You're a Project Coordinator looking to develop your critical thinking skills. How can you do it?

I agree with the statement, for critical thinking you have to analyse the correct problem,some problems are familiar for but most of them are unfamiliar, depending on the situation you have to adapt the solution which you have , identifying the problem is the initial step then need to reach our goal

Pour affiner votre esprit critique en tant que coordonnateur de projet, il est crucial de remettre en question les informations de manière méthodique, d'analyser diverses perspectives et de pratiquer une pensée analytique approfondie. Par exemple, lors de l'examen des données d'un rapport de progrès de projet, évitez de les prendre pour argent comptant ; évaluez plut?t leur fiabilité, leur origine et leur pertinence pour les objectifs du projet. En posant des questions critiques et en explorant différentes angles, vous serez mieux préparé à identifier les lacunes potentielles, à prendre des décisions éclairées et à résoudre efficacement les défis rencontrés dans votre projet.

Additionally, as a project coordinator (a position in which critical thinking about anything but what needs to be done to get the desired results is usually a luxury), it is best to include critical thinking in your work process continuously. Instead of tackling all your assumptions and biases, I would advise focusing on one topic/ theme that is closely related to a project you are working on. By making it part of your daily work, it is less overwhelming, and you can put it into practice.

To develop critical thinking skills as a Project Coordinator, engage in exercises that challenge problem-solving abilities, analyze case studies, and seek diverse perspectives. Utilize resources like online courses, workshops, or books on critical thinking. Practice identifying biases, evaluating information objectively, and making data-driven decisions. Embrace continuous learning, actively seek feedback, and implement critical thinking strategies in daily project management tasks to refine and enhance these essential skills.

Developing strong critical thinking skills is crucial for career success. Observing and analyzing problems, identifying assumptions, drawing conclusions, problem-solving, managing risks, and practicing metacognition are all essential aspects. You can enhance these skills through mindfulness, active listening, identifying biases, embracing learning opportunities, and gathering extra information before proposing solutions. Higher education provides an excellent environment for honing critical thinking skills through assignments, group work, projects, and guidance from instructors.

Enhance critical thinking as a project coordinator by actively problem-solving, making informed decisions, embracing strategic planning, continuously learning, analyzing data, maintaining open-mindedness, managing risks effectively, reflecting on past experiences, improving communication, practicing scenario analysis, fostering collaborative problem-solving, and critically evaluating information to inform project decisions. These strategies will contribute to more effective and successful project coordination.

To develop critical thinking skills, it is necessary to engage diverse stakeholders, research thoroughly using data-driven and reliable sources, avoid hasty conclusions and oversimplification, compare options, and seek feedback. By considering multiple perspectives and data-backed sources, you'll gain a comprehensive and confident understanding of projects. For example working within compliance in banking, I need to engage stakeholders such as compliance officers, risk and business manager, legal experts, IT professionals, audit team. I need to use data-driven sources like regulatory documents, industry reports and internal official data. Also need to avoid rushing conclusions by analyzing various data points and compliance requirements.

There are several behavioral biases in project management: strategic misrepresentation, uniqueness bias, the planning fallacy, overconfidence bias, hindsight bias, availability bias, anchoring, and escalation of commitment. Everyone has biases, and no one can be a clear thinker 100% of the time. It's important to be aware of your biases if you're going to defeat them. Be mindful about your thinking and ask yourself whether you're making decisions based on logical facts or feelings. Think thoroughly through important decisions and create a system of checks and balances, whereby employees and managers all feel comfortable discussing alternative strategies and potentially correcting flaws in each other's logic.

Read a lot, listen to more experienced people and study Philosophy. The way to hone a skill (specially a soft skill) it's sually not a straight line. It takes a lot of self refletcion, resignification and behaviour adjustment. But, hey, if you're reading this you have already done your first step!