why is problem solving important in organizational settings

The Importance of Problem-Solving Skills in the Workplace

November 10, 2022 - job & career.

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According to Management 3.0 Facilitator Ilija Popjanev , problem solving is essential for individuals and organizations as it enables us to control all aspects of our business environment. In this article, Ilija looks into problem-solving skills, how the problem-solving process works, and which tools help you to advance this skill set.

In this article you will learn about:

What is Problem Solving?

• Problem-Solving in Six Easy Steps

Why is Problem-Solving so Important for Leaders, Teams, and Organizations?

Problem-solving techniques in the workplace, better employee experience by using problem-solving tools from management 3.0, how do employees develop problem-solving skills, what skills make a good problem solver.

In the last few years, we have been living 100% in the VUCA world, with so many unpredictable and complex threats and challenges. As a result, organizations must create a sense of urgency to redesign their present business models and to rebuild the foundations for the future of work. 

All companies now need effective problem-solving skills and tools at all levels, starting with individuals and teams, and finishing with their leaders and managers. This new reality enables growth and success only for those well-equipped and empowered by effective problem-solving skills and tools. 

One of the behaviors of Management 1.0 style is to constantly look for ways to stop “fighting fires,”. Instead, the Management 3.0 style seeks to “find the root cause” of the problem, and then to refocus, improve, and plan a different way for fulfilling workplace tasks.

Management 3.0 provides effective tools and principles for building the system for effective problem solving. It provides us with techniques we can use to understand what is happening in our world, to identify things we want to change, and then apply everything that needs to be done to achieve the desired outcome. We live by the motto: fail fast, recover quickly, and learn from the failures.

The agile way of working does not mean being perfect, but instead it allows for failures and sees them as opportunities to learn, grow, and adapt . Perfection is useless if we do not provide value fast for our customers. That is why problem solving is the foundation for continuous improvement, learning, and collaboration, which leads to innovations and success in ever-changing economies and the new normal that we now live in. 

The definition of problem solving according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: “The process or act of finding a solution to a problem.” Similarly, the Oxford English Dictionary describes problem solving as: “The process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues.”

For me, Problem-solving is a process of understanding and owning the problem, constant pursuit for solutions and improvements, and putting into action the best option for the desired outcome.

Understanding context and interacting with our teammates are the essence of effective problem-solving. We must clearly understand the complexity of our environment and the specifics of the context because things continuously change and evolve. Here, the Complexity Thinking Guidelines may help you to better understand what is happening and how to navigate complex environments more effectively.

We must have a lens through which to see problems as opportunities to improve, and regard our teams as sources of knowledge and experience. We have to connect people and opportunities in ways that can facilitate the best solutions for the problems that we are handling. Try using the Personal Maps , an excellent tool for bringing teams together and fostering diversity, respect, trust, and collaboration.

Today, all innovations and solved problems are team efforts because teams constantly improve their toolbox and competencies. Teams want to create something that was not there before, and which maximize their knowledge and resources.

To accomplish that, they need to build a process in a few easy steps:

• Be present, observe what is happening in your world, and define the problem.
• Review where you are now and what influences that state.
• Constantly improve and change things by using creative tools and tactics.
• Seek solutions and alternatives to make changes more effective.
• Make team decisions about which tools and solutions should be used.
• Implement improvements, monitor the process, and constantly adapt!

At this stage, by following the Management 3.0 principle of “Improving the system,” you can use the tools Celebration Grids , combined with Yay! Questions , to best engage the team in the problem-solving process, while keeping track of what is working well, what can be changed, and what new options exist.

Documenting everything is an integral part of the problem-solving process. By using Celebration Grids, you are gamifying the process and keeping the team flow and energy on a higher level.

Also read: What type of problem-solver are you?

Problem-solving is crucial for everyone: individuals, teams, leaders, organizations, and ultimately for all stakeholders because it empowers us to better control the environment and everything that is going on in our world. Try using Delegation Poker so that teams can become more empowered to solve problems both alongside leaders and within their organization. 

Today, the speed of problem solving is important, and that is why organizations must give more power and authority on a team level , so employees can react quickly and even prevent problems. As a leading indicator, the Management 3.0 tool Problem Time can help you measure the time spent on uncompleted problem-solving tasks and activities; this is a valuable add-on to “lead and cycle time” lagging indicators, with which you measure the time taken on completed tasks.

Developing and refining problem-solving skills through constant practice and experimentation can refine the ability to solve problems and address issues with more complexities.

We may face various challenges in our daily work, and effective problem-solving can make a difference.

Make a Difference with Problem-Solving

• Problem-solving skills are important if you want to add more value . As an agilist, your objective is not to be perfect but to maximize the value you provide for all stakeholders. Start fast, deliver value early, manage failures and prioritize tasks by setting the urgency criteria.
• Problem-solving skills are important if you need to improve your results. You have to accept the complexity of success factors and better understand the need for changes and improvements in a continually uncertain environment. Results depend on your problem-solving skills!
• Problem-solving skills are important if you have to fix things that do not work. When your processes are not working as planned, problem solving will give you the structure and mechanisms to identify issues, figure out why things are broken, and take actions to fix them.
• Problem-solving skills are important when you have to address a risk. Sharpen your problem-solving skills to anticipate future events better and increase the awareness of cause-and-effect relationships. This enables you to take the right actions and influence the outcomes if issues do occur.
• Problem-solving skills are important if you work simultaneously on several projects. You should apply the same problem-solving techniques when you work on multiple projects, business functions, market segments, services, systems, processes, and teams. Standardize and scale!
• Problem-solving skills are important when you want to seize the day. Problem solving is all about innovation , building new things, and changing the system into a better one. This can help us to identify opportunities even in challenging times and prepare us for the future. You can visualize the process with the Meddles Game to better understand your ideas, solutions, and activities. It is a great way to engage your team as you can build the problem-solving concept and it is an effective tool for influencing all stakeholders affected by the problem. 

Also read: Collaborative Leadership explained .

Solving complex problems may be difficult, but problems will be solved when we use the right tools. Besides the powerful Management 3.0 tools I already mentioned, as a big fan of Lean and Liberating structures, I think you can find lots of problem-solving techniques to use in your daily business. 

Here is my short list of tools and techniques:

• 5 Whys – a great way to uncover the root cause is to understand the problem better. 
• Fishbone analysis – for visual analysis of the root causes of a problem. Easy to combine with ‘5 Whys’ or ‘Mind mapping’ to brainstorm and determine the cause and effect of any problem.
• Silent brainstorming – gives everyone a chance to participate in idea generation as not only the loudest people, but also the quiet ones, will participate equally. Everyone’s opinion has the same weight. 
• Mind maps – structured visual diagrams to share your ideas, concepts, and solutions the same way your brain does. You explain the problems quickly, then share fresh ideas, and finally come to a team consensus that can lead to an effective solution. 
• Six thinking hats – enable your team to consider problems from different angles, focusing on facts, creative solutions, or why some solutions might not work.
• Agreement certainty matrix – another tremendous visual tool for brainstorming problems and challenges by sorting them into simple, complicated, complex, or chaotic domains to later agree on what approach should be used to solve the concrete problems affecting a team.  
• Conversation café – enables the team to engage in productive conversations, with less arguing but more active listening, solving the problem in rounds of dialogues until reaching a consensus regarding the best problem-solving approach. 
• Design thinking – when you are struggling for fresh ideas, the 5-step process will help you empathize with the problem, then begin defining and developing new ideas, before prototyping and testing them. 

Edward Deming’s PDCA is the most known concept for continuous improvement and problem solving. You can gamify your events using the Change Management Game , a card game where PDCA will help you define the problem, take action, collect feedback, and adopt the new solution.

The “carrot and stick” approach, or in HR language, “pay for performance,” does not work anymore, especially for roles that require problem-solving, creativity, and innovative thinking. Creative people need a higher level of authority and empowerment to self-manage challenges and problem scenarios. When leaders and organizations create such systems, they foster intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction among these people. Creatives are seeking self-actualization through their careers.

This is one more case which calls for Management 3.0’s Delegation Poker to define the levels of authority in terms of problem-solving issues, as well as Moving Motivators to define key motivators for increasing productivity and employee satisfaction by changing behavior.

Improving Employee Experience with Problem-Solving

1. Use problem solving as a key motivator – have in mind Millennials and Gen Z creative workers ’ affinity towards tasks in which they feel challenged and have a sense of meaning. Provide them with big and tough problems to solve and use challenging tasks to keep them constantly engaged.

2. Continuous improvement can make a difference – creatives seek a sense of purpose and think outside of the box, so encouraging the ‘How can we execute this task better?’ mindset and problem solving become powerful tools for creating sustainable corporate culture.

3. Don’t connect solving problems with rewards – it can kill the perceived intrinsic value of the activity; it will disengage and dissatisfy employees. Autonomy, trust, respect, and gratitude will do the job. 

4. Apply the seven rules for creative managers – unleash the power of diversity , and cooperation, rely on merits, optimize exploration, open boundaries, keep options open, and update your workplace. 

We start solving problems from a very early age (the alphabet, learning to eat, driving a bicycle etc.). Then, everyday activities sharpen our problem-solving skills and enable us to solve more complex issues. 

As an adult, you can still develop your problem-solving skills by:

• Daily practicing of logic games, such as chess, and puzzles like Sudoku. 
• Video games can teach you how to deal with failure and persist in achieving your goals.
• Keep an idea journal or blog as a collection of all your ideas, thoughts, and patterns. 
• Think outside of the box – take a different perspective to understand the problem better.
• Practice brainstorming combined with mind mapping, working with your team.
• Put yourself in new situations – take on a challenging project at work.
• Start using the “what if” mindset in daily circumstances and test new approaches.
• Read more books on creativity and articles which cover your areas of interest. 

I also believe coaching can help build creativity and problem-solving skills, encouraging people to take greater ownership of their work and commit to corporate goals. A coach can provide clear guidance as to what is important at the moment; they help people better, focus, and move into action. By asking powerful questions and challenging others to think outside of the box, the coach removes their barriers and lets them see the situation from a new perspective.

Coaching can provide structure so people develop their own expertise and insights to contribute better when problems arise and the pressure to succeed is growing.

The interview is an excellent opportunity to research a candidate’s problem-solving skills, and STAR questions should be related to their previous experience dealing with problems. A candidate with good problem-solving skills can quickly embed in the team and become a valuable asset for the company.

In my Agility in HR workshops , we regularly discuss interview questions. Some popular STAR questions are:

• “If you cannot find a solution to a problem, how do you deal with the situation?”
• “How do you react when faced with unexpected problems or challenges?”
• “Describe an occasion when you had to adapt at the last minute. How did you handle this?”

Problem-solving requires the ability to identify a problem, find the root cause, create solutions, and execute them. All these steps are essential for achieving the desired results. 

Some of the skills that problem solvers must constantly sharpen are:

• Collaborative communication . Clear communication is essential when you explain the problem and the solution to your teammates. During brainstorming sessions, asking the right questions to determine the root cause , as well as synergic collaboration are needed.
• Active listening is important to prevent mistakes as  you can absorb the details your colleagues tell you about the problem. Use open-ended questions for clarification, and always be open to feedback and views that differ from yours.
• Coachability. The willingness to accept feedback and the ability to improve. Learning from more experienced people, being curious to ask many questions, constructively using your ego, skipping excuses and blaming others, and accepting Feedback Wraps from your coach.
• Decision making . Problems cannot be solved without risk-taking and bringing important decisions (including relevant data, levels of delegation, alternative solutions etc.) to the forefront.
• Critical thinking . Be 100% objective when you try to find the cause of the problem. Skip ego trips and personal biases. Identify your mistakes in the thinking process and show personal accountability .
• Research and data analysis . Proper research allows you to diagnose the actual problem, not just the symptoms. If the cause of the problem is not immediately apparent, you can use the power of data to discover the issue’s history, some patterns, future trends, etc.
• Persistence . Trust in the problem-solving process you have designed and follow every step with patience and persistence; even when you fail repeatedly, do not give up. Keep moving and remember Thomas Edison’s quote: “I have not failed. I have just found 9,999 ways that do not work.”

In the new VUCA world we now live in, problem solving is a crucial soft skill, and employers are actively seeking people with this skill set because they can prepare for problems before they arise. Problem solvers better identify opportunities, understand their environment, create a solution, and generate ideas that lead to great results and success.

According to a study made by LinkedIn Learning in August 2022 , future skills are rapidly changing, and problem solving is among the top soft skills employers search for from their candidates, as well as communication and leadership skills.

Using all aforementioned tools and practices from Management 3.0, following the guides, and sharpening your skills, will help you not only to be effective in resolving the problems that may arise, but also to solve them with enthusiasm and passion. They will create a higher level of engagement and collaboration in the team and help unleash people’s creativity and innovation. A win-win for everyone!

Photo by Parabol on Unsplash

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What is problem-solving? And why is it important in the workplace?

September 28, 2023 by MindManager Blog

If there’s one thing you can count on as a business professional, it’s that you’ll never run short of new problems to solve. Thankfully, whether it includes handling difficult or unexpected situations in the workplace, or resolving complex organizational challenges, we all have the capacity to develop our business problem-solving skills.

The best way to get better at tackling problems productively is to start at the beginning. After all, the better you understand what problem-solving is – and the significant role it plays in every organization – the easier you’ll find it to improve on problem-solving skills in the workplace.

Let’s dive in!

What is problem-solving?

Problem-solving refers to the act of find solutions to difficult or complex issues.

A good problem-solving definition might be finding solutions to difficult or complex issues . In practice, however, solving problems in the workplace is a little more immersive than that.

In the workplace, problem-solving includes a variety of tools, resources, and techniques to:

• Identify what’s not working.
• Figure out why it’s broken.
• Determine the best course of action to fix it.

Whether you know them as obstacles, glitches, or setbacks, problems are a part of our everyday lives. The good news is that our brains excel at reasoning out intricate scenarios and making calculations in situations we’ve never experienced before. That means every one of us is hard-wired to be an adept problem-solver.

The trick is to learn how to take that innate ability and apply it in a deliberate and practiced way.

However, one thing is certain: successfully resolving business and workplace issues is essential.

Not only does effective problem-solving create value that encourages growth, it goes hand-in-hand with impactful decision making.

What are the benefits of problem-solving in business?

Practically speaking, problem-solving provides a golden opportunity to improve your processes, products, and systems – especially when you work through those challenges with others.

Learning to face difficulties calmly, and deal with them intentionally, can also:

• Ramp up your confidence.
• Increase your resilience.
• Help you develop valuable critical thinking skills.

Applying problem-solving skills in the face of an obstacle that seems insurmountable trains you to shift your perspective and look at potential hurdles in a different way.

It also gets you used to examining multiple options for dealing with a problem, which can help you feel more confident in the direction you take.

Solving problems as a team

Business problem solving as a team offers an even wider range of benefits since active collaboration tends to make good things happen at both the individual and group level.

For example:

• Team-based problem-solving is akin to having a built-in sounding board when you explore new approaches and ideas.
• As each team member’s critical thinking skills evolve, they bring fresh insights to the collective problem-solving process, bearing out the old adage that many heads are better than one.
• Solving problems as a team also reduces the feeling of personal risk and exposure that’s common when one person is tasked with solving a puzzle. When that same problem is shared, the sense of risk gets dispersed, and individual team members are less likely to feel singled out.

Not only is there less chance of arriving at an unreasonable or biased solution when you problem-solve as a group, team members assigned to carry that solution out will feel more invested in its success.

Examples of problem solving skills in the workplace

Improving on your problem-solving skills helps you make the most of your brain’s natural capacity to analyze and reason things out.

There are dozens of problem-solving skills that play out in the average workplace – all of which can contribute to your ability to correct oversights, resolve conflict , and work around unexpected obstructions.

Here are a few common examples of problem-solving skills in the workplace, and tips on how to improve them.

1. Data gathering

Figuring out the cause of a problem hinges on collecting relevant data. Consulting efficiently with colleagues, conducting online research, and brainstorming with your team are all valuable data gathering skills.

2. Active listening

As opposed to listening in a purely supportive or empathetic way, active listening involves concentrating fully on what the other person is saying so you can understand the content, respond accordingly, and remember what was said later.

3. Troubleshooting

The ability to analyze and troubleshoot a situation with the help of any data and human input you’ve gathered is essential for drilling down into the core of a problem, and scrutinizing potential solutions.

4. Brainstorming

Brainstorming has become synonymous with creative thinking, innovative idea generation, and problem-solving. The more productive your brainstorming sessions, the more likely you and your group are to put together a list of quality, workable solutions.

It’s interesting to note that effective decision making is both a contributor to, and a by-product of, effective problem-solving.

For example, honing your analytical abilities and other problem-solving skills will inevitably help you make better decisions. The more efficient your decision-making process becomes, meanwhile, the better you’ll get at uncovering and acting on the most promising solution to any dilemma.

A simple problem-solving scenario

It’s clear that we can all benefit from getting more comfortable with problem-solving in the workplace.

Examples of situations where your problem-solving skills will come in handy aren’t difficult to find, and might include:

• Fixing a technical issue for your customer.
• Improving your student’s test performance.
• Reducing the theft of your in-store merchandise.
• Bumping up your marketing reach.

But, here’s the interesting thing. While it’s evident in each of these situations that there’s a problem to be solved, the exact nature of that problem isn’t so obvious.

In the student’s case, for example, you’d need additional input to help you figure out why they’re performing poorly. Only then would you be able to take steps to find the best-fit solution and achieve the desired learning outcome.

Here’s a simple scenario to help demonstrate that idea:

Bringing new customers onboard in a timely manner is an important part of your client relations strategy. Since hiring Alex a few weeks ago, however, your onboarding process has been taking longer than it should and team members are beginning to complain.

While you can see that the problem in this scenario is the fact that your team isn’t meeting their client onboarding goals, the key is to get clear on exactly what’s causing the hold-up.

You could jump to the conclusion that Alex has time management issues and that it’s time to start looking for a replacement. But, since one of the most common mistakes in business problem-solving is attempting to seize on a solution right away, that might cause you to waste time and resources on a remedy that ultimately proves unnecessary, or that doesn’t provide a viable fix.

Instead, it’s time to put your problem-solving skills to work.

Using data gathering and troubleshooting to pinpoint and clarify the bottleneck in your onboarding process – and active listening to interpret the situation from Alex’s perspective – you soon determine that the real cause of the problem is not what you thought.

In truth, an administrative oversight during the hiring process (yet another problem to be solved!) left Alex unaware of, and without access to, the business process map that’s so vital to efficiently onboarding new customers. Once you provide the necessary resources, it doesn’t take Alex long to get up to speed – and your client onboarding process to revert back to the well-oiled machine that it was.

Even with a team of eager problem-solvers by your side, the truth is that it’s often necessary to have the right problem-solving tools in place to achieve your desired results. That’s where versatile mind mapping software can help.

Not only does MindManager® provide a visual framework that fully supports the problem-solving process, it improves comprehension, inspires more creative solutions, and boosts your ability to make the best possible decisions.

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MindManager® helps individuals, teams, and enterprises bring greater clarity and structure to plans, projects, and processes. It provides visual productivity tools and mind mapping software to help take you and your organization to where you want to be.

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Why Problem Solving is Important in the Workplace

Ben Schwencke

Ben is responsible for talent analytics at Test Partnership and is often who you will speak to if you book a demo .

What is problem solving?

What is an example of problem solving, why problem solving is important, how to improve problem solving, how to assess candidates on their problem solving, our recommended test partnership assessments for measuring problem solving.

Problem solving in the workplace refers to a person’s ability to handle difficult or unexpected situations and find solutions to complex business challenges. Employees with exceptional problem solving ability will carefully analyse the problem, identify a range of potential solutions, and correctly identify the most effective of the available solutions to remedy the situation. This ensures that employees in complex work who are relied upon to find effective solutions to key business issues are maximally equipped to deal with modern problems that face 21st century businesses.

Those with good problem solving ability will move the business forward more effectively.

Those lacking problem solving ability will inevitably recommend ineffective solutions to key business issues, solutions which will either fail to resolve the underlying issue or indeed exasperate it. For example, they may misinterpret the information presented to them, fail to identify effective solutions to problems, or provide solutions which are unsuitable or indeed counterproductive. Employees with poor problem solving ability cannot be relied upon when the unexpected happens, shifting the burden on other staff. As a result, problem solving ability is a common core competency when hiring professional, managerial, or technical roles, and highly prized by HR professionals and hiring managers.

Problem-solving refers to the ability to identify and resolve problems in an effective and efficient manner. An example of problem-solving can be seen in the role of a customer service representative. A customer service representative is responsible for handling customer complaints and issues, and finding a solution that will satisfy the customer.

Problem solving ability is essential to performance in any role where issues need to be dealt with quickly, or where the issues that employees face are particularly complex. Employees skilled in problem solving contribute to a more adaptable and productive work environment. It promotes teamwork, critical thinking, and strategic decision-making, leading to improved outcomes and organisational success.

Watch a video instead?

If you would prefer to watch a video, here Ben outlines why problem solving is important in the workplace:

For example, management consultants are expected to solve particularly complex issues that their clients may be facing, and within very specific time-frames. Should a consultant fail to provide a solution within the specified timeframe, this will inevitably look bad in the eyes of the client, sullying the relationship and potentially negatively impacting the consultancy’s reputation. However, a consultant with exceptional problem solving ability will most likely provide effective solutions to the client’s problems and provide them within the requisite time period.

"As a competency, problem solving is a common performance criterion for roles that require staff to solve urgent or complex problems." Ben Schwencke Consultant

As a competency, problem solving is a common performance criterion for roles that require staff to solve urgent or complex problems. These include, but are not limited to: management consultants, IT professionals, finance professionals, legal professionals, data scientists, managers, and executives. As a general rule, the more the role involves employees providing solutions to complex or urgent problems, the more important problem solving ability will be, and the more damage employees could potential cause if they lack those essential problem solving abilities in the workplace.

When a customer contacts a company with a problem, the customer service representative must first listen carefully to the customer's complaint and understand the issue. They then need to gather information and assess the situation to determine the cause of the problem.

They must evaluate different options and choose the best course of action to resolve the problem.

Next, they must evaluate different options and choose the best course of action to resolve the problem. Finally, they must implement the chosen solution and follow up to ensure that the problem has been fully resolved.

Problem solving as a psychological construct is underpinned predominantly by specific cognitive abilities. The ability to solve quantitative problems for example, is underpinned by a person’s level of numerical reasoning , and their ability to solve qualitative problems is underpinned by their verbal reasoning . Indeed, the academic research in this field suggests that the predictive validity of ability tests is largely attributable to problem solving abilities. Aptitude test questions are essentially just cognitive problems, and a candidate’s ability to solve them serves as a very useful proxy for their overall problem solving ability.

Other assessments may also measure problem solving to some degree, particularly certain assessment centre exercises, such as case study exercises. Here, candidates will be presented with a particular workplace relevant problem and told to generate solutions to that problem. Although this can be an effective method of assessing problem solving ability, assessment centre exercises are quite resource intensive, and are thus only suitable for the later stages of the recruitment process. Ability tests, however, can be used early in the recruitment process, ensuring that all subsequent candidate hold the requisite level of problem solving ability.

• Insights numerical reasoning
• Insights verbal reasoning
• Insights inductive reasoning
• Concepts critical thinking
• Concepts data analysis
• MindmetriQ Series of Gamified Assessments

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Importance Of Problem-Solving Skills In The Workplace

November 10, 2022

Oxford Languages defines problem-solving as the process of finding solutions that help resolve complicated issues. Problems needing solutions vary from fundamental personal issues of "how do I turn on this laptop?" to more complex topics in academics and business.

What are problem-solving skills?

Problem-solving skills help us solve issues quickly and effectively and hold much importance in our personal and professional lives.

As humans, we all deal with problems. Even if we do not know how to fix the problem, we can process it and understand why it happened in the first place.

Then, we can apply logic to find some solutions to resolve it—no wonder most employers seek problem-solving skills in candidates. Solving problems is beneficial in almost every job role and can help support competency management .

What do problem-solving skills in the workplace look like?

At the core of business development, problem-solving skills enable employees to leverage the available resources to arrive at a solution productively that syncs with the company's integrity. Some examples of problem-solving in the workplace include:

• Handling and resolving a conflict with a coworker
• Troubleshooting and eliminating technical issues in a work laptop
• Solving any problems related to accounting, taxation, and customer billing
• Taking the initiative when a team member missed or overlooked something important
• Extracting a new piece of data that can guide a company's strategy in a specific area

In a nutshell, problem-solving is a part of everyone's work - whether they are a manager with years of experience or starting their first job. It may test your critical-thinking skills or involve the use of mathematical operations.

Why are problem-solving skills important in the workplace?

When prospective employers talk about problem-solving, their goal is to measure how candidates support the decision-making process in the company's everyday functioning by applying this skill. Here are four reasons why problem-solving is an important skill to have in the workplace:

1. Strategy prioritization, planning, and execution

Efficient problem-solvers can carefully assess customer requirements and put together a plan that helps them provide a brilliant service to their intended audience. Their forte lies in streamlining processes by removing bottlenecks.

2. Out-of-the-box thinking

Problem-solving and creative thinking go hand-in-hand. It is not a matter of putting a bandaid over an issue but finding a way to fix it dynamically and creatively. This attitude helps the business stay ahead of the curve and improves the workforce's capability over time.

3. Better time management

When a problem arises, it needs to be fixed at the earliest. Employees with excellent problem-solving skills are laser-focused on what is vital to the business and can roll with the punches and tight deadlines to deliver when it matters.

4. Risk management

Planning effectively is an essential problem-solving skill to have. Problem-solvers can react quickly to short-term situations without losing sight of the future. Their positive attitude towards learning agility helps them anticipate problems that may arise in the future based on past experiences, industry trends and patterns, and current events.

What are the four stages of problem-solving in the workplace?

Understanding the critical components involved in problem-solving will help you better demonstrate your expertise to your managers. Businesses rely on people who can assess different types of situations and calmly identify solutions. Strong problem-solvers are a valuable addition to any team. Here are the four stages of problem-solving that you must know about:

1. Understand the problem

First, analyze the situation carefully to learn more about the problem. Many employees jump to providing solutions before determining the cause of the problem. Try anticipating the behavior and response of the people affected by it.

Based on your preliminary observation, undertake the following activities to pinpoint the problem more accurately:

• Separate facts from opinions.
• Analyze company policies and procedures.
• Determine the process where the problem exists.
• Discuss with team members involved to gather more information.

When defining a problem, please stay focused on it rather than define it in terms of a solution at this stage. For instance, if the sales numbers need to be consistent in the next quarter, simply say the sales numbers are inconsistent.

A quick way to verify whether you understand what you are dealing with is to explain it to a fellow team member. This ties into your communication skills. If you can talk about the issue clearly with others, it means you understand the case in your hands.

Depending on the complexity of the problem, you may want to use flowcharts or cause-and-effect graphs to define the problem and its root causes.

2. List all possible solutions

Workplace solutions are either strategic or tactical. A strategic solution is a long-term fix for an issue. This requires you to take a series of steps to process the entire architecture of the problem.

On the other hand, a tactical solution is more of a short-term fix. It could be as simple as reusing a piece of code from your last development project to eliminate the irritating error message in your new one.

Brainstorm all possible ways to solve the existing problem. Problem-solving delivers better results with cognitive diversity . Therefore, make sure you get the team members affected by it and those who may have more experience with the type of challenge you are facing to brainstorm potential solutions. Conduct discussions face-to-face or virtually and use surveys.

Spot and remove every aspect that slows down your problem-solving. Ensure the ideas and suggestions put forward to align with the relevant goals and objectives. Create a list of 5-8 long-term and short-term solutions.

3. Evaluate the solutions

Assess the pros and cons of each solution and identify the resources required for their implementation, including personnel, time allocation, budget constraints, and data requirements. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the solution practical and easy to implement?
• Is it acceptable to everyone involved?
• Does it solve the problem smoothly without creating another problem?
• Does it fit within the company's procedures and policies?

The ability to promptly evaluate solutions ties into your management skills. Train yourself to identify as many parameters as possible, such as duration, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and practicality, so you can come up with the most effective solution in a shorter period.

4. Implement and monitor the progress of the chosen solution

Create an action plan to implement the solution. Define its objectives and divide them into measurable targets for monitoring the implementation. Set timelines for implementation. Communicate the plan to everyone involved.

After that, continuously monitor the progress to ensure your solution works. Gather feedback from others and data to check whether the solution helps resolve the problem. You may need to adjust the resolution if anything unexpected arises, so please be prepared for that.

What are the critical problem-solving skills in the workplace?

Problem-solving skills enable you to seek and engage candidates who are cognitively equipped to handle anything their jobs throw at them. Problem solvers can observe, judge, and act quickly when the situation demands it- without negatively impacting the business. Here are the top problem-solving skills in the workplace:

1. Decision-making prowess

Decision-making skills are an essential part of problem-solving. That is because you can only solve it if you wholly understand the problem and decide to do something about it. Decision-making skills help professionals quickly choose between two or more alternatives after evaluating the pros and cons of each.

2. Communication

Successfully communicating the problem and recommending solutions for it verbally and in writing is an art in itself. Proper communication ensures solutions are carried out effectively, and everyone involved in the conflict is on the same page.

3. Open-mindedness

Open-mindedness is essentially the willingness to look at things from a different perspective and consider new ideas. When you have a problem in front of you, review its various aspects to come up with the best solution possible. Being curious and aware helps one be a better problem-solver.

4. Analytics skills

Nearly all problem-solving cases require some form of analysis - forecasting, critical thinking, or troubleshooting. Analytical skills empower you to understand the problem better and develop practical solutions based on facts and evidence.

5. Teamwork

Collaboration is the key to ensuring communication lines are always open, problems are addressed cooperatively, and the team's objectives precede personal goals.

Team dynamics are critical to problem-solving as it helps you work well with others towards a common goal. Necessary collaboration skills include conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, empathy, sensitivity, and respect.

Over to you

In hiring, pre-employment aptitude tests assess qualities critical to most jobs, such as critical thinking, abstract reasoning, attention to detail, and so on. Problem-solving, specifically, is also a significant predictor of job performance .

However, this skill is as varied as the issues it is applied to. The best problem solvers use the same basic approach to identify and solve problems and incorporate all the skills and steps discussed in the blog post for successful results.

Adaface's aptitude tests help evaluate a candidate's ability to understand instruction, analyze the information at hand, and respond to complicated situations or problems.

The questions are designed to fetch insights into the candidates' problem-solving and coachability. Check them out!

• Problem-solving test
• Logical reasoning test
• Critical thinking test

Asavari is an EiR at Adaface. She has made it her mission to help recruiters deploy candidate-friendly skill tests instead of trick-question based tests. When taking a break, she obsesses over art.

Spending too much time screening candidates?

We make it easy for you to find the best candidates in your pipeline- with a 40 min skills test.

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Problem-Solving in Business: PROBLEM-SOLVING DEFINED AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

• ABOUT THIS LIBGUIDE
• PROBLEM-SOLVING DEFINED AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
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Why Problem Solving Skills are Important in the Workplace

Posted 26/10/2021 by Vicki Mann

You can read this in 8 minutes.

In the modern workplace, problem solving skills are no less than essential. Needless to say, the world of work is not always plain sailing. No matter what role or industry you find yourself in, challenging situations are not just likely, but to be very much expected. Every role imaginable will come with its own unique set of problems that need to be solved, but what ties these situations together is their spontaneity and their need to be met with problem-solving and creative thinking. Unforeseen circumstances that will continuously arise can only be approached with practicality, common sense and personal skill. Problem solving techniques are at the heart of these abilities, and they can be applied to just about every work-related task, from organisation to communication and collaboration, managing deadlines to maintaining interpersonal relationships with colleagues. Due to the necessity of problem-solving techniques in every workplace, it could not be more important that employers use cognitive ability tests when sifting through applications to optimise recruitment selection.  

What are problem solving skills?

So, what are problem-solving skills? Problem-solving in the workplace entails a range of techniques: working around unexpected new issues, managing changing variables, the confidence to approach a new task and the knowledge of how to solve interpersonal problems. It also includes certain intrinsic qualities, such as practicality and confidence: that is, the capacity to spot when something is going wrong and raise questions which might help to solve it in the workplace. A problem solver can confidently find and manage solutions for complex and unexpected situations. Problem-solving skills involve a balance of analytical thinking, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills. Analytical thinking skills are crucial when it comes to identifying a problem, and creativity is key in finding methods to solve it. Critical thinking enables somebody to see which solution might be the most effective. Problem-solving skills are useful both in the short-term and the long-term. A candidate with good problem-solving skills will ensure that obstacles are surmounted in the moment, and the best solution is found, but they will also be able to identify the variables that gave rise to the problem in the first place, and make changes to prevent similar issues occurring in the future. In this sense, problem-solving skills are the key to approaching most complex issues and finding more enduring solutions. A good problem-solver is an asset to any organisation, and is likely to perform their job more successfully. In order to make objective hiring decisions and select the candidates with the best problem-solving capacities, your organisation will need to test for specific skills. These skills involve the ways in which a person deals with real life situations, and may not be apparent from conventional techniques such as interview questions, which do not necessarily indicate how a candidate would solve a problem in the workplace. Pre-employment skills tests, on the other hand, are a bias-free solution, ensuring that your organisation hires the applicants best suited to their roles. When assessing an applicant's capacity for problem-solving, there are six key skills which are tested.  

1. Collaboration Skills

Although problem-solving is something which exists within each individual to a greater or lesser degree, it also determines how an individual is able to interact with a group and complete a task collaboratively. Reaching a good solution and setting it in motion often requires collaboration. A problem solver knows that working with others successfully (regardless of their  personality type ) is the best route to solve most of the challenges that crop up both in the workplace and in everyday life.  

2. Communication Skills

When problems arise in any organisation, it is important that employees can approach them calmly, communicate the situation to others in clear and succinct terms and work together to solve it. Complex problems require good communicators, those who can simplify the situation and express the main issues in order to come to an efficient solution.  

3. Decision-Making Skills

The capacity and confidence to make a quick decision and stick to it is a crucial problem-solving technique. In a complicated situation, coming to a level-headed decision quickly and committing to it is crucial to solving the issue.  

4. Analytical Thinking Skills

The analytical mindset is necessary in confronting any problem or task and reaching a solution. It is imperative that a candidate, when faced with an issue, is able to analyse the situation and identify what has gone wrong. Analytical thinking skills are also key in the ability to select the best out of a range of possible solutions.  

5. Creative Thinking Skills

Creative thinking is an important capacity when it comes to coming up with methods to solve a problem in the workplace. The potential to approach a complicated issue from a variety of angles, and to apply the imagination to overcoming a task makes it easier to solve a problem in an efficient way.  

6. Listening Skills

Problem-solving skills rely on the fundamental faculty of listening. Listening is the surest method to collect information about an issue, weigh up different perspectives and opinions, and begin to understand a problem in order to solve it. The facility to listen to coworkers in the workplace is also a way to prevent complicated and problematic situations from occurring in the first place! Needless to say, in the world of work today, these techniques are invaluable, and it is essential that employers use psychometric measures to test for problem-solving skills in order to improve recruitment. Knowing a candidate's ability in these key areas is important, and can prevent the risk of a bad hire. Recruitment tests are very important, as getting the hire wrong does not just cost money, it also results in a loss of time and loss of productivity. Pre-employment testing, particularly tests which measure an applicant's capacity to solve a problem, and decide on the best solution, are a cost-efficient means to improve the recruitment process and ensure your company's success and growth.  

How to assess candidates' problem-solving skills

We offer different pre-employment tests which accurately assess an applicant's strength in key areas and their technique in identifying good solutions to problems in the workplace.

Situational Judgement Tests

The  Situational Judgement Test  is a kind of psychometric test that measures soft skills such as common sense, non-academic behaviours, technique in identifying solutions and practical intelligence. The tests work in a realistic and practical way, presenting applicants with a variety of different workplace situations which they might encounter when performing the functions that the job requires. Undoubtedly, the capacity to see which course of action a prospective employee would take or which solution they would choose in a given situation gives the employer a valuable insight into their specific skill set, and how they might respond to the demands of the job.

Logic-Based Aptitude Tests

Our  logical reasoning tests  measure a candidate's non-verbal intelligence - their capacity to analyse situations, extract rules, and find the right solution using logical and abstract reasoning. This is an in-depth cognitive test and so it provides an accurate indication of how successful a candidate will be when faced with workplace problems which they have to solve. Unlike most aptitude tests, logical reasoning tests do not measure knowledge in a particular subject area, simply their thought problem-solving process. This means that it is a useful tool in the recruitment process for any employer to evaluate applicants in any field.

Bespoke Tests

The option to  create your own tests  tailored to the demands of your organisation is a successful means of guaranteeing the right hires and ensuring good job performance. At Skillsarena, we have the expertise to create a quiz or any other testing experience that will assess the problem-solving skills that are most necessary to your particular company.   The importance of problem-solving skills in the modern workplace cannot be overstated. In order to make sure that your company grows, it is imperative that employees have the analytical and creative skills necessary to solve any problems they might face in their jobs. Our  Situational Judgement Tests ,  Logical Reasoning Tests , and  Bespoke Tests  are the best method of guaranteeing a good hire, testing an applicant's capacity to solve a real problem in ways that can't be measured by interview questions alone. As an employer, you know which skills and problem-solving techniques are most important for your particular company. At Skillsarena, we help you evaluate these abilities in applicants, and in doing so we make sure that your organisation is productive and successful. Get started with Skillsarena today to bring out the best in your candidates. After taking a look through our test offerings,  create an account with our self-service system . This way, we can get you started with your Skillsarena profile as soon as possible. If you require any assistance, give us a call on 0203 693 2201 or send an email to [email protected] . We look forward to hearing from you!

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Top 3 Reasons you need problem solving in your organization

Who sees the benefits of problem solving?  Everyone – organizational performance and reliability will improve, a culture of prevention and ownership will result, and employees will be better equipped to deal with challenges.  In this article, we will explore just how organizational problem solving affects the bottom line AND the employees.

1. Problem solving drives positive results

An organization demonstrates the effectiveness of problem solving with the results that are achieved. When a problem happens, an organization must understand the cost of the problem and demonstrate the ability to improve how work is performed. This will give the organization confidence that the problem will not happen again.

People often think that in order to effectively solve problems, they need software or a complex methodology. In order to drive results, an organization needs problem solving based in the foundation of the scientific method. By using evidence-based cause-and-effect, problem solving allows the knowledge of each employee to drive the investigation, thereby improving your work processes, and driving results for how work is performed.

2. Problem solving is a career skill 

On a personal level, for each of your employees, problem solving is a career skill. It is something that aids an individual’s performance because that employee gains a deeper knowledge of the company’s processes and procedures.

Let’s say your organization is considering two candidates for a promotion. Both candidates have worked for the company for approximately 5 years. Both candidates have supervisory experience working with frontline employees and have technical expertise in your field. Now you ask each employee – what kinds of problems did you face and how did you handle them? Do you hire the employee who says – “I’ve never really had to deal with any problems?” Or do you go with the employee who shares an example of a time they faced a challenge and how they addressed it. Is it better to go with the employee who has avoided the problems or the one who takes them head on.

I’d assume that the majority of you will hire the problem solving employee. By having a problem solving method, you are not only improving how work is performed, but also giving employees the skills to advance within their field. Further, being able to change your work environment for the better is an empowering skill. If employees are given the opportunity to improve the processes around them, then they likely will.

 3. Problem solving creates a prevention-focused culture

Focusing on problem solving in your organization will demonstrate to employees that the organization is motivated to prevent future problems from occurring. Work process documentation is an asset to every organization and who knows the work process the best? If you answered “the people doing the work,” you are absolutely correct. So if they know the process the best, then who do you think is most likely to be able to fix the weak links in the process? Right again – “the people closest to the work.”

When someone doesn’t follow the procedure and an organization responds by firing that person, what does that indicate to the rest of the organization? It indicates that if an employee tells their manager about a problem, they are likely to get fired. This behavior results in people hiding or ignoring problems. This is the culture shift and people have to see this through problem solving. It is very easy to say “we have a prevention culture ,” but only through practice, can an organization actually have a prevention culture. By acknowledging problems, involving employees close to the problem in the investigation, and implementing best practices to avoid similar problems from occurring again in the future, you can achieve a robust prevention-focused culture.

The benefits of problem solving

If problem solving is implemented effectively, all three criteria above can be achieved. If you prove that solving problems can improve the work environment then people will want to do it. When many people within your organization start problem solving then you start moving toward preventing problems instead of reacting to them.

There are two ways to deal with problems. You can avoid them or try to solve them. Ultimately, solving them is better for your business and your employees.

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Problem-Solving is Overrated. Problem-Setting is More Critical.

Almost everyone has the term “problem-solving” featured prominently in their resumes. Conversely, barely anyone uses the term “ problem-setting ”. Except in complex domains like leadership, problem-setting is often more critical than problem-solving.

What is problem-setting, how is it different from good old problem-solving, and why is it critical to effective leadership?

What is problem-setting

MIT organizational learning pioneer Donald Schon, writing in his classic The Reflective Practitioner , defined problem-setting as follows:

In real-world practice, problems do not present themselves to the practitioners as givens. They must be constructed from the materials of problematic situations which are puzzling, troubling, and uncertain. In order to convert a problematic situation to a problem, a practitioner must do a certain kind of work. He must make sense of an uncertain situation that initially makes no sense. ‌ ‌‌ ...although problem setting is a necessary condition for technical problem solving, it is not itself a technical problem. ‌ ‌‌ ‌When we set the problem, we select what we will treat as the "things' of the situation, we set the boundaries of our attention to it, and we impose upon it a coherence which allows us to say what is wrong and in what directions the situation needs to be changed. Problem setting is a process in which, interactively, we name the things to which we will attend and frame the context in which we will attend to them.

Schon’s passage gives several clues about what problem-setting is:

• Problems are not always obvious, or packaged that way
• We are actively constructing them, instead of the standard passive interpretation of problems being “out there”, and we the solvers tackling them
• It’s more critical when situations are “puzzling, troubling, and uncertain”, aka operating in complexity
• Problem-setting is an active, ongoing process of sense-making
• We are inclined towards a certain interpretation given our backgrounds and histories, but which also blinds us to other definitions
• It's a precursor to problem-solving, and not technical in nature
• We are actively choosing the parameters of a problem, whether we are aware of it or not
• How we name and frame parameters, influences what solutions we consider

Problem-setting is essentially the context and frame within which problem-solving happens . Not understanding this also means missing out on a key aspect of problems — the part where we actually have the most leverage and ability to take action.

Problem solving can be understood as a matter of means-ends deliberation. This is because the statement of a well-formed problem includes specification of the purposes to be achieved. But before a problem can be solved, it must be set. 

Real life does not present us with well-defined problems such as those at the end of the chapters of a textbook. Rather, human beings confronted with complex, ambiguous, and puzzling circumstances must pose the problems they will endeavor to solve. 

— Chris Argyris, Robert Putnam , Diana McLain Smith [9]

Problem-setting is generative in nature, that's distinct from the choosing and looking for answers involved in problem-solving. The process of finding answers happens within the reality that problem-setting generates.

It's about shifting attention to inputs, instead of focusing exclusively on means and outcomes.

An example of problem-setting

Consider the radically disparate approaches of the French and American efforts to build the Panama Canal — same situation, but different problem definitions:

‌The French…thought that construction of a canal in Panama would be a similar task to the one they faced in the Suez; namely, all they had to do was build a sea-level ditch and a few locks and that would be that. Not only were they wrong about that, they didn't figure out how to handle yellow fever. Twenty thousand deaths later, the project, its finances, and the French government were a shambles.‌ ‌The Americans succeeded when they realized that a series of step-locks irrigated by the region's heavy rains would minimize the problem of landslides into the canal, a problem exacerbated by the French effort to build a sea-level canal through a mountain range covered by jungle soil. The Americans also succeeded when they realized that mosquitoes carried yellow fever, and that the insects were unable to survive very long outside of dense jungle. By cutting back the jungle a few hundred yards the mosquitoes could be kept away from the people working on the project. ‌ ‌‌— John Bryson [11]

The problem with problem-solving

From the perspective of Technical Rationality, professional practice is a process of problem solving. Problems of choice or decision are solved through the selection, from available means, of the one best suited to established ends. ‌ But within this emphasis on problem solving, we ignore problem setting, the process by which we define the decision to be made, the ends to be achieved, the means which may be chosen. ‌ ‌— Donald Schon [1]

The default problem-solving approach has inherent assumptions, which creates blindspots:

• Problems are assumed to be a given, and obvious, with the primary objective being “finding and looking” for solutions. All resources are focused on solution-finding rather than problem-defining. This focus also means we forget our role in creating and defining the problem .
• The perception of problems is static. This means the focus is more on the means to get there, and the removal of obstacles. Resources are assumed to be a key constraint. What’s forgotten is that given a different definition, the obstacles might be automatically eliminated .
• The key task is essentially selection and optimizing among the various options. Except, the options are themselves generated by a particular definition of the problem.
• Leads to a myopic focus on “problems” that might simply be symptoms, and in the process, missing the larger systemic issues that are actually causes .
• The tendency is to isolate solutions from problems, whereas in reality both are inter-dependent and influence each other’s evolution.
• It’s easy to forget that almost all “problems” are someone’s definition. This could be you, or some other stakeholder like a manager or a customer. We forget that often the problem definition is negotiable or changeable .
• The problem-solving mindset tends to simplify issues, but can have the opposite effect of complicating issues by directing resources at the wrong problems. This can be a handicap particularly when information is not clear or simply unavailable. In contrast, embracing complexity by focussing on problem-setting naturally leads to more understanding. That’s the difference between naive simplification, and profound simplification, aka wisdom .

Complex issues require complex thinking, but not at the level of solving problems, but at the level of formulating them.This is partly an issue about variety. As...W.R. Ashby observed in his ‘Law of Requisite Variety’, ‘only variety can absorb variety’ . ‌ ‌Most management processes are about simplifying the external environment (thus reducing variety) so that it can be better understood and acted upon. ...But if there is too much simplification, especially at the early stages of the work, there is a significant danger that the eventual scenarios will likewise be too simple. By skipping to problem solving instead of problem setting, important aspects of the overall environment will be overlooked which might otherwise lead the organization...to consider the decision in a completely different light, or even conclude that a different decision is required.‌ ‌— Andre Curry [4]‌

There is nothing wrong with problem-solving in and of itself. The mistake is to rely on it exclusively, and not realizing that complex problems require a more complex approach.

The concepts of "wicked problems" and "messes" are classic situations where problem-setting is more critical than the simple notion of problem-solving.

Wicked problems vs hard problems

Just like the Panama canal, many challenges we face daily tend to be “wicked” problems that are fundamentally different from “hard” problems. What’s the difference? Jennifer Riel describes it this way:

Lots of problems are hard: differential calculus, for instance. Or determining the optimal production schedule for a new manufacturing plant. Or assigning a realistic value to stock options. Hard problems are complex and take many steps from beginning to end, making it difficult to see your way clear to the solution from the outset. Hard problems face us at every turn, but fortunately business schools specialize in giving us the analytical tools that allow us to tackle and solve these problems. So hard problems aren’t the problem. The real challenge that faces the CEO and the young manager alike is that not all problems are hard problems. In fact, many of them belong to an entirely different category: wicked problems. Wicked problems aren’t merely harder or more complex than hard problems. They don’t just involve more factors or stakeholders. They don’t just take us longer to solve. Analytical thinking alone, no matter how skillfully applied, isn’t going to generate an answer to a wicked problem. Wicked problems, first identified by mathematician and planner Horst Rittel in the 1960s, are messy, aggressive, and confounding…Churchman described wicked problems as “a class of social system problems which are ill-formulated, where the information is confusing, where there are many clients and decision makers with conflicting values, and where the ramifications in the whole system are thoroughly confusing.” In other words, wicked problems are ill-defined and unique in their causes, character, and solution. — Jennifer Riel [11]

How do you know if you have a wicked problem on your hand?

• The causes of the problem are not just complex but deeply ambiguous; you can’t tell why things are happening the way they are and what causes them to do so. • The problem doesn’t fit neatly into any category you’ve encountered before; it looks and feels entirely unique, so the problem-solving approaches you’ve used in the past don’t seem to apply. • Each attempt at devising a solution changes the understanding of the problem; merely attempting to come to a solution changes the problem and how you think about it. • There is no clear stopping rule; it is difficult to tell when the problem is “solved” and what that solution may look like when you reach it. ... With hard problems, your job is to look at the situation, identify a set of definite conditions, and calculate a solution. With wicked problems, the solution can no longer be the only or even the primary focus. Instead, dealing with wicked problems demands that attention be paid to understanding the nature of the problem itself. Problem understanding is central; the solution, secondary . — Jennifer Riel [11]

Dissolving messes vs solving problems

Russell Ackoff’s analogy [5] of messes vs. problems is a useful one:

One of the most damaging misconceptions plaguing management is that problems are objects of direct experience. Not so. They are abstractions extracted from experience by analysis. Problems are related to experience as atoms are to tables. Tables are experienced, not atoms. Managers are not confronted with separate problems but with situations that consist of complex systems of strongly interacting problems. I call such situations messes .

 Therefore, the behavior of a mess, and a mess is a system, depends at least as much on how its parts interact as on how they act independently of each other. However, it is standard managerial practice to reduce messes to aggregations of problems: to prioritize and treat them separately, as self-contained entities. Managers do not generally know how to deal effectively with any system, let alone messes, taken as a whole. Effective managers do not solve problems; they dissolve messes . Ineffective managers mismanage rather than manage messes.

Thus problems, and problem-solving, can be seen as part of an ever-evolving, problem-setting process, rather than an end in itself.

Role of the manager and leader

As individual contributors, we are trained to focus on problem-solving. But as you move higher up the organization, the skillset of problem-setting starts becoming more critical, while problem-solving becomes secondary. Why so?

• Impact — Your teams, or team of teams, are already good at problem-solving. So what are you bringing to the table?
• Right problems — While in-depth knowledge of a domain helps in understanding what might be going on, even more important is the ability to leverage this knowledge to ensure teams are in fact working on the right problems.
• Setting context — In complex challenges, as opposed to well-defined technical problems, the solutions and pathways are numerous. What you choose to focus on, often influences downstream choices and actions of your team. This becomes ever more critical in an environment of limited resources and infinite options.
• Interpretation and framing — Most situations, where leadership is actually needed, are fuzzy by definition. Problem-solving happens within a given definition of a problem. Problem-setting is all about how you go about outlining that definition itself. This choice that you make, by selecting and framing, is a key aspect of effective leadership.
• Sense-making and sense-giving:

A leader at work is one who gives others a different sense of the meaning of that which they do by recreating it in a different form, a different “face”, in the same way that a pivotal painter or sculptor or poet gives those who follow him (or her) a different way of "seeing" — and therefore saying and doing and knowing in the world. 

A leader does not tell it "as it is"; he tells it as it might be, giving what 'is" thereby a different face . ...The leader is a sense-giver . The leader always embodies the possibilities of escape from what might otherwise appear to us to be incomprehensible, or from what might otherwise appear to us to be a chaotic, indifferent, or incorrigible world — one over which we have no ultimate control. — Thayer [7]

Questions to consider

Here are some questions to regularly ask yourself:

• Your default approach — is it problem-solving or problem-setting? Which one are you more comfortable with?
• Where, and how, do you add the most value?
• Which features are you choosing to focus on? What are you NOT focusing on?
• Are there aspects you are unaware of? (you will need external help, because by definition these are invisible)
• What additional information, if you had access to, would change the definition of your problem?

How to get better at problem-setting

Given the importance of problem-setting, below are some ways to develop this ability:

Focus on questions, as much as answers

Our default approach is to jump to solve the problem, without questioning the problem itself.

The Westerner and the Japanese man mean something different when they talk of "making a decision." In the West, all the emphasis is on the answer to the question. Indeed, our books on decision making try to develop systematic approaches to giving an answer. To the Japanese, however, the important element in decision makingis definingthe question. The important and crucial steps are to decide whether there is a need for a decision and what the decision is about. And it is in that step that the Japanese aim at attaining consensus. Indeed, it is this step that, to the Japanese, is the essence of decision. The answer to the question (what the West considers the decision) follows from its definition. During the process that precedes the decision, no mention is made of what the answer might be. . . . Thus the whole process is focused on finding out what the decision is really about, not what the decision should be. — Peter Drucker [7]

Understand the role of naming and framing

Language (metaphors and stories) plays a key role in how situations gets interpreted and the resulting actions. This is often tacit, influenced by our backgrounds. Neither can they be avoided because it's ontological — how human beings are.

Depending on our disciplinary backgrounds, organizational roles, past histories, interests, and political/economic perspectives, we frame problematic situations in different ways. A nutritionist, for example, may convert a vague worry about malnourishment among children in developing countries into the problem of selecting an optimal diet. But agronomists may frame the problem in terms of food production; epidemiologists may frame it in terms of diseases that increase the demand for nutrients or prevent their absorption; demographers tend to see it in terms of a rate of population growth that has outstripped agricultural activity; engineers, in terms of inadequate food storage and distribution; economists, in terms of insufficient purchasing power or the inequitable distribution of land or wealth. ...Those who hold conflicting frames pay attention to different facts and make different sense of the facts they notice. It is not by technical problem solving that we convert problematic situations to well-formed problems; rather, it is through naming and framing that technical problem solving becomes possible. — Donald Schon [2]

Use the ladder of inference

A useful tool for understanding how we jump to conclusions, and how our stories influence decisions and actions is Chris Argyris' ladder of inference :

Understand the role of context

Problem-setting forms the context within which your teams operate :

Understand how framing influences actions

The framework of double-loop learning shows where the step of problem-setting fits into the overall picture:

Another way to understand problem-setting is the power of framing, which also happens to be a key step in creating psychological safety in your teams.

Deeper levels of reality

The systems thinking iceberg model shows that top level events can actually be distractions. Leaders have to learn to delve deeper and understand problems from a systemic perspective.

Understand the mechanism of small wins

Choosing and focusing on particular aspects, amongst a plethora of confusing choices, is one of the key mechanisms at work in engineering a small wins strategy:

• The Reflective Practitioner by Donald Schon
• Educating the Reflective Practitioner by Donald Schon
• Schon, Donald A.. “Metaphor and Thought: Generative metaphor: A perspective on problem-setting in social policy.” (1993).
• Scenarios for Success: Turning Insights into Action Edited by Bill Sharpe and Kees Van der Heijden
• Ackoff, R.L. (1994), Systems thinking and thinking systems. Syst. Dyn. Rev., 10: 175-188. https://doi.org/10.1002/sdr.4260100206
• Small Wins by Karl Weick
• Sensemaking in Organizations by Karl Weick
• Conversational Realities by John Shotter
• Action Science by Chris Argyris, Robert Putnam, Diana McLain Smith
• John Bryson(1988)Strategic planning: Big wins and small wins,Public Money & Management,8:3,11-15,DOI: 10.1080/09540968809387483
• The Design of Business by Roger Martin

The Systems Thinking Iceberg

The laws of systems thinking, viktor frankl’s laws of dimensional ontology and the fallacy of the dominant dimension.

What is problem solving and why is it important

By Wayne Stottler , Kepner-Tregoe

• Problem Solving & Decision Making Over time, developing and refining problem solving skills provides the ability to solve increasingly complex problems Learn More

For over 60 years, Kepner-Tregoe has been helping companies across industries and geographies to develop and mature their problem-solving capabilities through KT’s industry leading approach to training and the implementation of best practice processes. Considering that problem solving is a part of almost every person’s daily life (both at home and in the workplace), it is surprising how often we are asked to explain what problem solving is and why it is important.

Problem solving is at the core of human evolution. It is the methods we use to understand what is happening in our environment, identify things we want to change and then figure out the things that need to be done to create the desired outcome. Problem solving is the source of all new inventions, social and cultural evolution, and the basis for market based economies. It is the basis for continuous improvement, communication and learning.

If this problem-solving thing is so important to daily life, what is it?

Problem-solving is the process of observing what is going on in your environment; identifying things that could be changed or improved; diagnosing why the current state is the way it is and the factors and forces that influence it; developing approaches and alternatives to influence change; making decisions about which alternative to select; taking action to implement the changes; and observing impact of those actions in the environment.

Each step in the problem-solving process employs skills and methods that contribute to the overall effectiveness of influencing change and determine the level of problem complexity that can be addressed. Humans learn how to solve simple problems from a very early age (learning to eat, make coordinated movements and communicate) – and as a person goes through life problem-solving skills are refined, matured and become more sophisticated (enabling them to solve more difficult problems).

Problem-solving is important both to individuals and organizations because it enables us to exert control over our environment.

Fixing things that are broken

Some things wear out and break over time, others are flawed from day-1. Personal and business environments are full of things, activities, interactions and processes that are broken or not operating in the way they are desired to work. Problem-solving gives us a mechanism for identifying these things, figuring out why they are broken and determining a course of action to fix them.

Addressing risk

Humans have learned to identify trends and developed an awareness of cause-and-effect relationships in their environment. These skills not only enable us to fix things when they break but also anticipate what may happen in the future (based on past-experience and current events). Problem-solving can be applied to the anticipated future events and used to enable action in the present to influence the likelihood of the event occurring and/or alter the impact if the event does occur.

Improving performance

Individuals and organizations do not exist in isolation in the environment. There is a complex and ever-changing web of relationships that exist and as a result, the actions of one person will often have either a direct impact on others or an indirect impact by changing the environment dynamics. These interdependencies enable humans to work together to solve more complex problems but they also create a force that requires everyone to continuously improve performance to adapt to improvements by others. Problem-solving helps us understand relationships and implement the changes and improvements needed to compete and survive in a continually changing environment.

Seizing opportunity

Problem solving isn’t just about responding to (and fixing) the environment that exists today. It is also about innovating, creating new things and changing the environment to be more desirable. Problem-solving enables us to identify and exploit opportunities in the environment and exert (some level of) control over the future.

Problem solving skills and the problem-solving process are a critical part of daily life both as individuals and organizations. Developing and refining these skills through training, practice and learning can provide the ability to solve problems more effectively and over time address problems with a greater degree of complexity and difficulty. View KT’s Problem Solving workshop known to be the gold standard for over 60 years.

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Essential Tools: Organization Prioritization, Time Management, Decision Making and Problem Solving

Learning Objectives:

• Build trust through productive organization, prioritization, and time management
• Identify strategies to increase organization and prioritization
• Manage commitments to build trust and respect with peers and supervisors
• Choose appropriate strategies and make sound and well-grounded decisions

Watch these videos on time management :

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Most+Popular+Time+Management+Funny&Form=VQFRVP#view=detail&mid=ED2A635BF1F59E96BB81ED2A635BF1F59E96BB81 time management techniques

https://youtu.be/0245yIOjdDk    Eisenhower matrix

https://youtu.be/tT89OZ7TNwc    Eisenhower matrix

Watch the Jar of Life Video—setting priorities :

https://youtu.be/v5ZvL4as2y0    Rocks, pebbles, sand story

Watch these videos on decision making :

https://youtu.be/lm9gOxnX5XM    Big Bang Theory decision making; funny

https://youtu.be/VrSUe_m19FY decision making – take action; funny

Making and Keeping Commitments

Our relationships with other people are vital to our effective participation in the world. We live in a world of engagement and the language we choose to use creates a power that ripples outwards. Somewhat similar to the reaction that occurs when we drop a pebble in a pond. We use language to not only describe our world but to create it. And effective communication, including keeping our commitments is central to that. Keeping commitments is a crucial factor for every family, friendship or partnership, and for every team, association, or organization. Every one of these groups is comprised of us, and others, engaging in a continuing cycle of conversations and commitments

Of all the types of conversations we have, the most potent and productive is when we make an offer to another, or when we request a commitment from another. And when that offer or request is accepted this can be characterized as ‘The Promise Cycle’ .  This simple act of making and managing promises then creates a mutual commitment from one person to another to take a specific future action.

And the responsibility that accompanies a promise is to do ‘what’ we said we would do, do it to the ‘standard’ to which we committed, and to do it at the ‘time’ we committed to. In other words, we must deliver what we promise, to the standard we promise and when we promise. The effectiveness of this process relies on the clarity of the conditions. In other words, how well formed and well expressed the commitment is, and how well it’s understood by both people.

The promise cycle can be described this way. It occurs when you offer to do something for another as an: Offer + Acceptance = Promise , or when another makes a request of you as a: Request + Acceptance = Promise . In life we bind ourselves to each other through promises and we begin to drift when we don’t deliver on those promises. Therefore the making and keeping of commitments is an important element of our communication. It determines predictability, certainty and continuity in all our various relationships.

Now imagine the profound impact that would occur in every aspect of life if all members of your family, your team, your associations, or your organization kept their commitments? Mutual trust would increase, and as a result efficiency, effectiveness and productivity would grow exponentially. Trust is central to our identity; such a simple process; such a profound impact. And In an organizational setting; understanding and using this process allows team and business leaders to develop a committed, collaborative, high- performance culture .

Reflection:

Now think of one instance in both your personal life and professional life where you have made a promise and delivered on that promise.

Then think of one instance in both your personal and professional life when you have made a promise and not delivered on that promise.

What were the implications and results?

Ada pted from: Robert Dunham, Institute for Generative Leadership, Boulder, CO   (C) 2015, Institute for Generative Leadership – http://generateleadership.com/

Excerpt from the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, 1989

Personal management has evolved in a pattern similar to many other areas of human endeavor. Major developmental thrusts, or ‘waves’ as Alvin Toffler calls them, follow each other in succession, each adding a vital new dimension.

Likewise, in the area of time management, each generation builds on the one before it – each one moves us toward greater control of our lives. The first wave or generation could be characterized by notes and checklists, an effort to give some semblance of recognition and inclusiveness to the many demands placed on our time and energy.

The second generation could be characterized by calendars and appointment books. This wave reflects an attempt to look ahead, to schedule events and activities in the future.

The third generation reflects the current time management field. It adds to those preceding generations the important idea of prioritization, of clarifying values, and of comparing the relative worth of activities based on their relationship to those values. In addition, it focuses on setting goals – specific long-, intermediate- and short-term targets toward which time and energy would be directed in harmony with values. It also includes the concept of daily planning, of making a specific plan to accomplish those goals and activities determined to be of greatest worth.

While the third generation has made a significant contribution, people have begun to realize that “efficient” scheduling and control of time are often counterproductive. The efficiency focus creates expectations that clash with the opportunities to develop rich relations, to meet human needs, and to enjoy spontaneous moments on a daily basis.

As a result, many people have become turned off by the time management programs and planner that make them feel too scheduled, too restricted, and they “throw the baby out with the bath water,” reverting to first or second generation techniques to preserve relationships, spontaneity, and quality of life.

But there is an emerging fourth generation that is different in kind. It recognizes that “time management” is really a misnomer – the challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves. Satisfaction is a function of the expectation as well as realization. And expectation (and satisfaction) lies in our Circle of Influence.

Rather than focusing on things and time, fourth generation expectations focus on preserving and enhancing relationships and on accomplishing results – in short, on maintaining P/PC Balance [P stands for production of desired results and PC stands for the capacity to produce the desired results].

General Organizing Skills

Along with communication and computer skills, organizational skills are some of the most important transferable job skills a worker can possess. People need organizational skills at work to be more productive. Workers who know where to find notes or certain resources can save time. Therefore, they tend to get more done. There are a number of organizational skills for work, including those noted below.

Physical Organization

Clutter is often the culprit when it comes to disorganization in a work space. Make a point to clear out unneeded papers, file documents in the appropriate places and put unused supplies back in the supply closet. You don’t have to be a neat freak to be successful with physical organization. You might find that it fits your working style to designate a weekly session for busting through the accumulated clutter. Get into the habit of putting papers, gadgets, business cards, files, magazines, newspapers and supplies in their proper places. Throw away or shred items that are past their usable life.

Mental Organization

Keeping your mind organized can be a challenge when you are juggling the varied demands of performing a job. Prioritize projects and make to-do lists to keep yourself on track. Understand your personal working style and play to your strengths. Not everyone is cut out to be an accomplished multi-tasker. You might work best by focusing on finishing off one project at a time rather than balancing multiple tasks.

Planning is a needed workplace skill, and it is particularly important as person advances into more supervisory or managerial roles. Most work is centered on certain projects that must be completed within a specific time period. Projects are usually divided into many different tasks, and workers must plan their tasks ahead of time to bring the project to fruition. A person can also plan ahead in case certain problems come up that could potentially delay the project.

Set goals and outline the steps you need to take to reach them. Focus forward on goals that you may have set with your supervisor. Schedule time to work through the tasks involved so that you are making constant progress.

A goal is something you want to do, have or be or something your employer expects to happen over time.

The way you set your goals affects their effectiveness. Goal setting is deciding what you want to do, why you want to do it, when you are going to do it and how you are going to do it. Setting goals helps you to accomplish things which are important in both your work and home life. Plan the Plan and not the results. As you begin to think about your goals, keep the following things in mind.

• Be Positive: have a good attitude
• Be Realistic: know yourself and your comfort level
• Set Deadlines: be realistic so you don’t become frustrated
• Prioritize: make lists, break things into smaller pieces
• Write down your goals & keep them visible: this will help you stay on task
• Make your goals small and achievable : for better success
• List your values : What’s important to you?
• Plan for the future and place yourself there: visualize, fantasize

  Time Management

Having good organizational skills is about making the best use of your time. Being organize reduces the amount of time you have to dig to uncover important work related information. Understand where your time goes. For example, if you check email every five minutes, you might want to create a twice-a-day email schedule to more effectively handle your inbox. Maintain a calendar so you don’t miss important deadlines.

Thinking about time management can generate many questions for exploration and reflection.

Do we manage time or manage capacity? Do we manage time or manage our values and what we care about? Do we manage time or manage our choices? Do we manage tasks or manage outcomes? Do we manage our time or our energy?

Use of time is clearly a choice. When those choices lack grounding in a larger purpose and clear discernment of what we care about and what’s really important, the choices of how we spend our time can sometimes fail to deliver purposeful outcomes.

Taking time to consider at a more than superficial level what we care about and centering our focus on those cares generates different outcomes. Those who are grounded in a clear purpose and who allow that purpose to drive conversations for action and commitments make different choices that enable personal as well as customer satisfaction. These commitments are grounded in outcomes that matter rather than task completion. Spending time on tasks without connection to a greater purpose can cause frustration, a sense of overwhelm energy depletion, disappointment, exhaustion, and loss of clear direction.

Meeting Deadlines

One of the most important organizational skills is the ability to meet deadlines and use time wisely. It usually takes a little experience before an individual can properly assign tasks, allocate resources and complete a project on time. Meeting deadlines requires time management skills, which is an important organizational skill itself

Employees need time management organizational skills to keep track of meetings, appointments, tasks and deadlines. Time management skills will help you stay on schedule with everything you do. Time management skills will also help you avoid the last minute rush to complete tasks, eliminating potential stress in the process

Tracking Tasks

Organizational skills are needed to keep track of projects. Finding a way to track tasks will help keep you ahead of the game. Projects require a lot of individual tasks. These tasks need to be completed on time to reach the project deadline. If you work with project deadlines, use a project log to keep track of your progress. You can keep the project log on file in your computer or on paper. There is no right way. The important point is to do it to simplify your life as well as that of others.

Good organizational skills can help lead to success through many paths. Time is money. Organization saves time by keeping valuable data easily accessible, goals in focus and everyone on the same page. Employees who have good organizational skills are efficient at covering the demands of their jobs. This directly relates to a company’s bottom line. Poor organization leads to frustration on the part of a business owner, employees and customers. Keep an orderly office, work space, computer and mind to cultivate an environment that is focused on meeting business goals in a timely manner.

Organizational Skills: Prioritization

Prioritization is a valuable organizational skill. Some tasks may require immediate attention, others can wait. This skill set is closely linked to time management. We only have a limited amount of time to utilize during our workday, so place those tasks that have to be completed first at the head of a list. In the military, on the battlefield, doctors apply the organizational skill of “triage”; injured soldiers are placed into one of three categories, since it is physically impossible for the doctor to get to everyone at once. Wounded soldiers who are going to die, no matter what is done to them, are placed in one category. Soldiers who have serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, go into another category. Finally, those soldiers who require immediate attention and can be saved go into the third category. This is prioritization.

Organizational skills such as prioritization, organizing the workspace, time management , form the core basis of good organizational habits. Practical organizational skills include wise planning, time optimization, detail orientation, and prioritization . Last, but not least, would be to relieve stress ! A stressed out worker makes more mistakes, and may say something to a co-worker or subordinate in the “heat of the moment”, that they will later regret! Do whatever it takes for you personally to be relaxed, yet professional, in making your business decisions and conducting efficient operations. Implementing these organizational skills will contribute to a healthy work environment.

There are five steps to prioritizing your work

• Think about what needs to be done– First, think about what needs to be done. How do you juggle (prioritize) your daily activities? Make a list of daily activities, and think about how you work to accomplish them.
• Decide and prioritize what to do– Now it is time to decide which goals are important to you, and how you can achieve them. Before you do, remember that relaxation is a key. How do you relax? Have you given yourself time to relax? What do you do to relax? Before you continue, think about relaxing and make a list of the things you do to relax. As you plan your day, allow time for yourself to relax and refresh.

By now, you have an idea of your goals. You should also have a list of how you organize your daily life and what your work style is. As a reminder, this list should tell you the following:

• What your distractions are
• When do you work best
• What are your daily activities (commitments) are
• When you work best

Keep your list in mind as you begin to set goals, break the goal into manageable pieces, order (prioritize) those pieces and achieve your goal. Learn to say no to distractions and extra demands on your time. Saying no can be difficult at first, but as you prioritize and work to achieve your goals you will see how important this can be.

• Monitor and Evaluate : How am I doing? It is important to think about what you do while you do it.

It takes commitment to design a plan and stick to it. Remind yourself often of your objectives. Write short lists or put up photographs or articles to help remind you of our goal and your progress.

If you keep veering from the goal, maybe the objective is not something you want badly enough. If so, change it. Be flexible. Setting and achieving goals is a lifelong process. Set new objectives that are consistent with who you are and what you want. Objectives may change over time.

Here are some suggestions for monitoring and evaluating the way you work. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What am I doing well?
• What could I improve?
• What are the opportunities facing you?
• What is getting in your way?
• Practice Prioritizing —Write a list of things you need to accomplish. Decide what is most important and most urgent.       Prioritize list in order of importance Then, breakdown each item into a list of tasks that need to happen to complete it. Check off the tasks as you complete them.
• Reward Yourself — Celebrate when you have completed your task.

Set up a reward system for yourself. It may be calling a friend, reading a couple of chapters of your favorite book, taking a bubble bath, shooting a few hoops, or taking a walk. Whatever it is should be meaningful to you.

Time Management: The Eisenhower Method

The Eisenhower Method helps you decide which action you should or shouldn’t do. It aids you to divide actions into one of four categories. The quadrants are divided by importance and urgency.

“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

How to Use the Eisenhower Method

Using the Eisenhower quadrant is very easy. You pick an item from your to-do list and ask yourself these two questions.

• “Is it urgent?”
• “Is it important?”

You can now put the action into the correct quadrant.

Below is an explanation of each quadrant.

• Not Urgent and Not Important Examples:
• Time wasters (Ex: Facebook, checking e-mails all the time…)
• Busy work (Ex: Work that doesn’t need to be done)
• Procrastinating

You should not spend any time on activities in this quadrant. When is something not important? If it doesn’t progress you toward your goals, then why should you spend time doing it?

When is something not urgent? If it doesn’t matter when it is done, then it’s not urgent. It can be done today, or it can be done next week or even next year, it doesn’t matter.

The combination of not urgent and not important is the worst quadrant to spend your time in. Decrease your time in this quadrant and put it somewhere else. I prefer you put it in ‘not urgent and important’ .

• Urgent and Not Important
• Answering e-mails
• Incoming phone calls
• Interrupting colleagues

Since the tasks are still not important and you’re still not progressing towards your goals’ it’s better to not spend time here either. However, these tasks are urgent, therefore you can’t schedule them. They’re also hard to ignore, since urgent action often demands attention. Ex: A phone call or an interrupting colleague. Find a way to deal with these as quickly as possible.

• Urgent and Important
• Emergencies
• Troubleshooting

You have to do these actions. They’re important. They progress you toward your goals, however, since they’re urgent, they’re often unplanned and unwanted.

You will always spend some time here, since emergencies will always happen. When they do, you have to deal with them. No excuses. After you deal with the situation, spend time to make sure it never happens again, minimize its occurrence or make preparations for when it happens again.

• Not Urgent and Important
• Building quality relationships with other people
• Doing actual work to progress toward a major goal
• Physical exercise

This is the quadrant in which you should spent most of your time. Most people however, don’t do this and spend most of their time in any of the other quadrants. Because these important tasks don’t scream to you like a ringing phone, they’re often neglected in favor of more urgent matters.

If you spend almost no time here, then your first important task is to save some time each day to work on the important things.

Urgent activities are often the ones we concentrate on and often forget about really important ones. If you spend all of your time concentrating on the urgent and important tasks you will just be firefighting. Managing time effectively, and achieving the things that you want to achieve, means spending your time on things that are important and not just urgent.

We can categorize tasks on two scales according to their importance and urgency. Making 4 categories and placing them in matrix known also as Time Matrix below.

What is Decision Making?

People often find it hard to make decisions – inevitably we all have to make decisions all the time, some are more important than others.

Some people put off making decisions by endlessly searching for more information or getting other people to offer their recommendations.  Others resort to decision making by taking a vote, sticking a pin in a list or tossing a coin.

Regardless of the effort that is put into making a decision, it has to be accepted that some decisions will not be the best possible choice.  This page examines one technique that can be used for effective decision making and that should help you to make effective decisions now and in the future.

Although the following technique is designed for an organisational or group structure, it can be easily adapted to an individual level.

In its simplest sense: ‘ Decision Making is the act of choosing between two or more courses of action ‘.   However, it must always be remembered that there may not always be a ‘correct’ decision among the available choices.

There may have been a better choice that had not been considered, or the right information may not have been available at the time.  Because of this, it is important to keep a record of all important decisions and the reasons why these decisions were made, so that improvements can be made in the future.  This also provides justification for any decision taken when something goes wrong.

Hindsight might not be able to correct past mistakes, but it will aid improved decision making in the future.

Effective Decision Making

Although decisions can be made using either intuition or reasoning, a combination of both approaches is often used.  Whatever approach is used, it is usually helpful to structure decision making in order to:

• Reduce more complicated decisions down to simpler steps.
• See how any decisions are arrived at.
• Plan decision making to meet deadlines.

Stages of Decision Making

In psychology, decision-making is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several alternative possibilities. Every decision-making process produces a final choice that may or may not prompt action. Decision-making is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. Decision-making is one of the central activities of management and is a huge part of any process of implementation.

Many different techniques of decision making have been developed, ranging from simple rules of thumb, to extremely complex procedures.  The method used depends on the nature of the decision to be made and how complex it is.

The method described here follows seven stages:

• Listing all possible solutions/options.
• Setting a time scale and deciding who is responsible for the decision.
• Information gathering.
• Weighing up the risks involved.
• Deciding on values, or in other words what is important.
• Weighing up the pros and cons of each course of action.
• Making the decision.
•  Listing Possible Solutions/Options

In order to come up with a list of all the possible solutions and/or options available it is usually appropriate to work on a group (or individual) problem-solving process. This process, could include brainstorming or some other ‘idea generating’ process (see our page: Problem Solving for more information). 

This stage is important to the overall decision making processes as a decision will be made from a selection of fixed choices.  Always remember to consider the possibility of not making a decision or doing nothing and be aware that both options are actually potential solutions in themselves.

• Setting a Time Period and Deciding Who is Responsible for the Decision

In deciding how much time to make available for the decision making process, it helps to consider the following:

• How much time is available to spend on this decision?
• Is there a deadline for making a decision and what are the consequences of missing this deadline?
• Is there an advantage in making a quick decision?
• How important is it to make a decision?  How important is it that the decision is right?
• Will spending more time improve the quality of the decision?

Responsibility for the Decision

Before making a decision, it needs to be clear who is going to take responsibility for the decision.  Remember that it is not always those making the decision who have to assume responsibility for it.  Is it an individual, a group or an organisation?  This is a key question because the degree to which responsibility for a decision is shared can greatly influence how much risk people are willing to take.

If the decision making is for work then it is helpful to consider the structure of the organization that you are in.  Is the individual responsible for the decisions he or she makes or does the organization hold ultimate responsibility?  Who has to carry out the course of action decided?  Who will it affect if something goes wrong?  Are you willing to take responsibility for a mistake?

Finally, you need to know who can actually make the decision.  When helping a friend, colleague or client to reach a decision, in most circumstances the final decision and responsibility will be taken by them.  Whenever possible, and if it is not obvious, it is better to make a formal decision as to who is responsible for a decision.  This idea of responsibility also highlights the need to keep a record of how any decision was made, what information it was based on and who was involved.  Enough information needs to be kept to justify that decision in the future so that, if something does go wrong, it is possible to show that your decision was reasonable in the circumstance and given the knowledge you held at the time.

3.  Information Gathering

Before starting on the process of making a decision, all relevant information needs to be gathered.

If there is inadequate or out-dated information then it is more likely that a wrong decision might be made.  Also, if there is a lot of irrelevant information then the decision will be difficult to make, it will be easier to become distracted by unnecessary factors.

There is a need for up-to-date, accurate information on which to make decisions.  Such information needs to be gathered so that a well-informed decision can be made.  The amount of time spent on information gathering has to be weighed against how much you are willing to risk making the wrong decision.  In a group situation, such as at work, it may be appropriate for different people to research different aspects of the information required.

• Weighing up the Risks Involved

One key question is how much risk should be taken in making the decision? Generally, the amount of risk an individual is willing to take depends on:

• The seriousness of the consequences of taking the wrong decision.
• The benefits of making the right decision.
• Not only how bad the worst outcome might be, but also how likely that outcome is to happen.

It is also useful to consider what the risk of the worst possible outcome occurring might be, and to decide if the risk is acceptable.  The choice can be between going ‘all out for success’ or taking a safe decision.

• Deciding on Values

Everybody has their own unique set of values – what they believe to be important.

Many people decide to buy a car for themselves but different people buy different cars based on their own personal values.  One person might feel that price is the most important feature, whereas another person might be more concerned with its speed and performance.  Others might value safety, luggage space or the cars impact on the environment or a combination of these features.

Depending on which values are considered important, different opinions may seem more or less attractive.  If the responsibility for a decision is shared it is possible that one person might not have the same values as the others.  In such cases, it is important to obtain a consensus as to which values are to be given the most weight.  It is important that the values on which a decision is made are understood because they will have a strong influence on the final choice.

People do not make decisions based on just one of their values.  They will consider all their values which are relevant to the decision and prioritise them in order of importance. If you were to buy a car, what would be the five most important factors to you?

• Weighing the Pros and Cons

It is possible to evaluate the pros and cons of each possible solution/option by considering the possible advantages and disadvantages. 

One aid to evaluating any solution/option is to use a ‘balance sheet’, weighing up the pros and cons (benefits and costs) associated with that solution. Having listed the pros and cons, it may be possible to immediately decide whether the option is viable.

However, it may be useful to rate each of the pros and cons on a simple 1 to 10 scale (with 10 high – most important to 1 low – least important):

In scoring each of the pros and cons it helps to take into account how important each item on the list is in meeting values.  This balance sheet approach allows both the information to be taken into account as well as the values, and presents them in a clear and straight forward manner.

• Making the Decision

There are many techniques that can be used to help in reaching a decision.  The pros and cons method (as above) is just one way of evaluating each of the possible solutions/options available.

There are other techniques which allow for more direct comparisons between possible solutions.  These are more complicated and generally involve a certain amount of calculation.  These can be particularly helpful when it is necessary to weigh a number of conflicting values and options.

For example, how would you decide between a cheap to buy but expensive to run car and another more expensive car that is more economical to keep on the road?

Intuitive Judgments:   In addition to making reasoned decisions using the techniques shown above, in many cases people use an intuitive approach to decision making.  When making a decision many influences, which have not been considered, may play a part.  For example, prejudice or wishful thinking might affect judgment.  Reliance is often placed on past experience without consideration of past mistakes.  Making a decision using intuition alone should be an option and not done merely because it is the easy way out, or other methods are more difficult.

Intuition is a perfectly acceptable means of making a decision, although it is generally more appropriate when the decision is of a simple nature or needs to be made quickly.  More complicated decisions tend to require a more formal, structured approach.  It is important to be wary of impulsive reactions to a situation and remember to keep a record of the decision for future reference, no matter whether the decision was made intuitively or after taking a reasoned approach.

If possible, it is best to allow time to reflect on a decision once it has been reached.  It is preferable to sleep on it before announcing it to others.  Once a decision is made public, it is very difficult to change.

Decision making is the act of choosing between a number of alternatives.  In the wider process of problem solving, decision making involves choosing between possible solutions to a problem.  Decisions can be made through either an intuitive or reasoned process, or a combination of the two.  There are usually a number of stages to any structured decision making.

You should always remember that no decision making technique should be used as an alternative to good judgement and clear thinking.  All decision making involves individual judgement, and systematic techniques are merely there to assist those judgements.

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Guidelines for Problem Solving and Decision Making

Much of what people do is solve problems and make decisions. Often, they are “under the gun”, stressed and very short of time. Consequently, when they encounter a new problem or decision they must make, they react with a decision that seemed to work before. It’s easy with this approach to get stuck in a circle of solving the same problem over and over again. Therefore, it’s often useful to get used to an organized approach to problem solving and decision making. Not all problems can be solved and decisions made by the following, rather rational approach. However, the following basic guidelines will get you started. Don’t be intimidated by the length of the list of guidelines. After you’ve practiced them a few times, they’ll become second nature to you — enough that you can deepen and enrich them to suit your own needs and nature.

(Note that it might be more your nature to view a “problem” as an “opportunity”. Therefore, you might substitute “problem” for “opportunity” in the following guidelines.)

• Define the problem

This is often where people struggle. They react to what they think the problem is. Instead, seek to understand more about why you think there’s a problem.

Define the problem: (with input from yourself and others). Ask yourself and others, the following questions:

• What can you see that causes you to think there’s a problem?
• Where is it happening?
• How is it happening?
• When is it happening?
• With whom is it happening? (HINT: Don’t jump to “Who is causing the problem?” When we’re stressed, blaming is often one of our first reactions. To be an effective manager, you need to address issues more than people.)
• Why is it happening?
• Write down a five-sentence description of the problem in terms of “The following should be happening, but isn’t …” or “The following is happening and should be: …” As much as possible, be specific in your description, including what is happening, where, how, with whom and why. (It may be helpful at this point to use a variety of research methods.

Defining complex problems:

If the problem still seems overwhelming, break it down by repeating steps 1-7 until you have descriptions of several related problems.

Verifying your understanding of the problems— it helps a great deal to verify your problem analysis for conferring with a peer or someone else.

Prioritize the problems— if you discover that you are looking at several related problems, then prioritize which ones you should address first.

Note the difference between “important” and “urgent” problems. Often, what we consider to be important problems to consider are really just urgent problems. Important problems deserve more attention. For example, if you’re continually answering “urgent” phone calls, then you’ve probably got a more “important” problem waiting.

Understand your role in the problem— your role in the problem can greatly influence how you perceive the role of others. For example, if you’re very stressed out, it’ll probably look like others are, too, or, you may resort too quickly to blaming and reprimanding others. Or, you are feeling very guilty about your role in the problem; you may ignore the accountabilities of others.

• Look at potential causes for the problem
• It’s amazing how much you don’t know about what you don’t know. Therefore, in this phase, it’s critical to get input from other people who notice the problem and who are affected by it.
• It’s often useful to collect input from other individuals one at a time (at least at first). Otherwise, people tend to be inhibited about offering their impressions of the real causes of problems.
• Write down what your opinions and what you’ve heard from others.
• It’s often useful to seek advice from a peer or your supervisor in order to verify your impression of the problem.
• Write down a description of the cause of the problem and in terms of what is happening, where, when, how, with whom and why.
• Identify alternatives for approaches to resolve the problem

At this point, it’s useful to keep others involved (unless you’re facing a personal and/or other performance problem). Brainstorm for solutions to the problem. Very simply put, brainstorming is collecting as many ideas as possible, and then screening them to find the best idea. It’s critical when collecting the ideas to not pass any judgment on the ideas — just write them down as you hear them.

• Select an approach to resolve the problem

When selecting the best approach, consider:

• Which approach is the most likely to solve the problem for the long term?
• Which approach is the most realistic to accomplish for now? Do you have the resources? Are they affordable? Do you have enough time to implement the approach?
• What is the extent of risk associated with each alternative?

(The nature of this step, in particular, in the problem solving process is why problem solving and decision making are highly integrated.)

• Plan the implementation of the best alternative (this is your action plan)
• Carefully consider “What will the situation look like when the problem is solved?”
• What steps should be taken to implement the best alternative to solving the problem? What systems or processes should be changed in your organization, for example, a new policy or procedure? Don’t resort to solutions where someone is “just going to try harder”.
• How will you know if the steps are being followed or not? (these are your indicators of the success of your plan)
• What resources will you need in terms of people, money and facilities?
• How much time will you need to implement the solution? Write a schedule that includes the start and stop times, and when you expect to see certain indicators of success.
• Who will primarily be responsible for ensuring implementation of the plan?
• Write down the answers to the above questions and consider this as your action plan.
• Communicate the plan to those involved in implementing it and, at least, to your immediate supervisor.

(An important aspect of this step in the problem-solving process is continual observation and feedback.)

• Monitor implementation of the plan

Monitor the indicators of success:

• Are you seeing what you would expect from the indicators?
• Will the plan be done according to schedule?
• If the plan is not being followed as expected, then consider: Was the plan realistic? Are there sufficient resources to accomplish the plan on schedule? Should more priority be placed on various aspects of the plan? Should the plan be changed?
• Verify if the problem has been resolved or not

One of the best ways to verify if a problem has been solved is to return to normal. Watch to see that the solution implemented solved the problem. If not, revisit the process and make necessary corrections.

The Six Step Problem-solving Model

Problem solving is the mental process you follow when you have a goal but can’t immediately understand how to achieve it. It’s a process that depends on you – how you perceive a problem, what you know about it, and the end-state you want to reach.

Solving a problem involves a number of cognitive activities:

• determining what the problem really is
• identifying the true causes of the problem and the opportunities for reaching a goal
• generating creative solutions to the problem
• evaluating and choosing the best solution, and
• implementing the best solution, then monitoring your actions and the results to ensure the problem is solved successfully

Clearly, problem solving isn’t a one-step process. Your success will depend on whether you approach and implement each of the stages effectively. The best way to do this is to use a well-established, systematic problem-solving model.

The six steps of problem solving

Problems vary widely, and so do their solutions. Sometimes a problem and its solution are clear, but you don’t know how to get from point A to point B. At other times, you may find it hard to define what’s wrong or how to fix it. Regardless of what a problem is, you can use a six-step problem-solving model to address it. This model is highly flexible and can be adapted to suit various types of problems. It also comes with a flexible set of tools to use at each step. The model is designed to be followed one step at a time, but you may find that some stages don’t require as much attention as others. This will depend on your unique situation.

The steps in the problem-solving model are as follows:

Identify the problem – Defining the problem is a crucial step that involves digging deeper to identify what it is that needs to be solved. The more clearly a problem is defined, the easier you’ll find it to complete subsequent steps. A symptom is a phenomenon or circumstance that results from a deeper, underlying condition. It’s common to mistake symptoms for problems themselves – and so to waste a lot of time and effort on tackling consequences of problems instead of their causes. To define a problem, you can use gap analysis, which involves comparing your current state to the future state you want to be in, to identify the gaps between them.

Gather the data and analyze the problem – You decide what type of problem it is – whether there’s a clear barrier or circumstance you need to overcome, or whether you need to determine how to reach a goal. You then dig to the root causes of the problem, and detail the nature of the gap between where you are and where you want to be. The five-why analysis is a tool that’ll help you get to the heart of the problem. Ask “Why?” a number of times to dig through each layer of symptoms and so to arrive at the problem’s root cause. You can get to the root of a more complicated problem using a cause-and-effect diagram. A cause is something that produces an effect, result, or consequence – or what contributed to the current state of affairs. Categories of causes include people, time, and the environment.

Identify as many potential solutions as you can – Brainstorm creatively – ask lots of questions about who, what, where, when, and how of the causes to point to various possibilities. Don’t limit yourself by considering practicalities at this stage; simply record your ideas.

Select and plan the solution – In evaluating your ideas, more options could present themselves. You could do this by rating each possible solution you came up with in step 3 according to criteria such as how effective it will be, how much time or effort it will take, its cost, and how likely it is to satisfy stakeholders.

During the planning step, you determine what steps must be taken, designating tasks where necessary. And you decide on deadlines for completing the actions and estimate the costs of implementing them. You also create a contingency plan in case of unforeseen circumstances so that if anything goes wrong with your plan, you have a “plan B” in place. Typically, this stage involves narrowing down the possible ways to implement the solution you’ve chosen, based on any constraints that apply. You also should draw up an action plan. The complexity of the plan will depend on the situation, but it should include the who, what, and when of your proposed solution.

Implement the solution – This is an ongoing process. You need to ensure the required resources remain available and monitor progress in solving the problem; otherwise, all the work you’ve done might be for nothing.

Evaluate the results —Check to see that your gained a favorable outcome and continue to monitor over time. If the result is not exactly what you hoped for, evaluate the places that may have contributed to the lesser outcome, revise your plan and try again.

Remember that this model is highly adaptable. Although you shouldn’t skip any of the six steps, you can tailor the amount of time you spend on each stage based on the demands of your unique situation.

The six-step problem-solving model, and the tools it provides, is an effective, systematic approach to problem solving. By following each step consciously, you can ensure that generating solutions is a fact-driven, objective, and reliable process. It encourages you to dig deeper to the root cause, allows you to get input from others, to be creative when finding solutions, and to monitor your solutions to make sure they’re working. So by following this model you’re more likely to come up with good, original, lasting solutions.

To solve problems effectively, you need to use a good problem-solving model. The six-step model is a tried-and-tested approach. Its steps include defining a problem, analyzing the problem, identifying possible solutions, choosing the best solution, planning your course of action, and finally implementing the solution while monitoring its effectiveness.

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Organizational Leadership: What It Is & Why It's Important

• 24 Jan 2023

Leadership is essential to organizations’ success, but many struggle to implement the right training. According to job search site Zippia , 83 percent of businesses believe it’s important to develop leaders at every level, but only five percent successfully do.

If you want to become an effective leader, here's an overview of what organizational leadership is, why it’s important, and how you can make an impact on your company.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Organizational Leadership?

Leadership is the ability to implement change by creating and communicating a vision to others. Organizational leadership is the qualities and skills required to run a company or one of its divisions. It’s greater in scale and scope than many other forms of leadership.

“Scale refers to the sheer size and magnitude of what you’re leading,” says Harvard Business School Professor Anthony Mayo in the online course Organizational Leadership , “how many people; how large a budget; and how many teams, locations, and operations you oversee. Scope refers to the range and diversity of what you’re responsible for—the range and diversity of the people, teams, business lines, locations, operations, and facilities you’re leading.”

Although leadership doesn't inherently require business acumen, it’s helpful for organizational leaders to have, so they can guide their organizations, drive innovation, and manage organizational change .

Organizational leaders must consider what’s happening outside and inside their businesses. They often don’t directly interact with everyone they lead—engaging in what’s known as capital “L” leadership.

The Capital "L" in Leadership

Many senior-level leaders hold capital "L" leadership roles. According to Organizational Leadership , those leaders no longer have direct contact with everyone in their organizations and must:

• Inspire and motivate their employees
• Lead their organizations into the future
• Anticipate and respond to internal and external threats
• Pursue opportunities that range from money makers to risky bets
• Handle crises quickly and assuredly

As your duties increase as a leader—overseeing or guiding those you don’t directly supervise—it's essential to learn how to communicate effectively and execute tasks. This is particularly important when considering the differences between organizational leadership and traditional management.

Organizational Leadership vs. Traditional Management

Leadership and management differ in several ways. At an organizational level, the two are highly intertwined but have three primary differences.

• Proximity to the team: Managers work closely with the individuals they oversee, whereas organizational leaders don't always have direct contact with those they lead.
• Scale: Like leadership, management is a broad term that can be big or small in scale, whereas organizational leadership involves managing larger populations.
• Role: Managers are hired for specific roles; organizational leaders oversee managers and ensure their companies’ visions are reflected in how they guide and align teams.

What Makes Organizational Leaders Effective?

Organizational leaders bring unique qualities, competencies, and practices to their roles. In Organizational Leadership , this is called a leadership constellation .

A leadership constellation includes:

• Qualities: The aspects of who you are as a person. They contribute to how others perceive you.
• Competencies: The skills and knowledge you've developed over time that enable you to fulfill responsibilities—either by yourself or by leading others.
• Practices: The routine actions you engage in to complete tasks, guide your team and organization, and enhance your and others’ skills.

According to Organizational Leadership , you can leverage these attributes in three ways:

• Leader as beacon: Creating and communicating a vision to your organization and embodying it in your conduct (i.e., leading by example)
• Leader as architect: Ensuring your organization can follow the direction you set, and creating value using the tools and resources at your disposal
• Leader as catalyst of change: Leading organizational change by encouraging and enabling it

To be an effective leader , strive to be proficient in each.

Why Is Effective Organizational Leadership Important?

Leadership is vital in business. Organizational leaders assume an additional role because they often set the tone for the directions their companies—and sometimes even their industries—will take.

Here are four reasons why effective organizational leadership is important.

1. Motivates Team Members

Leaders play a critical role in employee engagement. According to Zippia , 69 percent of employees say they would work harder if their efforts were better recognized. This is an important statistic to consider if you struggle to retain talent or want to boost team performance .

Motivated, engaged employees can lead to higher productivity. A Gallup analysis of employee engagement data shows that highly engaged employees resulted in a 14 percent increase in productivity compared to those who were less engaged.

Leaders focus on improving team morale and their companies. Those at higher levels face the challenge of improving employees’ motivation without direct lines of contact.

According to Organizational Leadership , you can improve employee morale by:

• Hiring for leadership: If you’re involved in the recruiting process, ensure you hire effective leaders for management positions.
• Creating a positive company culture: If your company’s culture is positive and encouraging, your employees will likely be more motivated.
• Structuring effectively: For your organization to deliver value, its structures, systems, and processes must align with its people and culture.
• Openness to feedback: Even if you're not directly responsible for leading every employee, making yourself available to them can go a long way toward ensuring they feel valued.

Related: 6 Strategies for Engaging Your Employees

2. Promotes Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Leadership requires a large degree of adaptability. Many problems require creative solutions , especially when their causes are hard to identify. As a leader, you’re responsible for helping others navigate difficult situations and making decisions that benefit your organization.

Even if you don't encounter most of your company’s daily high-level problems, you can be a role model for other employees and establish a structured approach to becoming a creative problem-solver .

3. Fosters Open Communication

Communication skills are essential for leaders. Poor communication in the workplace can lead to a host of problems , such as stress, project delays, and decreased morale.

Organizational Leadership offers four ways to foster open communication in your company, including:

• Providing information about what's going on in a way that encourages and enables employees to act
• Explaining your organization's direction in a logical manner that appeals to employees’ emotions
• Ensuring employees know how their everyday tasks connect to your organization's overarching mission
• Accomplishing tasks with individual employees and groups, virtually and in-person

Neglecting these actions can hinder your company’s success.

4. Allows Leaders to be Goal-Oriented

Organizational leaders typically set the direction for their company and enable others to follow it. According to Organizational Leadership , a good direction must be:

• Clear: An unclear direction can prevent others from supporting it. Ensure you convey your expectations so they can be met.
• Compelling: Make sure it's a direction people are willing and eager to follow.
• Concise: If others in your organization can't understand the direction, they won't follow it.

Once the path forward is clear, exciting, and accessible, it becomes much easier to set and achieve organizational goals.

Taking the First Step to Becoming an Organizational Leader

To be a successful leader, it's crucial to continuously develop your skills. Identify which leadership style resonates with you and seek opportunities to grow and adapt.

Whether you're already an organizational leader or hoping to become one, you can benefit from pursuing educational opportunities that enhance your leadership knowledge and abilities.

Ready to take the next step in your career? Consider enrolling in Organizational Leadership —one of our online leadership and management courses—to discover how to lead at scale. To learn more about what it takes to be an effective leader, download our free leadership e-book .

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Teamwork in Healthcare: Key Discoveries Enabling Safer, High-Quality Care

Michael A. Rosen

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Deborah DiazGranados

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

Aaron S. Dietz

Lauren E. Benishek

David Thompson

Peter J. Pronovost

Sallie J. Weaver

National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland

Aaron S. Dietz is now at the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Washington, DC. Peter J. Pronovost is now at United Healthcare, Baltimore, MD.

Few industries match the scale of health care. In the United States alone, an estimated 85% of the population has at least 1 health care encounter annually and at least one quarter of these people experience 4 to 9 encounters annually. A single visit requires collaboration among a multidisciplinary group of clinicians, administrative staff, patients, and their loved ones. Multiple visits often occur across different clinicians working in different organizations. Ineffective care coordination and the underlying suboptimal teamwork processes are a public health issue. Health care delivery systems exemplify complex organizations operating under high stakes in dynamic policy and regulatory environments. The coordination and delivery of safe, high-quality care demands reliable teamwork and collaboration within, as well as across, organizational, disciplinary, technical, and cultural boundaries. In this review, we synthesize the evidence examining teams and teamwork in health care delivery settings in order to characterize the current state of the science and to highlight gaps in which studies can further illuminate our evidence-based understanding of teamwork and collaboration. Specifically, we highlight evidence concerning (a) the relationship between teamwork and multilevel outcomes, (b) effective teamwork behaviors, (c) competencies (i.e., knowledge, skills, and attitudes) underlying effective teamwork in the health professions, (d) teamwork interventions, (e) team performance measurement strategies, and (f) the critical role context plays in shaping teamwork and collaboration in practice. We also distill potential avenues for future research and highlight opportunities to understand the translation, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based teamwork principles into practice.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine issued a report that changed how health systems, providers, and researchers understand the occurrence of medical errors ( Kohn, Corrigan, & Donaldson, 1999 ). Since the report’s release, the U.S. health care industry continues to undergo large-scale transformation to improve the value of care ( Young, Olsen, & McGinnis, 2010 ). One factor, identified as a common contributor to medical errors, is the fragmented nature of how health care is delivered. Interventions and reforms vary but frequently include efforts to improve the coordination of care delivery (e.g., McDonald et al., 2014 ). Consequently, psychological research on how team members form cohesive social units, interdependently function, and adapt over time to achieve shared goals and manage complex work contributes to educational, technological, and work redesign interventions to improve care delivery, patient outcomes, and, ultimately, public health ( Thomas, 2011 ).

Why Study Health Care Teams?

Research on teams and teamwork processes within health care is important for two main reasons. First, the quality of teamwork is associated with the quality and safety of care delivery systems. This represents an opportunity for team researchers to contribute to solving large societal challenges. Second, the health care industry provides the means to develop and test theories on a large scale, across a wide range of team types. Each of these opportunities is elaborated on in the following two sections.

The Importance of Teamwork to the Quality and Safety of Care Delivery

Academics, policymakers, and the public are increasingly aware of the magnitude of preventable patient harm in U.S. health care, which may exceed 250,000 deaths per year ( Makary & Daniel, 2016 ). These harms include hospital-acquired infections ( Klevens et al., 2007 ), patient falls ( Miake-Lye, Hempel, Ganz, & Shekelle, 2013 ), diagnostic errors ( Newman-Toker & Pronovost, 2009 ), and surgical errors ( Howell, Panesar, Burns, Donaldson, & Darzi, 2014 ), among others ( Pham et al., 2012 ). Each manifests through complex interactions in the sociotechnical care delivery system.

Communication failures are both an independent cause of preventable patient harm and a cross-cutting contributing factor underlying other harms. Transitions of care (i.e., between care areas or shift changes) in acute care settings are leading opportunities for communication failures directly causing patient harm. They are high-risk interactions in which critical information about the patient’s status and plan of care can be miscommunicated, leading to delays in treatment or inappropriate therapies. These transitions are associated with approximately 28% of surgical adverse events ( Gawande, Zinner, Studdert, & Brennan, 2003 ). Additionally, care team member interactions contribute to specific clinical harms. Poor communication of medication name, dose, route of delivery, and timing of administration between physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and patients can lead to medication errors ( Keers, Williams, Cooke, & Ashcroft, 2013 ). Hierarchy (e.g., between professional roles, and over occupational tenure) can inhibit the assertive communication necessary for effective recovery from error ( Sutcliffe, Lewton, & Rosenthal, 2004 ) such as violation of evidence-based treatment protocols.

The teamwork and communication challenges in health care manifest the problem of coordination neglect in organizational systems ( Heath & Staudenmayer, 2000 ). Managing complex work usually involves breaking it into tasks and delegating components of the work. However, across industries, there is a strong tendency to emphasize the division of labor and ignore mechanisms of coordination and integration ( Heath & Staudenmayer, 2000 ). Health care delivery is inherently interdependent and increasingly complex. No one individual can assure a patient receives the highest standard of care, nor can he or she protect the patient from all potential harms stemming from increasingly complex and powerful therapies. However, despite high levels of interdependence, health care has underinvested in structured and evidence-based practices for managing teams and coordinating care ( Kohn et al., 1999 ).

Health Care as a Vehicle to Advance the Science of Teams

Like the innovative and foundational work on military teams or aviation crews in past decades, health care provides a unique setting for team researchers to develop and test theories of team effectiveness. There is a wide variety of team types and configurations across the health care industry. From tightly coupled colocated surgical or trauma teams, to virtual teams of consultants contributing to a diagnosis, to loosely coupled teams working to manage chronic care, and even translational science teams working to integrate basic science researchers and community members, teamwork in health care spans the spectrum. Care delivery involves a multitude of professional roles, configured in different structures and completing varied tasks. Team sizes range from dyadic (e.g., care providers and patients involved in shared decision making) to extensive multiteam systems (MTSs; e.g., quality and safety in improvement teams within a health system; Weaver et al., 2014 ). Care teams vary in most of the features linked to team performance, including authority and skill differentiation, temporal stability, and physical and temporal distribution. Care teams complete tasks ranging from complex problem solving and planning (e.g., diagnosis and treatment planning during multidisciplinary rounds) to intensive psychomotor work requiring coordination (e.g., surgical procedures). In short, teams in health care span the full spectrum of team taxonomies. The majority of team research in health care focuses on acute care settings and tightly coupled colocated action teams (e.g., surgical teams, trauma and emergency medicine teams). The discoveries described in this article are rooted primarily in studies of these types of health care teams and efforts to translate team performance principles discovered in similar action-oriented teams (e.g., aviation) to teams working in acute care settings like hospitals and prehospital emergency medical services. Although many of the discoveries presented in this article may generalize to nonaction types of teams in health care (e.g., primary care, multidisciplinary care teams that include lay patient navigators), there is relatively limited empirical teamwork science upon which to base that assertion. An increasing emphasis on population health, including preventative and chronic care, means there are opportunities for psychology researchers to contribute more broadly. Specifically, by strengthening our understanding of teams and teamwork processes in more complex organizational systems (e.g., MTSs) that must work interdependently over longer time horizons we will be better able to manage care in these settings; for example, understanding how to build teams to manage the transition to palliative care for terminal patients ( Waldfogel et al., 2016 ) or better integrating mental health services into primary care in rural care settings in which clinical team members may not be physically colocated with patients or one another ( Grumbach & Bodenheimer, 2004 ). Teams research can help to inform important issues by partnering with and learning from other research communities, including public health, health services, and health care delivery scientists, implementation science, and others interested in understanding an improving teamwork and coordination across the health care continuum. Unique and complex team configurations, as well as ongoing transformations in health care delivery systems, provide wide-ranging opportunities about which team researchers can work to generate new knowledge.

Purpose of This Review

In this review, we highlight the contributions of psychological research to the advancement of evidence-based teamwork practices in care delivery. As detailed in Figure 1 , Panel A, this review is guided by the input-mediator-output framework ( Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, & Jundt, 2005 ) and our collective experience conducting research and applied teamwork improvement projects in health care. We draw from recent and comprehensive empirical and narrative reviews of the science of teams in health care published between December 2000 and December 2017 that were identified through keyword searches of PubMED and PsycINFO to synthesize what is known about the team inputs (i.e., structure and context, teamwork competencies), team processes, measurement and improvement strategies, and, ultimately, the impact these things have on care delivery outcomes. We close with future directions and opportunities for psychologists to continue contributing to the science of teams in health care. Table 1 provides a summary of key discoveries and associated future directions for research.

Illustration of team science frameworks guiding this review. Panel A depicts the input-mediator-output (IMO) framework guiding the team science discoveries. Discovery 1 focuses on organizational context factors (inputs) impacting team effectiveness. Discoveries 2 and 3 focus on what is known about effective teamwork competencies (inputs) and processes (mediators). Discovery 4 focuses on how team processes are measured, and Discovery 5 on how competencies and processes are improved. Discovery 6 focuses on evidence linking teamwork to outcomes. Panel B illustrates multiteam system (MTS) interdependence structures in healthcare organizations. Component team (CT) 1 and CT 2 exhibit intensive coordination, such as a primary care team and group of consultants working collaboratively on diagnosis and treatment planning; CTs 1, 3, and 5 exhibit sequential interdependence, such as care teams within a preoperative surgical clinic, operating room, and recovery unit caring for surgical patients; CTs 3 and 4 exhibit reciprocal interdependence, such as physical therapy and nursing teams working to ambulate patients within an inpatient care unit.

Summary of Key Discoveries and Future Directions

Note. MTS = Multi-Team System; KSA = Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes; HIT = Health Information Technology; EHR = Electronic Health Record.

Discovery 1: Structure and Context Matter to Understanding the Quality of Teamwork

Discovery 1 pertains to structural and contextual issues impacting teamwork. These are considered inputs in our IMO framework. Knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) are not the only determinates of teamwork. The structure of the task and the context in which teams function are critical to understanding and improving teamwork. Health care teams are primarily project (e.g., quality improvement teams), management, or work (e.g., care delivery) teams ( Lemieux-Charles & McGuire, 2006 ). Moreover, work teams can be divided into subcategories—those teams who focus on a patient population (e.g., geriatrics or pediatrics) or disease type (e.g., diabetes or stroke), and those teams who focus on a care delivery setting (e.g., primary, acute,home). This section summarizes structural and contextual influences on teamwork.

Structure: Team Composition and Task Interdependence

Team composition is the configuration of attributes of a team’s members ( Levine & Moreland, 1990 ). Team composition influences teamwork processes and outcomes through surface-level or deep-level constructs. Surface-level variables are overtly identifiable (e.g., age, race, training discipline), whereas deep-level variables are underlying psychological variables (e.g., personality, attitudes) discoverable only after interacting with someone ( Bell, 2007 ). Team composition research in health care has focused primarily on role diversity. For example, Lingard and colleagues (2004) studied differences in attitudes about teamwork between professions in the surgical services, finding variations between roles about how conflict should be resolved in the operating room. Team composition has served as the basis of improvement interventions as well. For example, interprofessional or multidisciplinary rounds in the acute care settings are clinical problem-solving and planning episodes including one or more physician, nurses, and other professionals (e.g., pharmacists), often conducted at the bedside to engage patients and their loved ones. The introduction of multidisciplinary rounds significantly improves quality measures for congestive heart failure and pneumonia ( O’Mahony, Mazur, Charney, Wang, & Fine, 2007 ), decreases length of stay for trauma patients ( Dutton et al., 2003 ), and improves communication and shared awareness between nurses and physicians. Including a pharmacist on physician rounds in an intensive care unit reduces prescribing orders by 66% ( Leape et al., 1999 ), because needed expertise about medications has been added to the team. These structural interventions do not inherently ensure that good teamwork will occur. Role boundary conflicts can emerge when teamwork is poor (e.g., team members overstepping professional boundaries; Kvarnström, 2008 ).

Context: External Leadership and Culture

Health care teams function in a variety of contexts. Research to date has focused on the role of culture and organizational leadership external to the team in health care team functioning. Although culture and external leadership are distinct concepts, they are tightly intertwined in practice as leaders influence collective perceptions of values and priorities. The hospital in which a team functions has its own culture, and each hospital unit may have its own micro culture. Each of these contexts influence how teams function and shape team member interactions ( DiazGranados, Dow, Appelbaum, Mazmanian, & Retchin, 2017 ).

From a patient safety lens, learning from error is a critical organizational capacity requiring staff to be comfortable recognizing, reporting, and discussing challenging situations. Nembhard and Edmondson (2006) investigated the effects of leader inclusiveness (i.e., the words or deeds of leaders that may support others’ contributions) on the relationship between status and psychological safety in teams. Results indicated that leader inclusiveness helped to overcome some of the negative effects (i.e., low psychological safety) of status in health care teams. These team dynamics are critical for creating a safe environment for individuals and teams to learn from their mistakes.

Tucker and Edmondson (2003) conducted a study on hospital nursing care processes and found that nurses, key members of the interprofessional health care team, engaged in certain strategies when solving problems that they encountered. First, they did whatever it took to continue the patient-care task, and they did this without probing into what caused the problem. Second, nurses tended to ask for help from those socially close to them; this allowed nurses to help preserve their “reputation regarding his or her competence at handling the daily rigors of nursing” (p. 61). These strategies have implications, whether overt or subtle, on how teams function and particularly on how learning occurs as a response to errors or problems.

Organizational context influences team processes and outcomes ( Lemieux-Charles & McGuire, 2006 ). Organizational culture provides the operating conditions (e.g., norms of interaction; Edmondson, Bohmer, & Pisano, 2001 ) that promote effective teamwork.

Discovery 2: The Competencies Underlying Teamwork in Health Care Settings Are Identifiable

Discovery 2 pertains to the formal definitions of teamwork KSAs (inputs in the IMO framework) and their identification as targets for intervention, particularly for training interventions. The body of work examining teamwork processes in health care, combined with models of team performance and effectiveness developed in psychology and organizational science (e.g., Ilgen et al., 2005 ; Weaver, Feitosa, & Salas, 2013 ; Zaccaro, Marks, & DeChurch, 2012 ), provided the foundation for identifying individual- and group-level KSAs that underlie effective teamwork in clinical care settings (e.g., Dow, DiazGranados, Mazmanian, & Retchin, 2013 ; Fernandez, Kozlowski, Shapiro, & Salas, 2008 ; McDonald et al., 2014 ). Models of teamwork competencies in health care have shed light on the KSAs necessary for teaming effectively in (a) interdisciplinary contexts in which coordination, communication, and collaboration must occur across disciplines with different training, professional norms, and specialized languages; and (b) in contexts in which teamwork must occur asynchronously across boundaries over prolonged periods of time.

Differentiating Technical Versus Nontechnical Skills in Health Care

Seminal work in team science differentiated teamwork from taskwork, emphasizing that team members needed competencies in both to fully contribute to team outcomes ( Cannon-Bowers, Tannenbaum, Salas, & Volpe, 1995 ). Team scientists have long taken this for granted as a core, evidence-based principle of team performance. Evidence derived from studies of lab, military, and aviation teams identified team/collective orientation, mission analysis and planning, mutual performance monitoring, backup behavior, adaptability, and leadership as critical teamwork competencies ( Salas, Rosen, Burke, & Goodwin, 2009 ). However, work examining the bifurcation of technical competencies (e.g., procedural clinical care, clinical decision making) from nontechnical (e.g., social and cognitive) competencies among clinicians has helped to expand the scientific understanding of the broad range of KSAs underlying team performance under high stakes in which team membership may change rapidly, and in which performances may be episodic, offering limited practice or experience working together.

The Non-Technical Skills in Medical Education Special Interest Group (NOME SIG), an international consortium of clinicians, educators, and researchers, developed a consensus definition that describes nontechnical skills as

a set of social (communication and team work) and cognitive (analytical and personal behavior) skills that support high quality, safe, effective and efficient interprofessional care within the complex healthcare system. ( Gordon, Baker, Catchpole, Darbyshire, & Schocken, 2015 , p. 572)

Early models of nontechnical skills in anesthesia, surgery, and similar care contexts evolved mainly from models of teamwork in other high-risk industries, including aviation, military operations, and energy production (e.g., Yule, Flin, Paterson-Brown, & Maran, 2006 ). These models focused primarily on individual-level interpersonal competencies (e.g., communication, seeking diverse input and feedback, offering and seeking help) and cognitive competencies (e.g., monitoring, decision making). For example, the NOME SIG identified nontechnical skills that clinicians should receive training in and eight additional skills for team leaders (see Table 2 ; Gordon et al., 2015 ). Arguably, some of these early competency models focused on episodic team performances, such as teamwork during surgical procedures or during a code team resuscitation, and most were presented in the context of efforts to enhance patient safety.

Example Teamwork Competency Frameworks for Health Care Professionals

Note. KSA = Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes.

Teamwork Competencies in Nonepisodic Care Contexts

Other frameworks defined nontechnical competencies in care contexts that called for managing interdependent work over longer periods of time in looser team structures. For example, clinical care in critical care or floor units of a hospital, long-term care, or rehabilitation often unfolds over multiple days, or months, and involves a core team of clinicians delivering the majority of bedside care (i.e., nurses, technicians, attending physician) and a medium to large number of consuiting clinicians who join the care team during brief episodes centered around specific tasks (e.g., rounds) or for specific purposes (e.g., consults, rehabilitative or therapeutic services). Criticai incident studies demonstrated overiap between the nontechnical competencies that these settings required and those identified in models developed for surgery, anesthesia, and aviation, but they also pointed to several key differences ( Reader & Cuthbertson, 2011 ). For example, in these contexts, expertise is often highly distributed, formal leadership (e.g., attending physicians), and team membership changes often, leadership styles may differ among formal leaders, and communication across specialties or interdependent units is often informal, unstandardized, and fragmented. In the health services and medical education literatures, the related concept of interprofessional collaboration emerged from the organizational sociology literature and also helped to identify key teamwork competencies ( D’Amour, Ferrada-Videla, San Martin Rodriguez, & Beaulieu, 2005 ). This work emphasized the importance of team-level competencies like adaptability, implicit and explicit coordination, shared leadership, and conflict resolution as components of effective teamwork in dynamic environments ( Salas et al., 2009 ).

Teamwork Competency Frameworks in Health Care Education Policy and Practice

Although earlier calls exist, a report by the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Health Professions Education Summit (2003) legitimized teamwork competencies as a standard component of graduate and continuing professional education in the health professions. The report identified the capacity to “work in interdisciplinary teams … to cooperate, collaborate, communicate, and integrate care in teams to ensure that care is continuous and reliable” (p. 45) as a core competency that all clinicians should possess regardless of discipline. The ensuing movement to develop tools and methods to help students and current practitioners to strengthen their teamwork competencies is reflected in both the interprofessional education (IPE) movement and the TeamSTEPPS program, an evidence-based toolkit jointly developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Department of Defense. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), a consortium of health profession educational associations, issued a revised report identifying overarching domains and subcompetencies that collectively comprise the core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice (see Table 1 ; IPEC, 2016 ). The IPEC competencies have been adopted in both curriculum and accreditation standards in the United States and internationally.

Although the IPEC framework focuses on undergraduate and graduate education, the TeamSTEPPS framework defines core teamwork competencies for both trainees and existing clinicians. The TeamSTEPPS framework draws from the Big Five model of team performance developed by Salas and colleagues (2005) to identify four core teamwork skill domains, including communication, leadership, situation monitoring, and mutual support. The framework emphasizes the interplay among these core skills and that doing more of one will not fully compensate for limited capacity in another.

Teaming Over Time in Complex Delivery Systems: Teamwork and Care Coordination Models

Recent available data indicate that over half of Americans have at least one chronic condition, with over one third having two or more chronic conditions. Patients with chronic conditions like cancer, mood or anxiety disorders, high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes see multiple providers and account for nearly 71% of domestic health care spending in the United States ( Gerteis et al., 2014 ). Patients with the greatest number of chronic conditions see 14 different physicians and fill 50 prescriptions, on average, per year ( Warshaw, 2006 ). Coordinating care for these patients requires teamwork across multiple disciplines (e.g., internal/family medicine, specialists, home health providers, social services) and organizations in order to provide whole person care. As specialization increases, patient care and efforts to improve care have become the work of MTSs ( DiazGranados, Dow, Perry, & Palesis, 2014 ; Weaver et al., 2014 ). Figure 1 , Panel B, illustrates some of the complex ways in which MTSs can be configured. However, limited research to date examines the competencies that matter most for teams and individuals working in such MTSs. For example, individual-level skills in sharing leadership, boundary spanning, systems thinking, and brokerage/negotiation are likely important ( Long, Cunningham, & Braithwaite, 2013 ; Van Houdt, Heyrman, Vanhaecht, Sermeus, & De Lepeleire, 2013 ). The teams and organizational behavior literatures offer some nascent insight into what these competency areas may be ( Shuffler, Jimenez-Rodriguez, & Kramer, 2015 ), but this is an area in which studies of health care teams and delivery systems offer an opportunity to advance the science of teams and more complex MTSs. Additionally, expanding our understanding of the competencies related to working as part of virtual teams and with health information technology (HIT) as an agent-based team member are critical for preparing clinicians for working in increasingly networked delivery systems ( President’s Cancer Panel, 2016 ). Lastly, the need for research examining team competency assessment strategies and the impact on patient and provider outcomes ( Institute of Medicine, 2015 ), as well as contextual factors that shape teamwork processes in practice, continues ( Salas & Rosen, 2013 ).

Discovery 3: Teamwork Processes in Health Care Include Rapid Learning, Listening Intently, Adapting, and Speaking Up Among Clearly Defined Team Members and Loose Collaborators

Discovery 3 pertains to current knowledge about effective teamwork process behaviors in health care. Conceptual models of the processes underlying team performance in health care are exemplars in translating and adapting generalized psychological theories to new contexts, specific problems, and emerging scientific gaps. Models of team performance in various health care contexts have successfully adapted and extended established models of team performance (e.g., Dow et al., 2013 ; Fernandez et al., 2008 ). Observational and interventional studies reinforce that many affective, cognitive, behavioral processes that matter for other teams operating in high-risk, dynamic environments also matter for teams delivering clinical care ( Dietz et al., 2014 ; Manser, 2009 ). However, this body of work also highlights that health care teams, like other teams operating in high-risk, dynamic environments with rapid and dynamic performance cycles, engage in (a) adaptive coordination ( Bogdanovic, Perry, Guggenheim, & Manser, 2015 ); (b) critical task execution while learning and synthesizing new or emerging information ( Schraagen, 2011 ); (c) intentional listening, translation of information coming from disciplines with highly specialized languages, and explicit reasoning ( Tschan et al., 2009 ); and (d) speaking up deliberately in contexts in which psychological safety may be low and hierarchical norms strong ( Nembhard & Edmondson, 2006 ). As was the case in the general scientific literature on teams ( Salas, Cooke, & Rosen, 2008 ), there is a lack of standard terminology for team process behaviors in health care ( Nestel, Walker, Simon, Aggarwal, & Andreatta, 2011 ). However, the general categories of team process behaviors from the science of teams (i.e., action, transition, and interpersonal; Marks, Mathieu, & Zaccaro, 2001 ) accurately characterizes much of the work in health care.

Discovery 4: Team Performance Can Be Validly Measured Across Complex Settings

Discovery 4 pertains to the assessment of teamwork, or mediators in the IMO framework. As teamwork competencies become the focus for accreditation by educational, professional, and regulatory organizations, valid measurement is needed to evaluate and assess performance, determine the impact of team improvement initiatives, and provide structure with regards to how teams receive performance feedback. Real-time measurement can also prompt immediate self-correction or external interventions to enhance performance.

The array of performance settings, compositional structures, and competency requirements has prompted a proliferation of team measurement tools; 73 unique tools have been identified in internal medicine alone ( Havyer et al., 2014 ). In health care, like most domains, team performance data are typically collected through surveys and direct observations.

Survey studies involve asking team members to rate themselves, the team, and/or their organization. They are used to measure attitudinal competencies (e.g., trust) but can measure perceptions of the quality of team member interactions ( Keebler et al., 2014 ). Safety culture surveys are the most widely used approach to measuring team dynamics in health care ( Havyer et al., 2014 ), in part because of hospital accreditors in the United States requiring institutional leadership to “regularly evaluate the culture of safety and quality using valid and reliable tools” ( Joint Commission, 2012 , p. 1). Safety culture surveys with strong psychometric evidence include the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture ( Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2016 ) and the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ( Sexton et al., 2006 ). In addition to gauging perceptions of overall safety, these surveys measure constructs related to communication, leadership, and coordination and collaboration within and across units. With respect to safety, culture scores are inversely related to adverse events, with areas related to handoffs and transitions of care, teamwork within units, and teamwork across units having the strongest relationship ( Mardon, Khanna, Sorra, Dyer, & Famolaro, 2010 ). A limiting factor of survey research, however, is the respondent biases that may influence findings.

Unlike surveys, observational approaches measure team performance in real time. The use of external raters adds objectivity to measurement. The majority of observational tools in health care have been developed and applied to specific clinical work areas, with surgery and resuscitation being the most common ( Dietz et al., 2014 ). Further, these tools have been developed to assess teamwork at individual ( Fletcher et al., 2003 ; Yule et al., 2006 ) and team levels of analysis ( Mishra, Catchpole, & McCulloch, 2009 ). Most observational tools in health care rely on low-resolution time scales, in which behaviors are assessed at the conclusion of an observation period ( Dietz et al., 2014 ). Such scales, which fail to capture the moment-to-moment fluctuations in performance, are useful for summative evaluations that convey a team’s proficiency or performance relative to other teams or their prior performance for a given task ( Rosen et al., 2012 ). A key drawback surrounding observation is the substantial amount of time required to train raters to reliably use a measurement tool, resulting in significant costs even before considering the protected time needed for staff to conduct ratings. Further, health care tasks are often emergent, and the sequence of behavioral interdependencies cannot be predicted, complicating the logistics of observational measurement.

Discovery 5: Health Care Team Training Competencies Can Be Systematically Improved

Discovery 5 pertains to interventions designed to improve teamwork competencies (inputs) or mediators in the IMO framework. Teamwork matters to numerous outcomes and the competencies underlying teamwork are identifiable. As a result, significant efforts have been dedicated to providing health care workers opportunities to systematically build teamwork competencies.

Team Training

Defined as a learning strategy comprising a set of tools and methods that learners use to systematically acquire teamwork KSAs ( Hughes et al., 2016 ; Salas, DiazGranados, et al., 2008 ), team training is a widely implemented and well-evidenced intervention for building health care team competencies ( Buljac-Samardzic, Dekker-van Doorn, van Wijngaarden, & van Wijk, 2010 ; Weaver, Dy, & Rosen, 2014 ). It has been used both as an individual- and team-level intervention to improve outcomes at multiple levels of analysis including individual (e.g., attitudes), team (e.g., efficiency), and organizational (e.g., safety culture) levels. Recent estimates suggest that as many as 75% of medical students now receive some form of team training ( Beach, 2013 ). Additionally, more than 1.5 million health care workers have completed the TeamSTEPPS program ( Global Diffusion of Healthcare Innovation Working Group, 2015 ).

A recent meta-analysis of 129 studies synthesized the evidence supporting health care team training ( Hughes et al., 2016 ) using a multilevel training evaluation framework assessing programs across four criteria: reactions, learning, transfer, and results. Reactions refer to the affective and utility judgments of participants after completing a training program ( Alliger, Tannenbaum, Bennett, Traver, & Shotland, 1997 ). Reactions can impact learning and retention of training content as participants who both enjoy (affect) and perceive training to be jobrelevant (utility) are more likely to retain what they have learned and use it at work ( Brown, 2005 ). Learning refers to whether trained KSAs changed because of participating in training. Transfer criteria assess whether newly acquired or improved KSAs are utilized in the job context. Results refer to the beneficial changes observed within the organization because of training. In health care, results include any number of outcomes including patient safety and quality indicators (e.g., reduced length of stay), patient satisfaction, or cost savings. Hughes et al. (2016) showed that training impacts all four criteria. Moreover, the authors demonstrated evidence that their relationships are sequential in nature such that positive training reactions are associated with greater learning, which translates into improved teamwork on the job and subsequently benefits the health care facility and its patients. These findings demonstrate the cascading impact of team training. However, based on the general transfer of training literature ( Ford, Baldwin, & Prasad, 2017 ), the greatest impact may come from a bundled approach to team training interventions that embed effective teamwork within the organization (e.g., include structured tools, work process changes, and other interventions to support sustained improvements).

On-the-Job Tools and Strategies

Health care team improvement tools can be categorized as checklists, goal sheets, and case analyses. Their purpose is to improve communication by making team processes, goals, and case discussion explicit ( Buljac-Samardzic et al., 2010 ). For example, standardized handoff protocols are a type of structured team interaction (i.e., checklist) used to overcome information loss occurring between care transitions. These protocols encourage greater information exchange and improve patient, provider, and organizational outcomes ( Keebler et al., 2016 ).

Tools to improve team effectiveness are attractive because they are often presented as easy and unit-specialized alternatives to other more involved and time-consuming team interventions, such as training. It is often assumed that they will be understood and swiftly adopted. Thus, team tools are implemented with little instruction on their use in daily practice ( Buljac-Samardzic et al., 2010 ). Further, staff may hesitate to adopt tools and strategies until they understand their value and how workflow will change as a result. Team improvement tools and strategies must be integrated into the unit or organizational culture and workflow.

Moderating Conditions

It is necessary to understand the conditions that influence team intervention effectiveness. Leadership is a critical element in creating and sustaining the culture change necessary for adoption of team improvement tools and strategies. Implementation of surgical briefings and debriefings illustrates this clearly. Briefings allow for teams to ensure that all members understand goals, understand everyone’s roles and responsibilities, and have a chance to voice concerns. Debriefing affords a valuable learning opportunity for teams to discuss their performance with the expectation to improve during the next performance period. Briefings and debriefings have been widely implemented in surgery, but surgical teams with leadership involvement and visible support are more likely to sustain the practice over time ( Paull et al., 2009 ). Structured briefings and debriefings are an effective team strategy, but they, like all other interventions, require strong leadership to realize their benefits. Once implemented, wide variation in the mindful engagement of staff in the use of structured communication tools is possible ( Johnston et al., 2014 ). Across organizations, the amount of improvement in patient outcomes realized by the introduction of structured communication tools is significantly moderated by the preexisting culture of the organization such that organization high in safety culture see large benefits and those low in safety culture see little to no benefit ( Haynes et al., 2011 ). Safety culture (i.e., the degree to which safety concerns are prioritized relative to other goals) is heavily influenced by leadership ( Ruchlin, Dubbs, & Callahan, 2004 ) and is critical to avoid the perception of structured communication tools as administrative tasks of little value ( Catchpole & Russ, 2015 ).

Well-planned, well-supported, and well-received team interventions still require consideration of the organization’s capability of sustaining the new tool, strategy, or work structure. To achieve long-term solutions, organizational policies, reward structures, and culture must align to support the expected values and behaviors. New staff must understand norms surrounding team tools and strategies. This includes periodic refresher training for all staff as teamwork related skills can decay ( Arthur, Day, Bennett, & Portrey, 2013 ). Linking teamwork practices to regulatory requirements and policy has shown to improve sustainment ( Armour Forse, Bramble, & McQuillan, 2011 ). Team training can improve performance, but it is sustained over time through efforts to ensure continued KSA proficiency and tying expectations to organizational policy.

Discovery 6: Teamwork Quality Impacts Patient, Staff, and Organizational Outcomes

Discovery 6 pertains to the relationship between the quality of teamwork mediators and outcomes in the IMO framework. Meta-analytic synthesis of decades of psychological research has established the important empirical relationships between team process ( LePine, Piccolo, Jackson, Mathieu, & Saul, 2008 ), team cognition ( DeChurch & Mesmer-Magnus, 2010 ), team affect ( Gully, Incalcaterra, Joshi, & Beaubien, 2002 ), and performance outcomes. These findings have been replicated and extended in the health care context, focusing on important value-based health transformation outcomes. Specifically, major discoveries include conceptual and empirical connections between the quality of teamwork and patient outcomes, and health care worker outcomes.

Teamwork and Patient Care Outcomes

A growing body of literature links the quality of teamwork to the quality and safety of health care delivery ( Schmutz & Manser, 2013 ). Work in this area has focused on three domains: (a) the quality (i.e., degree to which patients receive treatment consistent with current guidelines and professional knowledge) and safety (i.e., risk of preventable patient harm) of care, (b) patient experience (i.e., self-reported outcomes), and (c) clinical patient outcomes.

First, a variety of studies confirm the pervasive nature of communication and coordination risks. Observational studies in surgical services indicate that approximately 30% of team interactions include a communication failure of some type ( Lingard et al., 2004 ) and that patients receiving care with poor teamwork are almost five times as likely to experience complications or death (odds ratio = 4.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.30, 17.87]; Mazzocco et al., 2009 ). A large Australian study found preventable patient deaths were twice as likely to be caused by a communication failure as an error of technical competence ( Wilson et al., 1995 ).

Second, positive associations between the quality of teamwork in inpatient facilities and patients’ self-reported satisfaction with their care have been established ( Lyu, Wick, Housman, Freischlag, & Makary, 2013 ), with patients receiving care from higher performing teams being more satisfied. Although patient satisfaction has always been considered important, it has recently been connected to hospital reimbursement.

Third, studies demonstrate the association between teamwork within care areas and clinical patient outcomes. Patients receiving care from teams with higher levels of role clarity, mutual trust, and quality information exchange experience lower levels of postoperative pain, higher postoperative functioning, and shorter lengths of stay ( Gittell et al., 2000 ). A large-scale survey by the U.K. National Health Service revealed that degree to which health care workers reported conducting their work in effective teams was associated with a range of patient outcomes, including rates of errors, and patient mortality ( Lyubovnikova, West, Dawson, & Carter, 2015 ).

Teamwork and Health Care Worker Outcomes

Effective teams not only protect patients from risks and improve outcomes—they also create a more positive, engaging, and resilient workplace. Hospitals in which staff report higher levels of teamwork (i.e., clear roles and mindful management of interdependencies) have lower rates of workplace injuries and illness, experiences of workplace harassment and violence, as well as lower levels of staff intent to leave the organization ( Lyubovnikova et al., 2015 ). The teamwork climate of a work unit is highly related to the level of engagement that staff feel in their work, such that units with high teamwork climate also have staff with a strong commitment to, and sense of, ownership over their job responsibilities ( Daugherty Biddison, Paine, Murakami, Herzke, & Weaver, 2015 ). Teamwork quality is also inversely related to the level of burnout experienced by staff ( Bowers, Nijman, Simpson, & Jones, 2011 ). Units with poor teamwork tend to have staff with higher levels of fatigue with their roles. Further, greater role clarity among multidisciplinary community mental health teams in the United Kingdom was associated with higher job satisfaction ( Carpenter, Schneider, Brandon, & Wooff, 2003 ).

These relationships between teamwork and workforce outcomes are similar to those found in other industries. However, teamwork serves an additional role in health care. Workers involved in patient safety events are second victims of preventable patient harm ( Wu, 2000 ). When a patient is harmed because of the actions or inactions of health care workers, it can be personally and professionally devastating for the clinicians involved. Suicide is a disproportionately high cause of death for physicians in the United States when compared with the population as a whole or other professions, and suicidal ideation among surgeons is almost twice as likely (odds ratio = 1.87, p < .001) in the 3 months following involvement in an incident of preventable patient harm ( Shanafelt et al., 2011 ). Similarly, medical residents’ involvement in medical errors is associated with decreased quality of life, increased burnout, and increased odds of screening positive for depression (odds ratio = 3.29, 95% CI [1.90, 5.64]; West et al., 2006 ). Although comparatively little research exists in this domain, dysfunctional team dynamics (e.g., blaming an individual for a system-based error and ostracizing that individual) play a critical role in exacerbating negative personal and professional consequences staff experience as a result of preventable patient harm ( Seys et al., 2013 ).

Improving teamwork among health care workers is increasingly viewed as a viable strategy for managing the numerous workforce challenges, including recruiting and retaining skilled staff during nursing ( Buerhaus, 2008 ) and physician shortages ( Dall, West, Chakrabarti, & Iacobucci, 2015 ). Additionally, the financial viability of health care organizations in the United States is tightly coupled with the quality and safety of care they provide, which further highlights their increased need to effectively manage patient outcomes as well as workforce issues.

Future Directions

Psychological and organizational research has advanced our understanding of how to develop clinicians, prepare organizations, structure tasks, and implement metrics to foster effective teamwork, enhance care coordination, and strive toward optimal outcomes for patients and workers. Here, we suggest several avenues for future research to further our understanding of team functioning and how to best implement and disseminate this evidence in health care.

First, much research examines health care teams working within the same organization or on a given procedure or task (e.g., resuscitation teams, surgical teams). Scarce research investigates teamwork over longer time frames in complex MTS structures. Care is interprofessional and involves the interdependent work of multiple care teams (e.g., primary care, radiology, and oncology). Care may be led by a designated care coordinator or patient navigator, but often it is not. This leaves many patients or loved ones to do the invisible work of coordination: synthesizing complicated, sometimes conflicting, information from multiple clinicians; navigating the complicated payment system; and bridging boundaries between different clinicians and teams ( Ancker et al., 2015 ). Initial literature defines MTSs ( DiazGranados et al., 2014 ; DiazGranados, Shuffler, Savage, Dow, & Dhindsa, 2017 ; Weaver et al., 2014 ), but studying health care delivery through this lens can advance our understanding of how MTSs perform, the competencies that matter in an MTS, how MTSs should be developed and sustained, and the contextual and structural issues impacting MTS effectiveness. Linking complex patient outcomes (e.g., hospital readmission, mortality, care experience, and costs) to the work of a single care delivery team ignores the complex MTS and individual collaborators providing care. Future research should address conceptual and measurement issues. For example, how can the complex MTS structure in which care is delivered for a patient with multiple chronic conditions be validly characterized? How can health care providers develop a sense of MTS membership, and how does their interpretation of MTS goals (e.g., overarching patient goals and priorities related to quality vs. quantity of life) and local team-level goals (e.g., condition specific treatment goals) influence care processes and outcomes?

Second, teams research in health care offers an opportunity to advance the science of virtuality in teams ( Gilson, Maynard, Jones Young, Vartiainen, & Hakonen, 2015 ). Telemedicine promises to enhance access to multidisciplinary care and address the severe shortages in specialist and primary care clinicians. The concept of “virtual collaborative” care teams has been adopted widely in policy and payment models in the United States. However, few studies examine the impact of virtuality on teamwork processes and patient outcomes. For example, teleconsults and virtual participation in multidisciplinary treatment planning is expanding, particularly in rural and low-resource care delivery settings. How does virtuality influence the sharing of novel information, dissenting opinions, voice, and, in turn, the quality of decision making? Could expanding virtual participation of patients and their loved ones in these discussions enhance shared decision making?

Third, future research should address the impact of professional fault lines (i.e., the tendency for providers to more strongly identify with team members with similar professional backgrounds; Lau & Murnighan, 2005 ) in health care teams, how leadership is most effectively shared among clinical teams, and the impact on care coordination and patient outcomes. This would inform evidence-based IPE practices for students and practicing health care professionals, as well as multilevel intervention strategies to improve multidisciplinary care. The nature and type of multidisciplinarity is likely to increase with the growing prevalence of more complex role structures (e.g., the trend toward increasing specialization and adoption of advanced practice nurses; O’Grady, 2008 ). Understanding and managing fault lines in complex team structures will be critical for realizing the benefits of diverse teams.

Fourth, future research should focus on advancing the science of measurement for teams. Despite the amount of measurement tools available, there is a dearth of criterion validity evidence ( Havyer et al., 2014 ); the science of team measurement in health care needs to prioritize how well specific measures are predictive of patient and organizational outcomes ( Havyer et al., 2014 ). A key challenge when synthesizing findings both within and across clinical domains is the lack of integration among the theoretical and competency models underlying measurement ( Jeffcott & Mackenzie, 2008 ). Even within the same clinical domain, there are prominent differences in what competencies are considered relevant and how they are operationalized ( Mishra et al., 2009 ; Undre, Sevdalis, Healey, Dam, & Vincent, 2007 ). This presents a need for future research investigating what attributes of the measurement system produce the most valid and reliable ratings with the lowest level of logistical costs ( Dietz et al., 2014 ).

Team performance measurement systems in health care also need to keep pace with the evolving nature of compositional and interdependency structures; they need to be more practical without sacrificing psychometric rigor. Sensor-based measurement is an emerging field that holds great promise for balancing the tradeoffs to survey and observational approaches ( Rosen, Dietz, Yang, Priebe, & Pronovost, 2015 ). Sensor-based measures refer to automated data collection tools (e.g., infrared sensors, radio frequency identification tags) used to dynamically capture sociometric data (i.e., behavior, team member composition, speech content). Activity traces can complement sensor-based measures to understand patterns of behavior between team members because they capture the byproduct of information system use (e.g., paging system, e-mail activity, electronic health record [HER] entries).

Sensor-based methods have been applied in health care to measure attributes related to team inputs (e.g., Big Five personality traits; Olguín, Gloor, & Pentland, 2009 ), processes/mediators (e.g., predictability of interactions and movement; Kannampallil et al., 2011 ), and outcomes (e.g., patient length of stay as predicted by physical effort; Olguín et al., 2009 ). Key barriers to implementation are privacy concerns associated with being monitored, clinician buy-in ( Rosen et al., 2015 ), equipment cost, and general issues connecting streams of discrete behavioral data to the abstract constructs of teamwork competencies. Further, these systems may be more or less appropriate for measuring teamwork depending on the (a) specificity of team performance expectations, and (b) physical distribution of team members ( Rosen et al., 2015 ). Best practices call for multiple forms of measurements ( Baker & Salas, 1997 ), and sensor-based measures provide another methodology to understand health care team performance.

Fifth, HIT plays an increasingly important role in care delivery ( President’s Cancer Panel, 2016 ; Samal et al., 2016 ). Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are a recent standard in most care delivery systems, yet limited research examines HIT as an agent-based team member, coordination mechanism, or artifact of team cognition. Numerous studies catalogue the limitations of EHRs, but there is limited evidence identifying HIT features that improve team functioning or help to bridge gaps between patients and providers. HIT also presents an opportunity to study how teams adapt and experience change. Case studies of EHR implementation ( Gross et al., 2016 ), analyses of EHR mediated electronic referrals for specialty care ( Hysong et al., 2011 ), studies examining interoperability (or lack thereof) among HIT systems ( Samal et al., 2016 ), and studies of patient portals ( Ge, Ahn, Unde, Gage, & Carr, 2013 ) indicate a need to better understand team resilience during change and how to coordinate, communicate, and develop (and update) accurate shared mental models in a distributed, asynchronous fashion. Additionally, understanding how information systems can reinforce and support teamwork competencies and behaviors targeted in training programs is ripe for investigation. Sixth, future research should consider the value of team and MTS performance models in examining care transitions and develop multilevel interventions to strengthen teaming across boundaries. For example, handoffs have been topic of research and improvement efforts for decades, with little evidence of large scale reduction in preventable patient harm related to handoffs. Improvement interventions typically focus at the point of handoff—a discrete time and place—and use training and structured verbal, written, and electronic protocols to support team interactions. These interventions can work but are challenging to scale, spread, and sustain. Future research and interventions should address more macro patterns of coordination between units and facilities.

Conclusions

It is an exciting time to study teams in health care. The practical need for knowledge about teams has never been more salient, and the opportunities to contribute to the general science of teams are unparalleled. The health care system touches all of our lives, and the quality of the teamwork within that system impacts the experiences we have and the outcomes we see. Psychologists can have a large and positive impact in this industry in transition both for those who work in it and those whose well-being depends upon it.

Biographies

Contributor information.

Michael A. Rosen, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Deborah DiazGranados, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

Aaron S. Dietz, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Lauren E. Benishek, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

David Thompson, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Peter J. Pronovost, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Sallie J. Weaver, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland.

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