developing problem solving skills

Developing Problem Solving Skills

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"The measure of success is not whether you have
a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is
the same problem you had last year."

John Foster

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What do u think you will achieve at
the end of this training

?
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Modular setup

PROBLEM This training is divided into three
modules, serving as building
blocks.
PROBLEM
SOLVING SKILLS

Advice and •Problem
alternative •Problem solving skills
approach •Advice and alternative approach

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What is a ‘problem’

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• an intricate unsettled question
• difficulty in understanding or accepting
• a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or
solution
• A perceived gap between the existing state
and a desired state, or a deviation from a
norm or a standard

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Problems arising in work place can be
avoided easily if we bring into
consideration that

• "What do we do?"
• "For whom do we do it?"
• "How do we excel?"

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Problems in a work place
Work place problems

interpersonal intrapersonal

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Activity 1
come up with one experience where you
faced an intrapersonal or interpersonal
conflict, in your daily life.

Also share the approach you took to
resolve the issue

(5 mins)
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Activity 2
come up with one experience where you
faced an intrapersonal or interpersonal
conflict, while you are at work.

Also share the approach you took to
resolve the issue

(5 mins)
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Activity 3
Answer the following questions
1. Do you feel that stress is a problem?
2. Do you feel your boss can be a cause of most of your problems?
3. If the chair at your workstation is uncomfortable, what will you
do?
4. The person sitting next to you is not very hygiene conscious,
what is the best possible approach to communicate it to him?
5. Do you ever feel you are being discriminated based on your
gender?
6. Incase your peer is doing something wrong,do you believe
blowing the whistle is the best policy?
7. “politicking is the best policy to move up in your
organization”….Agree/disagree?
(10 mins) 12

Develop problem
solving skills

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• Problem solving is a key skill, and it's one that can
make a huge difference to your career. At work,
problems are at the center of what many people do
every day. You're either solving a problem for a client
(internal or external), supporting those who are
solving problems, or discovering new problems to
solve.
• The problems you face can be large or small, simple
or complex, and easy or difficult to solve. Regardless
of the nature of the problems, a fundamental part of
every manager's role is finding ways to solve them

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There is a solution to every
problem, it depends on how YOU
handle it

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Before we start!
You must understand who you are and what is
your identity.

“you can buy everything, but your skin. One can
never be successful till he is comfortable in his
own skin…”
(unknown)

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Extension of Man ( McLuhan 1911-1980)

Skin
Fashion
Interior
Car
Exterior

According to McLuhan, we are surrounded by skins to show who we are
or where we belong socially. Every skin gives protection, esteem and
expresses identity. 18

Basic steps to solve a problem
1. Define the
problem

2. Generating
alternatives

3. Evaluating and
selecting alternatives

4. Implementing
solutions

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Define the problem
The key to a good problem definition is ensuring
that you deal with the real problem – not its
symptoms

For example, if performance in your department is
substandard, you might think the problem is with the
individuals submitting work. However, if you look a bit
deeper, the real problem might be a lack of training, or an
unreasonable workload.

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Tip: broaden you horizons, look at every angle

At this stage, it's also important to ensure that you look
at the issue from a variety of perspectives. If you
commit yourself too early, you can end up with a
problem statement that's really a solution instead. For
example, consider this problem statement: "We have
to find a way of disciplining of people who do
substandard work." This doesn't allow you the
opportunity of discovering the real reasons for under-
performance.

WHAT TO DO ???????
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Work through the layers of a problem to uncover
what's really is going on

5 whys

Appreciation/brain storming

Root cause analysis

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5 whys technique
• The 5 Whys is a simple problem-solving technique
that helps you to get to the root of a problem quickly
• the 5 Whys strategy involves looking at any problem
and asking: "Why?" and "What caused this problem?“
• Benefits of the 5 Whys include:
1.It helps you to quickly determine the root cause of a
problem.
2.It's simple, and easy to learn and apply.

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In this example, the problem is that your client,
Telenor, is unhappy. Using the 5 Whys, you go
through the following steps to get to the cause of
the problem:

• Why is our client, Telenor, unhappy? Because we didn't deliver
our services when we said we would.
• Why were we unable to meet the agreed-upon timeline or
schedule for delivery? The job took much longer than we
thought it would.
• Why did it take so much longer? Because we underestimated
the complexity of the job.
• Why did we underestimate the complexity of the job? Because
we made a quick estimate of the time needed to complete it,
and didn't list the individual stages needed to complete the
project.
• Why didn't we do this? Because we were running behind on
other projects. We clearly need to review our time estimation
and specification procedures.
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Activity (group)
• Your boss/ supervisor is unhappy with
the team’s review on calls, from the
quality control department. Using the 5
Whys technique list down a series of 5
questions with logical answers to define
the actual problem and solution

(10 mins)

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Appreciation/ Brainstorming
• Appreciation helps us uncover factors that we
might have ordinarily missed, and it can be very
useful for brainstorming solutions to problems
• Starting with a fact, you first ask the question "So
what?" - in other words, what are the
implications of that fact? Why is this fact
important?
• You then continue asking that question until you
have drawn all possible conclusions from it.
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Example
You've just found out that your department's budget is going to be cut by 25
percent next year. This is a huge cut, and you want to make sure that you've
uncovered all the implications before you start to brainstorm possible
solutions.
• Statement: Our department's budget is going to be cut 25 percent starting
January 1.
So what?
• So the only way to accommodate that cut is to reduce our spending
dramatically.
So what?
• So we're probably going to have to cut staff, and we'll definitely have to cut
spending on supplies, research, and staff parties.
So what?
• So staff morale is probably going to drop, especially if I have to lay off
members of our team.
So what?
• So I'll need to come up with plenty of low-cost ways to boost morale without
spending money.
So what?
• So I'll need to start thinking about this tomorrow, since the new budget will
go into effect in two months, and I want to be able to manage the
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consequences when I let the team know.

Root Cause Analysis
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a popular and often-used
technique that helps people answer the question of why
the problem occurred in the first place.
• Root Cause Analysis seeks to identify the origin of a
problem. It uses a specific set of steps, with associated
tools, to find the primary cause of the problem, so that
you can:
1.Determine what happened.
2.Determine why it happened.
3.Figure out what to do to reduce the likelihood that it will
happen again.
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BUT WHAT ARE THE
CAUSES???????

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You'll usually find three basic types of
causes:
• Physical causes – Tangible, material items failed in
some way (for example, a printer stopped
working).
• Human causes – People did something wrong. or
did not do something that was needed. Human
causes typically lead to physical causes (for
example, no one cleaned the head of the printer
and it stopped working).

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• Organizational causes – A system, process, or
policy that people use to make decisions or do
their work is faulty (for example, no one
person was responsible for the printer’s
maintenance, and everyone assumed
someone else had cleaned the head).

(Relate it to AbacusConsulting)

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5 step problem solving process
Define the problem

Collect data

Define possible causal factors

Define the root cause

Recommend and implement solutions
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Step One: Define the Problem
• What do you see happening?
• What are the specific symptoms?

Step Two: Collect Data
• What proof do you have that the problem exists?
• How long has the problem existed?
• What is the impact of the problem?

Step Three: Identify Possible Causal Factors
• What sequence of events leads to the problem?
• What conditions allow the problem to occur?
• What other problems surround the occurrence of the
central problem?

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Step Four: Identify the Root Cause(s)
• Why does the causal factor exist?
• What is the real reason the problem occurred?
• Use the same tools you used to identify the causal
factors (in Step Three) to look at the roots of each
factor. These tools are designed to encourage you to
dig deeper at each level of cause and effect.

Step Five: Recommend and Implement Solutions
• What can you do to prevent the problem from
happening again?
• How will the solution be implemented?
• Who will be responsible for it?
• What are the risks of implementing the solution?

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Activity (group)
For the past couple of months the employees of
your organization are not coming to the office on
time and are leaving early without informing the
higher authority. The monthly targets are not
being met either.

Use all the tools that you have learnt so far to come up with the
actual problem/s and solution/s. Critical analysis shall be well
appreciated .
(20 mins)

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If you believe that
you can damage,
then believe that
you can fix
Thank You
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developing problem solving skills

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