SWOT Analysis
This module will support your understanding and use of the SWOT Analysis Tool from the DIY Toolkit. You should look at the SWOT Analysis Template [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] before working through the module. You will find it helpful to have a print out of the SWOT Analysis Template with you while you work through this module.

Knowledge of the internal strengths and weaknesses, along with the opportunities and threats – SWOT – facing a business, project or programme can paint a broad picture of its current status. This proactive analysis leads to a richer understanding and avoids relying on habit or instinct, helping leaders and managers to make informed decisions about the actions available to them.
Conducting a SWOT analysis can be useful for lots of contexts, including:
- problem solving
- planning
- competitor evaluation
- personal-development planning
- strategic decision making, such as entering a new sector or launching a new product
- a potential partnership
- an investment opportunity
- outsourcing a service, activity or resource
- staff-development planning
- developing contingency plans.
This module explains how to use SWOT analysis as a tool. As with many of the DIY tools, it is a subjective activity that would probably be completed quite differently by two people working on the same issue for the same organisation. Asking colleagues and partners to help with a SWOT analysis will always give a richer result than working in isolation.
Learning outcomes
After studying this module, you should be able to:
- describe what a SWOT analysis is and where you would use it (SAQ 1)
- explain the terms strength, weakness, opportunity and threat in the context of a SWOT analysis (SAQs 2 and 3)
- distinguish between the internal and external issues in a project and its environment using a SWOT analysis (SAQ 2)
- conduct and interpret a simple SWOT analysis (SAQ 3)