During the action phase, carry out the solution you chose in accord with your plan. Revise/edit this sentence (as a group) until it clearly and succinctly represents your challenge/goal. Asking the, When you are a team manager, it can feel impossible to keep everyone happy and content all the time. To see your blind spots and identify optimal solutions, you need a broad and unique perspective. One of the first steps is to really define the problem. Despite your best attempts to right the ship, there’s a certain employee on your team who just can’t seem to meet expectations—and, it’s left you scrambling to figure out exactly how to fire an employee nicely. As a team leader/project manager, make sure everyone knows and implements their part of the solution. Other employees don’t contribute when the most dominant team members get on a roll. Instead of wallowing in a complex (and interlocking) problem, 12) Advanced Problem-Solving Strategies: Go to Extremes, 13) Advanced Problem-Solving Strategies: Engage Your Senses. Have them draw the problem on your white board, role-play as the various components of a system, or teach the concept to someone with no experience in the area. Keep track of tasks, teams and projects with Toggl Plan's timeline and Some strategies are a combination of Algorithms and Heuristics while others are based on trial-and-error. Have faith in your team, build their trust in each other, and facilitate open communication. 9) Non-Verbal Communication Skills: Blind Line-Up, For highly-verbal people, listening to others is quite challenging; simultaneously listening, 10) Advanced Problem-Solving Strategies: Delegate and Separate, 11) Advanced Problem-Solving Strategies: Divide and Conquer. Ask your team to brainstorm a new round of solutions that address the difficulties of each approach. Get to know the problem by asking questions and getting all pertinent information out in the open. Every strategy you build for solving a specific problem, be it for buying groceries or deciding your career, can be narrowed down into one of the above strategy techniques. Without the pressure of having to verbally present their ideas (and get a word in edgewise), these “unsung heroes” can provide massive value. If you don’t have the time/resources for such an event, create your own in any lockable meeting room. In fact, most cases of mental processes leading to insight happen outside of consciousness. Bring your team back to the problem at hand and ask them to watch each other closely while listening – and gain an extra layer of communication from non-verbal cues. Develop your team’s trust level and encourage shy people to speak up. For instance, Knowing that you’ve solved a particular algebra question in the past will make it much easier for you to solve the similar questions at present. The Lego Masters must describe their original structures to their teams without touching the ones under construction. Once you’re sure you have a clear picture of the logistics involved in each possible solution, make your choice. [Learn more: Psychological steps involved in problem solving]. The paper deals with a multi-methodological approach to complex problem solving, i.e., with combined use of selected systems methodologies, such as Strategic Assumptions surfacing and However, the rule of thumb strategy does help to simplify complex problems by narrowing the possible solutions. You are responsible for helping your group collaborate well and work in harmony. If your team can’t seem to crack the problem-solving process, have them express the problem in new ways. Of all problem-solving strategies, this makes the most long-term impact. For instance, attempting to open a door lock using algorithm to find out the possible number combinations would take a really long time. Have you developed your team’s communication skills and increased your trust levels? Have them draw the problem on your white board, role-play as the various components of a system, or teach the concept to someone with no experience in the area.