Creative Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
By Roberta Cava
()
About this ebook
There are many times every day that supervisors/managers face problems or must make decisions - some of them very serious ones. If you find yourself holding off making decisions, you might find that it is keeping you from progressing up the ladder in your corporation. Procrastination is one of the things that companies say keep them from promoting good employees; employees who could be very good managers or executives of a company except for the flaw that they were poor problem-solvers or were reluctant to make decisions.
Don't let this be the one quality that holds you back from advancing in business or even finding happiness by making the right decisions in your personal life. If you are in a rut within either phase of your life, you should find this information helpful to assist you to become the person you could be.
This book discusses many areas where supervisors/managers must problem-solve - some that can be highly stressful or emotional.
Roberta Cava
Roberta Cava is the author of 30 books. Two of them are international best-sellers. Her Dealing with Difficult People book was published in 1990 (23 publishers in 17 languages). She was born in Canada but now lives on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia.
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Creative Problem-Solving & Decision-Making - Roberta Cava
Copyright 2019 by Roberta Cava
Creative Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
How to get off the fence and make decisions
Roberta Cava
Published by Cava Consulting
info@dealingwithdifficultpeople.info
www.dealingwithdifficultpeople.info
Smashwords Edition
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ISBN 978-0-9925659-9-2
There are many times every day that supervisors/managers face problems or must make decisions – some of them very serious ones. If you find yourself holding off making decisions, you might find that it keeps you from progressing up the ladder in your corporation. Procrastination is one of the things that companies say keeps them from promoting good employees; employees who could be very good managers or executives of a company except for the flaw that they were poor problem-solvers or were reluctant to making decisions.
Don’t let this be the one quality that holds you back from advancing in business or even finding happiness by making the right decisions in your personal life. If you are in a rut within either phase of your life, you should find this information helpful to assist you in becoming the person you could be. This book discusses many areas where supervisors/ managers must problem-solve – some that can be highly stressful or emotional.
Roberta Cava is the author of 37 books and will be writing more. She lives on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia.
BOOKS BY ROBERTA CAVA
Non-Fiction
Dealing with Difficult People (23 publishers – in 17 languages)
Dealing with Difficult Situations – at Work and at Home
Dealing with Difficult Spouses and Children
Dealing with Difficult Relatives and In-Laws
Dealing with Domestic Violence and Child Abuse
Dealing with School Bullying
Dealing with Workplace Bullying
Retirement Village Bullies
Keeping Our Children Safe
Just say no
What am I going to do with the rest of my life?
Interpersonal Communication at Work
Change? Not me!
Creative Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
Before tying the knot – Questions couples Must ask each other Before they marry!
How Women can advance in business
Survival Skills for Supervisors and Managers
Human Resources at its Best!
Human Resources Policies and Procedures - Australia
Employee Handbook
Easy Come – Hard to go – The Art of Hiring, Disciplining and Firing Employees
Time and Stress – Today’s silent killers
Take Command of your Future – Make things Happen
Belly Laughs for All! – Volumes 1 to 6
Wisdom of the World! The happy, sad and wise things in life!
Fiction
That Something Special
Something Missing
Trilogy: Life Gets Complicated
Life Goes On
Life Gets Better
CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING & DECISION-MAKING
How to get off the fence and make decisions
ROBERTA CAVA
CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING
& DECISION-MAKING
How to get off the fence and make decisions
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Problem Solving
How do you solve complex problems?
Sample problem
Dealing with your own problems
Problem-Solving & Decision-Making Guide
Driving and restraining forces
Brainstorming
Personal problem-solving
Try brainstorming
Tackling the wrong problem
Using the Problem-Solving & Decision-Making Guide
Whiners, Complainers and Bellyachers
Chapter 2 – Planning for Problem Solving
The importance of planning
Job descriptions
All job descriptions must have
Standards of performance
Setting standards of performance
Advantages of setting standards of performance
Sample headings on job descriptions
Sample job description
Key Performance Indicators/Objectives
Testing abilities of employees
Dimensions tested
Planning factors
Job skills inventory chart
The value of job rotation
Manpower planning
Keeping alive employee’s desire to contribute
Problems with time wasters
Chapter 3 – Resistance to your Plans
The change process
Progress killers
Team changes
Meeting objections head-on
Making changes happen
Conflict resolution
Normal Problem-solving steps
The chicken problem
Visualisation
If only… I should have…
Rehearsals
Using creativity in problem-solving
Chapter 4 – Training Decisions
Qualities of a good trainer
Teaching adults
Characteristics of adult learners
Differences in adult and child learners
The Learning process
How to lock-in training
Determining training needs
Chapter 5 – Training of Supervisors
What are the qualities of a good supervisor / manager?
What is a supervisor/manager’s major responsi-bility?
What is an employee’s major responsibility?
Supervisors from Hell
Discipline staff in front of workmates or clients
Harass staff
Have temper tantrums
Are moody
Label the staff’s behaviour
Don’t value or respect others’ opinions
Don’t give recognition for a job well done
Don’t back up their staff when dealing with
customer complaints
Don’t provide adequate up-to-date job descriptions with key performance indicators
Hire the wrong staff
Reference checking
Don’t provide the necessary training
Conduct performance appraisals on staff
without a proper job description
Use the same leadership style on all members
Theory X and Theory Y
Have one set of company rules for staff
– another for themselves
Don’t provide policies and procedures for
employees
Have poor work ethic
Do nothing to improve the employee’s
interest in their jobs
Are not available when staff need their help
Won’t listen to their staff’s suggestions about
better ways to complete tasks
Have a negative That will never work
attitude
Are perfectionists
Are workaholics
Upper management have not given
supervisor full responsibility to perform
their duties
Use authoritarian management style
Supervisor ignores issues when staff member’s
behaviour requires correction
Don’t step in to resolve personality conflicts
between staff
Show favouritism towards Pet employees.
Poor role models
Don’t know how to manage their time
Allow nepotism
Don’t keep promises
Too immature for supervisory role
Bring personal problems into the workplace
Promoted too soon
Chapter 6 – Making training work
Learning a new skill
Retention of information
Training of others
Training vs Development
Career development
Training procedure
Tangible/intangible behaviour
Setting objectives
Identifying costs of training
Methods of instruction
Preparing to present a seminar/workshop
Group vs individual activities
Technical vs life skills
Theoretical/practical training
Bridging
Timing of training segments
Use of training aids
Re-enforcement of training’
How to keep participants motivated
Instructor’s apparel
Presentation skills
Methods I use
Chapter 7 – Career Decisions
Career changes
Help yourself to a mid-career change
Making mid-life career changes
Obstacles holding you back from making a
career change
Fear of disapproval from others
Fear of being locked in
Chapter 8 – Other Problems and Decisions
Detecting Type A
Personality
What to do about Type A
Personality
Detecting Type B
Personality
What to do about Type B
Personality
Introvert/extrovert personality types
Common ways extreme extroverts feel and behave
Common ways extreme introverts feel and behave
Sensory Language
How to keep from being misunderstood
Listening problems
Chapter 9 – Meeting Problems
Conducting meetings
Overcoming cultural or personality differences
Preparing for a meeting
Avoiding planning blunders
Use of questions at meetings
Role of the chairperson
How to chair a meeting
Types of meetings
Meeting Traps
Dealing with problem participants at meetings
Chapter 10 -Counselling Interviews
Why supervisors/managers hate disciplining
their staff
Firing probationary employees
Disciplining former peers
The Difference between counselling and
disciplinary interviews
Interview objectives
Interview pointers
Where should interviews be held
Counselling interviews
When are counselling interviews warranted?
Difficult counselling interviews
Planning counselling interviews
Conducting counselling interviews
Documentation
Follow-up
Questioning employees
Maintaining improved performance
When no improvement is found
Absenteeism
Overlong lunch hour
Coffee break abuses
Smoke break abuses
Chapter 11 – Disciplinary Interviews
Preparing yourself psychologically
The discipline procedure
Disciplinary interviews
Conducting a disciplinary interview
Documentation
Purpose of documentation
Types of disciplinary action
Exit interviews
Conclusion
Back to Top
INTRODUCTION
There are many times every day that supervisors/managers face problems or must make decisions – some of them very serious ones. If you find yourself holding off making decisions, you might find that it keeps you from progressing up the ladder in your corporation. Procrastination is one of the things that companies say keeps them from promoting good employees; employees who could be very good managers or executives of a company except for the flaw that they were poor problem-solvers or were reluctant to making decisions.
Don’t let this be the one quality that holds you back from advancing in business or even finding happiness by making the right decisions in your personal life. If you are in a rut within either phase of your life, you should find this information helpful to assist you in becoming the person you could be.
This book discusses many areas where supervisors/ managers must problem-solve – some that can be highly stressful or emotional.
Back to Top
CHAPTER 1
PROBLEM SOLVING
We're constantly using the word problem
in our daily lives. You would think that our everyday lives were nothing but problems. There are problems at work, with children, with money, car problems, health problems and even love problems. The list goes on and on.
A problem occurs if:
A need, a wish, a desire, an objective or question appears, and we don't know the series of actions required to fill the void.
To solve a problem, the person must be clear about the following:
The actual situation:
The Gap: (The Problem):
The Ideal Situation.
When they have a problem most people dive right in and try to solve their problem without thinking it through. Unfortunately, most just end up spinning their wheels, because they haven't taken the time to establish that they're tackling the right problem and have taken the necessary time to think things through.
Others whine and complain to others but do nothing to solve their problems.
Are you a fence sitter?
(someone who has a terrible time making decisions. This person usually involves several others before even attempting to decide). Others just keep putting it off.
Is this you? Let’s try to correct that.
How do you solve complex problems?
1. Outline on paper the steps you normally go through when solving complex problems. It might help to think of a recent problem you’ve had. (5 minutes)
2. Do you involve others?
3. Do you write down your problems?
4. Have any set way of solving personal problems?
Don’t undertake the responsibility of solving any problem unless you’re willing to make the commitment to solving it. There are criteria you should consider when defining problems:
Three criteria required for defining problems:
1. Specific Problem Definition:
Specific Problem: Must be detailed, quantitative and measurable.
General Problem: Is vague, difficult to measure.
Sample Situation - How to raise production levels:
This problem definition is too large and too general. Try breaking it down into smaller, more specific components.
Revised Example: How to motivate John smith so his work output improves by 20 per cent before April 5, 20__.
Specific Problem: i.e.: How to improve my health.
The difficulty with this statement is that not only is it too general, but it lacks any measurable commitment on the part of the person trying to solve it.
Revised Example: How to lose 10 pounds.
2. Ownership of the Problem:
To establish ownership, you must ask yourself:
a. Is this problem mine or someone else’s? (In the first case it is this person’s problem, because he's a supervisor, therefore he’s ultimately responsible for the productivity of his staff).
b. Do I have the power and authority to put the solution into practice? Yes, he does. He’s the employee’s supervisor.
3. Personal Commitment to Solving the Problem:
The person needs to be willing to put forth the effort necessary to solve their problem.
Note: each problem statement must satisfy the above three criteria.
Next, define whether your problem is:
A short-term problem: 1 day, one month?
A long-term problem: More than one month?
If problems are long term, the incentive to solve them is harder. We put these kinds of problems on the back burner
and they often aren’t solved.
A tangible problem: Something you can see, such as an object.
An intangible problem: Something you can't see, such as attitudes, feelings or behaviour.
Intangible problems are the hardest to solve. Tangible problems involve something you can see and feel, whereas intangible problems involve feelings, attitudes and behaviour.
Sample problem:
Here's a short-term problem. See how you think you would solve it:
You're leaving for work and find that your car will start, but it stalls and won't keep running properly.
The Specific Problem: (What is it?)
a. To get my car started and running or
b. To get to work on time?
Ownership of the problem: (Who owns this problem? Do I own this problem? Yes!)
a. I need a method or way of keeping my car's engine running once it starts or
b. I need to find a way to get to work on time (other than in my car).
Personal commitment to solving the problem: Am I willing to make the effort to solve this problem?
a. I'm looking for ways to keep my car's engine running for a minimum of thirty minutes or
b. I'm looking for an alternative form of transportation to get me to work by 9:00 am or
c. I think I'll go back to bed (gives up - no commitment to solving the problem).
Dealing with your own problems:
To practice the process, identify a simple problem you've been wrestling with lately. When you've written it down, define whether it’s specific enough (detailed, quantitative, precise, measurable) or was it too general (broad, vague, difficult to measure)
Was it a tangible problem (something you can see) or was it intangible (something you can't see)? As you've probably guessed, intangible problems are harder to solve, and solutions are much harder to evaluate.
Was your problem a short or long-term problem?
Here’ a sample method to work through your problem. It is a cut-down version of one problem solving system I found that had 27 steps to it. Who has time for 27 steps! This one has 11 and two of them are for evaluation purposes only.
It's an aide to keep you from wasting valuable time. Unfortunately, most people waste time, energy and effort by trying to solve the wrong problem. This guide will help you determine the real problem:
Problem-solving and decision-making guide
(It's best to do this guide in pencil, because you'll probably change your mind on what really is the problem half way through the process).
Step 1: The factual situation
Step 2: The ideal situation
Step 3: The problem (or cause of the gap)