Stephenotes - Identifying the Problem

November 21st, 2008 by Stephen

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Posted in Productivity, Stephenotes, Work 2.0 |

Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: StephenPSmith.com

Solving problems in groups can be a process of trial and error, unless you have properly identified the problem.
Developing a clear and accurate understanding of what the problem is can help you avoid doing the work of solving the problem over and over again.

When you have a problem that has no obvious solution, ask the meeting attendees to define the problem to the best of their ability. Write these definitions down, where everyone can see them, without challenging any of the suggestions. Once everyone has proposed a definition, then you can get to work on crafting a single, unified version.

When the problem itself has been defined, you can get to work on the solution.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6l9e4l. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

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4 Responses

1. Caroline's debit card loans Says:
   November 24th, 2008 at 5:43 am

   Working as a team of one:) I’m sure I could still use this process.

2. Stephen Says:
   November 24th, 2008 at 11:48 am

   Hi Caroline, I think that Everyone can use this process!

3. Ulla Hennig Says:
   November 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am

   I think a written definition of the problem really helps in any cases - with a group and for oneself.

4. Rolf F. Katzenberger Says:
   December 5th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

   Hi Stephen,

   when you’ve more time available than just one meeting (or when you’d expect somewhat heated debates instead of constructive problem solving; or when people can’t come together at all in one place) you might wish to try the Delphi method (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_method):

   Have each expert write down his assessment and collect all answers. Then have a facilitator summarize each variant and spread the summaries among all participating experts. Repeat as often as necessary.

   Makes experts more willing to try out alternative points of view.

   The collective notebook technique is a more recent variation (http://www.mycoted.com/Collective_Notebook).

   Rolf

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