Mistake 3: Doing SWOT Alone or With the Wrong People
Too many SWOT analyses fail before the first quadrant is filled. Not because of poor framing or weak data—but because of who’s in the room. I’ve led SWOT sessions in startups, mid-sized firms, and global enterprises. The moment I’ve seen a team missing operations, sales, or customer voices, I’ve known the output would be shallow. This isn’t about inclusivity for its own sake. It’s about ensuring that the analysis reflects reality, not just the echo of leadership.
When you do SWOT alone or with the wrong people, you’re not analyzing strategy—you’re curating a narrative. One that may feel safe, but is dangerously detached from the forces shaping your business. This chapter cuts through the noise. It explains who should be present, why their input matters, and how to build a stakeholder map that resists bias and captures real insight.
Why Doing SWOT Alone Is a Strategic Error
Doing SWOT alone creates a false sense of control. It’s tempting to draft it on a Sunday evening—after a long week, with a cup of coffee, and a vague sense of urgency. But such a SWOT is not strategy. It’s a list of personal assumptions dressed in corporate language.
Consider this: a founder drafts a SWOT for their SaaS startup. Strengths: “Great product.” Weaknesses: “Not enough users.” Opportunities: “Expand to Europe.” Threats: “Competitors are strong.” The problem isn’t the content—it’s the silence. No customer feedback. No sales data. No engineering input on scalability. The SWOT becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
When you do SWOT alone, you’re not missing perspectives—you’re eliminating them. And that’s the first error. Not in logic. Not in structure. In scope.
Who Should Be at Your SWOT Session?
Not everyone needs to attend. But if you’re serious about strategic clarity, the right roles must be present—each bringing a unique lens to the table.
- Operations: They know the bottlenecks. The real lead times. The supplier risks. If you don’t include them, your “strengths” in efficiency are just guesses.
- Sales and Account Executives: They hear customer pain points, objections, and competitor messaging daily. Without them, your opportunities and threats are based on hearsay.
- Finance or Product Leadership: They bring data on margins, pricing, and long-term sustainability. Weaknesses like “high burn rate” or “low margins” need their validation.
- Customer Support or Success: They’re the frontline for product feedback. If your “strength” is “good customer service,” but support is overwhelmed, that insight is useless.
- Frontline Employees (if possible): They interact with processes daily. Their input often reveals hidden inefficiencies or customer frustrations invisible to leadership.
- External Stakeholders (e.g., a customer or partner): For product or market SWOTs, a short session with a real customer can expose blind spots faster than any internal meeting.
These aren’t filler roles. They’re the truth-tellers. When their views are missing, the SWOT becomes a reflection of internal bias, not market reality.
Building Your SWOT Stakeholder Map
Not all roles are equally relevant for every SWOT. Use this simple map to determine who to invite based on your goal.
| SWOT Focus | Key Roles to Include | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Product Launch | Product Manager, UX, Sales, Marketing, Customer Support | Aligns feature needs with market demand and support capacity. |
| Market Expansion (e.g., EU) | Market Lead, Legal, Finance, Sales, Localization Team | Covers regulatory, pricing, and cultural risks. |
| Organizational Restructuring | HR, Operations, Team Leads, Finance, Employees (representatives) | Reveals actual capacity, turnover risks, and morale issues. |
| Competitor Response | Marketing, Sales, Product, Competitive Intelligence | Identifies real differentiators and vulnerabilities. |
This map isn’t rigid. Adjust based on context. But never skip the frontline. Their voice is the most reliable indicator of what’s actually happening.
The 3-Step Rule for Inclusion
When planning your SWOT session, use this simple filter:
- Does this role have direct, repeated contact with the key factor? (e.g., customer, process, market)
- Can this person provide evidence or firsthand insight? (Not just opinion.)
- Would excluding them create a blind spot in strategy?
If the answer to all three is “yes,” include them.
Who You Shouldn’t Invite (And Why)
Just as important as who to include is who to leave out.
- Executives without operational access: They may dominate the conversation but lack context. Their input often reflects politics, not reality.
- Anyone who will only defend the status quo: If someone resists change or dismisses feedback, their presence can paralyze discussion.
- Overwhelming numbers: More than 6–8 people makes facilitation nearly impossible. Quality of dialogue drops rapidly.
Keep it lean. Keep it real.
Practical Steps to Fix Your SWOT Group Composition
Here’s how to ensure your SWOT group is balanced and effective:
- Define your objective first. Is it a product launch, market shift, or internal capability gap? The goal determines who to invite.
- Use a stakeholder matrix. List all potential roles, score each on relevance and influence, and prioritize based on your objective.
- Pre-qualify participants. Send a short pre-workshop survey: “What do you see as the biggest opportunity or threat in [area]?” Use responses to shape the session.
- Assign roles. Rotate facilitator, timekeeper, note-taker, and summarizer. This keeps energy high and prevents dominance by one person.
- Start with silence. Ask everyone to write down 2–3 items in each quadrant before discussion. This ensures equal input and reduces groupthink.
These steps are not bureaucracy. They’re insurance against the most common SWOT stakeholder mistake: assuming that the people in the room are enough.
Real Examples of What Goes Wrong
At a health tech startup, the CTO ran a SWOT alone. “We have strong technical talent” was listed as a strength. But when he invited engineering leads and support staff to a follow-up, they revealed: burnout, high turnover, and a growing backlog. The original SWOT had ignored the very system it claimed to support.
Another case: a retail chain’s SWOT included only executives. “Opportunity: expand to rural markets.” But no one from field sales or logistics was present. The plan ignored road access, supply chain delays, and local labor shortages. The launch failed within 90 days.
These aren’t rare. They’re symptoms of a deeper issue: doing SWOT alone creates a disconnect between perception and reality. The fix isn’t better tools—it’s better people.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who to invite to SWOT?
Include roles with direct exposure to the subject—sales, operations, finance, customer service, and frontline employees. For product or market SWOTs, also involve customer representatives. The goal is to capture real, evidence-based insights, not just executive opinions.
How many people should be in a SWOT session?
Ideally 5–8 people. Fewer than 4, and you risk missing perspectives. More than 8, and discussion becomes unmanageable. Use a pre-workshop survey to narrow down key contributors.
Can I run SWOT with only my team?
If your team includes cross-functional roles (e.g., product, sales, ops), yes. But if it’s only executives or one department, you’re likely overlooking critical input. Always verify that your group has the right breadth of experience.
Why is doing SWOT alone so dangerous?
It leads to confirmation bias, lacks evidence, and reflects personal assumptions. Without diverse input, the SWOT becomes a self-justifying exercise, not a strategic tool. The risk? Making decisions based on a fantasy, not reality.
Should customers be part of SWOT?
Not in every case, but yes when analyzing market position, product fit, or customer experience. A short 15-minute session with a customer can reveal more than hours of internal debate. Use them as external validators, not just participants.
