Problem Solving Scenarios at Work

Everyone has had problem solving scenarios at work

Something just isn’t going right:

You’re trying to make dinner at a residential program and the stove won’t light…

You’ve gotten in the agency vehicle to take a client to a medical appointment and the vehicle won’t start…

You’re supposed to work in a particular office that is usually open and the door is locked…

So, what do you do? You’re probably not the official stove lighter, or mechanic, or key-holder.

What you don’t want to do is go to your boss and just say, “The stove won’t light” or “The car won’t start.” That’s just dumping the problem on someone else. This is not the way you want to present yourself in the workplace.

You probably looked to see if the stove’s pilot light was on. You probably at least checked that the lights worked in the car even if it wouldn’t start.

Since you’ve done these things, you can go to your boss and say, “I’m trying to make dinner and the stove won’t light. It looks like the pilot light is off. I’m not sure how to light it. If someone can tell me I’ll be happy to do it. If we need to call someone, I’ll go see what I can do for dinner that we can heat in the microwave so we won’t need the stove.”

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Now you’re a problem-solver

You didn’t just dump the problem in your supervisor’s lap. She may or may not know how to light the pilot light. Even if you didn’t solve the problem of the stove not lighting, you’re taking on making dinner without the need for the stove. You’ve made yourself an active part of the solution and have shown yourself in a very good light.

This is the way you should report any problem at work. Report it, but proactively be part of the solution. You’ll want to have given the situation some thought first. Maybe you’ve already solved it. Then you can just report the problem and the solution. (Or, depending on the scenario, you might not need to report it at all.)

I recently got an email from a staff member who supervises several other employees. She mentioned that certain staff weren’t doing what they were supposed to do. She just left it at that. Just dumped it in my lap.

She is the supervisor of the people she is complaining about. I will be happy to help her think about how to handle the problem. But her making it my problem without any effort on her part makes me more concerned about her performance than that of the staff she is complaining about.

Being an active part of the solution is important in all aspects of your work life

For example, suppose your home situation has changed and you need a different schedule in order to get to work on time. You’ve been late for the past couple of days and you realize it’s becoming a problem for your workplace.

Be proactive. Don’t wait for your boss to bring up your lateness. Instead, ask to speak with him. Apologize for your tardiness and explain what steps you are taking to solve the issue. If a schedule change is really the only way to solve the problem, then say so. But be sure you have thought this through and are not creating different problems for yourself and your employer. This is not a conversation you want to have twice.

If you are always a proactive problem solver, you will be more likely to get the new schedule that you need. Being unable to accommodate a requested schedule change is an easy and legitimate way to get rid of an employee who is not perceived as doing a good job.

If, however, you demonstrate these proactive problem-solving skills on a regular basis, your employer will want to keep you and will be more likely to work with you to make it possible for you to stay.

Stay out of the drama

It doesn’t matter where you work. There is always someone creating unnecessary drama by constantly complaining, not doing their job, picking arguments with colleagues, and other foolishness. (To see if you have a problem with your attitude at work, read this post.)

You’re much better off just staying away from these people. They’re only wasting your time and energy and their negativity will affect you sooner or later. If you get sucked in to this nonsense, you won’t be the proactive problem-solver that you need to be if you want to get ahead at work.

If you ever feel that the way to solve a problem at work is to get loud, storm out, or write an email accusing someone of anything at all, STOP. This is a clear sign that you need to take a break. Right now.

I had a staff member approach me to say she needed to change sites because she had just come back from a vacation trip with another staff member and they had gotten into a fight while on vacation. She didn’t think they could work together safely. The other staff member approached me with a similar request.

I did give them separate assignments that evening, but they lost all credibility. If your personal life is such that you can’t work with someone because you are afraid that you or they are going to get violent, on the job, then you need to hang out with different people. That was completely inappropriate to bring up at work.

Get into problem-solving mode

When we’re nervous or upset, our problem-solving skills suffer. If you are faced with a problem at work (or anywhere else) that you don’t know how to handle:

1. Calm yourself

It’s natural to feel nervous when faced with something we don’t know how to handle. Just breathe for a minute.

2. Define the problem

What actually has to be taken care of right now? In the scenario at the beginning of this post, the stove wouldn’t light. That is the problem. But why is it a problem? Because you need to make dinner. So, you either need the stove to work or you need another way to provide dinner.

3. Reword the problem

Instead of saying, “The stove won’t light,” which you may or may not be able to fix right away, say something like, “I need to figure out how to serve dinner without using the stove.” Now you have options.

4. List your resources

If you’ve just defined the problem as the stove not working, then you’ve limited your problem-solving abilities to either learning stove-repair or finding someone who can fix it. If it’s dinner time, you might not be able to find someone until the next day.

If you’ve defined the problem as needing to provide dinner, now you have some options:

• Grocery store
• Food delivery service
• Items on site that can be prepared without the stove

Now you’re probably not as stressed and begin to solve the problem (i.e. providing dinner)

Don’t worry about your solution being wrong

Maybe the supervisor knows all about lighting the pilot light on the stove and you didn’t need to have come up with ways to provide dinner without the stove. You still did a great job.

I would much rather work with, and promote, someone who is willing to take a proactive approach to solving problems. Your solution will be the best one next time.