Another Five Problem Solving Success Tips
The ability to solve complicated problems quickly is more important than ever in today’s competitive economy. Here’s another set of tips and reminders to help you solve messy problems quickly and easily.
** Write it Down
Writing things down gives you a communication tool that not only helps eliminate misunderstandings, but also makes it easier to track commitments during the problem-solving project. A written record will save time if you need to retrace steps by shortening the discussions and helping you avoid revisiting a dead-end. Written records are also useful to bring new members into the group, as often happens in lengthy projects, and to help in preparing presentations and reports.
** Make your success criteria SMART.
How will you know when the problem is solved? Success criteria answer that question in measurable terms, but only if they are “SMART”. There are many versions of this memory-hook floating around, but all of them are intended to help you make sure your success measurements can achieve their purpose. Here’s my favorite: Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Reasonable, Time-bound.
** Close your problem-solving effort formally.
There’s a tendency to drift away from problem-solving projects rather than really closing them, especially if the success criteria have to be monitored for a long period of time to prove the problem is really solved. Formal closure well help insure that the problem is really solved and that there are no loose ends.
** Acknowledge setbacks and adjust.
If the problem you are working on is significant, you will run into trouble along the way–count on it. Maybe you’ll find that your problem definition is too narrow or too broad. Maybe you’ll find that you missed a key root cause, or misjudged the importance of the causes you did identify. Maybe you’ll find that your corrective action didn’t, in fact, eliminate a root cause. When one or more of these happen to you, recognize what has happened and tell your stakeholders, then back up in the problem-solving process and try again.
** Dealing with Micromanagement.
The more visible and expensive a problem is, the more likely various executives will buzz around “helping” and/or constantly asking how things are going and telling you what to do next. If you’re leading a problem-solving effort and this is happening to you, using a well-focused communication plan to demonstrate that everything is under control and that you are handling the situation effectively will help persuade micromanagers that their time is better spent elsewhere.
copyright 2009. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved
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