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. Experience Isn't Necessarily What It's Cracked Up to Be! By Graeme Nichol Isn’t it always interesting to hear somebody say “yeah, we tried that, didn’t work…”When it was tried; what were the conditions surrounding the business? How was it implemented? How were staff trained? Most questions are never answered with any clarity and real understanding. No real analysis of the changes failure or success was ever done. Meaning that an opportunity to learn was lost.We all learn by our experiences, from walking to riding bicycles, trial and error and a few bruises and scrap… 2. Project Heroes By Luc Richard Project heroes. We’ve all heard of them. Some of us have even seen them. A project is in jeopardy. This guy (or gal) comes out of nowhere, analyzes the situation, tells you exactly what the problem is, and then goes on to fix it before you can even update your project plan!Some project managers place a high level of trust in project heroes. As a result, their superman (or superwoman) is assigned to the most fascinating projects and their technical decisions and sizings are never challenge… 3. The SMART Way to Set Goals Goal setting is equal parts art and science. Many people create goals that simply don't work. If you're in business, you don't have the luxury of creating goals that don't work. You need to work effectively and you need goals you help you do it. Here is a great way to create good goals that work... that keep you on track. They're called SMART goals and the acronym SMART will help you to remember the things that each goal needs to be: * Specific: Your goal needs to be stated in a way that is clea… 4. Feedback is a Gift Feedback is a gift - when done properly. The very word strikes fear into the hearts of millions of workers every day, because the only time they get feedback is when it is rolled by a manager who wants to criticise - yet put a bit of positive spin on it. Ever been there? I know I have and it sets off that internal groan, because you know just what's coming. Feedback is a gift - remember that at the start of this piece? It can be a gift where used constructively, consistently and with goodwill. I… |
||||
