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. You Get the Behavior You Reward By Bill Lee On consulting assignments, here are some of the questions I frequently ask the employees I interview:1. How does your boss measure you?2. When the end of the year rolls around, how do you know if you have done a good job over the previous 12 months?3. If you wanted to receive a raise double the amount that you typically receive, what do you believe you would have to do to qualify?Only on rare occasions are employees (except for salespeople) able to answer these questions since many owners a… 2. Transform Any Business into a Go-Getting Power House by Working SMART By Keith Longmire Probably as well known as SWOT, SMART turns goals, objectives and tasks into concrete deliverables. If there is one key to turning busy, ineffectual organisations into models of streamlined efficiency then this is it.More accurately SMART ought to be SMARRRT. There are at least three equally valid definitions for the 'R'.OK, the 10 second introduction to working smarter:Specific: Be completely clear on the outcome expected of the goal, objective or taskMeasurable: Phrase the statement of what … 3. 10 Steps Towards A Stress-Free Introduction Into Management By Allan Mackintosh Becoming a manager for the first time can be an unnerving and sometimes stressful experience. In many cases, organisations expect you to immediately jump into the role and begin to perform as if you have been there for years. Also, you may have been promoted "out of the blue" and as such have not taken part in any "succession planning" that would have prepared you for the management role.If you follow the ten steps outlined then you will put yourself in a much better position to develop into y… 4. Four Steps to Better Performance Reviews By Linda Henman Direct reports—people who need direction and leadership—rely on their leaders to give them feedback and mentoring, not just management and evaluations. However, these people who most need their boss’s help frequently lack the guidance that would enable them move to the next levels of success—theirs, their team’s and the company’s. Too often leaders are not prepared or trained to conduct an appraisal that stretches performance and ensures their direct reports’ development. Instead, the apprai… |
||||
