Problem Solving

Now we come to the second part that are the practical or action based techniques or skills required for solving problems at different levels.  There is a process to solving problems, which will be described below step by step

1)      Define the problem, be clear about the objective

First of all you have to know exactly what the problem is and what you want it to end up with. You have to be absolutely clear about your objective what do you want? What should you see when the problem is solved.

2)      Gather Information

The second step is to gather as much information as possible about the problem and possible solutions. Gather information, which you feel, may not be needed for the solution but is somehow linked to the problem and the related persons or processes

3)      Analyze

Then do the analysis part of the problematic situation do a root cause or a fish bone analysis. This is a great way to know the causes of the particular problem and when you are aware of the causes while doing this exercise you will automatically be focusing on solutions or solutions will be coming to your mind

4)      Generate alternatives

After you have analyzed the root causes then generate alternatives think of three or more solutions to a particular problem and then decide the best solution and act on with conviction. If you have a team you could go for multi voting i.e. discussing the alternatives and then taking votes from all the team members what they think is the best solution to implement

5)      Review

After the decision for solving a particular problem has been implemented then when a particular period of time is gone, this time period will depend upon the nature of the problem, review the whole situation how did the solution went, what are the things which are missing to be implemented, was it successful or not, what other actions needs to be taken to further improve the scenario.

6)      Standardize

Perhaps this is the most rewarding blessing of a problem if you keep it in practice to standardize your processes and systems after a problem occurs to stop its repeating, then you have not only solved problems but you have also created systems and standards which will improve your productivity and minimize reoccurring of problems and errors

Works Cited

Books

O’Connor, Joseph & Seymour John. Introducing Neuro – Linguistic Programming. Revised Edition. The Aquarian Press. 1993: 56 – 64

Silva, Jose. Ultra Mind ESP System Reference Manual, LLC, Laredo, TX U.S.A.

Case Study

Hart W.L. Christopher. “Florida Power Light Quality Improvement Story Exercise” Harvard Business School (1988)