Frustrated with Your Team’s Problem Solving

Are you happy with your team’s problem solving performance? Having a team that is good at problem solving is a great advantage in today’s fast-paced, competitive business environment. With all the training and resources available, why are some teams so much better at problem solving than others? Could it be that your leadership culture does not provide the right environment

So what kind of environment produces the best problem solving?

Create Safety

Problem solving when people are more worried about who’s fault it is, will come up short. Too many times, I have seen people focus on why it’s not their fault. When they do this, time is lost and root causes are not properly vetted. This then leads to inadequate counter measures, and repeat failures.

Encourage Questioning

Team members should be encouraged to question assumptions and conclusions. This should done respectfully. The goal is to get the issue fixed, not fix blame. Teams that are afraid to question will miss important facts in the process. They won’t test assumptions. Again, this will lead to wrong outcomes, wasted time, and repeat issues.

Reward Right Behaviors

You get the behaviors you reward. When people are punished for taking responsibility, they will work to avoid responsibility. When respectfully challenging their piers is not rewarded, people will passively go along. When people are punished for mistakes, they will do everything they can to cover them up.

Good problem solving processes requires that team members take responsibilitysimilitude, challenge assumptions, and own their mistakes. Does your leadership and culture foster that environment? What happens when people make mistakes? What happens when assumptions are challenged? How do you and your leadership team respond?