The Art of Problem Resolution: Navigating the Delicate Process of Re-establishing Balance
- Zoran Vidovic
- Dec 7, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 9, 2024
Have you ever had a misunderstanding, a different point of view, or a character clash escalating into a potential problem within your company?
If so, then you are working with humans. Welcome onboard.
What can we do to avoid problems and, if it's not possible, then mitigate the potential for the problem escalation? How can we prevent it from overflowing to other segments of the company?
Let's dive in!
Table of contents
What is the problem?
Cambridge Dictionary identifies a problem as: "a situation, person, or thing that needs attention and needs to be dealt with or solved; something that causes difficulty or that is hard to deal with."
So, we can have various problems in our enterprise, and they can have different sources as well as negative effects on the operation. Let's look at some:
Financial problems pose a great risk to a company as they could bring everything to a halt if not resolved. Financial liquidity and solvency are the central circulatory systems of the company. It brings the financial "oxygen" into our company's lungs, keeping the exchange of input and output alive, hence keeping the company in business.
Logistics problems could slow down or even stop the production and delivery of goods and services if not resolved. It has the potential to negatively influence the financial side and cause financial problems.
Legal problems might not immediately affect the input and output of the company, but they could affect the bottom line with great financial burden or a procedural change as a result of litigations. That can have an operational and financial impact on the company.
Operational problems can span between procedures, processes, or equipment. It can have the potential to put financial strain on the company and negatively affect the input and output due to outdated or inefficient procedures, processes, or equipment.
Human resource problems are probably the most critical of all, as they have the potential to destroy a well-organized and financially healthy company in a short period. Humans are in charge of all activities within all segments of the company and have the potential to cause a ripple effect resulting in the above-mentioned problems.
Nature of the problem?
We need to look at the nature of the problem and how it affects the company.
Who or what caused it? This is important to understand to be able to approach the problem source and rectify it. We need to identify potential causes to be able to answer other questions.
When did it start? It is important to understand how long the problem has existed to determine the potential damage caused and how to approach resolving it.
Where did it start? Which segment of the company? As we have mentioned, the financial problem might be the result of an unresolved logistics problem. Always take the ripple effect into account.
How did it start? What was the mechanism? Was it technical or human error? Was it intentional or a result of neglect, inexperience, lack of understanding, clarity, and knowledge?
Why? It is crucial to understand why this problem appeared, to be able to prevent it from happening again. Sometimes we might be tempted to put a patch over it and not look into understanding why. But it is only short-lived, as the problem will reappear and probably become bigger than initially.
Can it be resolved, and how? We need to be honest about this. This is the most critical question to answer. We need to be realistic about our abilities to resolve the problem and ask for help when needed.
Has it caused any damage, or will it start causing more problems if not resolved? Is it a showstopper? What is the short- and long-term effect on the operation if not rectified? Is it something that can be taken care of down the line, or does it require immediate attention?
Problem resolution
We need to create a strategy to rectify it.
This will depend on the nature of the problem and its cause. Let's take a performance issue for example:
We are running a startup with a vision of delivering organic food from local farmers to the local community. The operation has grown from local to national level with multiple farms in various locations supporting their communities. We have now grown and expanded with the vision of further expansion.
Our financial reports have shown a decline in sales in two out of five locations. The decline started last quarter and has a steady but steep slope.
So, our problem is financial. Or is it? Is it logistical or operational?
We will need to dig deeper to find the cause.
What? So, we first look at the numbers, and the numbers have shown a decrease in sales.
That is the outcome of a possible change in our operation, the operation of our farmers, and quality of their products, or the change of habit of our consumers. Either way, this was unnoticed until the financial report flagged it.
Where? It is affecting two out of our five locations. It indicates a problem that might not be caused by the overall operational approach, but rather a result of individual management decisions.
When? Now we dig deeper and look at when it started. We discovered the decline started last quarter with steady growth in the previous three quarters.
It now narrows it down to the specific point in time when the unknown change started to affect our financial goals.
Why? Now we look at what we have changed in the meantime. There was no change to our logistics operation nor in the operation of our local farmers. The products are of the same quality, and our sales channels have not been changed. Our prices are the same, and the customer feedback is good. The only change that was implemented was a new approach to our management with implemented decentralization. We have hired managers for each location and given them autonomy in decision-making.
Now we are left with two possible outcomes. Customers have changed their habits, or our operation in those two locations has shifted from the company's standard, mission, and vision.
How? We have conducted research on customer habits in those communities and have not flagged any significant change. We have reviewed operations in both locations and discovered two changes that have been implemented in the last quarter with new management.
Both changes resulted in a lack of engagement with the local community. Those two locations did not participate in local farm fairs and discontinued the practice of offering farm tours with organized workshops for school children in the community.
At first glance it sounds minor and not really important enough to affect the sales; however, it had a great impact on the community's perception of our company.
It was a major part of our marketing strategy. Bringing our company close to our customers and sharing our mission and vision made them connect with it and build trust. It was a simple but effective strategy that required little or no ingenuity. It just required passion and time to present the whole organic food production process to our customers while allowing them to become part of it.
This was especially important to achieve with the children as they would become the best advocates for our products and services.
Who? The decision to discontinue good practice was made by the managers in each location. We have raised the question with the managers in both locations and discovered that the decision was made by them based on their view of operational realignment in achieving better operational efficiency.
So, their narrow vision and focus on one segment of the company have caused a ripple effect on other segments.
Now, we need to understand the reasoning behind it. Up on deeper review, we have discovered that there was a lot of strain placed on the operation in both locations due to the greater distance between local farms and the main offices. The children's workshops and farm fairs required additional engagement, which caused more burden on the team. The managers decided to discontinue those practices so the team could be more involved in logistics.
Can this be resolved, and how? Yes, it can. Re-establishing the discontinued practices should bring up the sales numbers. However, should we just go for it, or should we take into consideration the reasoning behind their decision to discontinue it?
We should definitely look into it and help relieve the strain on the operation. We can consider taking several approaches to optimizing it:
Increase the number of employees for those two locations to optimize the workload and boost productivity. It allows us to distribute the workload and maintain focus on the company's mission, vision and standard.
Reevaluate the communication channels to detect all operational needs and challenges for each location in a timely manner. This is imperative to be able to have vertical and lateral communication. It prevents information loss or distortion as the communication channels support the operation by empowering all employees to communicate openly on all levels.
Revise trainings provided to all employees, including managers, to help them understand and align with the company's mission, vision, standard and marketing strategies, especially during the decision-making process. This prevents rushed and narrow-minded decisions during high-stress moments by understanding the company's expectations and tools at our disposal to help tackle challenges.
Realign managers positions, responsibilities, and decision-making authority with the company's mission, vision, and standard. This minimizes the possibility of misalignment between managers and the company. Every manager brings their experiences and lessons learned from previous employments, which could benefit the company, but could also take it away from its mission if not incorporated and aligned with the company's mission, vision, and standard.
Implement additional safety measures to prevent and detect deviation from the set marketing strategies. In the form of additional procedures, processes, and policies governing that segment of the company.
Update the compliance process to incorporate above mentioned in pursuit of maintaining the same performance standard across the company in all its locations.
Has it caused any damage, or will it start causing more problems if not resolved? We have managed to get to the bottom line in this scenario. It has detected the decision-making process, guided by the narrow vision and lack of understanding of the broader picture, as a cause of our problem. But it also revealed opportunities for improvement in preventing it from happening again, as it had a negative impact on the company.
Is this something that can happen to every company? Absolutely.
Has it caused damage, and does it have the potential to cause more if not resolved? Absolutely.
Should we hold the managers responsible? Yes, but to a reasonable extent. We have identified the logic behind their actions and revealed opportunities for improvement on both the employees and the company's side. That is a valuable lesson learned.
There might be instances when a problem might not cause major damage to the company, such as a dispute between employees, but if it is not taken care of, it has the potential to start causing it and to overflow to other segments of the operation.
We should adopt the mentality of analyzing every problem and learning from it. It will then help us develop policies, processes, and procedures that will help minimize or even eliminate the possibility of an error, or foul play, by allowing us to recognize it on time.