SWOT analysis
Identify internal and external factors that could impact the success of your business or product
Use template
About the SWOT analysis template
A SWOT analysis provides a foundation for effective strategic planning. Weighing strengths and opportunities against weaknesses and threats is invaluable for revealing what your product is doing well in the market and where it can be improved.
Start by identifying strengths that put you at an advantage relative to competitors. These could be product benefits or characteristics of your business. Repeat the same for weaknesses — any factors that put you at a relative disadvantage.
Next, focus on opportunities and threats. Opportunities are external to your product and can range from partnerships to growth into new markets. Threats are typically external obstacles facing the business that could adversely affect your product in the future. These could range from economic factors to emerging technology.
After you have a clear snapshot of the current state of your product and the market, it is time to articulate strategies that will address each component. Doing so with a framework like this makes it easier for everybody to understand and support the logic behind the plan.
Best practices
Consider your product and the market from different vantage points.
Identify internal factors Assess the characteristics of your business or product in relation to your competitors and add them as strengths or weakness on the matrix.
Analyze external forces Consider how your market landscape could positively or negatively impact the success of your business and note these in the opportunities and threats quadrants.
Share and refine Invite teammates to the board to add context, insights, questions, and new ideas. Vote on the items that are most important to your business.
Build an action plan Use the built-in action plan to reflect on specific areas to invest in going forward and what to stop doing — maximizing the potential value of your company or products.
Tips for conducting an effective SWOT analysis
A SWOT analysis is designed to be a relatively quick, high-level exercise that sparks meaningful discussion. In our template above, we use market analysis as an example. However, there are plenty of other scenarios in which a SWOT analysis can be illuminating.
For instance, you could conduct a SWOT analysis when considering a significant pivot in your product's direction or an expansion into new product lines. Similarly, you might complete a SWOT analysis as part of feature prioritization — evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of potential features in terms of product strategy, feasibility, and resource requirements.
Whatever the scope, here are some things to consider before, during, and after the session:
Before
Set a clear objective for the SWOT analysis session and determine who should attend. Depending on the area of focus, you might want to invite leaders from customer support, engineering, or marketing. Tap into the expertise of teammates who can provide insights on product analytics, customer feedback, and competitors.
You should also share a clear agenda along with the SWOT analysis template before the session. Give people time to mull over their ideas and ask them to add sticky notes to each quadrant of the template in advance of the meeting. You can also prompt people to vote via emoji on which items to prioritize when you meet.
During
Recirculate the agenda and establish rough time limits for discussing each quadrant. Every team member should have an opportunity to share their thoughts and insights. Whenever possible, ask people to back up their assertions with data and concrete examples.
After discussing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, drag the sticky notes in order based on their impact and significance to your organization. This way, you can define next steps for the items or activities that matter most.
After
Keep meeting notes in a central location so it is easy to revisit what you discussed. Review and update the SWOT analysis whiteboard in regular intervals to account for changing circumstances.
Additional resources
