Problem-solving is an essential skill that is undervalued. Many undervalue problem-solving as an essential skill that helps individuals make clear decisions during uncertain times and proves critical for those seeking work in the post-pandemic era. Let’s take a methodical approach that focuses on why we must address the issue, what goal we want to achieve, and how to solve the situation.
Articulate the technique around five questions that will serve as a guide.
When describing the problem, provide concrete and quantifiable data. This approach helps to avoid describing it too broadly, which can lead to the need for additional resources to solve it or covering less than you should. Avoid proposing a solution hastily. Instead, describe the problem in detail, including how it affects you and your audience. For instance, instead of saying, “Every year we lose money because of quality-related problems,” it would be better to say, “In 2019, we lost EUR 1 million due to quality-related errors, which is equivalent to 5% of our revenue.”
Set a clear goal and define critical results that can be measured to ensure you’ve achieved it. Your goal must be a goal, not a solution. For example, “Our website has to offer an intuitive and enjoyable user experience” is a goal. However, “You have to hire five designers specialized in the user experience” is one solution. After setting the goal, define critical results that can be measured to ensure that you’ve achieved it. For instance, “Increase target clicks by 30%” is a more precise definition of a result than “Increase target clicks.”
To solve the problem, start by discovering as much as possible about it. Look for studies and cases with parallels in other sectors where a similar situation has already been addressed. If you lead the team to find solutions, appoint a moderator and choose two people to control the time and take notes. With the team, look for all the answers to solve the problem and help you achieve the goal and critical results. Tell the group that all sorts of ideas are supported, big and small, and unfiltered. When you have the list of possible solutions, put them in an outline. This way, you can organize the objectives and see how to achieve them. Start by writing the goal. For example, “Increase product revenue.” From each goal, draw lines that lead to solutions the team has found, such as “Sell more units of the same products” and “Start selling new products.” The goal is to create a strategy that leads to achieving the goal.
To prioritize solutions, create a list of priorities that unpacks ideas to decide which ones to invest your efforts in. Give the highest priority to solutions expected to have the most significant impact and require high effort. Solutions expected to substantially impact and require less effort offer quick results and help consolidate stakeholders’ security. Solutions expected to have little impact and require little effort should be given less priority and addressed only when time is up. It is not worth considering solutions expected to have little impact and require much effort.
Create a simple plan that specifies each person’s responsibilities and when they should carry out the activities. You can use a tool to monitor activities, such as a spreadsheet that defines what each person does and when. In the first column, write the actions that make up the steps to resolve the problem. In the second, write the names of those responsible and the date on which the activities should be carried out. The goal is to ensure everyone is on the same page and clearly understands their responsibilities.
If you want to learn more about my approach, write to me!
Problem-solving is an essential skill that is undervalued. Many undervalue problem-solving as an essential skill that helps individuals make clear decisions during uncertain times and proves critical for those seeking work in the post-pandemic era. Let’s take a methodical approach that focuses on why we must address the issue, what goal we want to achieve, and how to solve the situation.
Articulate the technique around five questions that will serve as a guide.
When describing the problem, provide concrete and quantifiable data. This approach helps to avoid describing it too broadly, which can lead to the need for additional resources to solve it or covering less than you should. Avoid proposing a solution hastily. Instead, describe the problem in detail, including how it affects you and your audience. For instance, instead of saying, “Every year we lose money because of quality-related problems,” it would be better to say, “In 2019, we lost EUR 1 million due to quality-related errors, which is equivalent to 5% of our revenue.”
Set a clear goal and define critical results that can be measured to ensure you’ve achieved it. Your goal must be a goal, not a solution. For example, “Our website has to offer an intuitive and enjoyable user experience” is a goal. However, “You have to hire five designers specialized in the user experience” is one solution. After setting the goal, define critical results that can be measured to ensure that you’ve achieved it. For instance, “Increase target clicks by 30%” is a more precise definition of a result than “Increase target clicks.”
To solve the problem, start by discovering as much as possible about it. Look for studies and cases with parallels in other sectors where a similar situation has already been addressed. If you lead the team to find solutions, appoint a moderator and choose two people to control the time and take notes. With the team, look for all the answers to solve the problem and help you achieve the goal and critical results. Tell the group that all sorts of ideas are supported, big and small, and unfiltered. When you have the list of possible solutions, put them in an outline. This way, you can organize the objectives and see how to achieve them. Start by writing the goal. For example, “Increase product revenue.” From each goal, draw lines that lead to solutions the team has found, such as “Sell more units of the same products” and “Start selling new products.” The goal is to create a strategy that leads to achieving the goal.
To prioritize solutions, create a list of priorities that unpacks ideas to decide which ones to invest your efforts in. Give the highest priority to solutions expected to have the most significant impact and require high effort. Solutions expected to substantially impact and require less effort offer quick results and help consolidate stakeholders’ security. Solutions expected to have little impact and require little effort should be given less priority and addressed only when time is up. It is not worth considering solutions expected to have little impact and require much effort.
Create a simple plan that specifies each person’s responsibilities and when they should carry out the activities. You can use a tool to monitor activities, such as a spreadsheet that defines what each person does and when. In the first column, write the actions that make up the steps to resolve the problem. In the second, write the names of those responsible and the date on which the activities should be carried out. The goal is to ensure everyone is on the same page and clearly understands their responsibilities.
If you want to learn more about my approach, write to me!
