Use a SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats relative to your company, unit or group, or a program you want to evaluate. The SWOT analysis lets you focus on specific areas and discover actions that can help build on strengths, minimize or eliminate weaknesses, maximize opportunities, and deal with or overcome threats.

Steps for Conducting a SWOT Analysis:

1. Select an individual to facilitate the SWOT analysis

2. Brainstorm a company or unit's strengths
Go around the room and solicit ideas from participants. Areas of strength for a company or unit include: leadership abilities, decision-making abilities, innovation, productivity, quality, service, efficiency, technological processes, and so forth. Record all suggestions on a flip chart. Avoid duplicate entries. Make it clear that some issues may appear on more than one list. For example, a company or unit may have a strength in an area such as customer service, but may have a weakness or deficiency in that area as well. At this point, the goal is to capture as many ideas on the flip charts as possible. Evaluating the strengths will take place later.

3. Consolidate ideas
Post all flip charts pages on a wall. While every effort may have been taken to avoid duplicate entries, there will be some ideas that overlap. Consolidate duplicate points by asking the group which items can be combined under the same subject. Resist the temptation to over-consolidate—lumping lots of ideas under one subject. Often, this results in a lack of focus.

4. Clarify ideas
Go down the consolidated list item by item and clarify any items that participants have questions about. It's helpful to reiterate the meaning of each item before discussing it. Stick to defining strengths. Restrain the team from talking about solutions at this point in the process.

5. Identify the top three strengths
Sometimes the top three strengths are obvious and no vote is necessary. In that case, simply test for consensus. Otherwise, give participants a few minutes to pick their top issues individually. Allow each team member to cast three to five votes (three if the list of issues is ten items or fewer, five if it is long). Identify the top three items. If there are ties or the first vote is inconclusive, discuss the highly rated items from the first vote and vote again.

6. Summarize strengths
Once the top three strengths are decided, summarize them on a single flip chart page.

7. Repeat Steps 2-6 for weaknesses
Similar to strengths, areas of weakness for a company or unit include: leadership abilities, decision-making abilities, innovation, productivity, quality, service, efficiency, technological processes, and so forth.

8. Repeat Steps 2-6 for opportunities
Areas of opportunities include: emerging markets, further market penetration, new technologies, new products or services, geographic expansion, cost reduction, and so forth.

9. Repeat Steps 2-6 for threats
Areas of threat include: entrance of a new competitor, legislation or regulations that will increase costs or eliminate a product, a declining product or market, and so forth.

Quality vs. Quantity
It is impossible to go for high quality without a thought about quantity. And it is impossible to set a high recruitment goal without some regard for the quality of the men. Simply put, quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive. They go hand in hand.

Quality means sharp, purposeful men who will contribute to the Organization’s future through in a concern for the internal well-being of the chapter. As we increase in size, we increase the number of sharp, good quality GUARDIANS. Soon the percentage of good quality men in your chapter will increase.

 

          Officer’s Qualifications

  • Organized
  • Leadership qualities
  • Responsible and dependable
  • Respected by the chapter
  • Has time to do the job
  • A self-starterInspiring and motivating
  • Good at delegating
Introduction and the Art of Conversation
To get to know someone, there's got to be an introduction. All of your Brods. and Sis were once strangers until you were introduced; every new person you meet presents a challenge and an opportunity. You may not hit it off with everyone, but there is the chance that you can make a friend who could become a Brod.
  • You can probably think back to a time when you had the opportunity to introduce yourself to someone, but you were reluctant and hesitant, and the moment was lost. Sometimes our fears are stronger than our desire to make contact. Remember, though, when introducing yourself doesn't work out as planned, the worst you can fear is temporarily injured pride or a minor dent in your self-esteem. The most realistic attitude for you to have toward future introductions is that it will be interesting to see what happens.
    Here are a few steps that will help to make for a smooth introduction and facilitate conversation in any situation. They are simple, but not simplistic - we often just forget to use them.

  • Say Hello and introduce yourself. When you greet someone, they will almost always give you the courtesy of returning the greeting. If you tell him your name, he'll tell you his, and now you've got an introduction.
     
  • Smile and shake his hand. Your body language is a key to making someone feel comfortable and to connecting with him.
     
  • Get his name. If he's told you his name, repeat it. Say something like, "It's nice to meet you, Ethan." If he hasn't told you his name, ask for it. "What your name?" usually works. Then, when he tells you, repeat it. Repeating his name serves two purposes: One, people like to hear their own name, and two, repeating it will help you remember it.
     
  • Ask him a question. Once you've exchanged names and handshakes, you want to actually start a conversation. The best way to do this is to ask a question. The best questions to ask are open-ended ones, which cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.
     
  • Listen. It seems obvious, but sometimes our tendency is to ask another question or start talking ourselves. Listen carefully to what he's saying and learn about him as a person. When you shut up and listen, you can begin to understand someone else. There's a reason we have two ears and only one mouth.
     
  • Look him in the eye. Making eye contact is one of the best ways to show someone you're interested in what he's got to say. Don't stare him down, but keep enough eye contact to demonstrate genuine interest. Looking someone in the eye is also a good way to help you read body language and non-verbal signals that can help you in conversation.
     
  • Get him to talk about himself. Find out what he's interested in, and ask him about it. Avoid stock questions for anything other than introductory purposes.
     
  • Reflect. This is where the listening comes in handy. Reflecting is the skill of checking out what you hear and repeating it back to the person as you interpret it to ensure that your meaning matches his meaning. When you can do this, you let the person know that you are paying attention to him, you are listening and you understand.
     
  • Ask "Why?" Asking someone why they feel or think a certain way about something will get them thinking and will let them know you are interested in finding out more about him and making a friend, not just gathering information.
     
  • Avoid conversation distractions. This means simply being courteous. If you're having a conversation with someone, don't be rude - do not smoke, chew gum, or wear sunglasses. Don't watch the television behind him, and don't try to involve yourself in other conversations around you. Focus on the conversation and pay attention to this potential Brod.
     
  • Open the door for future contact. If you're talking with someone you want to talk to again, ensure you have the opportunity to do so before you finish the conversation. Ask him where he lives, and get his Email and cell phone number. Once you're sure you've got his information, invite him to the next event. Give him a specific date, time and place. Offer to pick him up.
     
  • Give a friendly good-bye. When you're ready to end the conversation, or if you want to introduce him to a new Brod., be sure that you are friendly when you close the conversation. Tell him you are glad you met him and got to know him, and that you look forward to seeing him again. Give him the kind of good-bye that lets him know you want to talk to him again.
     
  • Practice. Meeting people and carrying on engaging conversations is a skill, like any other. As such, the more you practice it, the better you will get and the more comfortable you will feel.