Problem-Solving Success Tip: Use Your Time for Problems that are Truly ImportantLearn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Problem-Solving Success Tip: Use Your Time for Problems that are Truly Important article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Hard as it may be to walk away once you're aware of it, just because a problem is there doesn't mean you have to solve it. Ask yourself and your colleagues, 'What will happen if we don't solve this problem?' If the answer is, 'not much,' then turn your attention to something more important. If you don't know what will happen, find out before you undertake a problem-solving project. It should be clear to you and everyone else involved that the problem is worth the effort--and expense--to fix it. Quantify the cost of the problem quickly, but as realistically as you can. Include lost opportunity costs as well as real expenses such as staff time to deal with the problem, travel expenses, etc. Use actual costs where you can; estimate where you can't. Then guesstimate what it will cost to analyze and fix it. Write your analysis down, stating all your assumptions explicitly. Get a colleague to verify that your assumptions and estimates are reasonable. Start with a rough 'order of magnitude' estimate. That may be enough to answer the question of whether you should proceed. If it's not clear, especially if the cost to solve it will be high, do a more careful analysis. If it will cost more to fix than to live with the problem, or if the number is even close, perhaps your resources (time, people, money) are better spent on other projects. If you decide to proceed anyway, you can do so with a better understanding of what you're undertaking. On the other hand, if you can demonstrate that the cost of the problem is much higher than the cost of solving it, using estimates based on reasonable assumptions, it will generally be much easier to get the resources you need. You can use your written analysis as a sales tool to help win support for your decision to proceed or not. We have to learn to distinguish those things that are truly important from those that are merely urgent. --Jerry D. Campbell
copyright 2005. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved. |
More Articles:1. Delegation For Managers: What Should You Do And What Should You Delegate? As a manager, you're expected to decide what needs to be done, gather the resources to do it, and then decide who does what. Okay, managing is a little more than that, but it certainly does include setting goals, gathering resources, and delegating tasks. Now, if you're like many managers, there sometimes isn't any clear line between the work you think you should do, and the work you think your staff should do. In fact, you may not be a 'pure' manager (is there such a thing?) in the sense that y… 2. Lessons From Innovative Companies By Marcia Zidle What do the companies 3M, Polaroid, and Walt Disney have in common? All have innovation in their blood. All encourage an innovative spirit at every level of their organization.For example, 3M has a goal to derive 30% of revenues from products less than 4 years old. Research staff spend 15% of their time on projects of their choice. They are encouraged to mingle with customers, take risks and champion ideas. Out of this culture have come the famous Post-it notes and other very profitable p… 3. The Survey Feedback Process for Organizational Development and Change By Chris Stowell THE PURPOSE OF SURVEY FEEDBACK:In globally competitive environments, organizations are seeking information about obstacles to productivity and satisfaction in the workplace. Survey feedback is a tool that can provide this type of honest feedback to help leaders guide and direct their teams. Obstacles and gaps between the current status quo and the desired situations may or may not be directly apparent. In either case, it is vital to have a clear understanding of strategies for diagnosis and… 4. Make The Decision To Succeed By Anthony McCune Communication is faster and access to information is more readily available today than it has ever been. Ease of communication will increase. The ability to obtain the information you need will improve. On the other hand, the amount of time you have to make a decision that will benefit or harm the success of your endeavor will decrease.If you have something good to offer, you must let the people who need it know about it. The step you take or choose not to take today will have ramifications fo… |
||||
