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.
** Everything necessary, nothing extraneous.
Make sure you solve the problem completely, but don’t get sidetracked into doing other things that won’t make this problem go away. Put those extras aside to evaluate later as special projects.
** Everyone necessary, no one extraneous.
Make sure everybody who can contribute to the problem solving effort is appropriately involved. Only have the people on your team who will contribute actively to solving the problem. People who need to know what’s going on can be informed more efficiently in other ways.
** Plan for things to go wrong.
We’ve heard it before, and it’s still true: if something can go wrong, it will. Figure out what can get in the way of your problem solving effort and develop appropriate contingency plans.
** Use completion criteria.
Define what successful completion of each task entails. Specify when it is due and what standard must be met to avoid misunderstandings and delays. You don’t want to tell someone who has worked really hard to complete a task that they misunderstood and you wanted a sledge hammer rather than an ordinary hammer.
** Acknowledge and thank everyone who helps. Solving an important problem deserves recognition, and nobody else is going to take care of this for you. Make sure management and key stakeholders know what you and your team have achieved. Remind them of the risks avoided. Thank everyone who participated in the project. It’s the polite thing to do, and encourages them to help you next time.
copyright 2008. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved.
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