Social work Tools and Techniques

 SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a

framework used to evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop
strategic planning. SWOT analysis assesses internal and external factors, as well
as current and future potential.

A SWOT analysis is designed to facilitate a realistic, fact-based, data-driven

look at the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, initiatives, or within its
industry. The organization needs to keep the analysis accurate by avoiding pre-
conceived beliefs or gray areas and instead focusing on real-life contexts.
Companies should use it as a guide and not necessarily as a prescription.

 SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique that provides assessment

tools.
 Identifying core strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats leads to
fact-based analysis, fresh perspectives, and new ideas.
 SWOT analysis works best when diverse groups or voices within an
organization are free to provide realistic data points rather than prescribed
messaging.

Analysts present a SWOT analysis as a square segmented into four quadrants,

each dedicated to an element of SWOT. This visual arrangement provides a
quick overview of the company’s position. Although all the points under a
particular heading may not be of equal importance, they all should represent key
insights into the balance of opportunities and threats, advantages and
disadvantages, and so forth.
Strengths
Strengths describe what an organization excels at and what separates it from the
competition: a strong brand, loyal customer base, a strong balance sheet, unique
technology, and so on. For example, a hedge fund may have developed a
proprietary trading strategy that returns market-beating results. It must then
decide how to use those results to attract new investors.

Weaknesses
Weaknesses stop an organization from performing at its optimum level. They
are areas where the business needs to improve to remain competitive: a weak
brand, higher-than-average turnover, high levels of debt, an inadequate supply
chain, or lack of capital.

Opportunities
Opportunities refer to favourable external factors that could give an
organization a competitive advantage. For example, if a country cuts tariffs, a
car manufacturer can export its cars into a new market, increasing sales
and market share.

Threats
Threats refer to factors that have the potential to harm an organization. For
example, a drought is a threat to a wheat-producing company, as it may destroy
or reduce the crop yield. Other common threats include things like rising costs
for materials, increasing competition, tight labour supplyand so on.

In a company swot analysis is used to note the strength such as its globally
famous brand name vast distribution network, and opportunities in emerging
markets. However, it also noted weaknesses and threats such as foreign
currency fluctuations, and growing public interest.
While examining external factors it can identify opportunities in emerging
technology, untapped demographics, and a culture shift towards healthy living.
It also found threats, such as a winter freeze damaging crops, a global
pandemic, and kinks in the supply chain.

 PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal)

PRA is an assessment and learning process that empowers practitioners / people

to create the information base they need for participatory planning and action.
Outsiders contribute facilitation skills and external information and opinions.
Many different tools have been developed for use in PRA. The approach aims to
incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people in the planning and
management of development projects and programmes. This tool is also used
for data collection. The training programme on PRA is designed to develop
participant’s understanding of the rural reality for the planning and development
of projects through PRA tools cum techniques including semi structured
interviews, time-lines, transect walks participatory mapping, seasonal calendars,
wealth ranking and matrix scoring, instead of that participatory techniques aim
to ‘break the silence’ of the poor and disadvantaged sections, recognize the
value of popular collective knowledge and wisdom and legitimize the
production of knowledge by the people themselves.

1. Diagramming

a. Transect Walk

Transects are observatory walks to study the natural resources, topography,

indigenous technology, soils and vegetation, farming practices, problems and
opportunities. These are done with a group of villagers-either following a
particular course, cross country or covering the area.

b. Seasonal Calendar (info on problems that repeats in a certain period of

time)

Seasonal Diagrams can be used for obtaining seasonal patterns of rainfall,

employment, income/expenditure, diseases, livestock, production, workforce
availability, crop pattern etc.

c. Venn diagram

It is used to depict key institutions, organizations and individuals and their

relationship with the local community or others. Key players in decision making
are shown. On the Venn diagram each institution is represented by a circle. The
size of the circle represents the importance, significance or power of that
institutions.

d. Daily Routine Charts

It is used to identify daily routine pattern of either gender in a particular area.it

helps in analyzing work type and distribution of workloads throughout the day,
for comparative analysis between different individuals daily schedules. It helps:

 To identify the gender roles.

 To document the timings of the activities.
 For discussion of new activities and their implications for time use.
 For discussing time of meetings and training sessions
 To illustrate mobility and periods spent away from home.

e. Flow Diagram
Flow diagrams discover and analyze impacts and linkages. Current situations,
constraints, problems and opportunities can be discussed as the effects of
specific problems or interventions.

f. Mapping

Maps are used to identify the comparative location and importance of different
resources with in an area. They can examine a great breadth of subject matter,
and allow for a range of different types of maps to be produced for one area, or
for comparative analysis by different groups with in the same area.

2. Interviewing

a. Structured

b. Semi-Structured

SSI is a tool that can be used any time. SSI is guided interviewing, where only
some of the questions are predetermined and new questions come up during the
interview. The interviewer prepare a list of topics and questions rather than a
fixed questionnaire.

i. Individual interviews

ii. Group Interviews

iii. Key Informant Interviews

iv. Focus group discussions

3. Preference ranking

Ranking of problems, issues, solutions on the basis of needs or personal

preference
a. Matrix Ranking

The main objective here is to prioritize the issues at hand such as:

It allows us to see individual and group priorities and can also be applied on the
uneducated and illiterate groups in a community.

b. Proportional Piling

It is a measure of relative importance of issues and thus helps in obtaining data

from respondents in relative terms. Moreover, it can also be used for questions
whose answers people don’t like to give directly e.g. income levels,
expenditures etc.

c. Poverty Ranking

4. Mapping and Modelling

The making of maps that depicts conditions and environment of the area is
called mapping. It increases the knowhow of the natives about their surrounding
and the physical features of the area.

a. Social Maps

Consists of household information such as population density, social classes,

land use etc.

b. Resource Maps

Shows resources of the area like soil, water, minerals etc.

c. Topical Maps

Contains information about physical features of the area, crops grown in the
area, population and infrastructure facilities present in the area.
d. Hazard Maps

Showing areas that can be affected by hazards.

Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) is an approach used by non-governmental

organizations (NGOs) and other agencies involved in international
development. The approach aims to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of
rural people in the planning and management of development projects and
programmes. This also ensure that people are not excluded from participation,
these techniques avoid writing wherever possible, relying instead on the tools
of oral communication and visual communication such as pictures, symbols,
physical objects and group memory

 RESEARCH METHOD

Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of

knowledge".[1] It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of
information to increase understanding of a topic or issue. A research project
may be an expansion on past work in the field. To test the validity of
instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of
prior projects or the project as a whole.

The primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied research)

are documentation, discovery, interpretation, and the research and
development (R&D) of methods and systems for the advancement of
human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which
vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. There are
 several forms of research: scientific, humanities, artistic, economic, social,
business, marketing, practitioner research, life, technological, etc

The benefits of research are

 During a research study your condition is usually monitored more closely

so any changes can be detected earlier. You may also have access to expert
medical care that you otherwise would not.

 Staff will keep you updated on your progress and how the study is doing.
This allows you to learn about your condition, and gives you more access to
professionals and advice.

 Research improves services and treatments not just for you but also for
future generations. It helps develop new tests for diagnosis, treatments and
processes that could eventually help your children, or even your grandchildren.

 You may gain access to treatments that are not yet readily available to the
general public.

 Taking part in research can give you a more positive outlook on any
health issues.

 Some evidence has suggested that people who take part in research have
better health outcomes no matter what treatment they receive. This is known as
the ‘trial effect’. Even if the research you take part in is unsuccessful, many
people feel they receive better care while the trial is running.

 FOCUSED GROUP DISCUSSION

 A focus group discussion (FGD) is a good way to gather together people
from similar backgrounds or experiences to discuss a specific topic of
interest. The group of participants is guided by a moderator (or group
facilitator) who introduces topics for discussion and helps the group to
participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves.

The strength of FGD relies on allowing the participants to agree or disagree

with each other so that it provides an insight into how a group thinks about
an issue, about the range of opinion and ideas, and the inconsistencies and
variation that exists in a particular community in terms of beliefs and their
experiences and practices

FGDs can be used to explore the meanings of survey findings that cannot be
explained statistically, the range of opinions/views on a topic of interest and to
collect a wide variety of local terms. In bridging research and policy, FGD can
be useful in providing an insight into different opinions among different parties
involved in the change process, thus enabling the process to be managed more
smoothly. It is also a good method to employ prior to designing questionnaire.

PROCESS

FGD sessions need to be prepared carefully through identifying the main

objective(s) of the meeting, developing key questions, developing an agenda,
and planning how to record the session. The next step is to identify and invite
suitable discussion participants; the ideal number is between six and eight.

The crucial element of FGD is the facilitation. Some important points to bear in
mind in facilitating FGDs are to ensure even participation, careful wording of
the key questions, maintaining a neutral attitude and appearance, and
summarising the session to reflect the opinions evenly and fairly. A detailed
report should be prepared after the session is finished. Any observations during
the session should be noted and included in the report.

COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

Community mobilization is the process of bringing together as many

stakeholders as possible to raise people's awareness of and demand for a
particular programme, to assist in the delivery of resources and services,
and to strengthen community participation for sustainability and self-
reliance. A lot can be achieved when people from different parts of the
community share a common goal and actively participate in both
identifying needs and being part of the solution. Community mobilization
helps to empower communities and enable them to initiate and control
their own development.

Little progress will be made towards mainstreaming disability until

community support is built up and the different sectors of society become
actively involved in the process of change. CBR programmes can use
community mobilization to bring together stakeholders in the community,
e.g. people with disabilities, family members, self-help groups, disabled
people's organizations, community members, local authorities, local
leaders, decision- and policy-makers, to address barriers within the
community and ensure the successful inclusion of people with disabilities
in their communities with equal rights and opportunities.

GANT CHART
 A Gantt chart is a project management tool assisting in the planning and
scheduling of projects of all sizes, although they are particularly useful for
simplifying complex projects. Project management timelines and tasks are
converted into a horizontal bar chart, showing start and end dates, as well as
dependencies, scheduling and deadlines, including how much of the task is
completed per stage and who is the task owner. This is useful to keep tasks on
track when there is a large team and multiple stakeholders when the scope
changes.

As it's in a bar chart format it is possible to check on progress with a quick

glance. You can easily see:

 a visual display of the whole project,

 timelines and deadlines of all tasks,

 relationships and dependencies between the various activities,

 project phases

Project management solutions that integrate Gantt charts give managers

visibility into team workloads, as well as current and future availability, which
allows for more accurate scheduling. Gantt charts have been around for nearly a
century, having been invented by Henry Gantt, an American mechanical
engineer, around 1910.
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