A quick guide to problem solving for major issues

One of the key skills for a five stars project/program manager - from my point of view- is risk management to prevent outstanding issues come to light. Unfortunately, sooner o later every project management professional has to cope with a major issue in her/his project. So big that this problem could destroy the feasibility of your project and even damage your professional credibility if you are not dealing with them properly.

There are a lot of posts about problem solving, but I′d like to share with you my own view on which steps need to be taken to deal properly with these white sharks. This post is far from being perfect and for sure fall-back plans need to be tailored depending on important factors (timescales, teams involved, stage of the project, cultural diversity, corporate values, vested interests, etc.). Please, I′m happy if you add your comments and provide your personal point of view:

1 - Collect the relevant information to frame the issue: to find a good solution it is very important first to find out what is really going on, especially when relevant stakeholders are involved:

1.1 Who, what, how, when, where… Try to answer all of them

1.2 Of course, the most important answer to question is WHY.  To do this, follow always the cause—> consequence approach. Maybe there is a lot of noise but the issue could be only the peak of the iceberg. Don′t worry! Calm down, be careful and pursuit the root causes of what′s going on 

1.3 Collecting info is not a one-off, but an iterative process. Use all the interactions to challenge your previous assumptions and get info from all sides. Remember, this is a conversation but doble checks are essential

1.4 Better one-to-one than dealing with groups: You will find out useful info not only about what people involved agree but for those things they have different perceptions. On top of that, if you try to collect information by arranging crowded meetings, attendees  could align communications and even worse, they may start the blaming game (among them or something worse, with you)  

1.5 Try to be fair, collaborative and unbiased: You will collect data from documents and systems but the most valuable source is always people. Remember: although you will interact with emotional people, you are not allowed to be emotional. Try to identify and separate facts from opinions and minimize your own judgments 

2 - Framing the issue and generating solutions: now it′s time to work in the solution

2.1 Write down to frame and define the issue. All of us have different perceptions and understandings. Writing down will will help you to be more accurate defining the issue and at the same time allowing other people challenging your action plans more effectively. Diagrams, tables, etc can help you to organize the data to understand and synthesize the problem.  Use fresh-eyes analysis with someone not involved in the project you trust and value to receive unbiased support  

2.2 Try to be creative and generate alternatives: Although you have to choose just one, there are always many valid options getting around. My experience tells me that the best solution is compounding a Frankenstein: it will be a mixture of parts from different alternatives analyzed. At this stage, it is very important testing how different alternatives match key goals of the project and main interests from key stakeholders. Also, don′t forget to measure the impact of these solutions on milestones, costs, resources and quality 

2.3 Always work on the tactic/strategic approach: trying to solve an important issue usually takes a lot of time but emergency situations require steaming the blood quickly. Remember that you are in the battlefield and an important priority is keeping the wounded alive. In many occasions, tactic solutions are even more important than the strategic ones, specially if the last ones are very costly or difficult to implement (in some cases tactic can stand forever and become strategic...)

2.4 Establish a small plan to deal with the issue: Spending some time analyzing the solution is important, especially in a def con 2 alert. Do it alone or with your inner circle: my experience tells me that diversity and quality are better than quantity. You should have at least these outputs: initial assumptions and risks, picture of what is happening, levers to be activated and a high level plan with milestones and due dates

2.5 When your fallback plan is more mature involve the most relevant stakeholders: people don′t like implementing solutions they have not been involved previously. Put the key stakeholders on your shoes and play role reversal while trying to sell them your solution. They will provide you useful feed-back. And they will require some changes to your solution, in some cases minimal ones but they do need to justify themselves

3 - Implementing the bespoke solution: now it′s time to go ahead and solving the problem 

3.1 Try to be fair, collaborative and unbiased: try to follow your plan without being very aggressive. You have decided and agree what to do, but for a successful implementation it is usually more important the how

3.2 Be incremental: we usually don′t like to take large steps and getting out of our confort zone abruptly. Phasing is more effective specially when large and numerous changes are required. Although this should have being taken into account when defining the solution, try to keep always this in mind because in many cases you should improvise

3.3 Anyway, be focused: when is has been decided to go ahead don′t hesitate. Now it′s time to not wasting time and follow the plan. There will be people that can resist: be polite but firm about the way ahead

3.4 Autoritas vs. Potestas: sometimes you can convince people, sometimes people need to be “convinced”. In many occasions, the unique way to go ahead is using escalation and chain of command to get people “convinced” (autoritas). Don’t overuse autoritas because people aren′t going to be collaborative and they can take revenge in the future 

3.5 Be optimistic: there are plans, skills, knowledge but an essential ingredient we cannot miss is attitude. Don′t be fake and overact, but if you have worked hard and you believe your solution will work it′ll do. And people will follow you believing in it too. Don′t hesitate!!! You are going to make it!!!