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Participant User Guide
Moderator User Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
I was invited to participate in a strategic analysis. How do I get to it?
How many strategic analyses can I participate in as a free member?
Will my answers be kept confidential?
How do the roles work an why do I have multiple roles in some cases?
How long do I have to fill out the survey before my session times out?
What if I change my mind about one or more responses after I submit my questionnaire?
I submitted my questionnaire and now I see a graph with squares and a circle. What's that?
Can I compare my analysis to the group's analysis and first impression to latest impression?
Why are there different colors for the factors and name, especially for the group analysis?
Why are some of the factors for the group not on the XY axis?
Some of the factors are missing from the graph and others are obscured. How do I fix that?
What is the secret to a successful SWOT analysis?
I created an analysis. How do I and others gain access to participate in filling it out?
I was invited to participate in a strategic analysis. How do I get to it?
You must first create a free account. Select "Create Account" on the menu and fill in the information. Make sure that the email address you enter matches the address the invitation was sent to; otherwise you won't see the invitation when you login. You will automatically be set up with a free limited membership where you can participate in any analysis you are invited to. Plus you will receive 10 free surveys to conduct an analysis of your own. You can always purchase an annual subscription and/or survey packs. Once you have created an account, you will see a list of invitations (you probably only have one at this point). If you click on the invitation, it will take you to a survey to fill out.
How many
strategic analyses can I participate in as a limited member?
As a limited member (or as a full member for that matter) you can participate in as many strategic analyses as you are invited to.
Will my answers be kept confidential?
Yes. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information.
Factors are what make up the strategic analysis. They are typically neutral statements you can respond to.
Categories let you clump related factors together. For example, businesses often use categories such as "market", "resources" and "competition". It is often best to identify factors first. When you can't come up with any more factors, start identifying ways of grouping the factors into categories. This usually prompts people to think of further factors as well as aids in identifying and consolidating redundant factors.
Type refers to the effect that the factor most likely has or will have on the analysis. There are four types:
1. Strength - A strength is where the factor has a generally positive effect on the analysis and is considered to be internal to the group/organization (i.e. it is a description of the group/organization).
2. Weakness - A weakness is where the factor has a generally negative effect on the analysis and is considered to be internal to the group/organization (i.e. it is a description of the group/organization).
3. Opportunity - An opportunity is where the factor has a generally positive effect on the analysis and is considered to be external to the group/organization (i.e. it is dependant on outside forces).
4. Constraint - A constraint is where the factor has a generally negative effect on the analysis and is considered to be external to the group/organization (i.e. it is dependant on outside forces).
Factors are paired by Strength/Weakness (internal) and Opportunity/Threat (external). Factors won't always fall neatly into one of these pairings. You must choose the pairing that the factor most closely resembles.
Score is where you rank the level of effect this factor (pairing) has on the the analysis. "0" means virtually no effect, "+5" means a very positive effect, and "-5" means a very negative effect.
Insights are the thought processes that went into your decision on type, likelihood and impact for a factor. They can also be thoughts or ideas that the factor inspired. All insights can be read by all respondents after the initial questionnaire is submitted. Insights are important because they can influence other respondents (who also have observer access) to update their responses after their initial submission (the initial responses are saved for comparison). Insights are optional and should only be provided if you think it would benefit the analysis by giving the group a fresh perspective on a factor or if the factor is controversial and more feedback is needed for the group to consider.
How do the roles work and why do I have multiple roles in some cases?
There are up to 4 roles that the moderator of an analysis can assign to participants:
Helper - Helpers can do everything the moderator can do except create/delete and analysis, change the phase of the analysis and manage participants.
Collaborator - Collaborators assist the moderator during the design phase by providing suggestions for improvement. They can view the name, description and factors (including the factors' types and categories).
Respondent - Respondents can fill out the questionnaire once voting has been enabled. After the questionnaire is submitted, respondents can view/update their individual results. Their initial responses are always preserved.
Observer - Observers cannot fill out the questionnaire, but can view the group results. Observers also have access to filtering the results by category and attributes (if there are categories and attributes).
Combination - Participants can have all 4 roles. If a participant is both a respondent and an observer, they can fill out the questionnaire, view their individual vs. group results, and they have access to the filtering capabilities.
How long do I have to fill out the survey before my session times out?
You can take as long as you like. Your session will never time out.
What if I change my mind about one or more responses after I submit my questionnaire?
You can update any of your responses after your initial submission as many times as you want before voting is closed. Your initial responses will be preserved for comparison purposes however, so some consideration should be given before clicking the submit button for the initial questionnaire.
I submitted my questionnaire and now I see a graph with squares and a circle. What's that?
The graph displays the results of the analysis. The squares represent the factors and the circle represents the topic which is the average of the factors. The horizontal axis shows the internal strengths (right) and weaknesses (left) of the group/organization. The vertical axis shows the external opportunities (top) and threats (bottom) of the group/organization. If the circle is located in the top/right quadrant, it's generally considered to be in good shape. The numbers in the squares correspond to the numbers for each factor listed below the graph. The "Y" or "G" in the circle indicates if it is your assessment or the group's. The "F" or "L" in the circle indicates whether it is the first or latest pass.
Can I compare my analysis to the group's analysis and first impression to latest impression?
If you are both a respondent and an observer, you can compare your analysis to the group's analysis as well as first impression to latest impression. If you are a respondent, you can only see the your perspective (first and latest). If you are an observer, you can only see the group's perspective (first and latest). The options will appear in a drop-down menu as follows:
- Your initial perspective ("View Your First Pass")
- The group's initial perspective ("View Group's First Pass")
- Your latest perspective ("View Your Latest Pass")
- The group's latest perspective ("View Group's Latest Pass")
Why are there different colors for the squares and circle, especially for the group analysis?
The colors indicate degree of overall consensus. The farther apart the positive vs. negative factors are, the less overall consensus. A more red color indicates that the end-result of the analysis is less predictable/stable because the analysis has strong factors pulling in opposite directions. The color for an individual's factor will always appear royal blue (100% concensus) because it only represents one person's response so there can't be any disagreement. The group's factors can vary in color depending on how controversial the factor is.
Why are some of the factors for the group not resting on the XY axis?
Respondents are free to select whatever type they feel most closely fits a factor. If one person sees a factor as a strength and another sees it as an opportunity, the averaged group factor will not sit directly on an axis.
Some of the factors are missing from the graph and others are obscured. How do I fix that?
Some factors may not show up because they are completely covered by another factor. To the right of the group you will see a list of all the factors in grey boxes. If you click on a grey box, the corresponding factor in the graph will be brought to the surface and highlighted with a yellow border.
What is the secret to a successful SWOT analysis?
Bringing in the right mix of people is key to a successful analysis (or any successful group process for that matter). According to James Surowiecki's ground-breaking book, "The Wisdom of Crowds", there are 3 criteria that make up a smart group: diversity (of backgrounds), independence (of thought) and a large-enough group to aggregate the data.
Diversity is important because the greater the variety of backgrounds you have, the more insights into the analysis you will have. Independence of thought is important because because you don't want one person or a few people having too much influence over the group (making people's responses anonymous can be critical to maintaining independence). Finally, the more people you have, the greater the degree that aggregation will yield the most accurate result (the people at the extremes tend to cancel each other out) and the better the chance someone will offer a brilliant insight into a factor. It is generally a good idea to invite a few participants from outside of your organization to increase diversity (and reduce the possibility of groupthink), increase independence (outsiders with nothing to lose will be more forthcoming with their opinions), and increase the number of eyeballs looking at the issue.
I created an analysis. How do I and others gain access to participate in filling it out?
In order for people to participate in an analysis, they must be invited to it. Go to "Manage Participants" and add all of the people you wish to participate (including yourself) an their appropriate roles. Make sure that you get their email addresses correct. Otherwise when the participants create their accounts, they won't see the invitation because iC matches the email address on the invitation with the one on the account.
Didn't find the answers to your questions? Contact us!