Using strategy tools and templates is often a useful starting point when looking at ways in which to assess your external and internal environment. While they work as a starting point, additional analysis is required to understand your organisation’s response to the environment in which you operate. When applying strategic tools, it is important to remind ourselves what strategy entails:
- It’s about looking at factors that influence, hinder or encourage you to create platforms, interventions and programmes that set you apart while ensuring you’re continually relevant;
- It’s about how an organisation understands its context thereby adding meaning to its daily activities underpinned by a grasping of the bigger picture.
- Ultimately, using strategy tools is helpful in keeping you mindful of changes around you, thereby informing your overarching strategies and operational plans.
With that in mind, here is a list of some tools that are often used and might be useful for articulating and refining your organisational strategy:
- SWOT Analysis
- The TOWS Matrix (which is a variation of the SWOT Analysis)
- PESTLE Analysis
- Critical Success Factors
- Benchmarking
Questions to Ponder:
What tools are available to you for assessing your external environment?
Which tools do you find work best for you?
