Strategy for Conducting a SWOT Analysis Session

• Distribute SWOT matrix to all participants.
• Discuss SWOT analysis. Decide on goal—e.g., “Improve screening and follow-up for CRC at our community health center.”
• Give participants a copy of a blank grid for identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Ask participants to jot down their own initial ideas on paper.
• Facilitate a discussion at a flipchart, asking participants to suggest items from their own lists. Encourage participants to present ideas freely without worrying if they fit—later the lists can be edited. At first it is not necessary to consolidate overlapping topics—just brainstorm ideas.
• Revisit the group list and consolidate related suggestions.
• Encourage the group to set priorities. Note repeated items across groups in the process of setting priorities. Ask what is the strongest strength, the most dangerous weakness, the greatest opportunity, and the gravest threat.   

Possible Questions to Ask to Identify Strengths

• What do we do well?
• What advantages do we have?
• What relevant resources do we have access to?
• What do others see as our strengths?

Possible Questions to Identify Weaknesses

• What aren’t we doing well?
• What can we improve?
• What should we avoid?

Possible Questions to Identify Opportunities

• Where are good opportunities facing us? 
• What trends might be helpful to observe? 

Possible Questions to Identify Threats

• What obstacles do we face? 
• Is technology changing faster than we are adapting to the changes? 

The facilitator should encourage cross-connections between categories. Have the group consider, for instance, whether the identified strengths open up any opportunities. Tease out these insights as they arise rather than insisting that participants exhaust all ideas in a particular quadrant before they move on.