Guest Post: 11 Ways to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills

One of the most important and relevant skills one can possess is problem-solving. With the job market developing at such a fast pace, individuals must show their best qualities when applying for new positions. Problem-solving is an essential feature to have, since it shows wittiness, quickness, and cleverness.

But it’s not only about “what’s being displayed”– problem-solving is an important quality to have for many other reasons. Making smart life decisions will put you on the right track, structuring your thoughts will help you organize, and looking for different solutions will open your eyes to the wideness of the world.

We put up a list of tips on how to improve your problem-solving skills. Take a look, and give it a try!

Find the Right Definition

First, take time to define the problem. Ask yourself:

·       What is the real problem here?

·       Why am I referring to it as a problem?

·       Are there any erroneous assumptions that I could be making?

·       Is the problem commonly perceived, or am I the only one bothered by it?

·       Do I have to solve it immediately? If so, how?

Find the Cause, Not the Symptom

Now, find the cause of the problem, the “root of all evils.” Don’t be too concerned about the symptoms. Analyze the problem thoroughly, and be opened to new perspectives. Always ask yourself “why.”

For example, “Mediating the conflict between two of my co-workers is important.” Why? “Because conflicts within the workplace are not healthy for anybody in the firm.” Why? “Because it brings in tension, and makes us lose productivity.” Why is that bad? And keep going! Understanding the cause of the problem is critical.

Come Up with Ideas

Brainstorm ideas. Don’t choose the first solution the comes into your mind.  What if you could find a better one? Take time to consider everything carefully.

·       Be creative when brainstorming.

·       Think outside the box, go deeper than the surface!

·       Keep your decision-making process rational.

·       Remember that there’s always a way out. You just have to find it.

Know Your Limits

Know when to solve a problem, and when to let go of it. Know when to speak up, and when to stay quiet. Sometimes, even if a problem seems crucial to us, it might be trivial to others. Before categorizing something as a “problem,” come up with specific reasons and arguments to support your claim.

Gather Evidence

After you identify a problem, and find the cause of it, gather evidence and information. They will help you find the right solutions. Try to keep emotions out of it. Compare the solutions you found with your former outcomes, and choose an approach.

Make the Decision

Don’t waste too much time after finding the solution. The faster, the better. Avoid procrastination, act on the problem immediately after figuring out the response. If you are lost in the process, always remember why you started in the first place. That leads us to the next point.

Keep Yourself Accountable

Set deadlines and goals! Keep yourself accountable, and constantly remember yourself why you are doing this.

·       Why are you interested in solving the problem?

·       What will you get out of it?

·       How is that important in your life?

·       Why did you choose that specific goal?

·       How quickly do you plan on solving it and why?

Redefine Problem

There will be times when you’ll find no answers to the questions, and no solutions to the problems. Don’t freak out! We’ve all been through that. It’s part of the process too. Reanalyze your definition, and give it another try.

Write and Meditate

Composure is essential when presented with any problem. Instead of panicking and asking yourself “Am I ever going to get out of this?”, reflect on the issue and understand it thoroughly. Sometimes, we are distracted by the importance of the problem, so we fail to notice that the solution lays in front of our eyes. A good way of “letting your mind breathe” is through writing and meditating. Take at least 5 minutes per day to do it.

One of the coping mechanism that can be used is meditation. Making life-changing decisions and finding solutions brings in lots of tension. Meditation relieves so much of the pressure, and makes you think straight again.

Stay Healthy

You won’t be able to think properly unless you are healthy,both mentally and physically. Therefore:

·       Sleep well. Even one night of sleep loss can affect your productivity level.

·       Eat well. Give up on fast-foods! Eat clean. Avoid fats, sugars, and meat.

Get Rid of Emotions

Before solving a problem, it is essential to get rid of all personal emotions. Distance yourself from the matter, and look at things as objectively as you can.

·       Accept your past failures, don’t be concerned about making mistakes.

·       Don’t sugarcoat your desires. If you want something out of a specific situation, admit it.

·       Be honest with yourself. Know what you want, and what your fear. Confront your anxieties.

Conclusion

Solving problems is crucial. Make sure you go through all the above processes before making the right decision. Don’t dive into the issue unless you’ve spent some time reflecting on it. Be sure you identify the problem accurately, and always consider relevant external opinions.  

About the Author: Chris Richardson is a journalist, editor at EssayGeeks.co.uk. He loves to write, learn new things, and meet new outgoing people. Chris is also fond of traveling, sports, and playing the guitar. Follow him on Google+.

Lean Quote: Communication and Continuous Improvement

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Regardless of the changes in technology, the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience." — Steve Burnett, The Burnett Group

Continuous improvement means exactly what it says: It’s a nonstop effort to provide better products and services at lower costs. It’s the only way to maintain a competitive edge over companies that are out to grab your customers for themselves.

There are two reasons why good communication has to be at the heart of any continuous improvement process.

To do their jobs well, people must know what’s expected of them. It’s up to their manager to make those expectations clear.

This next reason is not so obvious and is related to the continuous aspect of continuous improvement:

It’s easier to get people to improve their work for short while than to get them to sustain that improvement over long periods. To do that, you have to keep reminding them of why they should use new methods, since they are often less convenient than older methods.

But those reminders become ineffective if people have to repeat them again and again. To avoid boring your audience, you continually have to find new way to get your “old” message across.

The key to keeping your communication improvement program alive is to keep workers focused on the right methods, and on the reasons for using them. Otherwise, they inevitably will regard the program as just another management fad: something we talk about today, and then forget about tomorrow.

Ten Tips for Improving Communication

Real communication opens the tap for unrestricted flow of information. It’s not an easy process. It must be gradual. It requires trust and courage. To maintain credibility, management must strictly follow its own message. Real communication is based on mutual trust.

Ten Tips for Improving Communication

1. Manage by walking around. Interact with as many people as possible, at all levels. Walk around. Comment on company business, problems, opportunities, and plans. Communicate informally.
2. Substitute one-on-one exchange for unproductive meetings. Learn by listening. Make your message clear. Achieve more in less time.
3. Reduce layers and stretch the organization horizontally. Communication will be faster, more reliable.
4. Make the organization flexible. Avoid rigid organization charts and restrictive job descriptions. Flexibility allows new situations to be met fast by rearranging the troops, by forming ad-hoc teams. Informality lifts barriers in communication.
5. Make written communication short and clear. To the point. Easy to understand. Avoid excessive explanations and arguments.
6. Learn to listen. It provides information to the president or the sales person. The talkative sales person cannot hear the customer. A good listener does not interrupt, but shows interest and tries to understand the other party – what makes him or her tick.
7. Accept frank opinions from peers and employees. Criticism is communication too. Don’t shoot the messenger.
8. Think before you communicate. Consider the other party, anticipate reactions. Don’t tell people only what they want to hear. Give bad news in a sensitive way.
9. Stay well informed. Via networking; interacting with colleagues, clients, and suppliers; with others connected to the business. Their input is important.
10. Other methods. Include information to new hires; periodical briefings; information on notice boards; a professionally edited newsletter, using appropriate language to boost team spirit and promote new ideas.

Among all forms of communication, nothing equals a face-to-face exchange. There is no substitute for body language. The tone, facial expressions, and gestures that go with the words cannot be expressed in writing or even over the phone.

Leadership Behaviors That Show You Care

Strong leadership is essential for the success of any organization. Research shows that direct leaders bear the greatest influence on their organizations. In 2014, a group of Harvard researchers conducted a study of 3,200 employees in seven industries. They found that employees who felt they worked in a caring culture reported higher levels of satisfaction and teamwork, had less absenteeism, and had better organizational results.

There is not an objective measure to show how much a person really cares. As a results, we all have learned to make educated guesses about how much a person cares, based on a set of observable behaviors.

These are the tops behaviors which best show that you care:

1.     Builds Trust

It is difficult for leaders to communicate that they care about others when there is a lack of trust. When trust is missing, everything that is said or done is subject to question.Trust is built over time. It’s the foundation for positive relationships. It is built through knowledge and expertise. It comes from consistent actions and decisions that predictable and build confidence.

2.     Respects Others

Most people know that disrespecting others communicates a lack of caring. Take time to look at your actions and ask yourself if they might appear disrespectful to others. It is critical for leaders to gather feedback from others, not only to show respect but also to understand if their actions are having the intended positive impact.

3.     Is Approachable and Friendly

Leaders can a do set the tone for their workplace. There is tremendous power in a smile and in setting a positive atmosphere.

4.     Is Fair

Employees keep score: when their peers receive something they don’t, they notice. Lack of fairness it one of the most significant negative triggers of caring that is associated with leadership.

5.     Encourage Input and Involvement

Encouraging input from every person on the staff and asking their involvement in important decisions communicates that the leader cares for and values them and their ideas.

6.     Builds Unity

Leaders who encourage cooperation and collaboration among employees and between groups in the organization are perceived as much more caring than those who compete internally for people, equipment, and resources. Leaders who have the ability to unify and collaborate send the message that everyone in the organization is important, not just their team.

7.     Give Honest Feedback

Delivering tough feedback is often difficult and it can strain relationships; nevertheless, giving honest feedback ultimately shows caring. A leader who truly cares will tell others the truth about their performance.

8.     Develops Others

It is hard to think of a much better gift than to help another person learn a new skill. When leaders work with employees and push them to develop new skills and abilities, they are truly showing their concern for those employees. One way an organization develops is when leaders create an learning environment ins which people are encourage to learn from their mistakes and to analyze their successes to understand what went well.

9.     Resolves Conflicts

Most people assume that others will help in a difficult situation and therefore rationalize their apathy. Leaders need to acknowledge conflicts and work to get them quickly resolved.

10.  Walks The Talk

Leaders who actions match their word are more likely to be perceived as concerned and caring. Leaders can be tough-minded in their views and strict about rules, as long as they consistently enforce those standards.

11.  Is Open to Feedback and Willing to Change

A forceful way to show that you care about others is to be willing to change your own behavior. Leaders who are open to feedback from their direct repots and are willing to work on personal improvements are perceived as caring individuals.

12.  Gives Recognition

Most accomplishments mean very little until other people notice; recognition by others increases the value of those accomplishments. Leaders will never be hurt by finding more opportunities to recognize and reward other for their contributions.

Being a leader requires many important skills, one of which is the ability to make your staff feel valued for their contribution. Everyday leaders need to create an environment of inclusion and support where every member of the team can succeed. Imagine how every member of a team can thrive when there is an environment of support and understanding. Show them you care!

Lean Quote: Communicate, Every Day, Every Way

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The art of communication is the language of leaders." — James Humes

Good communication is at the heart of great teamwork. Great teams communicate well and often, their members are happy to share ideas, brainstorm together, ask for feedback, and be contradicted.

This doesn’t mean team members always agree, but they’re able to communicate through their differences to settle on a sound solution and continue moving forwards as a team.

So, how to enable good communication?

• Be clear: Set the tone for communication among the team. When is it acceptable to close your office door? Is it okay to contact someone after hours? How often should the whole team get together? This outline will help to keep everyone on the same page and communication flowing.
• Listen: Communication is as much about listening as it is about speaking. Make sure you’re listening to fellow team members and actually considering their thoughts before offering your own solutions and input.
• Method: There are so many ways to reach each other in the modern age. Try to use the most suitable tool to communicate for your specific needs, whether that’s email, a chat tool, phone call, or face to face. We’ve got an article that’ll help you decide which communication tool is best for what.
• Touch base: Encourage informal meetings, information sharing, and huddles between team members. People shouldn’t have to wait for a weekly catch-up meeting to get together. Collaborative team members are comfortable communicating as and when they need to.
• Collaboration tools: These enable workers to connect across the world, or across the office, in a group or one-to-one conversation. They also make progress on group projects at the times that are most convenient for them.

Five Keys to a Successful Change Management

http://www.changefactory.com.au/our-thinking/thoughts-on-the-line/change-management-nutshell/

The ultimate goal of change management is to drive organizational results and outcomes by engaging employees and inspiring their adoption of a new way of working. Whether it is a process, system, job role or organizational structure change (or all of the above), a project is only successful if individual employees change their daily behaviors and start doing their jobs in a new way. This is the essence of change management.

Giving employees a significant part to play in the transition process facilitates new beginnings in five ways:

1. It gives employees new insight into the real problems being faced by the organization as it comes out of past and redefines itself. When employees understand the problems, they are in the business for solutions.
2. By sharing these problems, you align yourself and your employees on one side and the problems on the other. The polarity is not between you and them; you are allies, not adversaries. If relationships has been frayed by change, this is a chance to rebuild them.
3. Giving employees a part brings their firsthand knowledge to bear on solving problems. Joint decisions are not necessarily better than unilateral ones, but including employees makes their knowledge available to the decision maker, whoever that may be.
4. The knowledge thus provided is more than the facts about the problem – it also includes facts about the self-interest of the various parties in the situation. Outcomes work bet if they serve the self-interest of those involved. Without that knowledge, the results are likely to be solutions that, however technically or economically satisfactory, run afoul of human respect.
5. Finally, everyone who plays a part is implicitly implicated in the outcome. That is, after all, how democracy works: you vote, and your vote is an implicit promise to abide by the results. Although actual votes are rare in organizations, this essential strength of democracy is still attainable and advantageous. As in the political arena, it is more important that people accept the solution, whatever it is, than that it is the ideal solution. In most cases, excellence is about seven parts commitment and three parts strategy.

Plans are immensely reassuring to most people, not just because they contain information but because they exist. The existence of the plan sends a message: somebody is looking after s, taking our needs seriously, and watching out so we don’t get lost along the way.

But even the best-laid plans leave a troubling doubt in the minds of some people. You need to give people a role in dealing effectively with the change process itself. The easiest way to do this is to be sure that everyone has a part on planning, problem solving, and implementing the change.

Take Personal Responsibility For Your Future

Organizations can't stop the world from changing. The best they can do is adapt. The smart ones change before they have to. The lucky ones manage to scramble and adjust when push     comes to shove. The rest are losers, and they become history.

As organizations maneuver in an effort to cope with rapid change, some careers always get caught in the cracks. It’s unfortunate, but unavoidable. Some employees get pinched and, naturally, people cry foul. They accuse top management of “breaking the psychological contract,” of changing the rules. But it’s more accurate to say the organization is merely responding to a rule change called the world. The irony is that executives are in no-win situation.  If they’re smart, and change early like they should, they’re described as uncaring and over-reactive. If they drag around and don’t change until the world forces the issue, they’re considered inept as well as cruel.

Part of the problem lies in the “entitlement” mindset that has crept into our thinking over the past several decades. People come to believe that, because of all the years of work they put in, the organization “owes” them continued employment. Sticking with an outfit – loosely referred to as loyalty – was supposed to entitle a person to job security. Employees learn to expect regular pay increases and periodic promotions. Some folks even go so far as to presume they have a “right” to expect their employees to keep them happy and provide job satisfaction. The burden of responsibility for people’s careers shifted further and further away from employees, and more onto the back of the employers. Both parties bought into this system, and it has been bad for all concerned.

Too often employees rested on their past achievements, instead of requiring themselves to constantly improve their skills. They counted on their work history to qualify them for a promising career future. They became too dependent on their employers, expecting protective policies to shield them from the raw forces of change going on around the globe.

Obviously, it hasn’t work. High-velocity change has eliminated the need for many jobs. Because of new technology and global competition, organizations are being reshaped and work is being done differently. The marketplace is merciless, and it puts definite limits on how generous or protective an organization can be with its people.

This means you should reframe your relationship with the organization, just as it must reframe its relationship with customers and competitors. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that you’re automatically “entitled” to pay increases, promotions, or even your job…even if you perform well.  Circumstances will keep changing. The best thing you can do is constantly improve your skills, stay flexible, and never con yourself into thinking that your employer is supposed to protect your future.

The era of entitlement is ending. Instead rely on your “rights,” take personal responsibility for your career. Put your faith in the future…and in yourself. Embrace change, and develop the work habits you need for job success in the Information Age.