In-House Problem Solving

By Kristen Haldeman | January 14, 2020

Virtually all companies at their core focus on problem-solving. Grocery stores provide food when people run low. Clothing stores offer clothes when old ones run out of style. Mechanics fix broken cars. Consulting firms work together with a client to improve a specific need. These problems revolving around a customer and an organization usually instill procedures outlining the process for solving them. However, what happens when problems arise within a company? How do you approach an issue that may not have a clear solution nor step by step process on how to arrive at the solution?

Keeping in mind these four steps will aid in helping your company solve the problem of intra (and sometimes inter)-company problems. 

The first is to define the problem. This may sound obvious, but maybe people do not realize the bottom line of an issue. For example, if workers are producing low quality work, it may appear that they are lazy or do not care about their job. However, upon questioning and analysis, the management realized that the workers were untrained in their exact position and were therefore unable to produce quality products. Getting the root of the problem and defining what the specific problem is making the first stepping point to problem-solving. 

The second step is to think of alternate solutions. Now that the problem is specifically identified, there may be several solutions to solving it. An open brainstorming session could be a good use of time by encouraging members to contribute and idea and discuss the potential benefits and consequences of enacting that plan. The solution that proves to most effective and efficient ought to be the one chosen. 

The next step is to execute the best solution. Whatever the consensus was, it is now time to put that idea to work and test the solution. For example, the untrained workers and misunderstanding managers decide that a workshop on product making would be the most effective way for the workers to lean. For the next week, they spend the afternoons attending this workshop on how to properly make the product and then practicing it themselves. However, another solution could be to encourage employee engagement. It might not be a workshop that solves the problem; it might be an engagement with the employee to understand their motivation for working on the project. 

The final step is to evaluate the process. Asking questions such as “Did the workers learn their responsibilities?” “Are the products of better quality?” “Was this handled in a timely fashion?” “Are there ways this process could have been better?” will help to determine if the solution was successful or not. It may even be beneficial to construct a list of criteria before executing the solution so that you know what to look for in the process.  

These interpersonal problem-solving strategies will help your company move from one that not only knows how to solve problems externally but also internally. There is not set in stone way to solve these kinds of problems, but these four steps serve as a good basis for determining a procedural method the next time that a problem arises.