It's All About Improving Performance

By:  Helena F. UhIfelder

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THE PURPOSE OF teams is high performance. In the past it was enough that teams or quality circles got involved in solving problems and sharing some of the decision-making responsibilities. Now the success of organizations hinges on the ability of teams to make tough decisions and solve complex problems on a daily basis.

This article's aim is to provide a better understanding of the factors that influence problem solving and decision making and to provide a seven-step model and procedures to use to improve team performance.

Most organizations that implement total quality management, continuous improvement cultures or team systems teach their employees tools to use in reaching decisions and solving problems. Whether these tools have four steps or seven steps, they have four basic components: problem definition, data collection to verify the root cause of the problem, solution generation and action planning, including a mechanism for tracking how well the chosen solution works.

These tools are sometimes not used at all and sometimes are used religiously for everything. Yet, it is rare to find teams that understand the nature of problems and know how to choose the right tool or technique to use in a particular situation. Furthermore, team members rarely understand how the way they think (human information processing factors) and the biases they carry with them can affect the success or failure rate of the problem solving tools they use.

Human information processing factors include the following:

• Most people can hold only seven (plus or minus two) items of information in their memory at a time.¹ This means they are limited to five to nine facts when solving problems and making decisions.

• Individuals have filters that distort information they let in and how they interpret and use the data. Filters are a combination of style preferences (such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator's introvert/extrovert, thinking/ feeling), cultural biases, values and experiences.

• People tend to be overconfident about their own judgments and opinions. Research shows that people overestimate what they know and the probability that an event will occur.

• People tend to anchor (the starting point for deciding) incorrectly or use the wrong data because of its availability When teams try to solve problems and collect data and information to make decisions, they generally rely on information provided by the organization's existing financial and information systems. What if the information is available, but wrong or inadequate?

• People tend to not take time to revisit and analyze past decisions and their outcomes. They do not learn from experience. There is a tendency to solve a problem and move on to the next problem. Generally, people give little thought to how they process information, think and learn.

The term metacognition (an individual's internal process) describes the information people consciously have about the way they process information, think and learn. It means knowing how to learn and solve problems, what strategies are used or how knowledge and information are used. Studies demonstrate that the more individuals know about the way to process and use information, the better they do at memory tasks, problem solving and decision making.

Translated to a team level, this might be called metaproblem solving or metadecision making. In practical terms, this means the more a team consciously knows about the way it solves problems and makes decisions and how it uses this "meta" information, the more the team can improve the quality of its decisions.

Problem solving and the resulting decisions can be classified as simple or complex. Simple problems are manageable, have appropriate definitions and boundaries, have relevant data available and readily fit into a linear (straightforward) problem solving model.

Complex problems have multiple and complex components and variables. They are difficult to define. Data is not readily available, and there are no known solutions or easily applied rules of thumb for solving the problem. The actual solution may take years, and the effectiveness of the outcomes might be difficult to assess and evaluate.

Teams are being asked to make decisions and solve problems about all aspects of their businesses. Whether a team is ad hoc, self-managed or a network, it must have a process to follow to arrive at a solution or a decision. The process described in the following steps suggests a way to improve the quality of decisions and solutions, the decision making process, the problem solving process, and team and organizational learning.

The expanded problem solving and decision making process has the following steps:

• Step one: Define the problem.

• Step two: Decide the process to use.

• Step three: Gather information.

• Step four: Make the decision.

• Step five: Develop an action plan.

• Step six: Audit and evaluate the decision and process.

• Step seven: Record and share learning.

Teams do not have to use all of the tools, steps and techniques. Or, after learning of more ways to approach problems, they can select additional steps to improve the decision making process. Teams should not turn this problem solving activity into a bureaucratic nightmare requiring 90 processes to reach a solution to every problem. Instead, use common sense!

It is very important to pinpoint what the problem is. Problem statements should be data oriented, observable and measurable, and should describe performance or behavior exactly. A problem statement should describe the gap between current and desired performance. Score-card data (team measurement devices) can be used to identify performance gaps. Although teams know the importance of this first step, many do not spend the necessary time pinpointing the problem. Complex problems are hard to define, and teams like to reach closure on this step quickly. They often pick the wrong problem to solve. Teams can use one or all of the following three techniques to improve the problem definition step:

• Mind-maps. Mind-maps are tools a team can use to visually show what factors influence a problem and the relationship among factors. Team members select the topic they suspect is a problem, then brainstorm any other topics or ideas that relate to it. When this is completed, they draw connections and relationship indicators for the various topics and ideas.

• Brainstorming problem statements. The objective of this technique is to create a list of potential problem definitions by using brainstorming rules. Brainstorming is important because the problem should be framed correctly, free from bias and picked because it is the correct one, not because it was the first one selected. Unfortunately, people may select a problem statement because they already know the solution and want the problem worded a particular way to make their solution applicable.

• Problem questioning. Questions that are useful to help a team think through and decide upon a good problem definition include:

These questions can be asked just before the team decides which problem solving process it will use to solve the problem. The answers to the preceding questions should help the team select the right problem to work on and should help it with the next major step in the expanded problem solving model.

Once the team has defined the problem, it must agree on a process or model to arrive at a solution. If the problem is one that can be solved by an individual, the team should delegate the problem to the appropriate person. If the team feels the problem is a team problem and should be handled by the team, it must decide if ii is a process problem. For example, if a team's scorecard is moving in the wrong direction because of an inadequate or incorrect work process, the team should use process mapping (work flow mapping, flowcharting and so forth) to arrive at a solution.

When the team is deciding what process to use, it may want to ask the following questions:

• Who should be involved in the problem solving process? Who are the critical stakeholders or expert: the team needs to be part of the process?

• What information and data will the team need?

• What tools or equipment will the team need to make a decision? How will they get it?

• What education, expertise or experience does the team need before it tries to solve the problem or during the problem solving process?

A team that immediately jumps into trying to solve a problem without thoughtful consideration of these questions may find itself frustrated or unable to effect change. For example, a team in a manufacturing operation was trying to reduce a high number of customer returns. The team worked diligently for a month. It developed a solution involving people who were not on the problem solving team and who disagreed with the causes of the problem.

Several critical stakeholders were not on the team. There were differences of opinion about the causes. If the team had asked what information was needed and how it could get it, it would have discovered that two different computer systems had two different databases of reasons customers returned the product.

Once the team agrees on the process to use, it needs to collect data. Sources of data can be score-cards, financial reports, questionnaire data, interview or focus group data, or work process observation data. The information can be quantitative or qualitative. Several critical issues that need to be addressed at this step in the problem solving process are:

• Does the team have accurate data that is readily available?
• Does the team need additional information that is not presently available?

• Does the team need help in understanding and interpreting the data?

• Is there information the team needs that is considered private or confidential?

The team should now be able to use an agreed on model or process to make a decision that solves the problem. Whatever model the team uses, there are three questions to ask at this point:

• Command decisions are decisions made by an individual without consulting others.

• In consultative decision making, the manager or an individual team member obtains the advice and involvement of others who have relevant knowledge or will be affected by the decision. After considering this input, the individual makes the decision.

• Consensus decision making occurs when the team comes together, fully considers the facts and alternatives, takes ownership for the decision as a united team and agrees on a course of action.

• Delegation is the decision to allow someone else to decide.

The importance of written action plans cannot be overemphasized. Teams need a way to remember what they have agreed to do and to track progress and accountability. A standard action plan answers the following questions:

The action plan also provides a mechanism to track how well the chosen solution worked. It is important for the team to monitor if the actions taken lead to improved performance. If performance does not improve, the team will need to repeat some of the basic problem solving steps (such as identifying root cause and solution generation).

A potential problem preventer analysis is useful for allowing teams to brainstorm possible problems or obstacles that may arise when they begin implementing their action plan. After undergoing a successful potential problem preventer analysis, a team will have identified possible problems, assessed the probability of the problem occurring, rated the seriousness of the problem and brainstormed ideas to avoid or lessen the potential problems.

One of the greatest losses teams experience is the loss of learning and good ideas after a problem has been solved or a decision made. Teams tend to credit themselves with successful implementations, even if they happen by chance. Teams also tend to rationalize why things failed without really looking at their own contributions. The process of auditing and evaluating both the problem solving and decision making processes and the content of what was done can prevent this loss.

Studies show that what people know about their cognitive processes (such as problem solving) can help improve the quality and effectiveness of these processes. It takes self-analysis, feedback from others and review of results to do this properly. Unfortunately, most teams never do this.

Self-analysis: A team should do a self-analysis at three points in the process: after the action plan is developed, three months later and six months to two years later depending on how long the implementation takes. The team should do this as a team, and the findings from the analysis should be saved for comparative purposes. This list of questions can be used:

• How well did we define the problem?

• How well did we gather information?

• What would we do the same way next time?

• What would we not do the next time?

Feedback: It is not only important that the team analyze itself but also that it get feedback from others. The team should identify a list of individuals or teams from whom it wants feedback and either interview these people or ask them to complete a short survey. The team can brainstorm particular questions to ask, or use the following:

• How would you rate or describe the quality of the decision we made?

• How effective do you believe our solution was (will be)? Why?

• Did we appear to use appropriate data and information?

• How would you describe our timeliness and our meeting of other expectations?

After the team collects input from others, it should discuss what was said and how it can use this information in the future. Conclusions should be captured and saved for review before beginning similar problem solving activities in the future.

An organization in which teams are the way the business is run cannot afford to lose vital information between and among teams. Organizational learning of this type does not happen accidentally. Systems for capturing learning need to be put in place for learning to occur.

Organizational databases that are created and maintained by teams provide a vehicle for sharing and learning. Teams can input the results of self-analysis and feedback from others into the database. When one team wants to know how another team solved a particular problem, the information is readily available. This type of information sharing can help organizations avoid redundancy, speed up decision making and problem solving cycle times, and create a foundation for developing intellectual capital.

The challenges for organizations are to provide the necessary information systems, culture and reinforcement for teams that contribute to the database. Although not all organizations are ready to take this last step of the expanded problem solving and decision making process, many are making progress.

Every organization struggles with how to make good decisions and solve problems well. Regardless of the problem solving model used, it is important to learn from and use that knowledge to improve. Organizations that master problem solving and decision making will be those that remain competitive, respond quickly and lead in their markets. It just takes a little practice and thought, along with a way to share learning across the organization.