UNIT II
PROBLEM SOLVING,
DECISION MAKING AND PLANNING
Define the problem: (with input from yourself and others).
Ask yourself and others, the following
questions:
1. What can you see that causes you to think there's a
problem?
2. Where is it happening?
3. How is it happening?
4. When is it happening?
5. With whom is it happening? (HINT: Don't jump to "Who
is causing the problem?" When
we're stressed, blaming is often one of our first reactions.
To be an effective manager, you
need to address issues more than people.)
6. Why is it happening?
7. Write down a five-sentence description of the problem in
terms of "The following should be
happening, but isn't ..." or "The following is
happening and should be: ..." As much as
possible, be specific in your description, including what is
happening, where, how, with
whom and why. (It may be helpful at this point to use a
variety of research methods.
1.Defining complex problems:
If the problem still seems overwhelming, break it down by
repeating steps 1-7 until you have
descriptions of several related problems.
Verifying your understanding of the problems:
It helps a great deal to verify your problem analysis for
conferring with a peer or someone else.
Prioritize the problems:
If you discover that you are looking at several related
problems, then prioritize which ones you
should address first.
Note the difference between "important" and
"urgent" problems. Often, what we consider to be
important problems to consider are really just urgent
problems. Important problems deserve more
attention. For example, if you're continually answering
"urgent" phone calls, then you've probably
got a more "important" problem and that's to
design a system that screens and prioritizes your
phone calls.
Understand your role in the problem:
Your role in the problem can greatly influence how you
perceive the role of others. For example, if
you're very stressed out, it'll probably look like others
are, too, or, you may resort too quickly to
blaming and reprimanding others. Or, you are feel very
guilty about your role in the problem, you
may ignore the account abilities of others.
2. Look at potential causes for the problem
* It's amazing how much you don't know
about what you don't know. Therefore, in this phase,
it's critical to get input from other people who notice the
problem and who are effected by
it.
* It's often useful to collect input from
other individuals one at a time (at least at first).
Otherwise, people tend to be inhibited about offering their
impressions of the real causes of
problems.
* Write down what your opinions and what
you've heard from others.
* Regarding what you think might be
performance problems associated with an employee, it's
often useful to seek advice from a peer or your supervisor
in order to verify your impression
of the problem.
* Write down a description of the cause
of the problem and in terms of what is happening,
where, when, how, with whom and why.
3. Identify alternatives for approaches to resolve the
problem
At this point, it's useful to keep others involved (unless
you're facing a personal and/or employee
performance problem). Brainstorm for solutions to the
problem. Very simply put, brainstorming is
collecting as many ideas as possible, then screening them to
find the best idea. It's critical when
collecting the ideas to not pass any judgment on the ideas
-- just write them down as you hear them.
(A wonderful set of skills used to identify the underlying
cause of issues is Systems Thinking.)
4. Select an approach to resolve the problem
* When selecting the best approach,
consider:
* Which approach is the most likely to
solve the problem for the long term?
* Which approach is the most realistic to
accomplish for now? Do you have the resources?
Are they affordable? Do you have enough time to implement
the approach?
* What is the extent of risk associated
with each alternative?
(The nature of this step, in particular, in the problem
solving process is why problem solving and
decision making are highly integrated.)
5. Plan the implementation of the best alternative (this is
your action plan)
1. Carefully consider "What will the situation look
like when the problem is solved?"
2. What steps should be taken to implement the best
alternative to solving the problem? What
systems or processes should be changed in your organization,
for example, a new policy or
procedure? Don't resort to solutions where someone is
"just going to try harder".
3. How will you know if the steps are being followed or not?
(these are your indicators of the
success of your plan)
4. What resources will you need in terms of people, money
and facilities?
5. How much time will you need to implement the solution?
Write a schedule that includes the
start and stop times, and when you expect to see certain
indicators of success.
6. Who will primarily be responsible for ensuring
implementation of the plan?
7. Write down the answers to the above questions and
consider this as your action plan.
8. Communicate the plan to those who will involved in
implementing it and, at least, to your
immediate supervisor.
(An important aspect of this step in the problem-solving
process is continually observation and
feedback.)
6. Monitor implementation of the plan
Monitor the indicators of success:
1. Are you seeing what you would expect from the indicators?
2. Will the plan be done according to schedule?
3. If the plan is not being followed as expected, then
consider: Was the plan realistic? Are
there sufficient resources to accomplish the plan on
schedule? Should more priority be
placed on various aspects of the plan? Should the plan be
changed?
7. Verify if the problem has been resolved or not
One of the best ways to verify if a problem has been solved
or not is to resume normal operations in
the organization. Still, you should consider:
1. What changes should be made to avoid this type of problem
in the future? Consider changes
to policies and procedures, training, etc.
2. Lastly, consider "What did you learn from this
problem solving?" Consider new knowledge,
understanding and/or skills.
3. Consider writing a brief memo that highlights the success
of the problem solving effort, and
what you learned as a result. Share it with your supervisor,
peers and subordinates.
Rational Versus Organic Approach to Problem Solving
Rational
A person with this preference often prefers using a
comprehensive and logical approach similar to
the guidelines in the above section. For example, the
rational approach, described below, is often
used when addressing large, complex matters in strategic
planning.
1. Define the problem.
2. Examine all potential causes for the problem.
3. Identify all alternatives to resolve the problem.
4. Carefully select an alternative.
5. Develop an orderly implementation plan to implement that
best alternative.
6. Carefully monitor implementation of the plan.
7. Verify if the problem has been resolved or not.
A major advantage of this approach is that it gives a strong
sense of order in an otherwise chaotic
situation and provides a common frame of reference from
which people can communicate in the
situation. A major disadvantage of this approach is that it
can take a long time to finish. Some
people might argue, too, that the world is much too chaotic
for the rational approach to be useful.
Organic
Some people assert that the dynamics of organizations and
people are not nearly so mechanistic as
to be improved by solving one problem after another. Often,
the quality of an organization or life
comes from how one handles being “on the road” itself,
rather than the “arriving at the destination.”
The quality comes from the ongoing process of trying, rather
than from having fixed a lot of
problems. For many people it is an approach to
organizational consulting. The following quote is
often used when explaining the organic (or holistic)
approach to problem solving.
“All the greatest and most important problems in life are
fundamentally insoluble … They can
never be solved, but only outgrown. This “outgrowing” proves
on further investigation to require a
new level of consciousness. Some higher or wider interest
appeared on the horizon and through
this broadening of outlook, the insoluble lost its urgency.
It was not solved logically in its own
terms, but faded when confronted with a new and stronger
life urge.”
From Jung, Carl, Psychological Types (Pantheon Books, 1923)
A major advantage of the organic approach is that it is
highly adaptable to understanding and
explaining the chaotic changes that occur in projects and
everyday life. It also suits the nature of
people who shun linear and mechanistic approaches to
projects. The major disadvantage is that the
approach often provides no clear frame of reference around
which people can communicate, feel
comfortable and measure progress toward solutions to
problems.
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