Swings + Roundabouts Autumn 2021

Everyone has heard of a SWOT analysis, and most people have done one before as part of their strategic planning. A SWOT can be a great way to quickly summarise many of the key issues that need to be considered in the process of developing or reviewing a centre’s strategic plan. In a SWOT, the strengths and weaknesses are looked at in terms of the centre’s internal perspective. For example, what strengths and weaknesses are there with the centre’s people, systems, technology, services, curriculum delivery, compliance, marketing and so on. In my experience, many people and centres think more highly of their strengths than they should. You might have a particular learning activity or a key person that you see as a strength, but wouldn’t the competitor down the road say the same thing about their centre? Strengths need to be thought of in relation to competitors and (most importantly) in relation to your parents. Weaknesses are opportunities for improvement. If you agree with the statement that your centre is only ever a SWOT & SOAR BY PETER REYNOLDS “Work in Progress”, then you are already acknowledging and thinking about the areas you need to work on to improve. The tendency is for centre staf f to f ill up the Weakness box with a long list of minor issues. Weaknesses need to ref lect the strategic positioning of the centre and not today’s list of maintenance shortfalls. The opportunities and threats ref lect external considerations. It might relate to growth opportunities in the market, new technology being developed, competitor actions or government policy changes for example. Opportunities and threats are going to happen anyway, whether you take action or not. Your job is to identify the relevant opportunities and threats, whether they are indeed relevant to your centre, and (assuming they are) what action you want to take to take advantage of an opportunity or defend your centre from the ill-ef fects of a threat. While simple to complete, a SWOT analysis can suf fer from being too negatively focused on the Weaknesses and Threats. It can become about f ixing what is wrong, rather than pursuing the oppor tunities and the potential growth available. And to fall into detailed operational issues rather than focussing on the strategic higher level issues that impact on the centre’s ultimate success. A f inal point about pulling together your SWOT analysis is to consult. Consult with staf f, certainly, but also consult with parents, suppliers, membership organisations like the ECC, and more. Consulting on your SWOT analysis means you are far more likely to maintain a strategic perspective rather than get mired in the low-level operational issues. SOAR Another model gaining popularity is the SOAR model, instead of a SWOT analysis. Users of the SOAR model claim it encourages people to look past the immediate challenges to what can be in the longer term. SOAR stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results. The model March 2021 { 22 }