Problem Solving Skills
One of the soft-skills that companies consider very important when hiring college graduates is problem-solving. During job interview, students are often given problems to solve to determine how good they are before they are hired. Because of this situation, students often asked: “Where do I learn this skill?”
Problem solving skills are often taught in science and math classes but some students do not realize that. When they are given a theory to prove or math problems to solve, they are learning problem solving. Basically, problems solving involved five steps: Identify the problem (What is the problem?); Gather information and analyze the problem (What information do I have?); Generate potential solutions (How many ways could I solve it?); Select and test the solution (Which solution is best and how do I test it?); and evaluate the results (Did I solve it? How good is the solution?).
The common problem among students is they have a tendency to solve problem immediately instead of analyze all alternatives. They need to know that there are several solutions and they need to analyze all of them before select the best. I recommend students to use the “Flowcharting” technique when learning to solve problem. A flowchart is a map or diagram that shows all the steps in a process. It helps students understand the process and making sure all steps in the process are addressed. When facing several difficult options, students should use the “Decision Matrix” technique. A Decision Matrix consists of two columns, the options are listed on the left side and the selection criteria are listed on the top row of the right column. Each of the options is rated against the selection criteria to arrive at the best logical decision.
Problem solving is often tied to communication and teamwork skills because in a company, workers do not solve problem alone but do it in team. The key to effective problem solving and decision making is to go through the process systematically. In team meeting, the team leader should ask the question “What exactly is the problem? By having team members to participate in identify the problem, it will help everyone to understand it clearly and avoid any confusion later. It is important for team leader to focus on the future by asking question “Where do we go from here?” or “What are our solutions”. The reason is many teams often make mistake by focusing on the past on what happened and who to blame, rather than focus on solving the problem. By look back rather than forward, the meeting could end up negatively rather than being productive.
I often remind students that problem solving is NOT root cause analysis, which focus on looking back to find the cause. The only way to solve problem is focus on fixing thing and moving forward. The team must use all effort to talk about the solution instead of the problems. Team leader must keep the attention of team members on solutions and what can be done rather than what already happened. Anything about who created the problem or who made mistake should be avoid as it tends to inhibit the team creativity. The more the team thinks about the solution, the more creative everyone will be and better ideas they will come up with. When team members practice problem-solving together, their mental attitude changes from a passive recipient of information to a participant in the creation of solution.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
