As you drive your business forward, scaling towards success, one thing is clear. You will always encounter problems. You can walk around opportunities but problems need to met head on. Here are 10 simple rules for effective problem-solving in business:
Ten Simple Rules
- Define the problem as one of three types: Strategic, Inter-departmental or Departmental. This will help focus the priorities of your team when you allocate your scarce resources.
- Gather the best people in a room to kick off the solution.
- Get all the issues surrounding the subject on the table. Total disclosure of all the issues – symptoms, consequences, evidence, costs, benefits of a solution. The scoping phase.
- Discuss all possible solutions.
- Select the best possible team to execute a solution.
- Select a leader from the team and ensure buy-in from the team.
- Agree deliverables and timetable.
- Allocate budget if necessary.
- Define the abort criteria.
- Define the monitoring procedure for the team and the frequency of Progress Reports.
Done. Now all you need to decide is which ones can be started this year!
