Thank you for submitting your email, 7 steps to effective problem solving. The first thing that comes up when solving a problem is to identify and define the problem. Without knowing the problem, you can't move forward. Therefore, clearly understand the problem for which you are going to find a solution.
Define the problem and make it precise. Since you won't be working alone, describe the context and make sure it's understandable to people involved in the decision-making process. However, different people have different perspectives on what a problem is, and you should keep that in mind. Are you surprised to start with this step? Not many problem-solving processes include this step, but it's absolutely crucial.
Think about how often we spend time and resources on problems that don't necessarily require that attention. Ask yourself, “Is this the right problem to solve?” This is also one of the most important steps in our seven-step problem-solving technique. Why? It's very tempting to ignore this step and move on to analysis and solutions. However, like the first step, it's one of the secrets of effective problem solving and helps differentiate our seven-step problem-solving technique.
Combining problems that are valuable to solve with the exact definition of what you are trying to solve can dramatically improve the effectiveness of the problem-solving process. The secret to defining the problem really lies in the attitude. Try to see every problem as an opportunity. Our structured problem-solving technique takes an excellent approach to detailed examination, which uses four steps to improve your organization's processes.
This management tool first helps you define the current situation and then challenges every aspect of that current process. The third and fourth steps are to develop options and then seek an optimal solution. The tool takes us from analysis to the next two stages of our seven-step problem-solving technique, which consists of developing options and selecting a solution.
