Are Your Project Managers Good Problem Solvers?

Jun 10, 2015 5:19:15 PM

(Managing Projects blog 8 of 8)


It does not matter how good your planning is or how well you’ve put your project plan together, there will always be unforeseen circumstances that need to be resolved!

problemsolvingAs a project manager, the problem solving process is normally started when any of the following situations arise:

  • You have many issues currently and you do not know where to start, or

  • You have one ill-defined and/or performance issue and you do not know where to start, or

  • You have a technical deviation from standard and you need to find the cause of that deviation before you can make any progress, or

  • You need to find a solution for a project situation and you do not know what to do, or

  • You need to make a choice between at least two options and you do not know which one would best, or

  • You are faced with a potential risk and you do not know for sure how to mitigate it successfully.


The aim is to use a problem solving process that provides you and your team with appropriate templates and tools to collectively, and if needed, virtually solve some problems together. Good problem solving practices have the following characteristics:

  1. Include the information sources closest to the problem being experienced. It is not about the “best brains” but rather a case of the “most appropriate” brains.

  2. Information generated is made visible and recorded to help the team to arrive at a commonly supported answer.

  3. Inputs through collaboration are actively promoted.

  4. Ideally an objective facilitator is used to manage the problem solving process and its inputs.

  5. The aim and objective is to reach consensus on all aspects to foster buy-in and commitment for implementation.

Summary

One concept comes to the forefront when thinking about the successful management of projects and that is “common sense.” No one project is the same as the next one and therefore it is important to remember that there are many other skills that could be utilized to run projects effectively.

This blog series has primarily focuses on how to problem solve certain common issues with the worked and proven approaches as mentioned throughout the blogs. This surely is not the “be all and end all” of how to manage projects.

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Topics: Project Rescue

Mat-thys Fourie

Written by Mat-thys Fourie

Washington, DC, United States | Founder & Chairman of Thinking Dimensions Global
Mr. Fourie is a thought leader on how IT professionals apply Incident Investigation techniques on a repeatable and sustainable basis within their organizations. His strength lies in customizing and embedding the various techniques within existing CSI, Incident and Problem Management practices.

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