Six rules that stop a SWOT becoming a list of opinions
Read the rules aloud in the opening and keep them visible during the session.
| Rule | Words to say when it is broken |
|---|---|
| 1. One subject | “Is that about the subject on the framing sheet? If not, I will park it.” |
| 2. One sentence that someone could check | “What would someone look at to see that this is true?” |
| 3. Evidence, or a named check | “How do we know? Give me a number, a date or a source, or tell me who we will ask.” |
| 4. Control decides the side | “Could this team change it on its own? Then it is internal. Would it be true if we did nothing? Then it is external.” |
| 5. No solutions in the grid | “That is a choice. Hold it for the pairing step. What is the fact behind it?” |
| 6. Votes order the talk, the decider decides | “The votes show where to look first. The shortlist is decided by the person named on the framing sheet.” |
Internal or external: the placing test
Internal: the team controls it now. External: it is outside the team’s control within the time horizon.
| Quadrant | It belongs here if… | Often misplaced |
|---|---|---|
| Strength (internal) | The team does it or has it now, it helps the goal, and the team could lose it by its own choices. | A hope: “we will be good at this once the new system arrives.” |
| Weakness (internal) | It is the team’s to fix, and it holds the goal back today. | A complaint about another team. That is external. |
| Opportunity (external) | It is happening or planned outside the team, it could help the goal, and it would be true if the team did nothing. | An idea for action: “we could run more sessions.” Ask for the outside fact that makes the idea possible. |
| Threat (external) | It is happening or likely outside the team, it could harm the goal, and the team cannot stop it alone. | A weakness in disguise: “we have no backup trainer” is internal. The threat is the outside event that would expose it. |
Four ways to pair an internal entry with an external entry
Pairing internal with external factors is often called a TOWS matrix (Heinz Weihrich, 1982). The names, questions and layout here are written for this kit.
| Pair | Name in this kit | Question to ask | Example from the fictional team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength with opportunity | Use | Which strength lets us take up this opportunity? | S1 with O1: run the day 3 call practice in the practice environment. |
| Weakness with opportunity | Fix to gain | Which weakness could this opportunity help us fix, or must we fix to benefit? | W1 with O1: replace the day 2 slide walk-through with three timed tasks. |
| Strength with threat | Shield | Which strength reduces the harm of this threat? | S2 with T1: run two groups of 12 in the same week. |
| Weakness with threat | Fix first | Which weakness does this threat make worse? | W2 with T3: add an observed call on day 5 that needs everyone present. |
Filled example: framing sheet
A fictional learning team. The team, the course and the dates are invented for this example.
| Question | Our answer |
|---|---|
| The subject: one service, course, team or project | Welcome Week, the five-day onboarding course for new customer service advisers. |
| The goal: the decision or plan this SWOT serves | Decide what to change in the course before the January intake. |
| The time horizon: from when to when | From today, Wednesday 4 November, to the end of the January intake. |
| Who decides afterwards, and by when | The learning lead decides the shortlist in the room. Any request for money goes to the head of service by Friday 13 November. |
| Who is in the room, and who facilitates | Five people: the learning lead, two trainers, the course coordinator and one customer service team leader. A colleague from another team facilitates and does not vote. |
| Whose view is missing, and how we bring it in | New starters from the October intake: their end-of-course forms are on the table. The IT project lead: questions go to them after the session. |
| Out of scope: what we will not discuss today | Recruitment, pay and the choice of the new customer records system. |
| Evidence we bring: reports, forms, notes, plans | End-of-course forms, trainer notes, the attendance register, the IT project plan and the recruitment plan. |
Filled example: SWOT register
Twelve entries, three per quadrant. Eight are checked facts and four are assumptions with a named check. Five people cast 15 votes; S1, W1 and O1 share first place with three votes each.
| # | Entry | Quadrant | Evidence type | Evidence: how we know | So what | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | The day 3 call practice with a buddy is the session that new starters value most. | Strength | Checked fact | End-of-course forms, October intake: 11 of 12 people named it the most useful session. | Protect its time when we change anything else. | 3 |
| S2 | Both trainers can deliver every session of the week. | Strength | Checked fact | Delivery records for the last three intakes: each trainer has led every session at least once. | We can run two groups in the same week. | 1 |
| S3 | Our joining instructions are clear. | Strength | Assumption | Assumption: check with three people from the October intake. The form does not ask. | If not, fix them before January. | 0 |
| W1 | The systems training on day 2 runs over time. | Weakness | Checked fact | Trainer notes: day 2 ended 40, 35 and 50 minutes late in the last three intakes. | The last topic of day 2 is rushed or dropped. | 3 |
| W2 | The week has no check of what a new starter can do at the end. | Weakness | Checked fact | Course file, read on Monday 2 November: no observed task and no assessment. | We cannot show team leaders what the course achieved. | 1 |
| W3 | Some slides show out-of-date policy. | Weakness | Assumption | Assumption: check the slides against the policy list of 1 October. | New starters may learn a rule that no longer applies. | 0 |
| O1 | A new customer records system, with a practice environment, goes live on Monday 30 November. | Opportunity | Checked fact | IT project plan dated 26 October: the practice environment opens on Monday 16 November. | People could practise on a safe copy of the real system. | 3 |
| O2 | Team leaders are willing to release experienced advisers as buddies. | Opportunity | Assumption | Assumption: two of the four team leaders said so informally. Check with all four. | More buddy time would be possible on day 3. | 1 |
| O3 | HR will review the first-month checklist for new starters in December. | Opportunity | Checked fact | Email from HR of 20 October. | The course and the checklist could use the same words. | 0 |
| T1 | The January intake is 24 people, double the usual 12, and the training room seats 14. | Threat | Checked fact | Recruitment plan approved on 28 October. Room booking system. | One group will not fit in the room. | 2 |
| T2 | The screens of the new system may change after go-live. | Threat | Assumption | Assumption: check with the IT project lead. | Materials written in November could be wrong in January. | 0 |
| T3 | New starters are called back to their teams during days 4 and 5. | Threat | Checked fact | Attendance register, October intake: 5 of 12 people missed part of day 4 or day 5. | People miss the complaints session on day 4. | 1 |
Filled example: pairings
Combined votes add the votes of the two entries: C1 and C2 have 6, C5 has 4, C3 has 3 and C4 has 2. C5 rests on an assumption.
| # | Internal entry | External entry | Pairing | Our choice | Combined votes | Rests on an assumption? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | S1 | O1 | Use | Run the day 3 call practice in the practice environment of the new system. | 6 | No |
| C2 | W1 | O1 | Fix to gain | Replace the day 2 slide walk-through with three timed tasks in the practice environment. | 6 | No |
| C3 | S2 | T1 | Shield | Run the January intake as two groups of 12 in the same week, with one trainer each. | 3 | No |
| C4 | W2 | T3 | Fix first | Add an observed call on day 5 and tell team leaders in advance that it needs everyone present. | 2 | No |
| C5 | S1 | O2 | Use | Ask each team leader to name one buddy for day 3 of the January intake. | 4 | Yes: check first |
Filled example: shortlist
As at Wednesday 4 November 2026 the four due dates are 7, 9, 30 and 37 days away. The group reviews the shortlist on Wednesday 16 December.
| # | From | Action or check | Owner | First step | Due | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | C5 | Check: will all four team leaders release a buddy for day 3? | Learning lead | Put the question on the agenda of the team leaders’ meeting. | Wed 11 Nov | Four answers are written down, and O2 is a checked fact or is removed. |
| A2 | C3 | Plan the January intake as two groups of 12. | Course coordinator | Book a second room for the intake week. | Fri 13 Nov | Two rooms are booked and both trainers have the dates. |
| A3 | C2 | Rebuild day 2 as three timed tasks in the practice environment. | Trainer (systems) | Ask the IT project lead for practice logins and whether the screens will change (T2). | Fri 4 Dec | A colleague who has not seen the tasks finishes all three inside the day 2 timetable. |
| A4 | C1 | Move the day 3 call practice into the practice environment. | Trainer (calls) | List the call types that the practice uses now. | Fri 11 Dec | One buddy pair has tried a full practice call in the environment. |
What you'll leave with
By the end of 90 minutes the team has one agreed subject and goal, a SWOT register in which every entry is a checked fact or a named assumption, a “so what” line and votes for each entry, at least four paired choices, and a shortlist of up to four actions or checks with an owner, a first step and a due date.
Before the session
- For facilitators, trainers and team leads who run a SWOT workshop with 4–12 adults about one subject: a service, a course, a team or a project. It is not a market study.
- Fill in the framing sheet with the sponsor before the session. Ask people to bring evidence they already have, such as reports, forms, notes and plans. Do not start without a named decider.
- Print one silent writing sheet per person and one set of the other sheets for the group, or share the workbook on a screen. Plan four quadrant groups of one to three people.
- Send the framing sheet and the four prompts a day early for people who use a screen reader or want time to think. Quadrants are named by letter, not by colour, votes are written and anyone may pass.
The run of show
Open, frame and agree the rules
Three minutes: read the framing sheet aloud, then say: “This is a SWOT of one subject, for one decision. We look at where we stand before we choose. We are not reviewing past work and we are not solving a problem yet.” Three minutes: read the six rules and ask for questions. Two minutes: name the person who decides the shortlist, and say how people can contribute: aloud, in writing, or by passing.
Silent writing
One minute: hand out the silent writing sheet and say: “Write one sentence per row that someone could check. Next to it, write how you know: a number, a date or a source. If you cannot, write ‘assumption: check with’ and a name.” Six minutes of silence: each person writes at least one entry for each of the four prompts. One minute: each person marks their two strongest entries.
Collect and place: inside or outside our control
Eight minutes: go round the group twice. Each person reads one entry per turn, without explaining it, or passes. People with the same point say “same” and it is recorded once. Entries not read out are added in writing. Six minutes: test each entry with two questions: “Could this team change it on its own? Then it is internal: a strength or a weakness.” “Would it be true if this team did nothing? Then it is external: an opportunity or a threat.” If an entry is an idea for action, say: “That is a choice. Hold it for the pairing step. What is the fact behind it?”
Evidence round
Two minutes: split into four groups, one per quadrant: one person each with four people, three each with twelve. Ten minutes: each group fills the evidence columns for its quadrant. A checked fact needs a number, a date or a source that someone in the room has seen. Everything else is an assumption, with the name of the person or record to check. Three minutes: each group reads out only its assumptions and who will check them. An entry with no evidence and no named check moves to a parked list.
Break
Five minutes away from the table or the screen. The facilitator numbers the entries S1, W1, O1, T1 and so on, and checks that every row has an evidence type.
So what, then vote
Six minutes: the same groups write one “so what” line per entry: what it means for the goal on the framing sheet. Four minutes: each person has three votes and gives them to three different entries in any quadrant, in writing: on a slip, in the chat or in the votes column. Say: “Vote for what matters most for the goal, not for what you like.” Two minutes: count the votes and read out the top entries in each quadrant. Votes order the discussion. They are not a measurement.
Pair entries into choices
Three minutes: show one pair with the top-voted entries. Say: “Take one internal entry and one external entry and ask what we would do because both are true.” Name the four pairings: use, fix to gain, shield and fix first. Eight minutes: in pairs or threes, write at least two choices on the pairing sheet. Each choice starts with a verb and names both entries. Four minutes: read the choices out. Mark each choice that rests on an assumption.
Shortlist with owner and date
Three minutes: the decider picks up to four choices and says why in one sentence each. Six minutes: for each one, write the action, an owner who says yes aloud or in writing, the first step, a due date and what “done” looks like. A choice that rests on an assumption enters the shortlist as a check, not as an action. Choices that are not picked stay on the pairing sheet for the review.
Read back and close
Two minutes: read back the shortlist with owners and dates, then the assumptions and who checks each one. Say when the group will review the shortlist. Two minutes: each person says or writes one sentence about what changed in their view of the subject, or passes.
Participant worksheet
Copy this table into a document, or print the worksheet from the bundle. Share only what you choose.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Framing sheet | The subject, the goal, the time horizon and who decides afterwards |
| Silent writing | One sentence per entry that someone could check, and how you know |
| SWOT register | Entry, quadrant, evidence type, evidence, so what and votes |
| Pairing sheet | One internal entry, one external entry and the choice that follows from both |
| Shortlist | Up to four actions or checks, each with an owner, a first step and a due date |
Debrief questions
- Which entry did we believe at the start that turned out to be an assumption?
- Which entry moved from one side to the other when we asked who controls it, and what did that change?
- Which choice came from a pair that nobody would have written as a single idea?
- What is missing from the register because the people who know it were not in the room?
Adapt it for your group
- For four or five people, one person takes each quadrant in the evidence round, a fifth person joins the fullest quadrant, and the group writes the pairs together.
- For a 75-minute version, send the framing sheet and the four prompts two days early and ask people to bring their entries with evidence. Cut the opening to 5 minutes, skip the silent writing and shorten the evidence round to 11 minutes.
- Online, share the workbook or one document on screen. People type entries in the chat or the document, the quadrant groups use breakout rooms, and votes go to the facilitator as three entry numbers in the chat. Cameras are optional.
- For quiet participants and people who use a screen reader, send the sheets as plain text a day early, accept entries in writing before the session and read every entry aloud with its number. Anyone may pass in any round.
- If the subject is large, such as a whole department, run one SWOT per service or course and compare the shortlists afterwards. One register with forty mixed entries is hard to pair.
After the session
Send the framing sheet, the register, the pairings and the shortlist within one working day. Each person who owns a check reports the answer in writing, and the entry then becomes a checked fact or leaves the register. At the review date, go through the shortlist, look again at the choices that were not picked and update the register with anything that has changed outside the team. Repeat the SWOT when the goal or the time horizon changes, not on a fixed schedule.
Questions people ask
What should a SWOT analysis template include?
Four quadrants are the minimum: strengths and weaknesses inside the team’s control, opportunities and threats outside it. A template that a team can act on also needs the subject and the goal, a column for how you know each point, a “so what” column and a place to turn the entries into a few choices with an owner and a date. This kit has a sheet for each.
What is the difference between a strength and an opportunity?
A strength is internal: the team does it or has it now and could lose it by its own choices. An opportunity is external: it is happening outside the team and would be true if the team did nothing. “We could use the new practice environment” is neither. It is a choice, and it belongs in the pairing step.
How do you turn a SWOT analysis into actions?
Pair one internal entry with one external entry and ask what you would do because both are true. Use a strength on an opportunity, fix a weakness that an opportunity makes worth fixing, use a strength to reduce a threat, or fix first a weakness that a threat makes worse. Then the decider picks up to four choices, and each gets an owner, a first step and a due date.
Where does SWOT come from, and is it a proven method?
The origin is uncertain. It is often credited to work at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s (Albert Humphrey) and to Harvard Business School authors of the same period. It is a way to organise what a team knows, not a proven method: the result is only as good as the evidence behind each entry. It does not replace customer research, a risk assessment or a financial plan.
How is a SWOT different from a retrospective or a problem-solving workshop?
A SWOT looks at a position before a choice. The retrospective template and the lessons learned template look back at finished work. The problem-solving activities kit takes one known problem and finds causes and a test. Use a SWOT when the team has to decide what to change next and the problem is not yet clear.
What is included in the free and editable files?
The open PDF has the framing sheet, the silent writing sheet, the SWOT register, the pairing sheet, the shortlist, a filled example of the register, the pairings and the shortlist, and the 90-minute facilitator script. Subscribers also receive the editable Word file, an Excel workbook with a register that counts and ranks entries, a pairing sheet, a shortlist with days to each due date and filled examples, and a CSV of the workshop plan.
How to use the files
Print the PDF, edit the Word file in Word or Google Docs, or open the CSV or XLSX in a spreadsheet. Open files need no email.
Can I use this with paying clients?
Yes. Use and adapt this original Superglue kit in your own training, including paid client sessions. Please share this page rather than redistributing the unmodified kit. Read the full usage terms.