Changing your focus Zooming in on a solutions-based approach

Changing your focus

Zooming in on a solutions-based approach

by Erin Saunders, Leica Geosystems

Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash

I have a bit of a sarcastic side, and because of this the anti-motivational posters at Despair.com have always had a bit of an appeal to me.

I have a favorite I can rattle off at the top of my head. It reads, “Tradition: Just because you’ve always done it that way doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly stupid.” Now that’s a little harsh. But I do think there is immense value in the message that lies underneath that asks, “Is there a better way to do this?” In the last issue I talked about the importance of a growth mindset for individuals within an organization, and how that growth mindset can lead to professional growth and success. The focus moves from proving your results, to constantly improving your learning, process, and results. The same importance holds true for organizations. Many companies have legacy processes or systems that are inefficient, cause duplication of work, or that haven’t been evaluated for many years.

By applying the growth mindset to processes, leaders within companies can improve productivity, morale, and their customer’s experience.

Many organizations have cyclical workloads. The times that are less intense can be great times to examine your existing processes and look for ways to improve them. There are several things you can do to help get the best outcomes for your organization, and to help your employees support any potential changes.

First, lean into your team’s knowledge and use them to help identify problems and

solutions. Start by helping them understand what you are trying to achieve, what their role can be in assisting and by letting them know that while you’re definitely interested in identifying and improving pain points, it will be much better to brainstorm potential solutions than to dwell on the specifics of past pain points. This will help keep the conversation futurefocused rather than dragged into the details of past challenges.

1.

2. Next, keeping the solutions-focused approach in mind, sit down with your team and ask them to identify pain points within their

jobs. These could be areas where there is duplication of work, where they spend a frustrating amount of time,

or could be identifying internal or external roadblocks they frequently come across. Whether you do this one-on-one, in a group setting, or as an entire team will depend on the size of your teams and your past experience. Ask them to broadly describe the pain point, the 4impact, and to hypothesize what the impact could be on them, or internal and external stakeholders if that pain point was removed. Also explore how much of their time they spend 4 thinking about this problem. Often, people spend a lot more mental energy than they realize when thinking about challenges at work. This can be an eye-opening exercise and a motivator to the team member to help find a solution.

Then start to help your employee explore

solutions. When you help them come up with ideas, they will be much more likely to buy in and help drive any changes. Solutions-focused questions tend to focus on “what” and “how” rather than “why” and “where.” Solutions-focused questions are future-based and problem-focused questions are past-based. Here are some examples.

3.

Problem-focused

Why did this happen?

Solution-focused

What do you want to achieve?

Problem-focused

Why was it done this way?

Solution-focused

What do you need to do to move this forward?

Problem-focused

Why did you do that?

Solution-focused

What do you want to do next? Problem-focused

Why isn’t this working? Solution-focused

What do we need to do to make this work?

Listen to your employees’ thoughts and summarize their ideas back to them. Your job isn’t to solve the problems your team identifies, but rather to help them solve their own problems. This will be a much more empowering experience for your team members than if you came in and tried to solve the problems for them. It also takes much less effort on your part and encourages your employees to own the solution. It turns you from authoritarian problem solver into empowering coach. Help them identify what the next steps are for implementing their change. What do they need to do next? What tools or resources might they need? Ask them if you can check in to see how things are going. Set follow-up meetings to help them solve any roadblocks that might come up. Often identifying the solution for a challenging problem can be like giving candy to our brains. There is a little rush and a satisfying feeling when the solution comes to us. Creating actionable follow-up is just as important as the insight of solution.

Focusing on the future

All organizations have room for improvement. Organizations that are unable to thoughtfully turn an inward eye and look for ways to be better run the risk of going the way of Blockbuster and Blackberry. But organizations focused on continuous growth and improvement will have better longevity, happier employees, and provide better experiences for their customers.

About the author

Erin Saunders is Regional Human Resources Business Partner with Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon.

P: 770.326.9517 E: erin.saunders@leica-geosystems.com