Talking about problems can help you “get stuff off your chest,” give you an emotional band-aid, and unfortunately it can even spread some good ole’ fashioned gossip around. But talking doesn’t solve anything. To solve it, and by “SOLVE,” we mean to solve it forever, you must do something.
You must take action.
You must change. Change what has been done in order to create a different result and hopefully the desired result.
Have you ever heard the saying- “If nothing changes, nothing changes?” Well, it’s true.
So here are the three steps you need to take to SOLVE any problem. Yep, ANY problem.
Three quick steps to solve any problem.
- Identify the problem. What is the problem? Give some background of what happened and when. Be as specific as possible.
- Ask and answer the best questions. Don’t blow past this step and rush to a solution. How prevalent is the problem? Are we dealing with it every month? Week? Day? Who is involved in the problem? Same people every time or different? How long has this been going on? Has something happened that has caused this to happen? Did something stop happening that caused this to happen? Why now? Who oversees the people/area of the building/department where this problem is happening?
Don’t skip this step! It is so easy to go from 1. Here is the problem to 3. Solving. But if you skip number 2, you won’t uncover what the TRUE problem is, and guess what? When you don’t find out what the real issue is, you can’t solve it forever. You might find that a problem employee isn’t a problem at all. It’s a training issue. You might find out that the part that is missing is not missing at all. It never got ordered due to a very slack communication process. Ask questions. You can thank me later.
- Act to solve the problem forever. Decide what steps you will take now. For example, you determine that supplies aren’t getting ordered in a timely manner. Because you are no longer jumping to conclusions, you are asking all the right questions; you realize it isn’t because people are slackers, it’s because no one has intentionally been put in charge of ordering supplies. Next steps: 1. Decide who oversees ordering. Make sure to communicate that to them and get their buy-in. 2. Determine ordering procedure/budget/timetable. 3. Don’t wait for the next similar problem to find to you, decide now what other areas need intentional leadership and get those areas solved as soon as possible. Decide who owns the solution and be clear so they can be accountable.
The SPF Method
So, there you have it. Seems simple, 1,2,3, and done. Problem-solving can be simple when you slow down and take the time needed to go through the process. If you need help, Call us we love to help. Here’s our secret… We call this the SPF Method. Solve Problems Forever. It gives me peace to simply think about the concept! We truly enjoy issue processing with our coaching clients and hearing wins compound week after week. This can be you! Take a look at Sales or Business coaching. What championship team do you know out there that doesn’t have a coach? Yeah. Me either! 😉
