Oct 1, 2018
Today I want to describe a powerful tool that managers and leaders use to set goals. The ability to properly identify, describe and measure goals is important to all managers, directors, executives and leaders in any organization.
Writing proper goals falls into the Business Practices domain of my model. And, I’ll talk about that briefly today. But the tool falls into the Leadership Skills domain.
Sometimes goals are self-evident, driven by universal business needs, such as growing volumes or improving profits.
But sometimes a good leader needs a tool to help her team surface new initiatives, based on a more thoughtful consideration of internal and external factors.
That’s where the SWOT Analysis can be extremely powerful.
For those of you who haven’t heard that term before, I didn’t say "swat analysis", like swatting flies.
SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities and Threats.
The development of the SWOT Analysis (or Matrix) has been attributed to Albert S. Humphrey, although he disavowed having invented it. It is a conceptual tool that has been used by countless business leaders to assist in planning. As a physician manager, director, or leader, you should become very comfortable using it.
What Are the Components?
The strengths and weaknesses generally refer to internal characteristics of an organization. This includes financial resources and performance, human resources, branding, and customer loyalty. It also might include cultural issues, such as whether your organization is nimble or slow-moving.
The opportunities and threats describe external considerations. How is the local economy doing? Is the market growing or shrinking? What are the demographics of your clients? Is your competition strong or weak? What is the regulatory environment like? Are there major hurdles to entering a new market?
From SWOT Analysis to Goal Setting
To use a SWOT Analysis, goals can be developed from the intersection of the Strengths and Weaknesses with the Opportunities and Threats from the SWOT analysis as depicted in the following table:
During this episode, I go into great detail on how to use the information in the table to create SMART goals, using examples from an imaginary team considering the opening of an imaginary urgent care center.
You’ll find the show notes for today’s episode at vitalpe.net/episode054 and you can download a transcript of the episode from the show notes page.
If you’d like more help in pursuing a CMO job or any other executive healthcare position, I’ve developed a new mentoring program for you that I rolled out in Episode 52.
It’s called Become CMO in a Year.
It’s designed for board certified physicians who work at least part-time in a hospital setting, who want to move into hospital or medical group management.
Through the mentoring program, you will identify and fill the gaps I your resume that you need to be irresistible to recruiters and CEOs.
You can learn more by heading over to vitalpe.net/cmomentor
Thanks again for listening today.