101: Solving Problems
It's happened to all of us. A big, fat ugly problem lands on your desk. The temptation, of course, is to make it go away, fast. But by remembering a few main points, it may help ensure you won't have that same issue coming back at you — perhaps in another form. Here are three things to keep in mind when things get complicated at work:
Don't focus on a one-time fix. Try to see problems as the results of bigger issues, then go to work on those issues. It's like attacking the problem at its core instead of merely remediating its results. “Focus instead on building lasting processes,” Pat Brans writes in an article at Forbes.com. “If you get the processes right, the events that make up each process will fall into place.”
If a decision is involved, list pros and cons. Decisions on some problems call for a more detailed consideration. BusinessBalls.com suggests not only listing the advantages and disadvantages of a particular action, but also assigning each a “weight,” for example “5” being extremely significant and “1” being of little significance. “Compare the … total score of the items/effects/factors between the two columns,” the site advises, and then add them up.”
Understand everyone's interests. Tim Hicks, in an article at Mediate.com, says it's a piece that's usually missing from problem solving, and it can be critical. “We often ignore our true interests as we become attached to one particular solution,” he writes. “The best solution is the one that satisfies everyone's interests.” Some active listening, he said, can lead us toward a solution in that solves many issues. Those issues can't be considered if we aren't soliciting them, listening to key players and making an effort to understand them.
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