, positive and negative sides, advantageous or disadvantageous aspects of the work or purpose you want to do.
Thus, the identified strengths can be used to take advantage of the opportunities.
By recognizing the weaknesses, strategies can be developed to turn them into strengths.
Threats can be turned into opportunities that can be combined with strengths.
If you are applying it to a project idea, SWOT analysis ensures that all internal and environmental factors in the identified issue are examined and taken into account.
In this way, it ensures that the opportunities that are important for the future of the project are determined, that the elements that may pose a threat to the project are noticed in advance and precautions are taken.
It ensures that the strengths of the project are revealed and in which situations, conditions and environments they may need to be used, the weaknesses are determined, and the possible difficult situations that may arise in the face of possible threats are known in advance precautions are taken.
How Is SWOT Analysis Done?
To perform a SWOT analysis, draw a large plus in the middle of the paper you have with two vertical and horizontal lines as in the image below, and use the four boxes formed by the cross for each letter of the SWOT.
The place an order of the letters is important here. If you notice, the internal factors are at the top, the external factors are at the bottom, however, the positive aspects are on the left, and the negative aspects are on the right.
Helpful questions for SWOT analysis
While doing a SWOT analysis, you can make your job easier by answering the following questions, and you can easily identify strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
You should be as impartial and objective as possible when answering questions.
Identifying Strengths
Evaluate your strengths from both the inside and the outside:
- What are our advantages?
- What types of activities do we do better?
- What advantages do we have?
- What resources do we have?
- What are our strengths compared to others?
- What aspects of us do others see as strengths?
You can usually identify your strengths by comparing them with those around you.
If you find it difficult to identify them, try making a list of your characteristics related to the topic you are dealing with.
Some of the features you will list may be strengths.
Identifying Weaknesses
Here you have to be willing to face all the facts that you don’t like.
Consider your weaknesses in terms of the internal and external environment:
What are we doing badly?
What shortcomings do we have?
What do we need to improve?
At what subjects are others better than us?
What should we avoid?
What aspects of us do others see as weak?
What factors cause our weaknesses?
Your answers to these questions will help identify weaknesses.
Identifying Opportunities
To identify opportunities, you can ask the following questions:
What opportunities stand before me?
What are the sources of opportunity?
What interesting developments are taking place around me, what is going on?
What events and changes make my job easier?
It is the right approach to look at opportunities as strengths.
But opportunities are often confused with strengths.
Strengths are usually permanent situations you have, while opportunities are situations that develop outside of you and maybe temporary.
Identifying Threats
When you want to detect threats, you need to calculate the obstacles you may encounter.
What obstacles do we have ahead of us?
What factors can hinder our progress?
What are others doing about it?
Is there a change in the quality of relevant standards or expertise, products or services?
Are the changing conditions threatening in any way?
Do we have financial problems, or in what situations?
Opportunities and threats are usually related to external environmental factors, while strengths and weaknesses depend on internal environmental factors.
Road To Success
SWOT analysis is an important step on the road to success, as it makes visible the points that need to be made and paid attention to in order to improve.
When we gain practicality, it helps us make better decisions and do better work on the issues that come before us.
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