Effective Problem-Solving Techniques: Strategies, Methods and Tips
Encountering problems in the workplace is a perennial challenge – how we approach these challenges can prevent a minor hiccup from turning into a major detour.
Keep reading to learn about various problem-solving techniques and ways to improve problem-solving skills.
What is problem-solving?
Problem-solving is the thought process and actions taken to overcome obstacles and achieve a desired outcome. It’s a workplace soft skill that helps individuals and teams reach their goals and move business forward.
Having strong problem-solving skills could help you land a job or progress in your career. The need for soft skills like problem-solving is only expected to grow as organizations incorporate machine learning and AI into their workflows. In fact, the World Economic Forum listed problem-solving as one of the top 10 skills in demand for future jobs.
Let’s look at the core steps of most problem-solving methods.
A step-by-step foundational problem-solving process
1. Identify the problem
Identifying a problem involves recognizing that there's a gap between the current situation and your ideal state. You need to be observant, ask questions, gather information, and understand the root cause so that you can clearly define the issue you're facing.
Noticing and catching a problem early on is key to solving it effectively. The earlier you catch on to a problem, the less chance it has to delay a deadline or throw a project off-track.
Having an awareness of common obstacles that can prevent you from identifying problems will make you a better problem-solver. Some of these obstacles include:
- Feeling overconfident that we already know the solution or that things will "magically" fix themselves.
- Falling for an unconscious bias, like confirmation bias, that misrepresents the truth. Confirmation bias is when a person seeks and looks for information that validates their pre-formed opinions and thoughts.
- External pressures like deadlines or competing priorities
- Limited resources like time, understaffed teams, or money
- A toxic workplace culture that discourages feedback, punishes whistleblowers, or prioritizes short-term gains over long-term goals will leave employees hesitant to identify problems.
2. Define the problem
Formulate a clear and concise statement that describes the problem's essence and focuses on what’s missing or wrong. If possible, quantify the problem's impact on costs, productivity, or other relevant metrics to highlight its significance.
It’s imperative to gather multiple perspectives as different individuals might have varying experiences and perceptions of the problem.
3. List all the possible solutions
Write down every suggestion, even if it seems irrelevant. There are no bad ideas when brainstorming – quantity is key to ensure you find the best solution. Consider both short and long-term solutions and tap others for their input.
After you have generated a good pool of solutions, organize similar ideas into themes and categories.
4. Evaluate options and make a decision
Consider potential effectiveness, implementation effort, and resource requirements. Identify potential advantages, disadvantages, and risks associated with each solution. Don’t stop at the first solution that you think might work, ensure you consider all possibilities before settling on a solution.
When making a decision, rely on data and analysis to make a rational choice. Utilize decision-making tools like a pros and cons list, decision matrix, or cost-benefit analysis.
Consider your gut feeling and experience within the organization. Is this the type of solution that will be supported by stakeholders, or will you be struggling to access resources?
5. Create a plan and begin implementation
Break down the chosen solution into smaller, actionable steps and assign ownership and responsibilities. Set realistic deadlines for each task and the overall project completion.
Ensure your plan includes details on how you will communicate your reasoning, solution, and any associated trade-offs or anticipated challenges to all relevant stakeholders.
Successful implementation requires not only a well-defined plan but also clear communication, collaboration, and adaptability. Use your timeline and established metrics to monitor progress and identify any roadblocks. Be prepared to adapt or adjust your approach if needed based on ongoing evaluation and feedback.
Remember to celebrate milestones along the way – acknowledging and celebrating achievements helps to keep motivation high.
Discover how Social Recognition® and the rest of the Workhuman Platform can transform your organization's culture into one with gratitude at the center.
Workplace problem-solving techniques, strategies, or methods
These effective problem-solving strategies will have you and your team solving complex problems in a quick and stress-free manner.
Six thinking hats
The Six Thinking Hats problem-solving technique is a brainstorming tool that utilizes six metaphorical hats, each representing a distinct thinking style:
White Hat: Focuses on facts, data, and neutral information.
Red Hat: Expresses emotions, intuition, and gut feelings.
Black Hat: Identifies potential problems, risks, and downsides.
Yellow Hat: Explores possibilities, optimism, and positive outcomes.
Green Hat: Generates ideas, new perspectives, and creative solutions.
Blue Hat: Manages the thinking process, ensures everyone participates, and summarizes key points.
By “switching hats” and tackling a situation from varying angles, individuals and teams can explore different facets of the situation, consider emotional and logical perspectives, encourage diverse contributions, and facilitate constructive discussion.
Lightning decision jam
If you’re facing an urgent problem that needs a prompt, collaborative solution, the lightning decision jam is a great option. It’s a fun, fast-paced workshop that operates as a streamlined sprint. Pull together a team and follow these steps:
- Individuals silently brainstorm solutions on sticky notes for a short, set time.
- Everyone anonymously votes on the most pressing or pertinent issues.
- Quickly develop potential solutions based on chosen challenges.
- Teams present their ideas and choose the best one for immediate action.
By the end of the sprint your team will have generated a range of creative ideas in a short time frame while ensuring a diverse range of perspectives thanks to the silent brainstorming.
The 5 whys
The 5 Whys technique can help you and your team uncover the true root cause, not just the surface symptoms.
The technique is simple: ask “why” once, answer the question, and then ask “why” again. Ask “why” as many times as you need until you reveal the core issue. By peeling back layers, you avoid bandage solutions that address only the symptoms of your issue.
Let’s take a look at an example of a team hoping to understand why their sales are down. Here’s how the technique might look in action:
Why are sales down?
Because customers complain about product quality.
Why?
Due to poor construction and materials
Why?
Supplier changed them without notice
Why?
Supply demand issues
Porter’s five forces
Porter's Five Forces, developed by economist Michael Porter, doesn't solve complex problems directly. Instead, think of it as a powerful tool for analyzing the competitive landscape within your industry, which can inform various workplace decisions and problem-solving approaches.
The Five Forces are:
Bargaining power of suppliers: This force examines the power suppliers have to influence prices, terms, and conditions.
Bargaining power of buyers: This force evaluates the power buyers have to negotiate prices, terms, and conditions.
Threat of new entrants: This force assesses the ease with which new competitors can enter the industry.
Threat of substitutes: This force considers the availability of alternative products or services that could meet the same customer needs.
Competitive rivalry: This force examines the intensity of competition between existing players in the industry.
Completing this analysis periodically can help teams identify external pressures, understand limitations, inform strategic decisions, and identify opportunities. A clear awareness of these potential setbacks can help teams identify and reach the best solution for problems faster.
Linear thinking
Linear thinking offers a structured approach for specific workplace problems but is not the ideal problem-solving process for a couple of situations.
We want to note that it is an inflexible problem-solving strategy. Messy problems with unclear or subjective factors might benefit from other less-linear problem-solving techniques. You and your team might miss out on alternative solutions outside the established linear thinking framework.
Here’s a simplified walk-through of how teams can solve problems using the linear thinking problem-solving method:
- Teams follow a step-by-step process, defining the problem, identifying root causes, analyzing data, and evaluating potential solutions logically. This guarantees that nothing is overlooked.
- Teams apply proven methods, established procedures, and industry best practices to develop solutions grounded in logic and past experiences.
- Every step is documented, and decisions are based on objective data and analysis. This clarity facilitates communication within the team and ensures everyone understands the rationale behind the chosen solution.
- For problems with clear causes and readily available solutions, linear thinking can be efficient. It avoids unnecessary exploration and focuses on reaching a solution directly.
Design thinking
Design thinking is centered around empathetically solving problems in an iterative and user-centered way. It’s best suited for problem-solving issues that deal with product design or development and other creative issues.
A design thinking problem-solving process will follow these steps:
- Teams step into the shoes of stakeholders experiencing the problem. They observe, interview, and gather insights to understand their needs, frustrations, and desires.
- Teams harness empathy and collaboratively define the core problem in a human-centered way, focusing on what's missing or not working for the "user." They avoid vague statements and aim for a clear, actionable challenge.
- Next, teams work together to generate a wide range of ideas without judgment. Teams can use techniques like brainstorming, SCAMPEROpens in a new tab, or mind mapping to explore unconventional solutions and break out of existing mindsets.
- Teams quickly create prototypes like mockups or scripts to represent their solutions. They test these prototypes with real users, gather feedback, and iterate based on what works and what doesn't.
- Teams use feedback to refine their solutions, ensuring they address the core problem and meet user needs. Finally, they develop an implementation plan, considering feasibility, resources, and communication strategies.
Team-based problem-solving activities
There are countless team-based problem-solving techniques that range in cost, duration, and number of people needed. Not all of these strategies will help you and your team directly uncover possible solutions to complex problems, but they’ll help increase your team’s abilities to communicate and practice solving problems.
A handful of the best team-based problem-solving tools include:
- Scavenger hunts will help develop critical thinking skills while deciphering clues
- Escape room adventures that require participants to communicate with their teammates and work on solving the puzzles together
- Virtual clue murder mystery night helps teammates practice gathering information to uncover the appropriate decision
Tips to improve your problem-solving skills
Seek out opportunities to build your problem-solving skills
Although we will all face problems throughout our careers, certain roles and job functions are bound to encounter more problems as part of their day-to-day responsibilities.
It might sound odd to look for problems to add to your plate. But if you have the time and are looking to improve your problem-solving skills, there are ways you can seek out opportunities to experience problem-solving.
Ask your manager during your next 1:1 if there are any issues they might not have the bandwidth to address that they could use your help with, or reach out to a colleague and volunteer to take a look at a problem they’re dealing with.
As you go about your tasks and duties take the time to evaluate processes and challenges. Is there a way to implement changes so that a workflow runs more effectively? Perhaps you’ll uncover a helpful way to reach an end goal quicker.
Take time to learn and practice
There are ample employee development programs that focus on building and practicing problem-solving skills. Ask your manager, or your HR department, if there are any trainings you can participate in.
These trainings or offerings might include:
- Gamified or micro-learning problem-solving training
- Role-playing scenarios
- Team-based problem-solving workshops
- Mentorship that focuses on problem-solving
- Personalized training that applies problem-solving to your job function
Ask for feedback
Even if your workplace culture supports regular peer-to-peer feedback, requesting feedback can still feel intimidating. We encourage you to take the leap and request feedback after a problem has been resolved.
Don’t wait too long for time to pass. You’ll receive the most effective feedback if how the situation was resolved is still fresh in your colleague’s mind.
Frequent, high-quality check-ins between managers and employees are essential. With Conversations they're easy.
Good feedback – feedback that is kind and productive – is incredibly useful for a skill like problem-solving. There might be gaps, details, or alternative strategies that a peer or colleague noticed that you missed or didn’t pick up. Having this feedback could inform your next problem-solving strategy and ensure that it goes smoothly.
FAQs
Is problem-solving a skill?
Yes, problem-solving is considered a soft skill. Developing your problem-solving skills will benefit you in and outside of the workplace. It’s likely we can all benefit from learning new ways to identify, tackle, and mediate issues.
What is the first step in solving a problem?
Identifying a problem is the first step in effectively solving your issue. This involves recognizing that there's a gap between your current situation and your desired state. You need to gather information, understand the root cause, and clearly define the issue you're facing.
Conclusion
Problems come in all shapes and sizes. Having an arsenal of problem-solving methods to draw on will help you and your team choose the correct problem-solving technique to effectively solve your issue.
Building problem-solving skills takes time, but your goals, skills, and career path will benefit from it. On the organizational level, a workforce that can effectively problem-solve will generate better business and build stronger teams.
About the author
Alicyn Zall
Alicyn Zall is a writer dedicated to creating a more equitable and fulfilling workplace. With a focus on actionable, data-driven insights, her work empowers individuals and organizations to foster positive change. In addition to her contribution at Workhuman, Alicyn has served as an editor at Harvard Business Review where she developed books and articles about mental health and the future of work.