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. Innovation Management: The Hype Cycle By Kal Bishop Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that in… 2. The "Leader's Fallacy" May Be Howard Dean's Undoing By Brent Filson Howard Dean's tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee will be fleeting unless he avoids a common leadership trap I call it, the "Leader's Fallacy".Leaders adhere to the Leader's Fallacy when they believe their enthusiasm for a particular leadership challenge is automatically reciprocated by the people they lead.However, in leadership, automatic reciprocity is an illusion. Just because you as a leader are motivated, doesn't mean that the people are motivated too. Howard Dean i… 3. Why Is This The Most Important Question You Can EVER Ask... About ANY Project! Why Is This The Most Important Question You Can EVER Ask... About ANY Project! From the desk of: Arne Yri http://www.ProjectManagementMadeEasy.com Simply put... The most IMPORTANT question about ANY project you can EVER run is the FOLLOWING: HOW SERIOUS ARE YOUR MANAGERS - CEO'S and Board of Directores even at getting the PROBLEM (project) you're said to be manager of - RESOLVED? So... Stupid Question you say? Sure is, but in spite of stupidity - stupidity exists - and even more than you would… 4. The 3 secrets of Team Motivation The 3 secrets of Team Motivationby Alan Fairweather(c) Alan Fairweather - All Rights reservedhttp://www.howtogetmoresales.com/==========================================================Are workers telling the truth when they say they are ill?This question was posed on the Money Programme on BBCTelevision in December 2004. British Bosses are reportingthat more and more of their staff appear to be skiving offwith faked illnesses and many firms are taking new steps tocrack down on malingerers. Resea… |
||||
