As a facilitator, you may want to assess your own ability as a facilitator after these two days. Or you may be working with a group to help them do a strategic plan for the future. Either way, one facilitation tool you may find useful is a SWOT Analysis.
- The S stands for Strengths, either of yourself or of the group you are working with. These strengths are usually internal to you or the group.
- The W stands for Weaknesses. Once again, this is an analysis of you or your group’s challenges, as seen internally.
- The O stands for Opportunities and usually identifies external opportunities.
- The T stands for Threats and usually identifies external threats to either you or your group.
Example
| INTERNAL | EXTERNAL | ||
| POSITIVE | Strengths 1. I am a great public speaker. 2. I genuinely connect with people |
Opportunities 1. I can use some of the skills I learned today to speak more slowly. 2. I can try taping myself or practicing I front of my friends. |
|
| NEGATIVE | Weaknesses 1. I often speak too quickly. 2. I sometimes rush through material or meetings. |
Threats 1. If I am in a stressful situation I might start speaking quickly again. |
|
Force Field Analysis
Utilize this tool to identify the opposing factors influencing a situation. For instance, if you’re experiencing low attendance at your meetings, a force field analysis can help you uncover what encourages people to attend and what prevents them from doing so.
Start by drawing a line down the center of a flip chart. On one side, list the factors that attract people to the meeting (support attendance), and on the other side, note the factors that keep them away (hinder attendance).
This analysis may reveal which elements on the “hinders” side can be addressed or removed, or what could be added to the “helps” side to boost attendance.
