4-step Problem Solving Process Examples

June 7, 2017 by Jennifer Haury
Category: Management , Guest Writer

Easy Problem Solving Using the 4-step Method

At a recent infirmary town forum, infirmary leaders are outlining the changes coming when a alone, brave nurse raises her hand and says, "We only can't have any more changes. They are layered on meridian of each other and each one is rolled out in a different way. We are exhausted and information technology's overloading us all."

"Flavor of the Month" Fatigue

Change fatigue. Yous hear about it in every industry, from government sectors to software design to manufacturing to healthcare and more. When policy and leadership changes and process improvement overlap it'south no surprise when people mutter about "flavor of the calendar month," and resist it merely so they can proceed some routine to their days.

In a time where change is required just to go on up with the shifting environment, one way to ease fatigue is to standardize HOW we change. If we use a all-time practise for solving problems, we can ensure that the correct people are involved and bug are solved permanently, not temporarily. Better yet, HOW we change can become the addiction and routine nosotros long for.

The 4-step Problem Solving Method

The model we've used with clients is based on the A3 problem-solving methodology used by many "lean" product-based companies. In addition to being simpler, our four-step method is visual, which helps remind the user what goes into each box.

The steps are as follows

Develop a Problem Statement
Determine Root Causes
Rank Root Causes in Order of Importance
Create an Action Program

Step 1: Develop a Problem Statement

Developing a good problem statement always seems a lot easier than it generally turns out to be. For example, this argument: "Nosotros don't have enough staff," oft shows upwardly as a problem statement. Nonetheless, it suggests the solution—"GET More STAFF" — and fails to address the real problem that more staff might solve, such as answering phones in a timely manner.

The trick is to develop a problem statement that does non propose a solution. Avoiding the following words/phrases: "lack of," "no," "non enough," or "too much" is cardinal. When I first to fall into the trap of suggesting a solution, I ask: "Then what trouble does that cause?" This usually helps to go to a more effective problem statement.

In one case y'all've developed a problem argument, y'all'll need to define your target goal, measure out your bodily condition, then decide the gap. If we ran a eating house and our problem was: "Customers complaining about burnt toast during morning shift," the target goal might exist: "Toast gilded chocolate-brown 100% of morn shift."

Focus on a tangible, doable target goal so measure how frequently that target is occurring. If our actual condition is: "Toast golden brown 50% of the fourth dimension," then our gap is: "Burnt toast 50% of the time." That gap is at present a refined trouble to take to Footstep 2.

Step 2: Determine Root Causes

In Step 2, we desire to sympathise the root causes. For example, if the gap is burnt toast 50% of the fourth dimension, what are all the possible reasons why?

This is when y'all brainstorm. It could be an inattentive cook or a cleaved popular-up mechanism. Cooks could be using different methods to time the toasting process or some breads toast more chop-chop. During brainstorming, you'll want to include everyone in the process since observing these interactions might besides shed light on why the problem is occurring.

Once we accept an idea of why, we then employ the 5-why process to arrive at a root crusade. Ask "Why?" five times or until information technology no longer makes sense to ask. Root causes can exist tricky. For instance, if the popular up mechanism is broken y'all could only buy a new toaster, correct? Just if you asked WHY information technology broke, you lot may learn cooks are pressing down too difficult on the pop upwardly mechanism, causing it to break. In this case, the problem would but reoccur if yous bought a new toaster.

When you find you are fixing reoccurring problems that indicates you haven't solved for the root cause. Through the v-why process, y'all can go to the root cause and fix the problem permanently.

Stride 3: Rank Root Causes

Once you know what'due south causing the problem (and there may be multiple root causes), it's time to movement to Footstep 3 to sympathise which causes, if solved for, would close your gap. Hither yous rank the root causes in club of importance past looking at which causes would have the greatest touch in endmost the gap.

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In that location may exist times when you don't desire to go later your largest root cause (perhaps because information technology requires others to change what they are doing, volition take longer, or is dependent on other things getting fixed, etc). Sometimes you lot'll find it's better to start with a solution that has a smaller touch just can be washed speedily.

Step 4: Create an Activeness Programme

In Step 4 you create your action plan — who is going to practice what and by when. Documenting all of this and making it visible helps to communicate the plan to others and helps concord them accountable during implementation.

This is where your countermeasures or experiments to prepare the problem are detailed. Will we train our chefs on how to use a new "pop-up mechanism" complimentary toaster? Will nosotros dedicate 1 toaster for white bread and one for wheat?

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Make certain to measure your results afterward you lot've implemented your plan to encounter if your target is met. If not, that's okay; merely get through the steps again until the problem is resolved.

Final Thoughts

Using the 4-step method has been an easy way for teams to change how they solve issues. One team I was working with started challenging their "solution jumps" and found this method was a ameliorate way to avert assumptions which led to never really solving their problems. It was piece of cake to employ in a briefing room and helped them make their thinking visual so everyone could exist involved and engaged in solving the bug their squad faced.

Do you lot have a problem-solving method that you apply at your worksite? Let us know in the comments beneath.

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Near Jennifer Haury

Jennifer Haury is the CEO of All Angles Consulting, LLC and guest authored this postal service for MRSC.

Jennifer has over 28 years learning in the healthcare industry (17 in leadership positions or consulting in performance comeback and organizational anthropology) and is a Lean Six Sigma Blackness Belt.

She is a trusted, experienced leader with a keen interest in performance improvement and organizational anthropology. Jennifer is especially concerned with the sustainability of continuous improvement programs and the cultural values and beliefs that translate into behaviors that either get in our ain fashion or help u.s. succeed in transforming our work.

The views expressed in invitee columns correspond the opinions of the writer and practice not necessarily reverberate those of MRSC.

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