types of problem solving at work

Culture Development

Workplace problem-solving examples: real scenarios, practical solutions.

• March 11, 2024

In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing work environment, problems are inevitable. From conflicts among employees to high levels of stress, workplace problems can significantly impact productivity and overall well-being. However, by developing the art of problem-solving and implementing practical solutions, organizations can effectively tackle these challenges and foster a positive work culture. In this article, we will delve into various workplace problem scenarios and explore strategies for resolution. By understanding common workplace problems and acquiring essential problem-solving skills, individuals and organizations can navigate these challenges with confidence and success.

Understanding Workplace Problems

Before we can effectively solve workplace problems , it is essential to gain a clear understanding of the issues at hand. Identifying common workplace problems is the first step toward finding practical solutions. By recognizing these challenges, organizations can develop targeted strategies and initiatives to address them.

Identifying Common Workplace Problems

One of the most common workplace problems is conflict. Whether it stems from differences in opinions, miscommunication, or personality clashes, conflict can disrupt collaboration and hinder productivity. It is important to note that conflict is a natural part of any workplace, as individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives come together to work towards a common goal. However, when conflict is not managed effectively, it can escalate and create a toxic work environment.

In addition to conflict, workplace stress and burnout pose significant challenges. High workloads, tight deadlines, and a lack of work-life balance can all contribute to employee stress and dissatisfaction. When employees are overwhelmed and exhausted, their performance and overall well-being are compromised. This not only affects the individuals directly, but it also has a ripple effect on the entire organization.

Another common workplace problem is poor communication. Ineffective communication can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and errors. It can also create a sense of confusion and frustration among employees. Clear and open communication is vital for successful collaboration and the smooth functioning of any organization.

The Impact of Workplace Problems on Productivity

Workplace problems can have a detrimental effect on productivity levels. When conflicts are left unresolved, they can create a tense work environment, leading to decreased employee motivation and engagement. The negative energy generated by unresolved conflicts can spread throughout the organization, affecting team dynamics and overall performance.

Similarly, high levels of stress and burnout can result in decreased productivity, as individuals may struggle to focus and perform optimally. When employees are constantly under pressure and overwhelmed, their ability to think creatively and problem-solve diminishes. This can lead to a decline in the quality of work produced and an increase in errors and inefficiencies.

Poor communication also hampers productivity. When information is not effectively shared or understood, it can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and rework. This not only wastes time and resources but also creates frustration and demotivation among employees.

Furthermore, workplace problems can negatively impact employee morale and job satisfaction. When individuals are constantly dealing with conflicts, stress, and poor communication, their overall job satisfaction and engagement suffer. This can result in higher turnover rates, as employees seek a healthier and more supportive work environment.

In conclusion, workplace problems such as conflict, stress, burnout, and poor communication can significantly hinder productivity and employee well-being. Organizations must address these issues promptly and proactively to create a positive and productive work atmosphere. By fostering open communication, providing support for stress management, and promoting conflict resolution strategies, organizations can create a work environment that encourages collaboration, innovation, and employee satisfaction.

The Art of Problem Solving in the Workplace

Now that we have a clear understanding of workplace problems, let’s explore the essential skills necessary for effective problem-solving in the workplace. By developing these skills and adopting a proactive approach, individuals can tackle problems head-on and find practical solutions.

Problem-solving in the workplace is a complex and multifaceted skill that requires a combination of analytical thinking, creativity, and effective communication. It goes beyond simply identifying problems and extends to finding innovative solutions that address the root causes.

Essential Problem-Solving Skills for the Workplace

To effectively solve workplace problems, individuals should possess a range of skills. These include strong analytical and critical thinking abilities, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to collaborate and work well in a team, and the capacity to adapt to change. By honing these skills, individuals can approach workplace problems with confidence and creativity.

Analytical and critical thinking skills are essential for problem-solving in the workplace. They involve the ability to gather and analyze relevant information, identify patterns and trends, and make logical connections. These skills enable individuals to break down complex problems into manageable components and develop effective strategies to solve them.

Effective communication and interpersonal skills are also crucial for problem-solving in the workplace. These skills enable individuals to clearly articulate their thoughts and ideas, actively listen to others, and collaborate effectively with colleagues. By fostering open and honest communication channels, individuals can better understand the root causes of problems and work towards finding practical solutions.

Collaboration and teamwork are essential for problem-solving in the workplace. By working together, individuals can leverage their diverse skills, knowledge, and perspectives to generate innovative solutions. Collaboration fosters a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone’s ideas are valued, leading to more effective problem-solving outcomes.

The ability to adapt to change is another important skill for problem-solving in the workplace. In today’s fast-paced and dynamic work environment, problems often arise due to changes in technology, processes, or market conditions. Individuals who can embrace change and adapt quickly are better equipped to find solutions that address the evolving needs of the organization.

The Role of Communication in Problem Solving

Communication is a key component of effective problem-solving in the workplace. By fostering open and honest communication channels, individuals can better understand the root causes of problems and work towards finding practical solutions. Active listening, clear and concise articulation of thoughts and ideas, and the ability to empathize are all valuable communication skills that facilitate problem-solving.

Active listening involves fully engaging with the speaker, paying attention to both verbal and non-verbal cues, and seeking clarification when necessary. By actively listening, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of the problem at hand and the perspectives of others involved. This understanding is crucial for developing comprehensive and effective solutions.

Clear and concise articulation of thoughts and ideas is essential for effective problem-solving communication. By expressing oneself clearly, individuals can ensure that their ideas are understood by others. This clarity helps to avoid misunderstandings and promotes effective collaboration.

Empathy is a valuable communication skill that plays a significant role in problem-solving. By putting oneself in the shoes of others and understanding their emotions and perspectives, individuals can build trust and rapport. This empathetic connection fosters a supportive and collaborative environment where everyone feels valued and motivated to contribute to finding solutions.

In conclusion, problem-solving in the workplace requires a combination of essential skills such as analytical thinking, effective communication, collaboration, and adaptability. By honing these skills and fostering open communication channels, individuals can approach workplace problems with confidence and creativity, leading to practical and innovative solutions.

Real Scenarios of Workplace Problems

Now, let’s explore some real scenarios of workplace problems and delve into strategies for resolution. By examining these practical examples, individuals can develop a deeper understanding of how to approach and solve workplace problems.

Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

Imagine a scenario where two team members have conflicting ideas on how to approach a project. The disagreement becomes heated, leading to a tense work environment. To resolve this conflict, it is crucial to encourage open dialogue between the team members. Facilitating a calm and respectful conversation can help uncover underlying concerns and find common ground. Collaboration and compromise are key in reaching a resolution that satisfies all parties involved.

In this particular scenario, let’s dive deeper into the dynamics between the team members. One team member, let’s call her Sarah, strongly believes that a more conservative and traditional approach is necessary for the project’s success. On the other hand, her colleague, John, advocates for a more innovative and out-of-the-box strategy. The clash between their perspectives arises from their different backgrounds and experiences.

As the conflict escalates, it is essential for a neutral party, such as a team leader or a mediator, to step in and facilitate the conversation. This person should create a safe space for both Sarah and John to express their ideas and concerns without fear of judgment or retribution. By actively listening to each other, they can gain a better understanding of the underlying motivations behind their respective approaches.

During the conversation, it may become apparent that Sarah’s conservative approach stems from a fear of taking risks and a desire for stability. On the other hand, John’s innovative mindset is driven by a passion for pushing boundaries and finding creative solutions. Recognizing these underlying motivations can help foster empathy and create a foundation for collaboration.

As the dialogue progresses, Sarah and John can begin to identify areas of overlap and potential compromise. They may realize that while Sarah’s conservative approach provides stability, John’s innovative ideas can inject fresh perspectives into the project. By combining their strengths and finding a middle ground, they can develop a hybrid strategy that incorporates both stability and innovation.

Ultimately, conflict resolution in the workplace requires effective communication, active listening, empathy, and a willingness to find common ground. By addressing conflicts head-on and fostering a collaborative environment, teams can overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

Dealing with Workplace Stress and Burnout

Workplace stress and burnout can be debilitating for individuals and organizations alike. In this scenario, an employee is consistently overwhelmed by their workload and experiencing signs of burnout. To address this issue, organizations should promote a healthy work-life balance and provide resources to manage stress effectively. Encouraging employees to take breaks, providing access to mental health support, and fostering a supportive work culture are all practical solutions to alleviate workplace stress.

In this particular scenario, let’s imagine that the employee facing stress and burnout is named Alex. Alex has been working long hours, often sacrificing personal time and rest to meet tight deadlines and demanding expectations. As a result, Alex is experiencing physical and mental exhaustion, reduced productivity, and a sense of detachment from work.

Recognizing the signs of burnout, Alex’s organization takes proactive measures to address the issue. They understand that employee well-being is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive workforce. To promote a healthy work-life balance, the organization encourages employees to take regular breaks and prioritize self-care. They emphasize the importance of disconnecting from work during non-working hours and encourage employees to engage in activities that promote relaxation and rejuvenation.

Additionally, the organization provides access to mental health support services, such as counseling or therapy sessions. They recognize that stress and burnout can have a significant impact on an individual’s mental well-being and offer resources to help employees manage their stress effectively. By destigmatizing mental health and providing confidential support, the organization creates an environment where employees feel comfortable seeking help when needed.

Furthermore, the organization fosters a supportive work culture by promoting open communication and empathy. They encourage managers and colleagues to check in with each other regularly, offering support and understanding. Team members are encouraged to collaborate and share the workload, ensuring that no one person is overwhelmed with excessive responsibilities.

By implementing these strategies, Alex’s organization aims to alleviate workplace stress and prevent burnout. They understand that a healthy and balanced workforce is more likely to be engaged, productive, and satisfied. Through a combination of promoting work-life balance, providing mental health support, and fostering a supportive work culture, organizations can effectively address workplace stress and create an environment conducive to employee well-being.

Practical Solutions to Workplace Problems

Now that we have explored real scenarios, let’s discuss practical solutions that organizations can implement to address workplace problems. By adopting proactive strategies and establishing effective policies, organizations can create a positive work environment conducive to problem-solving and productivity.

Implementing Effective Policies for Problem Resolution

Organizations should have clear and well-defined policies in place to address workplace problems. These policies should outline procedures for conflict resolution, channels for reporting problems, and accountability measures. By ensuring that employees are aware of these policies and have easy access to them, organizations can facilitate problem-solving and prevent issues from escalating.

Promoting a Positive Workplace Culture

A positive workplace culture is vital for problem-solving. By fostering an environment of respect, collaboration, and open communication, organizations can create a space where individuals feel empowered to address and solve problems. Encouraging teamwork, recognizing and appreciating employees’ contributions, and promoting a healthy work-life balance are all ways to cultivate a positive workplace culture.

The Role of Leadership in Problem Solving

Leadership plays a crucial role in facilitating effective problem-solving within organizations. Different leadership styles can impact how problems are approached and resolved.

Leadership Styles and Their Impact on Problem-Solving

Leaders who adopt an autocratic leadership style may make decisions independently, potentially leaving their team members feeling excluded and undervalued. On the other hand, leaders who adopt a democratic leadership style involve their team members in the problem-solving process, fostering a sense of ownership and empowerment. By encouraging employee participation, organizations can leverage the diverse perspectives and expertise of their workforce to find innovative solutions to workplace problems.

Encouraging Employee Participation in Problem Solving

To harness the collective problem-solving abilities of an organization, it is crucial to encourage employee participation. Leaders can create opportunities for employees to contribute their ideas and perspectives through brainstorming sessions, team meetings, and collaborative projects. By valuing employee input and involving them in decision-making processes, organizations can foster a culture of inclusivity and drive innovative problem-solving efforts.

In today’s dynamic work environment, workplace problems are unavoidable. However, by understanding common workplace problems, developing essential problem-solving skills, and implementing practical solutions, individuals and organizations can navigate these challenges effectively. By fostering a positive work culture, implementing effective policies, and encouraging employee participation, organizations can create an environment conducive to problem-solving and productivity. With proactive problem-solving strategies in place, organizations can thrive and overcome obstacles, ensuring long-term success and growth.

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• Turn your team into skilled problem sol ...

Turn your team into skilled problem solvers with these problem-solving strategies

Picture this, you're handling your daily tasks at work and your boss calls you in and says, "We have a problem." 

Unfortunately, we don't live in a world in which problems are instantly resolved with the snap of our fingers. Knowing how to effectively solve problems is an important professional skill to hone. If you have a problem that needs to be solved, what is the right process to use to ensure you get the most effective solution?

In this article we'll break down the problem-solving process and how you can find the most effective solutions for complex problems.

What is problem solving? 

Problem solving is the process of finding a resolution for a specific issue or conflict. There are many possible solutions for solving a problem, which is why it's important to go through a problem-solving process to find the best solution. You could use a flathead screwdriver to unscrew a Phillips head screw, but there is a better tool for the situation. Utilizing common problem-solving techniques helps you find the best solution to fit the needs of the specific situation, much like using the right tools.

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4 steps to better problem solving

While it might be tempting to dive into a problem head first, take the time to move step by step. Here’s how you can effectively break down the problem-solving process with your team:

1. Identify the problem that needs to be solved

One of the easiest ways to identify a problem is to ask questions. A good place to start is to ask journalistic questions, like:

Who : Who is involved with this problem? Who caused the problem? Who is most affected by this issue?

What: What is happening? What is the extent of the issue? What does this problem prevent from moving forward?

Where: Where did this problem take place? Does this problem affect anything else in the immediate area? 

When: When did this problem happen? When does this problem take effect? Is this an urgent issue that needs to be solved within a certain timeframe?

Why: Why is it happening? Why does it impact workflows?

How: How did this problem occur? How is it affecting workflows and team members from being productive?

Asking journalistic questions can help you define a strong problem statement so you can highlight the current situation objectively, and create a plan around that situation.

Here’s an example of how a design team uses journalistic questions to identify their problem:

Overarching problem: Design requests are being missed

Who: Design team, digital marketing team, web development team

What: Design requests are forgotten, lost, or being created ad hoc.

Where: Email requests, design request spreadsheet

When: Missed requests on January 20th, January 31st, February 4th, February 6th

How : Email request was lost in inbox and the intake spreadsheet was not updated correctly. The digital marketing team had to delay launching ads for a few days while design requests were bottlenecked. Designers had to work extra hours to ensure all requests were completed.

In this example, there are many different aspects of this problem that can be solved. Using journalistic questions can help you identify different issues and who you should involve in the process.

2. Brainstorm multiple solutions

If at all possible, bring in a facilitator who doesn't have a major stake in the solution. Bringing an individual who has little-to-no stake in the matter can help keep your team on track and encourage good problem-solving skills.

Here are a few brainstorming techniques to encourage creative thinking:

Brainstorm alone before hand: Before you come together as a group, provide some context to your team on what exactly the issue is that you're brainstorming. This will give time for you and your teammates to have some ideas ready by the time you meet.

Say yes to everything (at first): When you first start brainstorming, don't say no to any ideas just yet—try to get as many ideas down as possible. Having as many ideas as possible ensures that you’ll get a variety of solutions. Save the trimming for the next step of the strategy. 

Talk to team members one-on-one: Some people may be less comfortable sharing their ideas in a group setting. Discuss the issue with team members individually and encourage them to share their opinions without restrictions—you might find some more detailed insights than originally anticipated.

Break out of your routine: If you're used to brainstorming in a conference room or over Zoom calls, do something a little different! Take your brainstorming meeting to a coffee shop or have your Zoom call while you're taking a walk. Getting out of your routine can force your brain out of its usual rut and increase critical thinking.

3. Define the solution

After you brainstorm with team members to get their unique perspectives on a scenario, it's time to look at the different strategies and decide which option is the best solution for the problem at hand. When defining the solution, consider these main two questions: What is the desired outcome of this solution and who stands to benefit from this solution? 

Set a deadline for when this decision needs to be made and update stakeholders accordingly. Sometimes there's too many people who need to make a decision. Use your best judgement based on the limitations provided to do great things fast.

4. Implement the solution

To implement your solution, start by working with the individuals who are as closest to the problem. This can help those most affected by the problem get unblocked. Then move farther out to those who are less affected, and so on and so forth. Some solutions are simple enough that you don’t need to work through multiple teams.

After you prioritize implementation with the right teams, assign out the ongoing work that needs to be completed by the rest of the team. This can prevent people from becoming overburdened during the implementation plan . Once your solution is in place, schedule check-ins to see how the solution is working and course-correct if necessary.

Implement common problem-solving strategies

There are a few ways to go about identifying problems (and solutions). Here are some strategies you can try, as well as common ways to apply them:

Trial and error

Trial and error problem solving doesn't usually require a whole team of people to solve. To use trial and error problem solving, identify the cause of the problem, and then rapidly test possible solutions to see if anything changes. 

This problem-solving method is often used in tech support teams through troubleshooting.

The 5 whys problem-solving method helps get to the root cause of an issue. You start by asking once, “Why did this issue happen?” After answering the first why, ask again, “Why did that happen?” You'll do this five times until you can attribute the problem to a root cause. 

This technique can help you dig in and find the human error that caused something to go wrong. More importantly, it also helps you and your team develop an actionable plan so that you can prevent the issue from happening again.

Here’s an example:

Problem: The email marketing campaign was accidentally sent to the wrong audience.

“Why did this happen?” Because the audience name was not updated in our email platform.

“Why were the audience names not changed?” Because the audience segment was not renamed after editing. 

“Why was the audience segment not renamed?” Because everybody has an individual way of creating an audience segment.

“Why does everybody have an individual way of creating an audience segment?” Because there is no standardized process for creating audience segments. 

“Why is there no standardized process for creating audience segments?” Because the team hasn't decided on a way to standardize the process as the team introduced new members. 

In this example, we can see a few areas that could be optimized to prevent this mistake from happening again. When working through these questions, make sure that everyone who was involved in the situation is present so that you can co-create next steps to avoid the same problem. 

A SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis can help you highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a specific solution. SWOT stands for:

Strength: Why is this specific solution a good fit for this problem? 

Weaknesses: What are the weak points of this solution? Is there anything that you can do to strengthen those weaknesses?

Opportunities: What other benefits could arise from implementing this solution?

Threats: Is there anything about this decision that can detrimentally impact your team?

As you identify specific solutions, you can highlight the different strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each solution. 

This particular problem-solving strategy is good to use when you're narrowing down the answers and need to compare and contrast the differences between different solutions. 

Even more successful problem solving

After you’ve worked through a tough problem, don't forget to celebrate how far you've come. Not only is this important for your team of problem solvers to see their work in action, but this can also help you become a more efficient, effective , and flexible team. The more problems you tackle together, the more you’ll achieve. 

Looking for a tool to help solve problems on your team? Track project implementation with a work management tool like Asana .

Related resources

How to build your critical thinking skills in 7 steps (with examples)

6 ways to develop adaptability in the workplace and embrace change

4 ways to establish roles and responsibilities for team success

9 tips for taking better meeting notes

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How to Solve Problems

• Laura Amico

To bring the best ideas forward, teams must build psychological safety.

Teams today aren’t just asked to execute tasks: They’re called upon to solve problems. You’d think that many brains working together would mean better solutions, but the reality is that too often problem-solving teams fall victim to inefficiency, conflict, and cautious conclusions. The two charts below will help your team think about how to collaborate better and come up with the best solutions for the thorniest challenges.

• Laura Amico is a former senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

Partner Center

40 problem-solving techniques and processes

All teams and organizations encounter challenges. Approaching those challenges without a structured problem solving process can end up making things worse.

Proven problem solving techniques such as those outlined below can guide your group through a process of identifying problems and challenges , ideating on possible solutions , and then evaluating and implementing the most suitable .

In this post, you'll find problem-solving tools you can use to develop effective solutions. You'll also find some tips for facilitating the problem solving process and solving complex problems.

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What is problem solving?

Problem solving is a process of finding and implementing a solution to a challenge or obstacle. In most contexts, this means going through a problem solving process that begins with identifying the issue, exploring its root causes, ideating and refining possible solutions before implementing and measuring the impact of that solution.

For simple or small problems, it can be tempting to skip straight to implementing what you believe is the right solution. The danger with this approach is that without exploring the true causes of the issue, it might just occur again or your chosen solution may cause other issues.

Particularly in the world of work, good problem solving means using data to back up each step of the process, bringing in new perspectives and effectively measuring the impact of your solution.

Effective problem solving can help ensure that your team or organization is well positioned to overcome challenges, be resilient to change and create innovation. In my experience, problem solving is a combination of skillset, mindset and process, and it’s especially vital for leaders to cultivate this skill.

What is the seven step problem solving process?

A problem solving process is a step-by-step framework from going from discovering a problem all the way through to implementing a solution.

With practice, this framework can become intuitive, and innovative companies tend to have a consistent and ongoing ability to discover and tackle challenges when they come up.

You might see everything from a four step problem solving process through to seven steps. While all these processes cover roughly the same ground, I’ve found a seven step problem solving process is helpful for making all key steps legible.

We’ll outline that process here and then follow with techniques you can use to explore and work on that step of the problem solving process with a group.

The seven-step problem solving process is:

1. Problem identification 

The first stage of any problem solving process is to identify the problem(s) you need to solve. This often looks like using group discussions and activities to help a group surface and effectively articulate the challenges they’re facing and wish to resolve.

Be sure to align with your team on the exact definition and nature of the problem you’re solving. An effective process is one where everyone is pulling in the same direction – ensure clarity and alignment now to help avoid misunderstandings later.

2. Problem analysis and refinement

The process of problem analysis means ensuring that the problem you are seeking to solve is  the   right problem . Choosing the right problem to solve means you are on the right path to creating the right solution.

At this stage, you may look deeper at the problem you identified to try and discover the root cause at the level of people or process. You may also spend some time sourcing data, consulting relevant parties and creating and refining a problem statement.

Problem refinement means adjusting scope or focus of the problem you will be aiming to solve based on what comes up during your analysis. As you analyze data sources, you might discover that the root cause means you need to adjust your problem statement. Alternatively, you might find that your original problem statement is too big to be meaningful approached within your current project.

Remember that the goal of any problem refinement is to help set the stage for effective solution development and deployment. Set the right focus and get buy-in from your team here and you’ll be well positioned to move forward with confidence.

3. Solution generation

Once your group has nailed down the particulars of the problem you wish to solve, you want to encourage a free flow of ideas connecting to solving that problem. This can take the form of problem solving games that encourage creative thinking or techniquess designed to produce working prototypes of possible solutions. 

The key to ensuring the success of this stage of the problem solving process is to encourage quick, creative thinking and create an open space where all ideas are considered. The best solutions can often come from unlikely places and by using problem solving techniques that celebrate invention, you might come up with solution gold. 

4. Solution development

No solution is perfect right out of the gate. It’s important to discuss and develop the solutions your group has come up with over the course of following the previous problem solving steps in order to arrive at the best possible solution. Problem solving games used in this stage involve lots of critical thinking, measuring potential effort and impact, and looking at possible solutions analytically. 

During this stage, you will often ask your team to iterate and improve upon your front-running solutions and develop them further. Remember that problem solving strategies always benefit from a multitude of voices and opinions, and not to let ego get involved when it comes to choosing which solutions to develop and take further.

Finding the best solution is the goal of all problem solving workshops and here is the place to ensure that your solution is well thought out, sufficiently robust and fit for purpose. 

5. Decision making and planning

Nearly there! Once you’ve got a set of possible, you’ll need to make a decision on which to implement. This can be a consensus-based group decision or it might be for a leader or major stakeholder to decide. You’ll find a set of effective decision making methods below.

Once your group has reached consensus and selected a solution, there are some additional actions that also need to be decided upon. You’ll want to work on allocating ownership of the project, figure out who will do what, how the success of the solution will be measured and decide the next course of action.

Set clear accountabilities, actions, timeframes, and follow-ups for your chosen solution. Make these decisions and set clear next-steps in the problem solving workshop so that everyone is aligned and you can move forward effectively as a group. 

Ensuring that you plan for the roll-out of a solution is one of the most important problem solving steps. Without adequate planning or oversight, it can prove impossible to measure success or iterate further if the problem was not solved. 

6. Solution implementation 

This is what we were waiting for! All problem solving processes have the end goal of implementing an effective and impactful solution that your group has confidence in.

Project management and communication skills are key here – your solution may need to adjust when out in the wild or you might discover new challenges along the way. For some solutions, you might also implement a test with a small group and monitor results before rolling it out to an entire company.

You should have a clear owner for your solution who will oversee the plans you made together and help ensure they’re put into place. This person will often coordinate the implementation team and set-up processes to measure the efficacy of your solution too.

7. Solution evaluation 

So you and your team developed a great solution to a problem and have a gut feeling it’s been solved. Work done, right? Wrong. All problem solving strategies benefit from evaluation, consideration, and feedback.

You might find that the solution does not work for everyone, might create new problems, or is potentially so successful that you will want to roll it out to larger teams or as part of other initiatives. 

None of that is possible without taking the time to evaluate the success of the solution you developed in your problem solving model and adjust if necessary.

Remember that the problem solving process is often iterative and it can be common to not solve complex issues on the first try. Even when this is the case, you and your team will have generated learning that will be important for future problem solving workshops or in other parts of the organization. 

It’s also worth underlining how important record keeping is throughout the problem solving process. If a solution didn’t work, you need to have the data and records to see why that was the case. If you go back to the drawing board, notes from the previous workshop can help save time.

What does an effective problem solving process look like?

Every effective problem solving process begins with an agenda . In our experience, a well-structured problem solving workshop is one of the best methods for successfully guiding a group from exploring a problem to implementing a solution.

The format of a workshop ensures that you can get buy-in from your group, encourage free-thinking and solution exploration before making a decision on what to implement following the session.

This Design Sprint 2.0 template is an effective problem solving process from top agency AJ&Smart. It’s a great format for the entire problem solving process, with four-days of workshops designed to surface issues, explore solutions and even test a solution.

Check it for an example of how you might structure and run a problem solving process and feel free to copy and adjust it your needs!

For a shorter process you can run in a single afternoon, this remote problem solving agenda will guide you effectively in just a couple of hours.

Whatever the length of your workshop, by using SessionLab, it’s easy to go from an idea to a complete agenda . Start by dragging and dropping your core problem solving activities into place . Add timings, breaks and necessary materials before sharing your agenda with your colleagues.

The resulting agenda will be your guide to an effective and productive problem solving session that will also help you stay organized on the day!

Complete problem-solving methods

In this section, we’ll look at in-depth problem-solving methods that provide a complete end-to-end process for developing effective solutions. These will help guide your team from the discovery and definition of a problem through to delivering the right solution.

If you’re looking for an all-encompassing method or problem-solving model, these processes are a great place to start. They’ll ask your team to challenge preconceived ideas and adopt a mindset for solving problems more effectively.

Six Thinking Hats

Individual approaches to solving a problem can be very different based on what team or role an individual holds. It can be easy for existing biases or perspectives to find their way into the mix, or for internal politics to direct a conversation.

Six Thinking Hats is a classic method for identifying the problems that need to be solved and enables your team to consider them from different angles, whether that is by focusing on facts and data, creative solutions, or by considering why a particular solution might not work.

Like all problem-solving frameworks, Six Thinking Hats is effective at helping teams remove roadblocks from a conversation or discussion and come to terms with all the aspects necessary to solve complex problems.

The Six Thinking Hats   #creative thinking   #meeting facilitation   #problem solving   #issue resolution   #idea generation   #conflict resolution   The Six Thinking Hats are used by individuals and groups to separate out conflicting styles of thinking. They enable and encourage a group of people to think constructively together in exploring and implementing change, rather than using argument to fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Lightning Decision Jam

Featured courtesy of Jonathan Courtney of AJ&Smart Berlin, Lightning Decision Jam is one of those strategies that should be in every facilitation toolbox. Exploring problems and finding solutions is often creative in nature, though as with any creative process, there is the potential to lose focus and get lost.

Unstructured discussions might get you there in the end, but it’s much more effective to use a method that creates a clear process and team focus.

In Lightning Decision Jam, participants are invited to begin by writing challenges, concerns, or mistakes on post-its without discussing them before then being invited by the moderator to present them to the group.

From there, the team vote on which problems to solve and are guided through steps that will allow them to reframe those problems, create solutions and then decide what to execute on. 

By deciding the problems that need to be solved as a team before moving on, this group process is great for ensuring the whole team is aligned and can take ownership over the next stages. 

Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ)   #action   #decision making   #problem solving   #issue analysis   #innovation   #design   #remote-friendly   It doesn’t matter where you work and what your job role is, if you work with other people together as a team, you will always encounter the same challenges: Unclear goals and miscommunication that cause busy work and overtime Unstructured meetings that leave attendants tired, confused and without clear outcomes. Frustration builds up because internal challenges to productivity are not addressed Sudden changes in priorities lead to a loss of focus and momentum Muddled compromise takes the place of clear decision- making, leaving everybody to come up with their own interpretation. In short, a lack of structure leads to a waste of time and effort, projects that drag on for too long and frustrated, burnt out teams. AJ&Smart has worked with some of the most innovative, productive companies in the world. What sets their teams apart from others is not better tools, bigger talent or more beautiful offices. The secret sauce to becoming a more productive, more creative and happier team is simple: Replace all open discussion or brainstorming with a structured process that leads to more ideas, clearer decisions and better outcomes. When a good process provides guardrails and a clear path to follow, it becomes easier to come up with ideas, make decisions and solve problems. This is why AJ&Smart created Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ). It’s a simple and short, but powerful group exercise that can be run either in-person, in the same room, or remotely with distributed teams.

Problem Definition Process

While problems can be complex, the problem-solving methods you use to identify and solve those problems can often be simple in design. 

By taking the time to truly identify and define a problem before asking the group to reframe the challenge as an opportunity, this method is a great way to enable change.

Begin by identifying a focus question and exploring the ways in which it manifests before splitting into five teams who will each consider the problem using a different method: escape, reversal, exaggeration, distortion or wishful. Teams develop a problem objective and create ideas in line with their method before then feeding them back to the group.

This method is great for enabling in-depth discussions while also creating space for finding creative solutions too!

Problem Definition   #problem solving   #idea generation   #creativity   #online   #remote-friendly   A problem solving technique to define a problem, challenge or opportunity and to generate ideas.

The 5 Whys 

Sometimes, a group needs to go further with their strategies and analyze the root cause at the heart of organizational issues. An RCA or root cause analysis is the process of identifying what is at the heart of business problems or recurring challenges. 

The 5 Whys is a simple and effective method of helping a group go find the root cause of any problem or challenge and conduct analysis that will deliver results. 

By beginning with the creation of a problem statement and going through five stages to refine it, The 5 Whys provides everything you need to truly discover the cause of an issue.

The 5 Whys   #hyperisland   #innovation   This simple and powerful method is useful for getting to the core of a problem or challenge. As the title suggests, the group defines a problems, then asks the question “why” five times, often using the resulting explanation as a starting point for creative problem solving.

World Cafe is a simple but powerful facilitation technique to help bigger groups to focus their energy and attention on solving complex problems.

World Cafe enables this approach by creating a relaxed atmosphere where participants are able to self-organize and explore topics relevant and important to them which are themed around a central problem-solving purpose. Create the right atmosphere by modeling your space after a cafe and after guiding the group through the method, let them take the lead!

Making problem-solving a part of your organization’s culture in the long term can be a difficult undertaking. More approachable formats like World Cafe can be especially effective in bringing people unfamiliar with workshops into the fold. 

World Cafe   #hyperisland   #innovation   #issue analysis   World Café is a simple yet powerful method, originated by Juanita Brown, for enabling meaningful conversations driven completely by participants and the topics that are relevant and important to them. Facilitators create a cafe-style space and provide simple guidelines. Participants then self-organize and explore a set of relevant topics or questions for conversation.

Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD)

One of the best approaches is to create a safe space for a group to share and discover practices and behaviors that can help them find their own solutions.

With DAD, you can help a group choose which problems they wish to solve and which approaches they will take to do so. It’s great at helping remove resistance to change and can help get buy-in at every level too!

This process of enabling frontline ownership is great in ensuring follow-through and is one of the methods you will want in your toolbox as a facilitator.

Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD)   #idea generation   #liberating structures   #action   #issue analysis   #remote-friendly   DADs make it easy for a group or community to discover practices and behaviors that enable some individuals (without access to special resources and facing the same constraints) to find better solutions than their peers to common problems. These are called positive deviant (PD) behaviors and practices. DADs make it possible for people in the group, unit, or community to discover by themselves these PD practices. DADs also create favorable conditions for stimulating participants’ creativity in spaces where they can feel safe to invent new and more effective practices. Resistance to change evaporates as participants are unleashed to choose freely which practices they will adopt or try and which problems they will tackle. DADs make it possible to achieve frontline ownership of solutions.

Design Sprint 2.0

Want to see how a team can solve big problems and move forward with prototyping and testing solutions in a few days? The Design Sprint 2.0 template from Jake Knapp, author of Sprint, is a complete agenda for a with proven results.

Developing the right agenda can involve difficult but necessary planning. Ensuring all the correct steps are followed can also be stressful or time-consuming depending on your level of experience.

Use this complete 4-day workshop template if you are finding there is no obvious solution to your challenge and want to focus your team around a specific problem that might require a shortcut to launching a minimum viable product or waiting for the organization-wide implementation of a solution.

Open space technology

Open space technology- developed by Harrison Owen – creates a space where large groups are invited to take ownership of their problem solving and lead individual sessions. Open space technology is a great format when you have a great deal of expertise and insight in the room and want to allow for different takes and approaches on a particular theme or problem you need to be solved.

Start by bringing your participants together to align around a central theme and focus their efforts. Explain the ground rules to help guide the problem-solving process and then invite members to identify any issue connecting to the central theme that they are interested in and are prepared to take responsibility for.

Once participants have decided on their approach to the core theme, they write their issue on a piece of paper, announce it to the group, pick a session time and place, and post the paper on the wall. As the wall fills up with sessions, the group is then invited to join the sessions that interest them the most and which they can contribute to, then you’re ready to begin!

Everyone joins the problem-solving group they’ve signed up to, record the discussion and if appropriate, findings can then be shared with the rest of the group afterward.

Open Space Technology   #action plan   #idea generation   #problem solving   #issue analysis   #large group   #online   #remote-friendly   Open Space is a methodology for large groups to create their agenda discerning important topics for discussion, suitable for conferences, community gatherings and whole system facilitation

Techniques to identify and analyze problems

Using a problem-solving method to help a team identify and analyze a problem can be a quick and effective addition to any workshop or meeting.

While further actions are always necessary, you can generate momentum and alignment easily, and these activities are a great place to get started.

We’ve put together this list of techniques to help you and your team with problem identification, analysis, and discussion that sets the foundation for developing effective solutions.

Let’s take a look!

Fishbone Analysis

Organizational or team challenges are rarely simple, and it’s important to remember that one problem can be an indication of something that goes deeper and may require further consideration to be solved.

Fishbone Analysis helps groups to dig deeper and understand the origins of a problem. It’s a great example of a root cause analysis method that is simple for everyone on a team to get their head around. 

Participants in this activity are asked to annotate a diagram of a fish, first adding the problem or issue to be worked on at the head of a fish before then brainstorming the root causes of the problem and adding them as bones on the fish. 

Using abstractions such as a diagram of a fish can really help a team break out of their regular thinking and develop a creative approach.

Fishbone Analysis   #problem solving   ##root cause analysis   #decision making   #online facilitation   A process to help identify and understand the origins of problems, issues or observations.

Problem Tree 

Encouraging visual thinking can be an essential part of many strategies. By simply reframing and clarifying problems, a group can move towards developing a problem solving model that works for them. 

In Problem Tree, groups are asked to first brainstorm a list of problems – these can be design problems, team problems or larger business problems – and then organize them into a hierarchy. The hierarchy could be from most important to least important or abstract to practical, though the key thing with problem solving games that involve this aspect is that your group has some way of managing and sorting all the issues that are raised.

Once you have a list of problems that need to be solved and have organized them accordingly, you’re then well-positioned for the next problem solving steps.

Problem tree   #define intentions   #create   #design   #issue analysis   A problem tree is a tool to clarify the hierarchy of problems addressed by the team within a design project; it represents high level problems or related sublevel problems.

SWOT Analysis

Chances are you’ve heard of the SWOT Analysis before. This problem-solving method focuses on identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is a tried and tested method for both individuals and teams.

Start by creating a desired end state or outcome and bare this in mind – any process solving model is made more effective by knowing what you are moving towards. Create a quadrant made up of the four categories of a SWOT analysis and ask participants to generate ideas based on each of those quadrants.

Once you have those ideas assembled in their quadrants, cluster them together based on their affinity with other ideas. These clusters are then used to facilitate group conversations and move things forward. 

SWOT analysis   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   #meeting facilitation   The SWOT Analysis is a long-standing technique of looking at what we have, with respect to the desired end state, as well as what we could improve on. It gives us an opportunity to gauge approaching opportunities and dangers, and assess the seriousness of the conditions that affect our future. When we understand those conditions, we can influence what comes next.

Agreement-Certainty Matrix

Not every problem-solving approach is right for every challenge, and deciding on the right method for the challenge at hand is a key part of being an effective team.

The Agreement Certainty matrix helps teams align on the nature of the challenges facing them. By sorting problems from simple to chaotic, your team can understand what methods are suitable for each problem and what they can do to ensure effective results. 

If you are already using Liberating Structures techniques as part of your problem-solving strategy, the Agreement-Certainty Matrix can be an invaluable addition to your process. We’ve found it particularly if you are having issues with recurring problems in your organization and want to go deeper in understanding the root cause. 

Agreement-Certainty Matrix   #issue analysis   #liberating structures   #problem solving   You can help individuals or groups avoid the frequent mistake of trying to solve a problem with methods that are not adapted to the nature of their challenge. The combination of two questions makes it possible to easily sort challenges into four categories: simple, complicated, complex , and chaotic .  A problem is simple when it can be solved reliably with practices that are easy to duplicate.  It is complicated when experts are required to devise a sophisticated solution that will yield the desired results predictably.  A problem is complex when there are several valid ways to proceed but outcomes are not predictable in detail.  Chaotic is when the context is too turbulent to identify a path forward.  A loose analogy may be used to describe these differences: simple is like following a recipe, complicated like sending a rocket to the moon, complex like raising a child, and chaotic is like the game “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”  The Liberating Structures Matching Matrix in Chapter 5 can be used as the first step to clarify the nature of a challenge and avoid the mismatches between problems and solutions that are frequently at the root of chronic, recurring problems.

Organizing and charting a team’s progress can be important in ensuring its success. SQUID (Sequential Question and Insight Diagram) is a great model that allows a team to effectively switch between giving questions and answers and develop the skills they need to stay on track throughout the process. 

Begin with two different colored sticky notes – one for questions and one for answers – and with your central topic (the head of the squid) on the board. Ask the group to first come up with a series of questions connected to their best guess of how to approach the topic. Ask the group to come up with answers to those questions, fix them to the board and connect them with a line. After some discussion, go back to question mode by responding to the generated answers or other points on the board.

It’s rewarding to see a diagram grow throughout the exercise, and a completed SQUID can provide a visual resource for future effort and as an example for other teams.

SQUID   #gamestorming   #project planning   #issue analysis   #problem solving   When exploring an information space, it’s important for a group to know where they are at any given time. By using SQUID, a group charts out the territory as they go and can navigate accordingly. SQUID stands for Sequential Question and Insight Diagram.

To continue with our nautical theme, Speed Boat is a short and sweet activity that can help a team quickly identify what employees, clients or service users might have a problem with and analyze what might be standing in the way of achieving a solution.

Methods that allow for a group to make observations, have insights and obtain those eureka moments quickly are invaluable when trying to solve complex problems.

In Speed Boat, the approach is to first consider what anchors and challenges might be holding an organization (or boat) back. Bonus points if you are able to identify any sharks in the water and develop ideas that can also deal with competitors!   

Speed Boat   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   Speedboat is a short and sweet way to identify what your employees or clients don’t like about your product/service or what’s standing in the way of a desired goal.

The Journalistic Six

Some of the most effective ways of solving problems is by encouraging teams to be more inclusive and diverse in their thinking.

Based on the six key questions journalism students are taught to answer in articles and news stories, The Journalistic Six helps create teams to see the whole picture. By using who, what, when, where, why, and how to facilitate the conversation and encourage creative thinking, your team can make sure that the problem identification and problem analysis stages of the are covered exhaustively and thoughtfully. Reporter’s notebook and dictaphone optional.

The Journalistic Six – Who What When Where Why How   #idea generation   #issue analysis   #problem solving   #online   #creative thinking   #remote-friendly   A questioning method for generating, explaining, investigating ideas.

Individual and group perspectives are incredibly important, but what happens if people are set in their minds and need a change of perspective in order to approach a problem more effectively?

Flip It is a method we love because it is both simple to understand and run, and allows groups to understand how their perspectives and biases are formed. 

Participants in Flip It are first invited to consider concerns, issues, or problems from a perspective of fear and write them on a flip chart. Then, the group is asked to consider those same issues from a perspective of hope and flip their understanding.  

No problem and solution is free from existing bias and by changing perspectives with Flip It, you can then develop a problem solving model quickly and effectively.

Flip It!   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   Often, a change in a problem or situation comes simply from a change in our perspectives. Flip It! is a quick game designed to show players that perspectives are made, not born.

LEGO Challenge

Now for an activity that is a little out of the (toy) box. LEGO Serious Play is a facilitation methodology that can be used to improve creative thinking and problem-solving skills. 

The LEGO Challenge includes giving each member of the team an assignment that is hidden from the rest of the group while they create a structure without speaking.

What the LEGO challenge brings to the table is a fun working example of working with stakeholders who might not be on the same page to solve problems. Also, it’s LEGO! Who doesn’t love LEGO! 

LEGO Challenge   #hyperisland   #team   A team-building activity in which groups must work together to build a structure out of LEGO, but each individual has a secret “assignment” which makes the collaborative process more challenging. It emphasizes group communication, leadership dynamics, conflict, cooperation, patience and problem solving strategy.

What, So What, Now What?

If not carefully managed, the problem identification and problem analysis stages of the problem-solving process can actually create more problems and misunderstandings.

The What, So What, Now What? problem-solving activity is designed to help collect insights and move forward while also eliminating the possibility of disagreement when it comes to identifying, clarifying, and analyzing organizational or work problems. 

Facilitation is all about bringing groups together so that might work on a shared goal and the best problem-solving strategies ensure that teams are aligned in purpose, if not initially in opinion or insight.

Throughout the three steps of this game, you give everyone on a team to reflect on a problem by asking what happened, why it is important, and what actions should then be taken. 

This can be a great activity for bringing our individual perceptions about a problem or challenge and contextualizing it in a larger group setting. This is one of the most important problem-solving skills you can bring to your organization.

W³ – What, So What, Now What?   #issue analysis   #innovation   #liberating structures   You can help groups reflect on a shared experience in a way that builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict. It is possible for every voice to be heard while simultaneously sifting for insights and shaping new direction. Progressing in stages makes this practical—from collecting facts about What Happened to making sense of these facts with So What and finally to what actions logically follow with Now What . The shared progression eliminates most of the misunderstandings that otherwise fuel disagreements about what to do. Voila!

Journalists  

Problem analysis can be one of the most important and decisive stages of all problem-solving tools. Sometimes, a team can become bogged down in the details and are unable to move forward.

Journalists is an activity that can avoid a group from getting stuck in the problem identification or problem analysis stages of the process.

In Journalists, the group is invited to draft the front page of a fictional newspaper and figure out what stories deserve to be on the cover and what headlines those stories will have. By reframing how your problems and challenges are approached, you can help a team move productively through the process and be better prepared for the steps to follow.

Journalists   #vision   #big picture   #issue analysis   #remote-friendly   This is an exercise to use when the group gets stuck in details and struggles to see the big picture. Also good for defining a vision.

Problem-solving techniques for brainstorming solutions

Now you have the context and background of the problem you are trying to solving, now comes the time to start ideating and thinking about how you’ll solve the issue.

Here, you’ll want to encourage creative, free thinking and speed. Get as many ideas out as possible and explore different perspectives so you have the raw material for the next step.

Looking at a problem from a new angle can be one of the most effective ways of creating an effective solution. TRIZ is a problem-solving tool that asks the group to consider what they must not do in order to solve a challenge.

By reversing the discussion, new topics and taboo subjects often emerge, allowing the group to think more deeply and create ideas that confront the status quo in a safe and meaningful way. If you’re working on a problem that you’ve tried to solve before, TRIZ is a great problem-solving method to help your team get unblocked.

Making Space with TRIZ   #issue analysis   #liberating structures   #issue resolution   You can clear space for innovation by helping a group let go of what it knows (but rarely admits) limits its success and by inviting creative destruction. TRIZ makes it possible to challenge sacred cows safely and encourages heretical thinking. The question “What must we stop doing to make progress on our deepest purpose?” induces seriously fun yet very courageous conversations. Since laughter often erupts, issues that are otherwise taboo get a chance to be aired and confronted. With creative destruction come opportunities for renewal as local action and innovation rush in to fill the vacuum. Whoosh!

Mindspin  

Brainstorming is part of the bread and butter of the problem-solving process and all problem-solving strategies benefit from getting ideas out and challenging a team to generate solutions quickly. 

With Mindspin, participants are encouraged not only to generate ideas but to do so under time constraints and by slamming down cards and passing them on. By doing multiple rounds, your team can begin with a free generation of possible solutions before moving on to developing those solutions and encouraging further ideation. 

This is one of our favorite problem-solving activities and can be great for keeping the energy up throughout the workshop. Remember the importance of helping people become engaged in the process – energizing problem-solving techniques like Mindspin can help ensure your team stays engaged and happy, even when the problems they’re coming together to solve are complex. 

MindSpin   #teampedia   #idea generation   #problem solving   #action   A fast and loud method to enhance brainstorming within a team. Since this activity has more than round ideas that are repetitive can be ruled out leaving more creative and innovative answers to the challenge.

The Creativity Dice

One of the most useful problem solving skills you can teach your team is of approaching challenges with creativity, flexibility, and openness. Games like The Creativity Dice allow teams to overcome the potential hurdle of too much linear thinking and approach the process with a sense of fun and speed. 

In The Creativity Dice, participants are organized around a topic and roll a dice to determine what they will work on for a period of 3 minutes at a time. They might roll a 3 and work on investigating factual information on the chosen topic. They might roll a 1 and work on identifying the specific goals, standards, or criteria for the session.

Encouraging rapid work and iteration while asking participants to be flexible are great skills to cultivate. Having a stage for idea incubation in this game is also important. Moments of pause can help ensure the ideas that are put forward are the most suitable. 

The Creativity Dice   #creativity   #problem solving   #thiagi   #issue analysis   Too much linear thinking is hazardous to creative problem solving. To be creative, you should approach the problem (or the opportunity) from different points of view. You should leave a thought hanging in mid-air and move to another. This skipping around prevents premature closure and lets your brain incubate one line of thought while you consciously pursue another.

Idea and Concept Development

Brainstorming without structure can quickly become chaotic or frustrating. In a problem-solving context, having an ideation framework to follow can help ensure your team is both creative and disciplined.

In this method, you’ll find an idea generation process that encourages your group to brainstorm effectively before developing their ideas and begin clustering them together. By using concepts such as Yes and…, more is more and postponing judgement, you can create the ideal conditions for brainstorming with ease.

Idea & Concept Development   #hyperisland   #innovation   #idea generation   Ideation and Concept Development is a process for groups to work creatively and collaboratively to generate creative ideas. It’s a general approach that can be adapted and customized to suit many different scenarios. It includes basic principles for idea generation and several steps for groups to work with. It also includes steps for idea selection and development.

Problem-solving techniques for developing and refining solutions 

The success of any problem-solving process can be measured by the solutions it produces. After you’ve defined the issue, explored existing ideas, and ideated, it’s time to develop and refine your ideas in order to bring them closer to a solution that actually solves the problem.

Use these problem-solving techniques when you want to help your team think through their ideas and refine them as part of your problem solving process.

Improved Solutions

After a team has successfully identified a problem and come up with a few solutions, it can be tempting to call the work of the problem-solving process complete. That said, the first solution is not necessarily the best, and by including a further review and reflection activity into your problem-solving model, you can ensure your group reaches the best possible result. 

One of a number of problem-solving games from Thiagi Group, Improved Solutions helps you go the extra mile and develop suggested solutions with close consideration and peer review. By supporting the discussion of several problems at once and by shifting team roles throughout, this problem-solving technique is a dynamic way of finding the best solution. 

Improved Solutions   #creativity   #thiagi   #problem solving   #action   #team   You can improve any solution by objectively reviewing its strengths and weaknesses and making suitable adjustments. In this creativity framegame, you improve the solutions to several problems. To maintain objective detachment, you deal with a different problem during each of six rounds and assume different roles (problem owner, consultant, basher, booster, enhancer, and evaluator) during each round. At the conclusion of the activity, each player ends up with two solutions to her problem.

Four Step Sketch

Creative thinking and visual ideation does not need to be confined to the opening stages of your problem-solving strategies. Exercises that include sketching and prototyping on paper can be effective at the solution finding and development stage of the process, and can be great for keeping a team engaged. 

By going from simple notes to a crazy 8s round that involves rapidly sketching 8 variations on their ideas before then producing a final solution sketch, the group is able to iterate quickly and visually. Problem-solving techniques like Four-Step Sketch are great if you have a group of different thinkers and want to change things up from a more textual or discussion-based approach.

Four-Step Sketch   #design sprint   #innovation   #idea generation   #remote-friendly   The four-step sketch is an exercise that helps people to create well-formed concepts through a structured process that includes: Review key information Start design work on paper,  Consider multiple variations , Create a detailed solution . This exercise is preceded by a set of other activities allowing the group to clarify the challenge they want to solve. See how the Four Step Sketch exercise fits into a Design Sprint

Ensuring that everyone in a group is able to contribute to a discussion is vital during any problem solving process. Not only does this ensure all bases are covered, but its then easier to get buy-in and accountability when people have been able to contribute to the process.

1-2-4-All is a tried and tested facilitation technique where participants are asked to first brainstorm on a topic on their own. Next, they discuss and share ideas in a pair before moving into a small group. Those groups are then asked to present the best idea from their discussion to the rest of the team.

This method can be used in many different contexts effectively, though I find it particularly shines in the idea development stage of the process. Giving each participant time to concretize their ideas and develop them in progressively larger groups can create a great space for both innovation and psychological safety.

1-2-4-All   #idea generation   #liberating structures   #issue analysis   With this facilitation technique you can immediately include everyone regardless of how large the group is. You can generate better ideas and more of them faster than ever before. You can tap the know-how and imagination that is distributed widely in places not known in advance. Open, generative conversation unfolds. Ideas and solutions are sifted in rapid fashion. Most importantly, participants own the ideas, so follow-up and implementation is simplified. No buy-in strategies needed! Simple and elegant!

15% Solutions

Some problems are simpler than others and with the right problem-solving activities, you can empower people to take immediate actions that can help create organizational change. 

Part of the liberating structures toolkit, 15% solutions is a problem-solving technique that focuses on finding and implementing solutions quickly. A process of iterating and making small changes quickly can help generate momentum and an appetite for solving complex problems.

Problem-solving strategies can live and die on whether people are onboard. Getting some quick wins is a great way of getting people behind the process.   

It can be extremely empowering for a team to realize that problem-solving techniques can be deployed quickly and easily and delineate between things they can positively impact and those things they cannot change. 

15% Solutions   #action   #liberating structures   #remote-friendly   You can reveal the actions, however small, that everyone can do immediately. At a minimum, these will create momentum, and that may make a BIG difference.  15% Solutions show that there is no reason to wait around, feel powerless, or fearful. They help people pick it up a level. They get individuals and the group to focus on what is within their discretion instead of what they cannot change.  With a very simple question, you can flip the conversation to what can be done and find solutions to big problems that are often distributed widely in places not known in advance. Shifting a few grains of sand may trigger a landslide and change the whole landscape.

Problem-solving techniques for making decisions and planning

After your group is happy with the possible solutions you’ve developed, now comes the time to choose which to implement. There’s more than one way to make a decision and the best option is often dependant on the needs and set-up of your group.

Sometimes, it’s the case that you’ll want to vote as a group on what is likely to be the most impactful solution. Other times, it might be down to a decision maker or major stakeholder to make the final decision. Whatever your process, here’s some techniques you can use to help you make a decision during your problem solving process.

How-Now-Wow Matrix

The problem-solving process is often creative, as complex problems usually require a change of thinking and creative response in order to find the best solutions. While it’s common for the first stages to encourage creative thinking, groups can often gravitate to familiar solutions when it comes to the end of the process. 

When selecting solutions, you don’t want to lose your creative energy! The How-Now-Wow Matrix from Gamestorming is a great problem-solving activity that enables a group to stay creative and think out of the box when it comes to selecting the right solution for a given problem.

Problem-solving techniques that encourage creative thinking and the ideation and selection of new solutions can be the most effective in organisational change. Give the How-Now-Wow Matrix a go, and not just for how pleasant it is to say out loud. 

How-Now-Wow Matrix   #gamestorming   #idea generation   #remote-friendly   When people want to develop new ideas, they most often think out of the box in the brainstorming or divergent phase. However, when it comes to convergence, people often end up picking ideas that are most familiar to them. This is called a ‘creative paradox’ or a ‘creadox’. The How-Now-Wow matrix is an idea selection tool that breaks the creadox by forcing people to weigh each idea on 2 parameters.

Impact and Effort Matrix

All problem-solving techniques hope to not only find solutions to a given problem or challenge but to find the best solution. When it comes to finding a solution, groups are invited to put on their decision-making hats and really think about how a proposed idea would work in practice. 

The Impact and Effort Matrix is one of the problem-solving techniques that fall into this camp, empowering participants to first generate ideas and then categorize them into a 2×2 matrix based on impact and effort.

Activities that invite critical thinking while remaining simple are invaluable. Use the Impact and Effort Matrix to move from ideation and towards evaluating potential solutions before then committing to them. 

Impact and Effort Matrix   #gamestorming   #decision making   #action   #remote-friendly   In this decision-making exercise, possible actions are mapped based on two factors: effort required to implement and potential impact. Categorizing ideas along these lines is a useful technique in decision making, as it obliges contributors to balance and evaluate suggested actions before committing to them.

If you’ve followed each of the problem-solving steps with your group successfully, you should move towards the end of your process with heaps of possible solutions developed with a specific problem in mind. But how do you help a group go from ideation to putting a solution into action? 

Dotmocracy – or Dot Voting -is a tried and tested method of helping a team in the problem-solving process make decisions and put actions in place with a degree of oversight and consensus. 

One of the problem-solving techniques that should be in every facilitator’s toolbox, Dot Voting is fast and effective and can help identify the most popular and best solutions and help bring a group to a decision effectively. 

Dotmocracy   #action   #decision making   #group prioritization   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   Dotmocracy is a simple method for group prioritization or decision-making. It is not an activity on its own, but a method to use in processes where prioritization or decision-making is the aim. The method supports a group to quickly see which options are most popular or relevant. The options or ideas are written on post-its and stuck up on a wall for the whole group to see. Each person votes for the options they think are the strongest, and that information is used to inform a decision.

Straddling the gap between decision making and planning, MoSCoW is a simple and effective method that allows a group team to easily prioritize a set of possible options.

Use this method in a problem solving process by collecting and summarizing all your possible solutions and then categorize them into 4 sections: “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, or “Would like but won‘t get”.

This method is particularly useful when its less about choosing one possible solution and more about prioritorizing which to do first and which may not fit in the scope of your project. In my experience, complex challenges often require multiple small fixes, and this method can be a great way to move from a pile of things you’d all like to do to a structured plan.

MoSCoW   #define intentions   #create   #design   #action   #remote-friendly   MoSCoW is a method that allows the team to prioritize the different features that they will work on. Features are then categorized into “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, or “Would like but won‘t get”. To be used at the beginning of a timeslot (for example during Sprint planning) and when planning is needed.

When it comes to managing the rollout of a solution, clarity and accountability are key factors in ensuring the success of the project. The RAACI chart is a simple but effective model for setting roles and responsibilities as part of a planning session.

Start by listing each person involved in the project and put them into the following groups in order to make it clear who is responsible for what during the rollout of your solution.

• Responsibility  (Which person and/or team will be taking action?)
• Authority  (At what “point” must the responsible person check in before going further?)
• Accountability  (Who must the responsible person check in with?)
• Consultation  (Who must be consulted by the responsible person before decisions are made?)
• Information  (Who must be informed of decisions, once made?)

Ensure this information is easily accessible and use it to inform who does what and who is looped into discussions and kept up to date.

RAACI   #roles and responsibility   #teamwork   #project management   Clarifying roles and responsibilities, levels of autonomy/latitude in decision making, and levels of engagement among diverse stakeholders.

Problem-solving warm-up activities

All facilitators know that warm-ups and icebreakers are useful for any workshop or group process. Problem-solving workshops are no different.

Use these problem-solving techniques to warm up a group and prepare them for the rest of the process. Activating your group by tapping into some of the top problem-solving skills can be one of the best ways to see great outcomes from your session.

Check-in / Check-out

Solid processes are planned from beginning to end, and the best facilitators know that setting the tone and establishing a safe, open environment can be integral to a successful problem-solving process. Check-in / Check-out is a great way to begin and/or bookend a problem-solving workshop. Checking in to a session emphasizes that everyone will be seen, heard, and expected to contribute. 

If you are running a series of meetings, setting a consistent pattern of checking in and checking out can really help your team get into a groove. We recommend this opening-closing activity for small to medium-sized groups though it can work with large groups if they’re disciplined!

Check-in / Check-out   #team   #opening   #closing   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   Either checking-in or checking-out is a simple way for a team to open or close a process, symbolically and in a collaborative way. Checking-in/out invites each member in a group to be present, seen and heard, and to express a reflection or a feeling. Checking-in emphasizes presence, focus and group commitment; checking-out emphasizes reflection and symbolic closure.

Doodling Together  

Thinking creatively and not being afraid to make suggestions are important problem-solving skills for any group or team, and warming up by encouraging these behaviors is a great way to start. 

Doodling Together is one of our favorite creative ice breaker games – it’s quick, effective, and fun and can make all following problem-solving steps easier by encouraging a group to collaborate visually. By passing cards and adding additional items as they go, the workshop group gets into a groove of co-creation and idea development that is crucial to finding solutions to problems. 

Doodling Together   #collaboration   #creativity   #teamwork   #fun   #team   #visual methods   #energiser   #icebreaker   #remote-friendly   Create wild, weird and often funny postcards together & establish a group’s creative confidence.

Show and Tell

You might remember some version of Show and Tell from being a kid in school and it’s a great problem-solving activity to kick off a session.

Asking participants to prepare a little something before a workshop by bringing an object for show and tell can help them warm up before the session has even begun! Games that include a physical object can also help encourage early engagement before moving onto more big-picture thinking.

By asking your participants to tell stories about why they chose to bring a particular item to the group, you can help teams see things from new perspectives and see both differences and similarities in the way they approach a topic. Great groundwork for approaching a problem-solving process as a team! 

Show and Tell   #gamestorming   #action   #opening   #meeting facilitation   Show and Tell taps into the power of metaphors to reveal players’ underlying assumptions and associations around a topic The aim of the game is to get a deeper understanding of stakeholders’ perspectives on anything—a new project, an organizational restructuring, a shift in the company’s vision or team dynamic.

Constellations

Who doesn’t love stars? Constellations is a great warm-up activity for any workshop as it gets people up off their feet, energized, and ready to engage in new ways with established topics. It’s also great for showing existing beliefs, biases, and patterns that can come into play as part of your session.

Using warm-up games that help build trust and connection while also allowing for non-verbal responses can be great for easing people into the problem-solving process and encouraging engagement from everyone in the group. Constellations is great in large spaces that allow for movement and is definitely a practical exercise to allow the group to see patterns that are otherwise invisible. 

Constellations   #trust   #connection   #opening   #coaching   #patterns   #system   Individuals express their response to a statement or idea by standing closer or further from a central object. Used with teams to reveal system, hidden patterns, perspectives.

Draw a Tree

Problem-solving games that help raise group awareness through a central, unifying metaphor can be effective ways to warm-up a group in any problem-solving model.

Draw a Tree is a simple warm-up activity you can use in any group and which can provide a quick jolt of energy. Start by asking your participants to draw a tree in just 45 seconds – they can choose whether it will be abstract or realistic. 

Once the timer is up, ask the group how many people included the roots of the tree and use this as a means to discuss how we can ignore important parts of any system simply because they are not visible.

All problem-solving strategies are made more effective by thinking of problems critically and by exposing things that may not normally come to light. Warm-up games like Draw a Tree are great in that they quickly demonstrate some key problem-solving skills in an accessible and effective way.

Draw a Tree   #thiagi   #opening   #perspectives   #remote-friendly   With this game you can raise awarness about being more mindful, and aware of the environment we live in.

Closing activities for a problem-solving process

Each step of the problem-solving workshop benefits from an intelligent deployment of activities, games, and techniques. Bringing your session to an effective close helps ensure that solutions are followed through on and that you also celebrate what has been achieved.

Here are some problem-solving activities you can use to effectively close a workshop or meeting and ensure the great work you’ve done can continue afterward.

One Breath Feedback

Maintaining attention and focus during the closing stages of a problem-solving workshop can be tricky and so being concise when giving feedback can be important. It’s easy to incur “death by feedback” should some team members go on for too long sharing their perspectives in a quick feedback round. 

One Breath Feedback is a great closing activity for workshops. You give everyone an opportunity to provide feedback on what they’ve done but only in the space of a single breath. This keeps feedback short and to the point and means that everyone is encouraged to provide the most important piece of feedback to them. 

One breath feedback   #closing   #feedback   #action   This is a feedback round in just one breath that excels in maintaining attention: each participants is able to speak during just one breath … for most people that’s around 20 to 25 seconds … unless of course you’ve been a deep sea diver in which case you’ll be able to do it for longer.

Who What When Matrix 

Matrices feature as part of many effective problem-solving strategies and with good reason. They are easily recognizable, simple to use, and generate results.

The Who What When Matrix is a great tool to use when closing your problem-solving session by attributing a who, what and when to the actions and solutions you have decided upon. The resulting matrix is a simple, easy-to-follow way of ensuring your team can move forward. 

Great solutions can’t be enacted without action and ownership. Your problem-solving process should include a stage for allocating tasks to individuals or teams and creating a realistic timeframe for those solutions to be implemented or checked out. Use this method to keep the solution implementation process clear and simple for all involved. 

Who/What/When Matrix   #gamestorming   #action   #project planning   With Who/What/When matrix, you can connect people with clear actions they have defined and have committed to.

Response cards

Group discussion can comprise the bulk of most problem-solving activities and by the end of the process, you might find that your team is talked out! 

Providing a means for your team to give feedback with short written notes can ensure everyone is head and can contribute without the need to stand up and talk. Depending on the needs of the group, giving an alternative can help ensure everyone can contribute to your problem-solving model in the way that makes the most sense for them.

Response Cards is a great way to close a workshop if you are looking for a gentle warm-down and want to get some swift discussion around some of the feedback that is raised. 

Response Cards   #debriefing   #closing   #structured sharing   #questions and answers   #thiagi   #action   It can be hard to involve everyone during a closing of a session. Some might stay in the background or get unheard because of louder participants. However, with the use of Response Cards, everyone will be involved in providing feedback or clarify questions at the end of a session.

Tips for effective problem solving

Problem-solving activities are only one part of the puzzle. While a great method can help unlock your team’s ability to solve problems, without a thoughtful approach and strong facilitation the solutions may not be fit for purpose.

Let’s take a look at some problem-solving tips you can apply to any process to help it be a success!

Clearly define the problem

Jumping straight to solutions can be tempting, though without first clearly articulating a problem, the solution might not be the right one. Many of the problem-solving activities below include sections where the problem is explored and clearly defined before moving on.

This is a vital part of the problem-solving process and taking the time to fully define an issue can save time and effort later. A clear definition helps identify irrelevant information and it also ensures that your team sets off on the right track.

Don’t jump to conclusions

It’s easy for groups to exhibit cognitive bias or have preconceived ideas about both problems and potential solutions. Be sure to back up any problem statements or potential solutions with facts, research, and adequate forethought.

The best techniques ask participants to be methodical and challenge preconceived notions. Make sure you give the group enough time and space to collect relevant information and consider the problem in a new way. By approaching the process with a clear, rational mindset, you’ll often find that better solutions are more forthcoming.  

Try different approaches  

Problems come in all shapes and sizes and so too should the methods you use to solve them. If you find that one approach isn’t yielding results and your team isn’t finding different solutions, try mixing it up. You’ll be surprised at how using a new creative activity can unblock your team and generate great solutions.

Don’t take it personally 

Depending on the nature of your team or organizational problems, it’s easy for conversations to get heated. While it’s good for participants to be engaged in the discussions, ensure that emotions don’t run too high and that blame isn’t thrown around while finding solutions.

You’re all in it together, and even if your team or area is seeing problems, that isn’t necessarily a disparagement of you personally. Using facilitation skills to manage group dynamics is one effective method of helping conversations be more constructive.

Get the right people in the room

Your problem-solving method is often only as effective as the group using it. Getting the right people on the job and managing the number of people present is important too!

If the group is too small, you may not get enough different perspectives to effectively solve a problem. If the group is too large, you can go round and round during the ideation stages.

Creating the right group makeup is also important in ensuring you have the necessary expertise and skillset to both identify and follow up on potential solutions. Carefully consider who to include at each stage to help ensure your problem-solving method is followed and positioned for success.

Create psychologically safe spaces for discussion

Identifying a problem accurately also requires that all members of a group are able to contribute their views in an open and safe manner.

It can be tough for people to stand up and contribute if the problems or challenges are emotive or personal in nature. Try and create a psychologically safe space for these kinds of discussions and where possible, create regular opportunities for challenges to be brought up organically.

Document everything

The best solutions can take refinement, iteration, and reflection to come out. Get into a habit of documenting your process in order to keep all the learnings from the session and to allow ideas to mature and develop. Many of the methods below involve the creation of documents or shared resources. Be sure to keep and share these so everyone can benefit from the work done!

Bring a facilitator 

Facilitation is all about making group processes easier. With a subject as potentially emotive and important as problem-solving, having an impartial third party in the form of a facilitator can make all the difference in finding great solutions and keeping the process moving. Consider bringing a facilitator to your problem-solving session to get better results and generate meaningful solutions!

Develop your problem-solving skills

It takes time and practice to be an effective problem solver. While some roles or participants might more naturally gravitate towards problem-solving, it can take development and planning to help everyone create better solutions.

You might develop a training program, run a problem-solving workshop or simply ask your team to practice using the techniques below. Check out our post on problem-solving skills to see how you and your group can develop the right mental process and be more resilient to issues too!

Design a great agenda

Workshops are a great format for solving problems. With the right approach, you can focus a group and help them find the solutions to their own problems. But designing a process can be time-consuming and finding the right activities can be difficult.

Check out our workshop planning guide to level-up your agenda design and start running more effective workshops. Need inspiration? Check out templates designed by expert facilitators to help you kickstart your process!

Save time and effort creating an effective problem solving process

A structured problem solving process is a surefire way of solving tough problems, discovering creative solutions and driving organizational change. But how can you design for successful outcomes?

With SessionLab, it’s easy to design engaging workshops that deliver results. Drag, drop and reorder blocks  to build your agenda. When you make changes or update your agenda, your session  timing   adjusts automatically , saving you time on manual adjustments.

Collaborating with stakeholders or clients? Share your agenda with a single click and collaborate in real-time. No more sending documents back and forth over email.

Explore  how to use SessionLab  to design effective problem solving workshops or  watch this five minute video  to see the planner in action!

Over to you

The problem-solving process can often be as complicated and multifaceted as the problems they are set-up to solve. With the right problem-solving techniques and a mix of exercises designed to guide discussion and generate purposeful ideas, we hope we’ve given you the tools to find the best solutions as simply and easily as possible.

Is there a problem-solving technique that you are missing here? Do you have a favorite activity or method you use when facilitating? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you! 

thank you very much for these excellent techniques

Certainly wonderful article, very detailed. Shared!

Your list of techniques for problem solving can be helpfully extended by adding TRIZ to the list of techniques. TRIZ has 40 problem solving techniques derived from methods inventros and patent holders used to get new patents. About 10-12 are general approaches. many organization sponsor classes in TRIZ that are used to solve business problems or general organiztational problems. You can take a look at TRIZ and dwonload a free internet booklet to see if you feel it shound be included per your selection process.

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What is Problem Solving? (Steps, Techniques, Examples)

By Status.net Editorial Team on May 7, 2023 — 5 minutes to read

What Is Problem Solving?

Definition and importance.

Problem solving is the process of finding solutions to obstacles or challenges you encounter in your life or work. It is a crucial skill that allows you to tackle complex situations, adapt to changes, and overcome difficulties with ease. Mastering this ability will contribute to both your personal and professional growth, leading to more successful outcomes and better decision-making.

Problem-Solving Steps

The problem-solving process typically includes the following steps:

• Identify the issue : Recognize the problem that needs to be solved.
• Analyze the situation : Examine the issue in depth, gather all relevant information, and consider any limitations or constraints that may be present.
• Generate potential solutions : Brainstorm a list of possible solutions to the issue, without immediately judging or evaluating them.
• Evaluate options : Weigh the pros and cons of each potential solution, considering factors such as feasibility, effectiveness, and potential risks.
• Select the best solution : Choose the option that best addresses the problem and aligns with your objectives.
• Implement the solution : Put the selected solution into action and monitor the results to ensure it resolves the issue.
• Review and learn : Reflect on the problem-solving process, identify any improvements or adjustments that can be made, and apply these learnings to future situations.

Defining the Problem

To start tackling a problem, first, identify and understand it. Analyzing the issue thoroughly helps to clarify its scope and nature. Ask questions to gather information and consider the problem from various angles. Some strategies to define the problem include:

• Brainstorming with others
• Asking the 5 Ws and 1 H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How)
• Analyzing cause and effect
• Creating a problem statement

Generating Solutions

Once the problem is clearly understood, brainstorm possible solutions. Think creatively and keep an open mind, as well as considering lessons from past experiences. Consider:

• Creating a list of potential ideas to solve the problem
• Grouping and categorizing similar solutions
• Prioritizing potential solutions based on feasibility, cost, and resources required
• Involving others to share diverse opinions and inputs

Evaluating and Selecting Solutions

Evaluate each potential solution, weighing its pros and cons. To facilitate decision-making, use techniques such as:

• SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
• Decision-making matrices
• Pros and cons lists
• Risk assessments

After evaluating, choose the most suitable solution based on effectiveness, cost, and time constraints.

Implementing and Monitoring the Solution

Implement the chosen solution and monitor its progress. Key actions include:

• Communicating the solution to relevant parties
• Setting timelines and milestones
• Assigning tasks and responsibilities
• Monitoring the solution and making adjustments as necessary
• Evaluating the effectiveness of the solution after implementation

Utilize feedback from stakeholders and consider potential improvements. Remember that problem-solving is an ongoing process that can always be refined and enhanced.

Problem-Solving Techniques

During each step, you may find it helpful to utilize various problem-solving techniques, such as:

• Brainstorming : A free-flowing, open-minded session where ideas are generated and listed without judgment, to encourage creativity and innovative thinking.
• Root cause analysis : A method that explores the underlying causes of a problem to find the most effective solution rather than addressing superficial symptoms.
• SWOT analysis : A tool used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to a problem or decision, providing a comprehensive view of the situation.
• Mind mapping : A visual technique that uses diagrams to organize and connect ideas, helping to identify patterns, relationships, and possible solutions.

Brainstorming

When facing a problem, start by conducting a brainstorming session. Gather your team and encourage an open discussion where everyone contributes ideas, no matter how outlandish they may seem. This helps you:

• Generate a diverse range of solutions
• Encourage all team members to participate
• Foster creative thinking

When brainstorming, remember to:

• Reserve judgment until the session is over
• Encourage wild ideas
• Combine and improve upon ideas

Root Cause Analysis

For effective problem-solving, identifying the root cause of the issue at hand is crucial. Try these methods:

• 5 Whys : Ask “why” five times to get to the underlying cause.
• Fishbone Diagram : Create a diagram representing the problem and break it down into categories of potential causes.
• Pareto Analysis : Determine the few most significant causes underlying the majority of problems.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis helps you examine the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to your problem. To perform a SWOT analysis:

• List your problem’s strengths, such as relevant resources or strong partnerships.
• Identify its weaknesses, such as knowledge gaps or limited resources.
• Explore opportunities, like trends or new technologies, that could help solve the problem.
• Recognize potential threats, like competition or regulatory barriers.

SWOT analysis aids in understanding the internal and external factors affecting the problem, which can help guide your solution.

Mind Mapping

A mind map is a visual representation of your problem and potential solutions. It enables you to organize information in a structured and intuitive manner. To create a mind map:

• Write the problem in the center of a blank page.
• Draw branches from the central problem to related sub-problems or contributing factors.
• Add more branches to represent potential solutions or further ideas.

Mind mapping allows you to visually see connections between ideas and promotes creativity in problem-solving.

Examples of Problem Solving in Various Contexts

In the business world, you might encounter problems related to finances, operations, or communication. Applying problem-solving skills in these situations could look like:

• Identifying areas of improvement in your company’s financial performance and implementing cost-saving measures
• Resolving internal conflicts among team members by listening and understanding different perspectives, then proposing and negotiating solutions
• Streamlining a process for better productivity by removing redundancies, automating tasks, or re-allocating resources

In educational contexts, problem-solving can be seen in various aspects, such as:

• Addressing a gap in students’ understanding by employing diverse teaching methods to cater to different learning styles
• Developing a strategy for successful time management to balance academic responsibilities and extracurricular activities
• Seeking resources and support to provide equal opportunities for learners with special needs or disabilities

Everyday life is full of challenges that require problem-solving skills. Some examples include:

• Overcoming a personal obstacle, such as improving your fitness level, by establishing achievable goals, measuring progress, and adjusting your approach accordingly
• Navigating a new environment or city by researching your surroundings, asking for directions, or using technology like GPS to guide you
• Dealing with a sudden change, like a change in your work schedule, by assessing the situation, identifying potential impacts, and adapting your plans to accommodate the change.
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10 Problem-solving strategies to turn challenges on their head

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What is an example of problem-solving?

What are the 5 steps to problem-solving, 10 effective problem-solving strategies, what skills do efficient problem solvers have, how to improve your problem-solving skills.

Problems come in all shapes and sizes — from workplace conflict to budget cuts.

Creative problem-solving is one of the most in-demand skills in all roles and industries. It can boost an organization’s human capital and give it a competitive edge. 

Problem-solving strategies are ways of approaching problems that can help you look beyond the obvious answers and find the best solution to your problem . 

Let’s take a look at a five-step problem-solving process and how to combine it with proven problem-solving strategies. This will give you the tools and skills to solve even your most complex problems.

Good problem-solving is an essential part of the decision-making process . To see what a problem-solving process might look like in real life, let’s take a common problem for SaaS brands — decreasing customer churn rates.

To solve this problem, the company must first identify it. In this case, the problem is that the churn rate is too high. 

Next, they need to identify the root causes of the problem. This could be anything from their customer service experience to their email marketing campaigns. If there are several problems, they will need a separate problem-solving process for each one. 

Let’s say the problem is with email marketing — they’re not nurturing existing customers. Now that they’ve identified the problem, they can start using problem-solving strategies to look for solutions. 

This might look like coming up with special offers, discounts, or bonuses for existing customers. They need to find ways to remind them to use their products and services while providing added value. This will encourage customers to keep paying their monthly subscriptions.

They might also want to add incentives, such as access to a premium service at no extra cost after 12 months of membership. They could publish blog posts that help their customers solve common problems and share them as an email newsletter.

The company should set targets and a time frame in which to achieve them. This will allow leaders to measure progress and identify which actions yield the best results.

Perhaps you’ve got a problem you need to tackle. Or maybe you want to be prepared the next time one arises. Either way, it’s a good idea to get familiar with the five steps of problem-solving. 

Use this step-by-step problem-solving method with the strategies in the following section to find possible solutions to your problem.

1. Identify the problem

The first step is to know which problem you need to solve. Then, you need to find the root cause of the problem. 

The best course of action is to gather as much data as possible, speak to the people involved, and separate facts from opinions. 

Once this is done, formulate a statement that describes the problem. Use rational persuasion to make sure your team agrees .

2. Break the problem down 

Identifying the problem allows you to see which steps need to be taken to solve it. 

First, break the problem down into achievable blocks. Then, use strategic planning to set a time frame in which to solve the problem and establish a timeline for the completion of each stage.

3. Generate potential solutions

At this stage, the aim isn’t to evaluate possible solutions but to generate as many ideas as possible. 

Encourage your team to use creative thinking and be patient — the best solution may not be the first or most obvious one.

Use one or more of the different strategies in the following section to help come up with solutions — the more creative, the better.

4. Evaluate the possible solutions

Once you’ve generated potential solutions, narrow them down to a shortlist. Then, evaluate the options on your shortlist. 

There are usually many factors to consider. So when evaluating a solution, ask yourself the following questions:

• Will my team be on board with the proposition?
• Does the solution align with organizational goals ?
• Is the solution likely to achieve the desired outcomes?
• Is the solution realistic and possible with current resources and constraints?
• Will the solution solve the problem without causing additional unintended problems?

5. Implement and monitor the solutions

Once you’ve identified your solution and got buy-in from your team, it’s time to implement it. 

But the work doesn’t stop there. You need to monitor your solution to see whether it actually solves your problem. 

Request regular feedback from the team members involved and have a monitoring and evaluation plan in place to measure progress.

If the solution doesn’t achieve your desired results, start this step-by-step process again.

There are many different ways to approach problem-solving. Each is suitable for different types of problems. 

The most appropriate problem-solving techniques will depend on your specific problem. You may need to experiment with several strategies before you find a workable solution.

Here are 10 effective problem-solving strategies for you to try:

• Use a solution that worked before
• Brainstorming
• Work backward
• Use the Kipling method
• Draw the problem
• Use trial and error
• Sleep on it
• Get advice from your peers
• Use the Pareto principle
• Add successful solutions to your toolkit

Let’s break each of these down.

1. Use a solution that worked before

It might seem obvious, but if you’ve faced similar problems in the past, look back to what worked then. See if any of the solutions could apply to your current situation and, if so, replicate them.

2. Brainstorming

The more people you enlist to help solve the problem, the more potential solutions you can come up with.

Use different brainstorming techniques to workshop potential solutions with your team. They’ll likely bring something you haven’t thought of to the table.

3. Work backward

Working backward is a way to reverse engineer your problem. Imagine your problem has been solved, and make that the starting point.

Then, retrace your steps back to where you are now. This can help you see which course of action may be most effective.

4. Use the Kipling method

This is a method that poses six questions based on Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “ I Keep Six Honest Serving Men .” 

• What is the problem?
• Why is the problem important?
• When did the problem arise, and when does it need to be solved?
• How did the problem happen?
• Where is the problem occurring?
• Who does the problem affect?

Answering these questions can help you identify possible solutions.

5. Draw the problem

Sometimes it can be difficult to visualize all the components and moving parts of a problem and its solution. Drawing a diagram can help.

This technique is particularly helpful for solving process-related problems. For example, a product development team might want to decrease the time they take to fix bugs and create new iterations. Drawing the processes involved can help you see where improvements can be made.

6. Use trial-and-error

A trial-and-error approach can be useful when you have several possible solutions and want to test them to see which one works best.

7. Sleep on it

Finding the best solution to a problem is a process. Remember to take breaks and get enough rest . Sometimes, a walk around the block can bring inspiration, but you should sleep on it if possible.

A good night’s sleep helps us find creative solutions to problems. This is because when you sleep, your brain sorts through the day’s events and stores them as memories. This enables you to process your ideas at a subconscious level. 

If possible, give yourself a few days to develop and analyze possible solutions. You may find you have greater clarity after sleeping on it. Your mind will also be fresh, so you’ll be able to make better decisions.

8. Get advice from your peers

Getting input from a group of people can help you find solutions you may not have thought of on your own. 

For solo entrepreneurs or freelancers, this might look like hiring a coach or mentor or joining a mastermind group. 

For leaders , it might be consulting other members of the leadership team or working with a business coach .

It’s important to recognize you might not have all the skills, experience, or knowledge necessary to find a solution alone. 

9. Use the Pareto principle

The Pareto principle — also known as the 80/20 rule — can help you identify possible root causes and potential solutions for your problems.

Although it’s not a mathematical law, it’s a principle found throughout many aspects of business and life. For example, 20% of the sales reps in a company might close 80% of the sales. 

You may be able to narrow down the causes of your problem by applying the Pareto principle. This can also help you identify the most appropriate solutions.

10. Add successful solutions to your toolkit

Every situation is different, and the same solutions might not always work. But by keeping a record of successful problem-solving strategies, you can build up a solutions toolkit. 

These solutions may be applicable to future problems. Even if not, they may save you some of the time and work needed to come up with a new solution.

Improving problem-solving skills is essential for professional development — both yours and your team’s. Here are some of the key skills of effective problem solvers:

• Critical thinking and analytical skills
• Communication skills , including active listening
• Decision-making
• Planning and prioritization
• Emotional intelligence , including empathy and emotional regulation
• Time management
• Data analysis
• Research skills
• Project management

And they see problems as opportunities. Everyone is born with problem-solving skills. But accessing these abilities depends on how we view problems. Effective problem-solvers see problems as opportunities to learn and improve.

Ready to work on your problem-solving abilities? Get started with these seven tips.

1. Build your problem-solving skills

One of the best ways to improve your problem-solving skills is to learn from experts. Consider enrolling in organizational training , shadowing a mentor , or working with a coach .

2. Practice

Practice using your new problem-solving skills by applying them to smaller problems you might encounter in your daily life. 

Alternatively, imagine problematic scenarios that might arise at work and use problem-solving strategies to find hypothetical solutions.

3. Don’t try to find a solution right away

Often, the first solution you think of to solve a problem isn’t the most appropriate or effective.

Instead of thinking on the spot, give yourself time and use one or more of the problem-solving strategies above to activate your creative thinking. 

4. Ask for feedback

Receiving feedback is always important for learning and growth. Your perception of your problem-solving skills may be different from that of your colleagues. They can provide insights that help you improve. 

5. Learn new approaches and methodologies

There are entire books written about problem-solving methodologies if you want to take a deep dive into the subject. 

We recommend starting with “ Fixed — How to Perfect the Fine Art of Problem Solving ” by Amy E. Herman. 

6. Experiment

Tried-and-tested problem-solving techniques can be useful. However, they don’t teach you how to innovate and develop your own problem-solving approaches. 

Sometimes, an unconventional approach can lead to the development of a brilliant new idea or strategy. So don’t be afraid to suggest your most “out there” ideas.

7. Analyze the success of your competitors

Do you have competitors who have already solved the problem you’re facing? Look at what they did, and work backward to solve your own problem. 

For example, Netflix started in the 1990s as a DVD mail-rental company. Its main competitor at the time was Blockbuster. 

But when streaming became the norm in the early 2000s, both companies faced a crisis. Netflix innovated, unveiling its streaming service in 2007. 

If Blockbuster had followed Netflix’s example, it might have survived. Instead, it declared bankruptcy in 2010.

Use problem-solving strategies to uplevel your business

When facing a problem, it’s worth taking the time to find the right solution. 

Otherwise, we risk either running away from our problems or headlong into solutions. When we do this, we might miss out on other, better options.

Use the problem-solving strategies outlined above to find innovative solutions to your business’ most perplexing problems.

If you’re ready to take problem-solving to the next level, request a demo with BetterUp . Our expert coaches specialize in helping teams develop and implement strategies that work.

Boost your productivity

Maximize your time and productivity with strategies from our expert coaches.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

What is lateral thinking? 7 techniques to encourage creative ideas

Learn what process mapping is and how to create one (+ examples), make the most of your time with the best time management tools, how to create a work plan (with template), the only guide you'll need to create effective cascading goals, 10 organizational skills that will put you a step ahead, hit the ground running with this ultimate 30-60-90 day plan, create smart kpis to strategically grow your business, the pareto principle: how the 80/20 rule can help you do more with less, curious wanting to learn more is key to career success, get smart about your goals at work and start seeing results, 5 problem-solving questions to prepare you for your next interview, 8 creative solutions to your most challenging problems, how much do distractions cost 8 effects of lack of focus, why building a personal supply chain is key to productivity, 20 best productivity books and why you should read them, how to make a to-do list that simplifies your life, how to create a scope of work in 8 steps, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Problem-Solving Techniques and Tips (That Actually Work)

June 14, 2022 - 10 min read

Solving complex problems may be difficult but it doesn't have to be excruciating. You just need the right frame of mind and a process for untangling the problem at hand.

Luckily for you, there are plenty of techniques available to solve whatever problems come at you in the workplace.

When faced with a doozy of a problem, where do you start? And what problem-solving techniques can you use right now that can help you make good decisions?

Today's post will give you tips and techniques for solving complex problems so you can untangle any complication like an expert.

How many steps are there in problem-solving?

At its core, problem-solving is a methodical four-step process. You may even recall these steps from when you were first introduced to the Scientific Method.

• First, you must define the problem . What is its cause? What are the signs there's a problem at all?
• Next, you identify various options for solutions. What are some good ideas to solve this?
• Then, evaluate your options and choose from among them. What is the best option to solve the problem? What's the easiest option? How should you prioritize?
• Finally, implement the chosen solution . Does it solve the problem? Is there another option you need to try?

When applying problem-solving techniques, you will be using a variation of these steps as your foundation.

Takeaway: Before you can solve a problem, seek to understand it fully.

Creative problem-solving techniques

Time to get creative! You might think this will just be a list of out-of-the-box ways to brainstorm ideas. Not exactly.

Creative problem solving (CPS) is actually a formal process formulated by Sidney Parnes and Alex Faickney Osborn , who is thought of as the father of traditional brainstorming (and the "O" in famous advertising agency BBDO).

Their creative problem solving process emphasizes several things, namely:

• Separate ideation from evaluation . When you brainstorm creative ideas, have a separate time for writing it all down. Focus on generating lots of ideas. Don't prioritize or evaluate them until everything is captured.
• Judging will shut it down . Nothing stops the flow of creative ideas faster than judging them on the spot. Wait until the brainstorming is over before you evaluate.
• Restate problems as questions . It's easier to entice a group into thinking of creative ideas when challenges are stated as open-ended questions.
• Use "Yes and" to expand ideas . Here's one of the basic tenets of improv comedy. It's way too easy to shut down and negate ideas by using the word "but" (i.e. "But I think this is better..."). Avoid this at all costs. Instead, expand on what was previously introduced by saying "Yes, and..." to keep ideas flowing and evolving.

Takeaway: When brainstorming solutions, generate ideas first by using questions and building off of existing ideas. Do all evaluating and judging later.

Problem-solving tips from psychology

If you take a look at the history of problem-solving techniques in psychology, you'll come across a wide spectrum of interesting ideas that could be helpful.

Take it from experience

In 1911, the American psychologist Edward Thorndike observed cats figuring out how to escape from the cage he placed them in. From this, Thorndike developed his law of effect , which states: If you succeed via trial-and-error, you're more likely to use those same actions and ideas that led to your previous success when you face the problem again.

Takeaway: Your past experience can inform and shed light on the problem you face now. Recall. Explore.

Barriers to reproductive thinking

The Gestalt psychologists  built on Thorndike's ideas when they proposed that problem-solving can happen via reproductive thinking — which is not about sex, but rather solving a problem by using past experience and reproducing that experience to solve the current problem.

What's interesting about Gestalt psychology is how they view barriers to problem-solving. Here are two such barriers:

• Are you entrenched? Look up mental set or entrenchment . This is when you're fixated on a solution that used to work well in the past but has no bearing to your current problem. Are you so entrenched with a method or idea that you use it even when it doesn't work? As Queen Elsa sang, "Let it go!" 
• Are you thinking of alternative uses? There is a cognitive bias called functional fixedness which could thwart any of your critical thinking techniques by having you only see an object's conventional function. For example, say you need to cut a piece of paper in half but only have a ruler. Functional fixedness would lead you to think the ruler is only good for measuring things. (You could also use the ruler to crease the paper, making it easier to tear it in half.)

Takeaway: Think outside of the box! And by box, we mean outside of the past experience you're holding on to, or outside any preconceived ideas on how a tool is conventionally used.

More problem-solving tools

Hurson's productive thinking model.

In his book "Think Better," author and creativity guru Tim Hurson proposed a six-step model for solving problems creatively. The steps in his Productive Thinking Model are:

• Ask, "What is going on?" Define the problem and its impact on your company, then clarify your vision for the future.
• Ask, "What is success?" Define what the solution must do, what resources it needs, its scope, and the values it must uphold.
• Ask, "What is the question?" Generate a long list of questions that, when answered, will solve the problem.
• Generate answers . Answer the questions from step three.
• Forge the solution . Evaluate the ideas with potential based on the criteria from step two. Pick a solution.
• Align resources . Identify people and resources to execute the solution.

Use a fishbone diagram to see cause and effect

The most important part of defining the problem is looking at the possible root cause. You'll need to ask yourself questions like: Where and when is it happening? How is it occurring? With whom is it happening? Why is it happening?

You can get to the root cause with a fishbone diagram (also known as an Ishikawa diagram or a cause and effect diagram).

Basically, you put the effect on the right side as the problem statement. Then you list all possible causes on the left, grouped into larger cause categories. The resulting shape resembles a fish skeleton. Which is a perfect way to say, "This problem smells fishy."

Use analogies to get to a solution

Analogical thinking uses information from one area to help with a problem in a different area. In short, solving a different problem can lead you to find a solution to the actual problem. Watch out though! Analogies are difficult for beginners and take some getting used to.

An example: In the "radiation problem," a doctor has a patient with a tumor that cannot be operated on. The doctor can use rays to destroy the tumor but it also destroys healthy tissue.

Two researchers, Gick and Holyoak , noted that people solved the radiation problem much more easily after being asked to read a story about an invading general who must capture the fortress of a king but be careful to avoid landmines that will detonate if large forces traverse the streets. The general then sends small forces of men down different streets so the army can converge at the fortress at the same time and can capture it at full force.

Ask "12 what elses"

In her book " The Architecture of All Abundance ," author Lenedra J. Carroll (aka the mother of pop star Jewel) talks about a question-and-answer technique for getting out of a problem.

When faced with a problem, ask yourself a question about it and brainstorm 12 answers ("12 what elses") to that problem. Then you can go further by taking one answer, turning it into a question and generating 12 more "what elses." Repeat until the solution is golden brown, fully baked, and ready to take out of the oven.

Start using these techniques today

Hopefully you find these different techniques useful and they get your imagination rolling with ideas on how to solve different problems.

And if that's the case, then you have four different takeaways to use the next time a problem gets you tangled up:

• Don't start by trying to solve the problem. First, aim to understand the root of the problem.
• Use questions to generate ideas for solving the problem.
• Look to previous problems to find the answers to new ones.
• Clear your preconceived ideas and past experiences before attempting to tackle the problem.

How to solve problems with Wrike

Empower your team to be even more productive with Wrike's project management and collaboration tools. With documents, revisions, and project -related communication all in one place, employees can use Wrike as a single source of truth for all project information.

Get 360-degree visibility of all your work and identify problems before they occur — see schedule or resource conflicts on Gantt charts, easily view progress with custom statuses, and move work along with automated approvals.

Want to streamline your processes and ease future problem-solving? Get started with a free two-week trial of Wrike today.

What are your favorite problem-solving techniques?

Do you have a problem-solving technique that has worked wonders for your organization? Hit the comments below and share your wisdom!

Lionel Valdellon

Lionel is a former Content Marketing Manager of Wrike. He is also a blogger since 1997, a productivity enthusiast, a project management newbie, a musician and producer of electronic downtempo music, a father of three, and a husband of one.

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5 Examples of Problem-Solving in The Workplace

By Christina Colclough

Last updated: January 12, 2024

When you’re in a job interview, you can almost bet on being asked about your problem-solving experiences. This skill is always high on employers’ wish lists. Walk in with a few solid examples up your sleeve and talk about them with confidence – that’s what grabs their attention.

In this post, I’ll guide you through picking the right problem-solving in workplace examples and articulating them in a way that will make you stand out.

In this article:

What is problem solving.

At its core, this skill is all about spotting issues and then working out the smartest ways to sort them out. In the workplace, this skill keeps things running smoothly because challenges always pop up.

In any job, you’re bound to bump into a range of problems. It could be meeting a tight deadline, handling customer complaints, or resolving misunderstandings among team members. Each of these difficult situations needs a cool head and a clear strategy.

Dealing with these issues well is crucial because it keeps the wheels turning. Effective problem-solving means fewer hiccups in projects, better teamwork, and happier customers. It’s like oiling the cogs of a machine.

That is why interviewers like myself often drill down into the candidates’ problem-solving abilities with questions like “ Tell me about a time you solved a problem ” or “ Can you describe a situation where you had to overcome a significant challenge? “

We want to know if you’re the kind of person who faces challenges head-on or if you tend to sweep them under the rug. We’re looking for someone who not only spots issues but also comes up with smart solutions and puts them into action. It’s all about ensuring that, when the going gets tough, you’ve got the skills to keep things on track.

How to Answer Problem-Solving Interview Questions

When you’re in an interview and asked about problem-solving, it’s a golden opportunity to show your skills. In my experience, a great approach is to use the STAR technique. This strategy helps structure your answer in a clear and compelling way.

Let’s break down what each part of STAR stands for:

• Situation : Describe the context within which you had to solve a problem.
• Task : Explain the actual problem or challenge you were facing.
• Action : Describe the actions you took to address the problem.
• Result : Share the outcomes of your actions.

In this step, your goal is to give the interviewer a snapshot of your scenario.

Let’s say you had to deal with a significant drop in team morale and productivity. At the beginning of your response, you want to set the context for your story. This should include where you were working, your role, and the initial problem.

The key here is to be concise but provide enough detail to paint a clear picture like this:

“In my previous role as a team leader, I noticed a sudden drop in team morale and productivity. This was unusual for our normally energetic and efficient team.”

Common Situations

Here are some other common situations you can mention in your answer:

• Resolving an issue with a difficult client when they complain about a product or service
• Figuring out a solution when equipment or technology breaks down or fails
• Dealing with a mistake you’ve made on an important project
• Handling a tight deadline when unexpected challenges threaten completion
• Settling a dispute between colleagues who aren’t getting along
• Improving productivity for a team that is underperforming
• Persuading colleagues to get on board with an idea they are resistant to

How to Answer With Limited Experience

Don’t worry if you just graduated or have little work experience. Think about examples from school group projects, internships, or part-time jobs like these:

• Coordinating schedules for a group presentation when everyone has different availabilities
• Resolving a disagreement over roles for a big class project
• Finding ways to improve your team’s process when a professor gives feedback
• Managing deadlines and deliverables with classmates who had competing priorities
• Convincing peers to adopt your proposed solution for an assignment
• Addressing complaints from a classmate about unequal workloads

Clarify the problem you had to tackle. What was expected of you? What complex challenge did you need to address? Here, you’re setting up the specific problem that you were tasked with solving.

Remember, the focus is on the problem, not yet on your actions. Using the above example, here is what you can talk about:

“My task was to identify the causes of this decline and implement a strategy to boost morale and productivity. I needed to make sure our team could return to its usual high-performance level.”

Describe the steps you took to solve the problem. Think about how you analyzed the situation, decided on a course of action, and implemented it. It should show your critical thinking and analytical skills.

“To tackle this, I first conducted one-on-one meetings with team members to understand their concerns and gather feedback. Based on these insights, I realized that a recent change in company policy was causing stress.

I advocated for my team’s concerns with upper management and worked with them to modify the policy. At the same time, I initiated team-building activities and regular check-ins to foster a more supportive and open team environment.”

Finally, talk about the outcomes of your actions. Employers want to know your problem-solving drives real improvements. Also, highlight any positive feedback from your boss or team members, and if possible, quantify the success.

“As a result of these actions, we saw a significant improvement in team morale within a month. Productivity levels bounced back, and the team’s overall satisfaction with their work environment increased.

This experience not only taught me valuable lessons about team dynamics but also reinforced the importance of proactive communication and advocacy for team needs.”

Here are some other outcomes to highlight in your answer:

• Resolving an issue with a difficult client : Client satisfaction restored, future business secured
• Fixing broken equipment : Equipment operational again, no more disruptions to operations
• Dealing with a mistake : Error corrected, a new process implemented to prevent recurrence
• Handling a deadline : Project completed on time, client received deliverable as promised
• Settling a dispute : Conflict resolved, team collaboration and morale improved
• Boosting team productivity : Increased output, goals reached, performance metrics improved
• Persuading colleagues : Proposal approved, a new initiative launched successfully

5 Examples Of Problem-Solving Skills

1. Improving Collaboration in a Stalled Project

Here is a sample you can use when explaining how you improved team collaboration on a project:

“Our team was tasked with developing a new financial management web application. However, we hit a snag and missed two crucial milestones. The core issue was a breakdown in communication – team members were not proactively sharing updates on delays or challenges they encountered.

To address this, I instituted daily 15-minute standup meetings. These sessions provided a platform for everyone to voice concerns and update the team on their progress. We also started tracking tasks in a shared spreadsheet so everyone had more visibility into the project.

Within two weeks, collaboration and communication improved significantly. We renegotiated the timeline with stakeholders, and the project team delivered the web app only 1 week after the original deadline.

The processes we put in place didn’t just help us with this project but also significantly boosted our efficiency on later projects.”

2. Revitalizing a Marketing Campaign

This is how you can describe a time you turned around a marketing campaign:

“In my last marketing role, I was responsible for a campaign promoting a new line of eco-friendly skincare products. Midway through, we found that our engagement metrics were dismal, particularly with our targeted demographic of people aged 20-30.

Upon reviewing our approach, I realized our messaging was too generic and failed to connect with this specific group’s interests and values. I spearheaded a strategy shift, focusing on the environmental benefits and ethical sourcing, aspects we found resonated more with a slightly older demographic, females aged 25-35, who were more invested in sustainable living.

We also pivoted our advertising to platforms popular with this demographic, like eco-conscious lifestyle blogs and organic beauty forums. This shift led to a 40% increase in engagement and contributed greatly to the success of our product launch, exceeding our initial sales targets.”

3. Streamlining Operational Processes

Here’s an example to illustrate how you tackled inefficiencies in operational processes:

“As an operations manager at a mid-sized electronics manufacturer, I noticed our product delivery was consistently delayed.

I identified the root cause as a bottleneck in our supply chain. In particular, a stage where manual data entry from manufacturing to logistics was causing significant hold-ups.

Realizing the need for efficiency, I proposed automating this stage. We collaborated with the IT department and implemented a barcode scanning system that integrated manufacturing output with our logistics database.

This change cut down the processing time by 30%, drastically improving our on-time delivery rate. It not only led to an upswing in customer satisfaction but also streamlined our inventory management, reducing both operational delays and costs.”

4. Resolving Communication Barriers Between Teams

This example demonstrates a solution for inter-departmental communication issues:

“In my previous role, I observed recurring conflicts between the sales and product development teams. These were mainly due to misunderstandings and a lack of clear communication about product updates. This led to promises being made to customers that the product team couldn’t fulfill.

To bridge this gap, I proposed and facilitated a series of joint workshops between the two teams. These sessions focused on aligning the teams’ understanding of product capabilities and timelines. Additionally, I initiated a bi-weekly newsletter and a shared digital workspace where both teams could update each other on developments and feedback.

The result was a significant improvement in inter-team collaboration. The sales team was better informed about product limitations and timelines, leading to more realistic commitments to customers.

Meanwhile, the product team received valuable market feedback directly from the sales team. It helped them tailor developments to customer needs. This collaborative approach not only reduced conflicts but also led to better product-market alignment.”

5. Resolving Customer Complaints and Enhancing Service Quality

This highlights an approach to customer service challenges:

“In my role as a customer service manager, I was faced with increasing customer complaints regarding delayed response times. This issue was affecting customer satisfaction and had the potential to harm our company’s reputation.

I started by analyzing our customer service processes and discovered that our response system was outdated and inefficient. To rectify this, I led the implementation of a new customer relationship management (CRM) system that streamlined our customer service workflow.

This system included automated responses for common queries and a more efficient ticketing process for complex issues. I also organized a series of training sessions for the customer service team to ensure they were well-versed in using the new system and could provide more effective solutions to customers.

Implementing these changes led to a huge reduction in response time and a significant drop in customer complaints. Our team also received positive feedback for improved service quality, which was reflected in our customer satisfaction surveys.”

Tips on Improving Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving is a career-long skill, not just needed for some interviews. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned pro, honing these skills can make a big difference in how you handle challenges at work.

Understand Before Assuming

Jumping to conclusions can be a trap. When a problem arises, take a step back and get a clear picture of what’s actually going on. This means holding off on assumptions until you’ve gathered all the facts.

Sometimes, the real issue isn’t what it seems at first glance. Doing a bit of digging to understand the root cause can lead you to a more effective solution.

Research and Learn from the Past

History often repeats itself, and this is true for workplace problems, too. When faced with a challenge, look into whether similar issues have popped up before.

How were they handled? What worked and what didn’t? Learning from past experiences, whether your own or someone else’s, can be a goldmine of insights.

Brainstorm With Creative Thinking

When thinking about potential solutions, avoid locking yourself into the first idea that comes to mind. Brainstorming can open up a world of possibilities and creative solutions. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Sometimes, the most unconventional ideas turn out to be the best solutions.

Always Have a Plan B

Even the best-laid plans can go awry. That’s why having a contingency plan is a must.

Think about what could go wrong and how to contain any further issues. This doesn’t mean you’re expecting the worst, but rather, you’re prepared to handle it efficiently if it does happen.

Team Decisions and Communication

Solving problems isn’t a solo mission. Make decisions as a team and keep everyone in the loop.

Clear communication is a valuable soft skill that helps everyone understand the plan and their role in it. Plus, this is how you can bring new perspectives and ideas to the table and make your solution even stronger.

Timeframe and Flexibility

Set a timeframe for your action plan, but be flexible. If something isn’t working, be ready to pivot and try a different approach. Sticking rigidly to a plan that’s not delivering results won’t do anyone any favors.

See more interview tips: How To Write A Follow-Up Email After Interview 3 Examples For Thank-You Email After Interview 8 Examples of Challenges You Have Overcome At Work 6 sample answers of accomplishments at work 5 Examples of Problem-Solving in The Workplace How To Ask for Feedback After Job Rejection How to Explain The Reason for Leaving a Job on Applications For Interview Question: What Do You Like To Do For Fun? What Are You Most Passionate About? What Are You Looking For In Your Next Job? Why Are You Interested In This Position? What Accomplishments Are You Most Proud Of?

Frequently Asked Questions

Are problem-solving skills that important.

Absolutely. No matter where you work, there’s always a curveball now and then. Having the knack to quickly think on your feet, break down a problem, and come up with a solution is a game-changer.

How Do I Sell Myself as a Problem Solver?

Storytelling is your best bet here. The trick is to paint a picture where you’re the person who spots the problem and then creatively solves it, not just someone who follows instructions.

How Do I Choose Good Examples for a Job Interview?

Pick examples that show you’re not just a one-trick pony. What I find impressive is when someone can demonstrate their thought process – how they analyzed the issue, got creative with solutions, and then put their plan into action.

What Are the Key Attributes of a Good Problem Solver?

They’re the kind of people who don’t rush to conclusions. Instead, they take their time to understand the problem, explore different angles, and weigh their options.

Adaptability is also key – they can roll with the punches and adjust their plans as needed. And, of course, they’re great at getting their point across, ensuring everyone’s on the same page.

What Are the Major Obstacles to Problem Solving?

From what I’ve seen, the big hurdles are often not having enough info, sticking too rigidly to old mindsets, and letting biases lead the way. It’s easy to get tunnel vision, especially if you’re used to doing things a certain way.

Also, not bringing different perspectives to the table can really limit your options.

As you step into the next interview, remember two key things: confidence and clarity. Trust in your abilities and the experiences you bring to the table. Learn how the above problem-solving examples can paint a vivid picture of your challenge and how you tackled it. Most importantly, let those stories reflect your skills and how you can be an asset to any team.

Christina J. Colclough

Dr Christina J. Colclough is an expert on The Future World of Work and the politics of digital technology advocating globally for the importance of the workers’ voice. She has extensive regional and global labour movement experience, is a sought-after keynote speaker, coach, and strategist advising progressive governments and worker organisations.

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Overview of the Problem-Solving Mental Process

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change.

• Identify the Problem
• Define the Problem
• Form a Strategy
• Organize Information
• Allocate Resources
• Monitor Progress
• Evaluate the Results

Frequently Asked Questions

Problem-solving is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing, and solving problems. The ultimate goal of problem-solving is to overcome obstacles and find a solution that best resolves the issue.

The best strategy for solving a problem depends largely on the unique situation. In some cases, people are better off learning everything they can about the issue and then using factual knowledge to come up with a solution. In other instances, creativity and insight are the best options.

It is not necessary to follow problem-solving steps sequentially, It is common to skip steps or even go back through steps multiple times until the desired solution is reached.

In order to correctly solve a problem, it is often important to follow a series of steps. Researchers sometimes refer to this as the problem-solving cycle. While this cycle is portrayed sequentially, people rarely follow a rigid series of steps to find a solution.

The following steps include developing strategies and organizing knowledge.

1. Identifying the Problem

While it may seem like an obvious step, identifying the problem is not always as simple as it sounds. In some cases, people might mistakenly identify the wrong source of a problem, which will make attempts to solve it inefficient or even useless.

Some strategies that you might use to figure out the source of a problem include :

• Asking questions about the problem
• Breaking the problem down into smaller pieces
• Looking at the problem from different perspectives
• Conducting research to figure out what relationships exist between different variables

2. Defining the Problem

After the problem has been identified, it is important to fully define the problem so that it can be solved. You can define a problem by operationally defining each aspect of the problem and setting goals for what aspects of the problem you will address

At this point, you should focus on figuring out which aspects of the problems are facts and which are opinions. State the problem clearly and identify the scope of the solution.

3. Forming a Strategy

After the problem has been identified, it is time to start brainstorming potential solutions. This step usually involves generating as many ideas as possible without judging their quality. Once several possibilities have been generated, they can be evaluated and narrowed down.

The next step is to develop a strategy to solve the problem. The approach used will vary depending upon the situation and the individual's unique preferences. Common problem-solving strategies include heuristics and algorithms.

• Heuristics are mental shortcuts that are often based on solutions that have worked in the past. They can work well if the problem is similar to something you have encountered before and are often the best choice if you need a fast solution.
• Algorithms are step-by-step strategies that are guaranteed to produce a correct result. While this approach is great for accuracy, it can also consume time and resources.

Heuristics are often best used when time is of the essence, while algorithms are a better choice when a decision needs to be as accurate as possible.

4. Organizing Information

Before coming up with a solution, you need to first organize the available information. What do you know about the problem? What do you not know? The more information that is available the better prepared you will be to come up with an accurate solution.

When approaching a problem, it is important to make sure that you have all the data you need. Making a decision without adequate information can lead to biased or inaccurate results.

5. Allocating Resources

Of course, we don't always have unlimited money, time, and other resources to solve a problem. Before you begin to solve a problem, you need to determine how high priority it is.

If it is an important problem, it is probably worth allocating more resources to solving it. If, however, it is a fairly unimportant problem, then you do not want to spend too much of your available resources on coming up with a solution.

At this stage, it is important to consider all of the factors that might affect the problem at hand. This includes looking at the available resources, deadlines that need to be met, and any possible risks involved in each solution. After careful evaluation, a decision can be made about which solution to pursue.

6. Monitoring Progress

After selecting a problem-solving strategy, it is time to put the plan into action and see if it works. This step might involve trying out different solutions to see which one is the most effective.

It is also important to monitor the situation after implementing a solution to ensure that the problem has been solved and that no new problems have arisen as a result of the proposed solution.

Effective problem-solvers tend to monitor their progress as they work towards a solution. If they are not making good progress toward reaching their goal, they will reevaluate their approach or look for new strategies .

7. Evaluating the Results

After a solution has been reached, it is important to evaluate the results to determine if it is the best possible solution to the problem. This evaluation might be immediate, such as checking the results of a math problem to ensure the answer is correct, or it can be delayed, such as evaluating the success of a therapy program after several months of treatment.

Once a problem has been solved, it is important to take some time to reflect on the process that was used and evaluate the results. This will help you to improve your problem-solving skills and become more efficient at solving future problems.

A Word From Verywell​

It is important to remember that there are many different problem-solving processes with different steps, and this is just one example. Problem-solving in real-world situations requires a great deal of resourcefulness, flexibility, resilience, and continuous interaction with the environment.

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You can become a better problem solving by:

• Practicing brainstorming and coming up with multiple potential solutions to problems
• Being open-minded and considering all possible options before making a decision
• Breaking down problems into smaller, more manageable pieces
• Asking for help when needed
• Researching different problem-solving techniques and trying out new ones
• Learning from mistakes and using them as opportunities to grow

It's important to communicate openly and honestly with your partner about what's going on. Try to see things from their perspective as well as your own. Work together to find a resolution that works for both of you. Be willing to compromise and accept that there may not be a perfect solution.

Take breaks if things are getting too heated, and come back to the problem when you feel calm and collected. Don't try to fix every problem on your own—consider asking a therapist or counselor for help and insight.

If you've tried everything and there doesn't seem to be a way to fix the problem, you may have to learn to accept it. This can be difficult, but try to focus on the positive aspects of your life and remember that every situation is temporary. Don't dwell on what's going wrong—instead, think about what's going right. Find support by talking to friends or family. Seek professional help if you're having trouble coping.

Davidson JE, Sternberg RJ, editors.  The Psychology of Problem Solving .  Cambridge University Press; 2003. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511615771

Sarathy V. Real world problem-solving .  Front Hum Neurosci . 2018;12:261. Published 2018 Jun 26. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00261

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

What Are Problem-Solving Skills? Definition and Examples

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Forage puts students first. Our blog articles are written independently by our editorial team. They have not been paid for or sponsored by our partners. See our full  editorial guidelines .

Why do employers hire employees? To help them solve problems. Whether you’re a financial analyst deciding where to invest your firm’s money, or a marketer trying to figure out which channel to direct your efforts, companies hire people to help them find solutions. Problem-solving is an essential and marketable soft skill in the workplace. 

So, how can you improve your problem-solving and show employers you have this valuable skill? In this guide, we’ll cover:

Problem-Solving Skills Definition

Why are problem-solving skills important, problem-solving skills examples, how to include problem-solving skills in a job application, how to improve problem-solving skills, problem-solving: the bottom line.

Problem-solving skills are the ability to identify problems, brainstorm and analyze answers, and implement the best solutions. An employee with good problem-solving skills is both a self-starter and a collaborative teammate; they are proactive in understanding the root of a problem and work with others to consider a wide range of solutions before deciding how to move forward. 

Examples of using problem-solving skills in the workplace include:

• Researching patterns to understand why revenue decreased last quarter
• Experimenting with a new marketing channel to increase website sign-ups
• Brainstorming content types to share with potential customers
• Testing calls to action to see which ones drive the most product sales
• Implementing a new workflow to automate a team process and increase productivity

Problem-solving skills are the most sought-after soft skill of 2022. In fact, 86% of employers look for problem-solving skills on student resumes, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook 2022 survey . 

It’s unsurprising why employers are looking for this skill: companies will always need people to help them find solutions to their problems. Someone proactive and successful at problem-solving is valuable to any team.

“Employers are looking for employees who can make decisions independently, especially with the prevalence of remote/hybrid work and the need to communicate asynchronously,” Eric Mochnacz, senior HR consultant at Red Clover, says. “Employers want to see individuals who can make well-informed decisions that mitigate risk, and they can do so without suffering from analysis paralysis.”

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Problem-solving includes three main parts: identifying the problem, analyzing possible solutions, and deciding on the best course of action.

>>MORE: Discover the right career for you based on your skills with a career aptitude test .

Research is the first step of problem-solving because it helps you understand the context of a problem. Researching a problem enables you to learn why the problem is happening. For example, is revenue down because of a new sales tactic? Or because of seasonality? Is there a problem with who the sales team is reaching out to? 

Research broadens your scope to all possible reasons why the problem could be happening. Then once you figure it out, it helps you narrow your scope to start solving it. 

Analysis is the next step of problem-solving. Now that you’ve identified the problem, analytical skills help you look at what potential solutions there might be.

“The goal of analysis isn’t to solve a problem, actually — it’s to better understand it because that’s where the real solution will be found,” Gretchen Skalka, owner of Career Insights Consulting, says. “Looking at a problem through the lens of impartiality is the only way to get a true understanding of it from all angles.”

Decision-Making

Once you’ve figured out where the problem is coming from and what solutions are, it’s time to decide on the best way to go forth. Decision-making skills help you determine what resources are available, what a feasible action plan entails, and what solution is likely to lead to success.

On a Resume

Employers looking for problem-solving skills might include the word “problem-solving” or other synonyms like “ critical thinking ” or “analytical skills” in the job description.

“I would add ‘buzzwords’ you can find from the job descriptions or LinkedIn endorsements section to filter into your resume to comply with the ATS,” Matthew Warzel, CPRW resume writer, advises. Warzel recommends including these skills on your resume but warns to “leave the soft skills as adjectives in the summary section. That is the only place soft skills should be mentioned.”

On the other hand, you can list hard skills separately in a skills section on your resume .

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In a Cover Letter or an Interview

Explaining your problem-solving skills in an interview can seem daunting. You’re required to expand on your process — how you identified a problem, analyzed potential solutions, and made a choice. As long as you can explain your approach, it’s okay if that solution didn’t come from a professional work experience.

“Young professionals shortchange themselves by thinking only paid-for solutions matter to employers,” Skalka says. “People at the genesis of their careers don’t have a wealth of professional experience to pull from, but they do have relevant experience to share.”

Aaron Case, career counselor and CPRW at Resume Genius, agrees and encourages early professionals to share this skill. “If you don’t have any relevant work experience yet, you can still highlight your problem-solving skills in your cover letter,” he says. “Just showcase examples of problems you solved while completing your degree, working at internships, or volunteering. You can even pull examples from completely unrelated part-time jobs, as long as you make it clear how your problem-solving ability transfers to your new line of work.”

Learn How to Identify Problems

Problem-solving doesn’t just require finding solutions to problems that are already there. It’s also about being proactive when something isn’t working as you hoped it would. Practice questioning and getting curious about processes and activities in your everyday life. What could you improve? What would you do if you had more resources for this process? If you had fewer? Challenge yourself to challenge the world around you.

Think Digitally

“Employers in the modern workplace value digital problem-solving skills, like being able to find a technology solution to a traditional issue,” Case says. “For example, when I first started working as a marketing writer, my department didn’t have the budget to hire a professional voice actor for marketing video voiceovers. But I found a perfect solution to the problem with an AI voiceover service that cost a fraction of the price of an actor.”

Being comfortable with new technology — even ones you haven’t used before — is a valuable skill in an increasingly hybrid and remote world. Don’t be afraid to research new and innovative technologies to help automate processes or find a more efficient technological solution.

Collaborate

Problem-solving isn’t done in a silo, and it shouldn’t be. Use your collaboration skills to gather multiple perspectives, help eliminate bias, and listen to alternative solutions. Ask others where they think the problem is coming from and what solutions would help them with your workflow. From there, try to compromise on a solution that can benefit everyone.

If we’ve learned anything from the past few years, it’s that the world of work is constantly changing — which means it’s crucial to know how to adapt . Be comfortable narrowing down a solution, then changing your direction when a colleague provides a new piece of information. Challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone, whether with your personal routine or trying a new system at work.

Put Yourself in the Middle of Tough Moments

Just like adapting requires you to challenge your routine and tradition, good problem-solving requires you to put yourself in challenging situations — especially ones where you don’t have relevant experience or expertise to find a solution. Because you won’t know how to tackle the problem, you’ll learn new problem-solving skills and how to navigate new challenges. Ask your manager or a peer if you can help them work on a complicated problem, and be proactive about asking them questions along the way.

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Companies always need people to help them find solutions — especially proactive employees who have practical analytical skills and can collaborate to decide the best way to move forward. Whether or not you have experience solving problems in a professional workplace, illustrate your problem-solving skills by describing your research, analysis, and decision-making process — and make it clear that you’re the solution to the employer’s current problems. 

Looking to learn more workplace professional skills? Check out Two Sigma’s Professional Skills Development Virtual Experience Program .

Image Credit: Christina Morillo / Pexels 

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How to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills (and Show Them Off in Your Job Hunt)

Problem-solving skills are critical for any career path—no matter where you work or what job you have, you’ll face problems big and small all the time. If you want to succeed in your career, being able to effectively navigate (and solve!) those problems is a must. And if you’re on the job hunt, showcasing your problem-solving skills can help you land your dream gig.

But what, exactly, are problem-solving skills? What can you do to improve them? And if you’re looking for a new position, how can you show off your problem-solving skills during your job search to help you land an awesome job?

Consider this your guide to all things problem-solving. Let’s get started.

What Are Problem-Solving Skills and Why Are They Important?

“Problem-solving skills are skills that allow you to identify and define a situation that needs changing,” says Doug Noll , an attorney and adjunct faculty member at the Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law, where he teaches graduate-level classes in decision-making and problem-solving. Once you identify what needs changing, problem-solving skills also enable you to “identify the best outcomes, define potential processes for achieving the best outcomes, and evaluate how the process achieved (or failed to achieve) the desired outcome,” he says. “Every job imaginable involves problem-solving.”

Being able to effectively solve problems can help you succeed and impress, regardless of what kind of job you have or career you plan to pursue. “A person who sorts out problems and makes decisions—or at least brings potential solutions to the table—is seen as someone who can get things done,” says organizational consultant Irial O’Farrell , author of the upcoming book The Manager’s Dilemma: How to Empower Your Team’s Problem Solving . “This makes managers’ lives easier—and managers notice people who make their lives easier, who get things done, and who don’t have to be told [what to do] the whole time. In turn, opportunities are put their way, enhancing their career.”

And the further you progress in your career, the more important those skills become, Noll says. “As you rise in an organization, the problems become more complex, ambiguous, uncertain, and risky. Only people able to solve these types of problems are promoted.” So as you hone your problem-solving skills, you become more valuable to any organization—and will be able to climb the ladder more easily as a result.

The 6 Steps of Problem-Solving—and the Skills You Need for Each One

Problem-solving is a process. And, like any process, there are certain steps you need to take in order to get to the finish line:

Step #1: Identify and Assess the Problem

You can’t solve a problem if you don’t know what the problem is. So “the first step is to recognize that an issue—or potential issue—exists,” O’Farrell says. In order to do that, you’ll need “a certain amount of knowledge or awareness of what should be happening as compared to what is actually happening.”

Once you recognize there’s a problem, you’ll need to evaluate its potential impact. “Is this going to affect three people or 203 people? Is this going to cost us $10 or $100,000? How material is this issue?” O’Farrell says. “Being able to evaluate the size, impact, and costs [of a problem] is a key skill here.”

When you understand the scope of the problem, you’ll have a better idea of what you’re dealing with—and will be able to come up with appropriate, relevant solutions as a result.

Skills needed during this step of the problem-solving process include:

• Attention to detail
• Data collection
• Forecasting

Step #2: Get to the Source of the Problem

Once you know what the problem is (and what its potential impact might be), it’s time to figure out where the problem is coming from or why it’s happening—as identifying the source of the problem will give you key insights into how to fix it.

“Often we notice a problem because of its symptoms, rather than its root cause. As a result, it is common to focus on resolving the symptoms, rather than what is causing the symptoms,” O’Farrell says. But “by understanding the root causes, a better, longer-term solution can be identified.”

There are a variety of techniques to help you dig deeper and understand what’s causing the problem at hand. For example, a 5 Whys analysis could help you uncover the root cause of a problem by having you ask “Why?” five times in a row, with each “Why?” building off the previous answer. Or you might try the fishbone diagram —also known as a cause-and-effect analysis—which encourages looking at the different categories that could be causing a problem and brainstorming potential root causes within each of those categories.

During this stage of the problem-solving process, curiosity is key; you’ll need it to explore all the different factors that could be contributing to the problem.

• Analysis (including root-cause analysis)
• Brainstorming
• Critical thinking

Step #3: Brainstorm Potential Solutions

Once you’ve identified the problem (and the root of the problem), “the next step is to brainstorm potential options that will resolve it,” O’Farrell says.

How much brainstorming you’ll need to do will depend on the problem you’re dealing with. “If it’s a fairly small, straightforward issue, then identifying a few options might be sufficient,” O’Farrell says. Especially for a bigger issue, “Taking some time to think beyond the obvious might lead to a better and longer-term solution.”

The size and scope of the problem will also determine who needs to be involved in this step. In some cases, you may be able to brainstorm solutions yourself. But if you’re dealing with a larger, more complex issue, getting more people involved (and choosing the right people, i.e. those best equipped to handle the problem) is important. You’ll need to be able to judge what kind of problem it is and who to bring in to help and lead a productive brainstorming session.

One of the most important skills you’ll draw on at this stage is creativity. The more creative you are during your brainstorm, the more (and better) potential solutions you’ll be able to come up with—and the more likely one of those solutions will be the solution you’re looking for.

Skills you might need during this step of the problem-solving process include:

• Communication
• Meeting facilitation

Step #4: Evaluate Solutions

Once you have a list of potential solutions from your brainstorming session, the next step is to examine each one carefully and narrow down your list so only the best solutions remain.

In order to succeed during this stage of the problem-solving process, you’ll need to be able to dig into each potential solution and evaluate how viable it is. You may make a pros and cons list for each potential solution, talk through the benefits and drawbacks with your team, and then narrow down your options to the solutions that have the most potential upsides.

All the work you put into the problem-solving process up to this point will also come in handy as you’re evaluating which of your potential solutions might ultimately be the most effective. “Having a strong understanding of what the issue is, why it’s an issue, and what is causing it helps in being able to determine if each of the solutions will sort the issue out,” O’Farrell says.

• Fact-checking
• Prioritization

Step #5: Choose the Best Solution

Once you’ve narrowed down your list of potential solutions—and weighed the pros and cons of each—it’s time for you (or your supervisor or another decision-maker) to choose one.

“Depending on the type and impact of the issue and your role and authority, you may be the one making the decision or you may be presenting the issue and potential solutions to your boss,” O’Farrell says.

Knowing who should make the call is a key part of this step; if the problem is complex or will have a major impact on your organization that goes beyond your level of responsibility, it’s probably best to bring potential solutions to your boss and/or other stakeholders—and give them the final say.

• Decision-making
• Public speaking

Step #6: Implement the Decision and Reflect on the Outcome

Choosing a solution in and of itself doesn’t fix anything. You need to actually implement that solution—and do it well. That means developing a plan and coordinating with other key players in your organization to put that plan into action—which requires a host of skills (such as communication, collaboration, and project management).

Before you can hang up your problem-solving hat, you’ll also need to “go back and evaluate if the solution sorted out the issue” or if it caused any unintended consequences, O’Farrell says.

For example, let’s say your organization has a problem with taking too long to address customer service requests—and you rolled out a new ticket management system in order to deal with the issue. Once you implement that new system, you’ll want to follow up to make sure it’s allowing your customer service reps to deal with requests faster and hasn’t caused any new, different, or unexpected issues (for example, tickets getting lost in the queue or customers being less satisfied with the quality of support they received).

• Adaptability
• Collaboration
• Data analysis
• Goal setting
• Organization
• Project management
• Project planning
• Time management

How to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills

Clearly, solving problems is a complex process—and it’s a process you need to nail if you want to grow in your career. But how can you improve your problem-solving skills so they can help you thrive in your career?

• Put on your student hat. One of the best ways to improve here is to study how to effectively solve problems. “Read case studies of complex problems,” Noll says. (For example, if you want to land a marketing job, you might search for case studies on how other companies were able to increase their qualified leads or drive more traffic to their website.) Noll also suggests reading books about different problem-solving techniques—or, if you really want to level up your skills, investing in a general course in critical thinking and problem-solving. “A good course should teach you how to think,” he says—and critical thinking plays a huge role in problem-solving.
• Try different brainstorming techniques. If you want to be a better problem solver, try pushing yourself to think outside of the box. “Learning some brainstorming techniques and expanding your thinking beyond the obvious solutions is also a way to make your problem-solving skills stand out,” O’Farrell says. Brainstorming techniques like brainwriting (a nonverbal brainstorming technique for teams) or rapid ideation (which pushes you to come up with as many ideas as possible in a short time frame) can help spark creative thinking—and help you become a more creative problem solver in the process.
• Ask expert problem-solvers how they solve problems. People in your professional (or personal!) life who excel at solving problems can be a great resource for leveling up your own problem-solving skills. “Talk to senior mentors about how they approached complex problems,” Noll says. “Get them to talk about their failures and mistakes,” he says, not just their successes. Seeing how other people solve problems and what they’ve learned from their experiences can help you approach problems in a different way and can make you a more versatile problem solver.
• Practice, practice, practice. Like with anything else, if you want to improve your problem-solving skills, you need to practice solving problems. “Most people jump to the easy, intuitive answer rather than [carefully thinking] through the problem,” O’Farrell says. So next time you’re confronted with a problem, rather than jump to a hasty solution, take your time to go through the entire problem-solving process. And if you don’t have any real problems to deal with? Attempting to solve hypothetical problems can be just as helpful.

How to Show Off Your Problem-Solving Skills During the Job Search

Recruiters and hiring managers are looking for people with problem-solving skills who can help them, their team, and their company achieve their goals even in the face of obstacles and setbacks. So if you want to stand out, nail the interview, and score the job, you’ll need to showcase your problem-solving skills throughout your job search.

Here are a few ways to show off your problem-solving skills:

On a Resume

You can show potential employers that you’re a problem solver right on your resume. As you write your bullets for each past job and other experiences, “Incorporate one main challenge that you had to overcome, and give a brief synopsis of how you approached it, what the solution was and, most importantly, what the positive outcome was,” O’Farrell says.

For example, let’s say you’re a marketing manager and you had to figure out a way to launch a new product with a minimal budget. Under your current role, you might include a bullet point that says:

• Launched new sunscreen line across digital and traditional channels with <$10,000 budget by exploring up-and-coming distribution channels and negotiating wide-scale distribution agreements, bringing in $60,000 in new product sales within 90 days of launch

O’Farrell also recommends using action verbs (like “ analyze,” “evaluate,” or “identify”) to call out your problem-solving skills on a resume.

In a Cover Letter

In your cover letter, you’ll have more room and flexibility to showcase your problem-solving skills—and you should definitely take advantage of the opportunity.

Noll suggests using your cover letter to tell a quick story (think two to three sentences) about when and how you’ve solved a relevant problem. In your story, you want to include:

• What the problem was
• How you approached it/came to a solution
• What the outcomes of your problem-solving were
• What lessons you learned

Another strategy is to highlight how you would use your problem-solving skills within the context of the role you’re applying for. “I’d recommend reviewing the job description and identifying what types of problems you might have to deal with in the role,” O’Farrell says. Then you can speak directly to how you might approach them.

For example, let’s say you’re applying for an executive assistant position that requires extensive scheduling and calendar management for an exec who is often traveling for business. In that situation, you might explain how you’d solve the problem of scheduling while the exec is out of office (for example, by developing an appointment approval system that allows the exec to approve all appointment requests remotely, with a plan for how to notify the exec of appointment requests that need immediate attention).

During Interviews

The interview process offers the best opportunity for your problem-solving skills to shine, so you’ll want to come prepared.

“In preparation for the interview, select two to three situations where you used your problem-solving skills,” O’Farrell says. That way, when the interviewer asks you for examples of problems you’ve faced in your career—and how you solved them—you’ll have relevant stories ready. If you’re not sure how to tell your story effectively, the STAR method (which breaks down your story into four parts: S ituation, T ask, A ction, and R esult) can be helpful.

As a potential candidate, it’s also important to ask how you’ll need to use your skills on the job, Noll says. So you might ask the interviewers to share some of the issues or problems they’re hoping to solve by filling this position.

And if they turn around and ask you how you’d solve those problems? Don’t panic! If you have a story of a similar problem you’ve solved in the past, this is a great opportunity to share it. Otherwise, just talk through how you would approach it. Remember, the interviewers don’t expect you to come up with detailed solutions for problems their company is facing on the spot; they just want to get a sense of how you would begin to think about those problems if you were hired.

26 Expert-Backed Problem Solving Examples – Interview Answers

Published: February 13, 2023

Interview Questions and Answers

Actionable advice from real experts:

Biron Clark

Former Recruiter

Contributor

Dr. Kyle Elliott

Career Coach

Hayley Jukes

Editor-in-Chief

Biron Clark , Former Recruiter

Kyle Elliott , Career Coach

Hayley Jukes , Editor

As a recruiter , I know employers like to hire people who can solve problems and work well under pressure.

 A job rarely goes 100% according to plan, so hiring managers are more likely to hire you if you seem like you can handle unexpected challenges while staying calm and logical.

But how do they measure this?

Hiring managers will ask you interview questions about your problem-solving skills, and they might also look for examples of problem-solving on your resume and cover letter. 

In this article, I’m going to share a list of problem-solving examples and sample interview answers to questions like, “Give an example of a time you used logic to solve a problem?” and “Describe a time when you had to solve a problem without managerial input. How did you handle it, and what was the result?”

• Problem-solving involves identifying, prioritizing, analyzing, and solving problems using a variety of skills like critical thinking, creativity, decision making, and communication.
• Describe the Situation, Task, Action, and Result ( STAR method ) when discussing your problem-solving experiences.
• Tailor your interview answer with the specific skills and qualifications outlined in the job description.
• Provide numerical data or metrics to demonstrate the tangible impact of your problem-solving efforts.

What are Problem Solving Skills? 

Problem-solving is the ability to identify a problem, prioritize based on gravity and urgency, analyze the root cause, gather relevant information, develop and evaluate viable solutions, decide on the most effective and logical solution, and plan and execute implementation. 

Problem-solving encompasses other skills that can be showcased in an interview response and your resume. Problem-solving skills examples include:

• Critical thinking
• Analytical skills
• Decision making
• Research skills
• Technical skills
• Communication skills
• Adaptability and flexibility

Why is Problem Solving Important in the Workplace?

Problem-solving is essential in the workplace because it directly impacts productivity and efficiency. Whenever you encounter a problem, tackling it head-on prevents minor issues from escalating into bigger ones that could disrupt the entire workflow. 

Beyond maintaining smooth operations, your ability to solve problems fosters innovation. It encourages you to think creatively, finding better ways to achieve goals, which keeps the business competitive and pushes the boundaries of what you can achieve. 

Effective problem-solving also contributes to a healthier work environment; it reduces stress by providing clear strategies for overcoming obstacles and builds confidence within teams. 

Examples of Problem-Solving in the Workplace

• Correcting a mistake at work, whether it was made by you or someone else
• Overcoming a delay at work through problem solving and communication
• Resolving an issue with a difficult or upset customer
• Overcoming issues related to a limited budget, and still delivering good work through the use of creative problem solving
• Overcoming a scheduling/staffing shortage in the department to still deliver excellent work
• Troubleshooting and resolving technical issues
• Handling and resolving a conflict with a coworker
• Solving any problems related to money, customer billing, accounting and bookkeeping, etc.
• Taking initiative when another team member overlooked or missed something important
• Taking initiative to meet with your superior to discuss a problem before it became potentially worse
• Solving a safety issue at work or reporting the issue to those who could solve it
• Using problem solving abilities to reduce/eliminate a company expense
• Finding a way to make the company more profitable through new service or product offerings, new pricing ideas, promotion and sale ideas, etc.
• Changing how a process, team, or task is organized to make it more efficient
• Using creative thinking to come up with a solution that the company hasn’t used before
• Performing research to collect data and information to find a new solution to a problem
• Boosting a company or team’s performance by improving some aspect of communication among employees
• Finding a new piece of data that can guide a company’s decisions or strategy better in a certain area

Problem-Solving Examples for Recent Grads/Entry-Level Job Seekers

• Coordinating work between team members in a class project
• Reassigning a missing team member’s work to other group members in a class project
• Adjusting your workflow on a project to accommodate a tight deadline
• Speaking to your professor to get help when you were struggling or unsure about a project
• Asking classmates, peers, or professors for help in an area of struggle
• Talking to your academic advisor to brainstorm solutions to a problem you were facing
• Researching solutions to an academic problem online, via Google or other methods
• Using problem solving and creative thinking to obtain an internship or other work opportunity during school after struggling at first

How To Answer “Tell Us About a Problem You Solved”

When you answer interview questions about problem-solving scenarios, or if you decide to demonstrate your problem-solving skills in a cover letter (which is a good idea any time the job description mentions problem-solving as a necessary skill), I recommend using the STAR method.

STAR stands for:

It’s a simple way of walking the listener or reader through the story in a way that will make sense to them. 

Start by briefly describing the general situation and the task at hand. After this, describe the course of action you chose and why. Ideally, show that you evaluated all the information you could given the time you had, and made a decision based on logic and fact. Finally, describe the positive result you achieved.

Note: Our sample answers below are structured following the STAR formula. Be sure to check them out!

EXPERT ADVICE

Dr. Kyle Elliott , MPA, CHES Tech & Interview Career Coach caffeinatedkyle.com

How can I communicate complex problem-solving experiences clearly and succinctly?

Before answering any interview question, it’s important to understand why the interviewer is asking the question in the first place.

When it comes to questions about your complex problem-solving experiences, for example, the interviewer likely wants to know about your leadership acumen, collaboration abilities, and communication skills, not the problem itself.

Therefore, your answer should be focused on highlighting how you excelled in each of these areas, not diving into the weeds of the problem itself, which is a common mistake less-experienced interviewees often make.

Tailoring Your Answer Based on the Skills Mentioned in the Job Description

As a recruiter, one of the top tips I can give you when responding to the prompt “Tell us about a problem you solved,” is to tailor your answer to the specific skills and qualifications outlined in the job description. 

Once you’ve pinpointed the skills and key competencies the employer is seeking, craft your response to highlight experiences where you successfully utilized or developed those particular abilities. 

For instance, if the job requires strong leadership skills, focus on a problem-solving scenario where you took charge and effectively guided a team toward resolution. 

By aligning your answer with the desired skills outlined in the job description, you demonstrate your suitability for the role and show the employer that you understand their needs.

Amanda Augustine expands on this by saying:

“Showcase the specific skills you used to solve the problem. Did it require critical thinking, analytical abilities, or strong collaboration? Highlight the relevant skills the employer is seeking.”  

Interview Answers to “Tell Me About a Time You Solved a Problem”

Now, let’s look at some sample interview answers to, “Give me an example of a time you used logic to solve a problem,” or “Tell me about a time you solved a problem,” since you’re likely to hear different versions of this interview question in all sorts of industries.

The example interview responses are structured using the STAR method and are categorized into the top 5 key problem-solving skills recruiters look for in a candidate.

1. Analytical Thinking

Situation: In my previous role as a data analyst , our team encountered a significant drop in website traffic.

Task: I was tasked with identifying the root cause of the decrease.

Action: I conducted a thorough analysis of website metrics, including traffic sources, user demographics, and page performance. Through my analysis, I discovered a technical issue with our website’s loading speed, causing users to bounce. 

Result: By optimizing server response time, compressing images, and minimizing redirects, we saw a 20% increase in traffic within two weeks.

2. Critical Thinking

Situation: During a project deadline crunch, our team encountered a major technical issue that threatened to derail our progress.

Task: My task was to assess the situation and devise a solution quickly.

Action: I immediately convened a meeting with the team to brainstorm potential solutions. Instead of panicking, I encouraged everyone to think outside the box and consider unconventional approaches. We analyzed the problem from different angles and weighed the pros and cons of each solution.

Result: By devising a workaround solution, we were able to meet the project deadline, avoiding potential delays that could have cost the company $100,000 in penalties for missing contractual obligations.

3. Decision Making

Situation: As a project manager , I was faced with a dilemma when two key team members had conflicting opinions on the project direction.

Task: My task was to make a decisive choice that would align with the project goals and maintain team cohesion.

Action: I scheduled a meeting with both team members to understand their perspectives in detail. I listened actively, asked probing questions, and encouraged open dialogue. After carefully weighing the pros and cons of each approach, I made a decision that incorporated elements from both viewpoints.

Result: The decision I made not only resolved the immediate conflict but also led to a stronger sense of collaboration within the team. By valuing input from all team members and making a well-informed decision, we were able to achieve our project objectives efficiently.

4. Communication (Teamwork)

Situation: During a cross-functional project, miscommunication between departments was causing delays and misunderstandings.

Task: My task was to improve communication channels and foster better teamwork among team members.

Action: I initiated regular cross-departmental meetings to ensure that everyone was on the same page regarding project goals and timelines. I also implemented a centralized communication platform where team members could share updates, ask questions, and collaborate more effectively.

Result: Streamlining workflows and improving communication channels led to a 30% reduction in project completion time, saving the company $25,000 in operational costs.

5. Persistence 

Situation: During a challenging sales quarter, I encountered numerous rejections and setbacks while trying to close a major client deal.

Task: My task was to persistently pursue the client and overcome obstacles to secure the deal.

Action: I maintained regular communication with the client, addressing their concerns and demonstrating the value proposition of our product. Despite facing multiple rejections, I remained persistent and resilient, adjusting my approach based on feedback and market dynamics.

Result: After months of perseverance, I successfully closed the deal with the client. By closing the major client deal, I exceeded quarterly sales targets by 25%, resulting in a revenue increase of $250,000 for the company.

Tips to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills

Throughout your career, being able to showcase and effectively communicate your problem-solving skills gives you more leverage in achieving better jobs and earning more money .

So to improve your problem-solving skills, I recommend always analyzing a problem and situation before acting.

 When discussing problem-solving with employers, you never want to sound like you rush or make impulsive decisions. They want to see fact-based or data-based decisions when you solve problems.

Don’t just say you’re good at solving problems. Show it with specifics. How much did you boost efficiency? Did you save the company money? Adding numbers can really make your achievements stand out.

To get better at solving problems, analyze the outcomes of past solutions you came up with. You can recognize what works and what doesn’t.

Think about how you can improve researching and analyzing a situation, how you can get better at communicating, and deciding on the right people in the organization to talk to and “pull in” to help you if needed, etc.

Finally, practice staying calm even in stressful situations. Take a few minutes to walk outside if needed. Step away from your phone and computer to clear your head. A work problem is rarely so urgent that you cannot take five minutes to think (with the possible exception of safety problems), and you’ll get better outcomes if you solve problems by acting logically instead of rushing to react in a panic.

You can use all of the ideas above to describe your problem-solving skills when asked interview questions about the topic. If you say that you do the things above, employers will be impressed when they assess your problem-solving ability.

More Interview Resources

• 3 Answers to “How Do You Handle Stress?”
• How to Answer “How Do You Handle Conflict?” (Interview Question)
• Sample Answers to “Tell Me About a Time You Failed”

About the Author

Biron Clark is a former executive recruiter who has worked individually with hundreds of job seekers, reviewed thousands of resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and recruited for top venture-backed startups and Fortune 500 companies. He has been advising job seekers since 2012 to think differently in their job search and land high-paying, competitive positions. Follow on Twitter and LinkedIn .

Read more articles by Biron Clark

About the Contributor

Kyle Elliott , career coach and mental health advocate, transforms his side hustle into a notable practice, aiding Silicon Valley professionals in maximizing potential. Follow Kyle on LinkedIn .

About the Editor

Hayley Jukes is the Editor-in-Chief at CareerSidekick with five years of experience creating engaging articles, books, and transcripts for diverse platforms and audiences.

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Stumped five ways to hone your problem-solving skills.

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Respect the worth of other people's insights

Problems continuously arise in organizational life, making problem-solving an essential skill for leaders. Leaders who are good at tackling conundrums are likely to be more effective at overcoming obstacles and guiding their teams to achieve their goals. So, what’s the secret to better problem-solving skills?

1. Understand the root cause of the problem

“Too often, people fail because they haven’t correctly defined what the problem is,” says David Ross, an international strategist, founder of consultancy Phoenix Strategic Management and author of Confronting the Storm: Regenerating Leadership and Hope in the Age of Uncertainty .

Ross explains that as teams grapple with “wicked” problems – those where there can be several root causes for why a problem exists – there can often be disagreement on the initial assumptions made. As a result, their chances of successfully solving the problem are low.

“Before commencing the process of solving the problem, it is worthwhile identifying who your key stakeholders are and talking to them about the issue,” Ross recommends. “Who could be affected by the issue? What is the problem – and why? How are people affected?”

He argues that if leaders treat people with dignity, respecting the worth of their insights, they are more likely to successfully solve problems.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, 2. unfocus the mind.

“To solve problems, we need to commit to making time to face a problem in its full complexity, which also requires that we take back control of our thinking,” says Chris Griffiths, an expert on creativity and innovative thinking skills, founder and CEO of software provider OpenGenius, and co-author of The Focus Fix: Finding Clarity, Creativity and Resilience in an Overwhelming World .

To do this, it’s necessary to harness the power of the unfocused mind, according to Griffiths. “It might sound oxymoronic, but just like our devices, our brain needs time to recharge,” he says. “ A plethora of research has shown that daydreaming allows us to make creative connections and see abstract solutions that are not obvious when we’re engaged in direct work.”

To make use of the unfocused mind in problem solving, you must begin by getting to know the problem from all angles. “At this stage, don’t worry about actually solving the problem,” says Griffiths. “You’re simply giving your subconscious mind the information it needs to get creative with when you zone out. From here, pick a monotonous or rhythmic activity that will help you to activate the daydreaming state – that might be a walk, some doodling, or even some chores.”

Do this regularly, argues Griffiths, and you’ll soon find that flashes of inspiration and novel solutions naturally present themselves while you’re ostensibly thinking of other things. He says: “By allowing you to access the fullest creative potential of your own brain, daydreaming acts as a skeleton key for a wide range of problems.”

3. Be comfortable making judgment calls

“Admitting to not knowing the future takes courage,” says Professor Stephen Wyatt, founder and lead consultant at consultancy Corporate Rebirth and author of Antidote to the Crisis of Leadership: Opportunity in Complexity . “Leaders are worried our teams won’t respect us and our boards will lose faith in us, but what doesn’t work is drawing up plans and forecasts and holding yourself or others rigidly to them.”

Wyatt advises leaders to heighten their situational awareness – to look broadly, integrate more perspectives and be able to connect the dots. “We need to be comfortable in making judgment calls as the future is unknown,” he says. “There is no data on it. But equally, very few initiatives cannot be adjusted, refined or reviewed while in motion.”

Leaders need to stay vigilant, according to Wyatt, create the capacity of the enterprise to adapt and maintain the support of stakeholders. “The concept of the infallible leader needs to be updated,” he concludes.

4. Be prepared to fail and learn

“Organisations, and arguably society more widely, are obsessed with problems and the notion of problems,” says Steve Hearsum, founder of organizational change consultancy Edge + Stretch and author of No Silver Bullet: Bursting the Bubble of the Organisational Quick Fix .

Hearsum argues that this tendency is complicated by the myth of fixability, namely the idea that all problems, however complex, have a solution. “Our need for certainty, to minimize and dampen the anxiety of ‘not knowing,’ leads us to oversimplify and ignore or filter out anything that challenges the idea that there is a solution,” he says.

Leaders need to shift their mindset to cultivate their comfort with not knowing and couple that with being OK with being wrong, sometimes, notes Hearsum. He adds: “That means developing reflexivity to understand your own beliefs and judgments, and what influences these, asking questions and experimenting.”

5. Unleash the power of empathy

Leaders must be able to communicate problems in order to find solutions to them. But they should avoid bombarding their teams with complex, technical details since these can overwhelm their people’s cognitive load, says Dr Jessica Barker MBE , author of Hacked: The Secrets Behind Cyber Attacks .

Instead, she recommends that leaders frame their messages in ways that cut through jargon and ensure that their advice is relevant, accessible and actionable. “An essential leadership skill for this is empathy,” Barker explains. “When you’re trying to build a positive culture, it is crucial to understand why people are not practicing the behaviors you want rather than trying to force that behavioral change with fear, uncertainty and doubt.”

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• Spencer Greenberg
• 14 min read

Problem-Solving Techniques That Work For All Types of Challenges

Updated: 7 days ago

Essay by Spencer Greenberg, Clearer Thinking founder

A lot of people don’t realize that there are general purpose problem solving techniques that cut across domains. They can help you deal with thorny challenges in work, your personal life, startups, or even if you’re trying to prove a new theorem in math.

Below are the 26 general purpose problem solving techniques that I like best, along with a one-word name I picked for each, and hypothetical examples to illustrate what sort of strategy I’m referring to.

Consider opening up this list whenever you’re stuck solving a challenging problem. It’s likely that one or more of these techniques can help!

1. Clarifying

Try to define the problem you are facing as precisely as you can, maybe by writing down a detailed description of exactly what the problem is and what constraints exist for a solution, or by describing it in detail to another person. This may lead to you realizing the problem is not quite what you had thought, or that it has a more obvious solution than you thought.

Life Example

“I thought that I needed to find a new job, but when I thought really carefully about what I don’t like about my current job, I realized that I could likely fix those things by talking to my boss or even, potentially, just by thinking about them differently.”

Startup Example

“we thought we had a problem with users not wanting to sign up for the product, but when we carefully investigated what the problem really was, we discovered it was actually more of a problem of users wanting the product but then growing frustrated because of bad interface design.”

2. Subdividing

Break the problem down into smaller problems in such a way that if you solve each of the small problems, you will have solved the entire problem. Once a problem is subdivided it can also sometimes be parallelized (e.g., by involving different people to work on the different components).

“My goal is to get company Z to become a partner with my company, and that seems hard, so let me break that goal into the steps of (a) listing the ways that company Z would benefit from becoming a partner with us, (b) finding an employee at company Z who would be responsive to hearing about these benefits, and (c) tracking down someone who can introduce me to that employee.”

Math Example

“I want to prove that a certain property applies to all functions of a specific type, so I start by (a) showing that every function of that type can be written as a sum of a more specific type of function, then I show that (b) the property applies to each function of the more specific type, and finally I show that (c) if the property applies to each function in a set of functions then it applies to arbitrary sums of those functions as well.”

3. Simplifying

Think of the simplest variation of the problem that you expect you can solve that shares important features in common with your problem, and see if solving this simpler problem gives you ideas for how to solve the more difficult version.

“I don’t know how to hire a CTO, but I do know how to hire a software engineer because I’ve done it many times, and good CTOs will often themselves be good software engineers, so how can I tweak my software engineer hiring to make it appropriate for hiring a CTO?”

“I don’t know how to calculate this integral as it is, but if I remove one of the free parameters, I actually do know how to calculate it, and maybe doing that calculation will give me insight into the solution of the more complex integral.”

4. Crowd-sourcing 

Use suggestions from multiple people to gain insight into how to solve the problem, for instance by posting on Facebook or Twitter requesting people’s help, or by posting to a Q&A site like Quora, or by sending emails to 10 people you know explaining the problem and requesting assistance.

Business Example

“Do you have experience outsourcing manufacturing to China? If so, I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts about how to approach choosing a vendor.”

Health Example

“I have trouble getting myself to stick to doing exercise daily. If you also used to have trouble getting yourself to exercise but don’t anymore, I’d love to know what worked to make it easier for you.”

5. Splintering

If the problem you are trying to solve has special cases that a solution to the general problem would also apply to, consider just one or two of these special cases as examples and solve the problem just for those cases first. Then see if a solution to one of those special cases helps you solve the problem in general.

“I want to figure out how to improve employee retention in general, let me examine how I could have improved retention in the case of the last three people that quit.”

“I want to figure out how to convince a large number of people to become customers, let me first figure out how to convince just Bill and John to become customers since they seem like the sort of customer I want to attract, and see what general lessons I learn from doing that.”

Read the books or textbooks that seem most related to the topic, and see whether they provide a solution to the problem, or teach you enough related information that you can now solve it yourself.

Economics Example

“Economists probably have already figured out reasonable ways to estimate demand elasticity, let’s see what an econometrics textbook says rather than trying to invent a technique from scratch.”

Mental Health Example

“I’ve been feeling depressed for a long time, maybe I should read some well-liked books about depression.”

7. Searching

Think of a similar problem that you think practitioners, bloggers or academics might have already solved and search online (e.g., via google, Q&A sites, or google scholar academic paper search) to see if anyone has done a write-up about how they solved it.

Advertising Example

“I’m having trouble figuring out the right advertising keywords to bid on for my specific product, I bet someone has a blog post describing how to approach choosing keywords for other related products.”

Machine Learning Example

“I can’t get this neural network to train properly in my specific case, I wonder if someone has written a tutorial about how to apply neural networks to related problems.”

8. Unconstraining

List all the constraints of the problem, then temporarily ignore one or more of the constraints that make the problem especially hard, and try to solve it without those constraints. If you can, then see if you can modify that unconstrained solution until it becomes a solution for the fully constrained problem.

“I need to hire someone who can do work at the intersection of machine learning and cryptography, let me drop the constraint of having cryptography experience and recruit machine learning people, then pick from among them a person that seems both generally capable and well positioned to learn the necessary cryptography.”

Computer Science Example

“I need to implement a certain algorithm, and it needs to be efficient, but that seems very difficult, so let me first figure out how to implement an inefficient version of the algorithm (i.e., drop the efficiency constraint), then at the end I will try to figure out how to optimize that algorithm for efficiency.”

9. Distracting

Fill your mind with everything you know about the problem, including facts, constraints, challenges, considerations, etc. and then stop thinking about the problem, and go and do a relaxing activity that requires little focus, such as walking, swimming, cooking, napping or taking a bath to see if new ideas or potential solutions pop into your mind unexpectedly as your subconscious continues to work on the problem without your attention.

“For three days, I’ve been trying to solve this problem at work, but the solution only came to me when I was strolling in the woods and not even thinking about it.”

Example from mathematician Henri Poincaré

“The incidents of the travel made me forget my mathematical work. Having reached Coutances, we entered an omnibus to go someplace or other. At the moment when I put my foot on the step, the idea came to me, without anything in my former thoughts seeming to have paved the way for it, that the transformations I had used to define the Fuchsian functions were identical with those of non-Euclidean geometry.”

10. Reexamining

Write down all the assumptions you’ve been making about the problem or about what a solution should I look like (yes – make an actual list). Then start challenging them one by one to see if they are actually needed or whether some may be unnecessary or mistaken.

Psychology Example

“We were assuming in our lab experiments that when people get angry they have some underlying reason behind it, but there may be some anger that is better modeled as a chemical fluctuation that is only loosely related to what happens in the lab, such as when people are quick to anger because they are hungry.”

“I need to construct a function that has this strange property, and so far I’ve assumed that the function must be smooth, but if it doesn’t actually need to be then perhaps I can construct just such a function out of simple linear pieces that are glued together.”

11. Reframing

Try to see the problem differently. For instance, by flipping the default, analyzing the inverse of the problem instead, thinking about how you would achieve the opposite of what you want, or shifting to an opposing perspective.

If we were building this company over again completely from scratch, what would we do differently in the design of our product, and can we pivot the product in that direction right now?”

“Should move to New York to take a job that pays $20,000 more per year? Well, if I already lived in New York, the decision to stay there rather than taking a $20,000 pay cut to move here would be an easy one. So maybe I’m overly focused on the current default of not being in New York and the short term unpleasantness of relocating.”

Marketing Example

“If I were one of our typical potential customers, what would I do to try to find a product like ours?”

12. Brainstorming

Set a timer for at least 5 minutes, and generate as many plausible solutions or ideas that you can without worrying about quality at all. Evaluate the ideas only at the end after the timer goes off.

“I’m going to set a timer for 5 minutes and come up with at least three new ways I could go about looking for a co-founder.”

“I’m going to set a timer for 20 minutes and come up with at least five possible explanations for why I’ve been feeling so anxious lately.”

13. Experting

Find an expert (or someone highly knowledgeable) in the topic area and ask their opinion about the best way to solve the problem.

“Why do you think most attempts at creating digital medical records failed, and what would someone have to do differently to have a reasonable chance at success?”

“What sort of optimization algorithm would be most efficient for minimizing the objective functions of this type?”

14. Eggheading

Ask the smartest person you know how they would solve the problem. Be sure to send an email in advance, describing the details so that this person has time to deeply consider the problem before you discuss it.

“Given the information I sent you about our competitors and the interviews we’ve done with potential customers, in which direction would you pivot our product if you were me (and why)?”

Research Example

“Given the information I sent you about our goals and the fact that our previous research attempts have gotten nowhere, how would you approach researching this topic to find the answer we need?”

15. Guessing

Start with a guess for what the solution could be, now check if it actually works and if not, start tweaking that guess to see if you can morph it into something that could work.

“I don’t know what price to use for the product we’re selling, so let me start with an initial guess and then begin trying to sell the thing, and tweak the price down if it seems to be a sticking point for customers, and tweak the price up if the customers don’t seem to pay much attention to the price.”

“My off the cuff intuition says that this differential equation might have a solution of the form x^a * e^(b x)for some a or b, let me plug it into the equation to see if indeed it satisfies the equation for any choice of a and b, and if not, let me see if I can tweak it to make something similar work.”

“I don’t know what the most effective diet for me would be, so I’ll just use my intuition to ban from my diet some foods that seem both unhealthy and addictive, and see if that helps.”

16. Comparing

Think of similar domains you already understand or similar problems you have already solved in the past, and see whether your knowledge of those domains or solutions to those similar problems may work as a complete or partial solution here.

“I don’t know how to find someone to fix things in my apartment, but I have found a good house cleaner before by asking a few friends who they use, so maybe I can simply use the same approach for finding a person to fix things.”

“This equation I’m trying to simplify reminds me of work I’m familiar with related to Kullback-Leibler divergence, I wonder if results from information theory could be applied in this case.”

17. Outsourcing

Consider whether you can hire someone to solve this problem, instead of figuring out how to solve it yourself.

“I don’t really understand how to get media attention for my company, so let me hire a public relations firm and let them handle the process.”

“I have no fashion sense, but I’d like to look better. Maybe I should hire someone fashionable who works in apparel to go shopping with me and help me choose what I should wear.”

18. Experimenting

Rapidly develop possible solutions and test them out (in sequence, or in parallel) by applying cheap and fast experiments. Discard those that don’t work, or iterate on them to improve them based on what you learn from the experiments.

“We don’t know if people will like a product like the one we have in mind, but we can put together a functioning prototype quickly, show five people that seem like they could be potential users, and iterate or create an entirely new design based on how they respond.”

“I don’t know if cutting out sugar will help improve my energy levels, but I can try it for two weeks and see if I notice any differences.”

19. Generalizing

Consider the more general case of the specific problem you are trying to solve, and then work on solving the general version instead. Paradoxically, it is sometimes easier to make progress on the general case rather than a specific one because it increases your focus on the structure of the problem rather than unimportant details.

“I want to figure out how to get this particular key employee more motivated to do good work, let me construct a model of what makes employees motivated to do good work in general, then I’ll apply it to this case.”

“I want to solve this specific differential equation, but it’s clearly a special case of a more general class of differential equations, let me study the general class and see what I can learn about them first and then apply what I learn to the specific case.”

20. Approximating

Consider whether a partial or approximate solution would be acceptable and, if so, aim for that instead of a full or exact solution.

“Our goal is to figure out which truck to send out for which delivery, which theoretically depends on many factors such as current location, traffic conditions, truck capacity, fuel efficiency, how many hours the driver has been on duty, the number of people manning each truck, the hourly rate we pay each driver, etc. etc. Maybe if we focus on just the three variables that we think are most important, we can find a good enough solution.”

“Finding a solution to this equation seems difficult, but if I approximate one of the terms linearly it becomes much easier, and maybe for the range of values we’re interested in, that’s close enough to an exact solution!”

21. Annihilating

Try to prove that the problem you are attempting to solve is actually impossible. If you succeed, you may save yourself a lot of time working on something impossible. Furthermore, in attempting to prove that the problem is impossible, you may gain insight into what makes it actually possible to solve, or if it turns out to truly be impossible, figure out how you could tweak the problem to make it solvable.

“I’m struggling to find a design for a theoretical voting system that has properties X, Y, and Z, let me see if I can instead prove that no such voting system with these three properties could possibly exist.”

“My goal has been to prove that this property always applies to this class of functions, let me see if I can generate a counterexample to prove that this goal is actually impossible.”

Physics Example

“I was trying to design a physical system with certain properties, but I now realize that if such a system could be realized, then it would allow for perpetual motion, and therefore it is impossible to build the sort of system I had in mind.”

22. Modeling

Try to build an explicit model of the situation, including what elements there are and how they related to each other. For instance, try drawing a diagram or flow chart that encapsulates your understanding of all the important information that relates to the problem.

“I’ve noticed that there are certain situations that cause me to freak out that would not bother other people. So what are the common elements when this happens, and how do they seem to relate to each other and to the way I end up feeling? Let me see if I can draw a diagram of this on paper.”

“What are all the different groups (e.g., providers, payers, patients) involved in the healthcare system, and if we diagram how they interact with each other, will that give us ideas for how we can sell our healthcare product?”

23. Brute forcing

One-by-one, consider every possible solution to the problem until you’ve found a good one or exhausted them all.

Startup example

“We’re not sure the order that these four parts of the user registration process should go in, so let’s make a list of all 24 possible orderings, and examine them one by one to see which makes the most sense.”

“It’s not clear how to pick which of these machine learning methods to use on this problem, but since we have lots of data, we can just try each of the algorithms and see which makes the most accurate predictions on data we’ve held to the side for testing.”

24. Refocusing

Forget about trying to solve the problem, and instead consider why you are trying to solve it. Then consider if there is a different problem you can work on that is aimed at producing the same sort of value in a different way.

Startup Example 1

“Maybe instead of trying increasingly hard to figure out how to get this type of consumer to buy, we need to switch our focus to the problem of how to sell to businesses, since what we actually care about is selling it, not selling it to one particular group.”

Startup Example 2

“I’ve been banging my head against the wall trying to implement this extremely complex feature, but there are lots of features that users would find just as valuable that are much easier to implement, maybe I should focus on those instead.”

25. Sidestepping

Consider whether you really want to spend more time trying to solve this problem and whether you can avoid the problem by instead working on totally different problems that you also care about.

“We’ve tried selling our solution to replace Excel for 12 months without much success, maybe we should go back to the drawing board and consider designing a totally new product. Our assumptions about customer needs seem to simply have been wrong.”

“I’ve spent six months on this math problem with little progress, but there are two other math problems I’m equally excited about, so maybe I should spend some time investigating whether one of those may be more tractable.”

26. Aggregating

Consider whether multiple problems you’re now experiencing might, in fact, be caused by the same source of difficulty, rather than being independent problems.

“I seem to be having conflict with a few different friends right now – could it be that I’m doing something without realizing it that is increasing my chance of conflict with all of them?”

“Three employees have quit in the last month. Perhaps the primary problem isn’t really about convincing this one important employee to stay, which is how I was framing it, but rather, about identifying why people keep leaving more generally.”

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Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada's Housing Plan

Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada's Housing Plan (PDF Version)

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The housing crisis of our past, the housing crisis of today, solving the housing crisis, making the math work for homebuilders, working with communities to build more housing, faster, changing the way industry builds homes, growing and training the workforce, protecting renters, getting you into your first home, supporting current homeowners, protecting canada's existing housing stock, increasing the supply of affordable housing in canada, providing funding to communities to help end homelessness, who's in charge of what: list of responsibilities in housing by order of government.

We need to build more homes in Canada, and we need to build them by the millions.

The good news – we can. The proof is in our history.

At the end of the Second World War, our country reached a defining crossroads. As soldiers returned home and displaced people began to start their new lives in Canada, we experienced rapid population growth. This had far-reaching impacts, including a spike in inflation and an immense pressure on housing. Canada had a choice between building homes slowly and steadily, or rising to the occasion to build quickly and ensure that everyone who called our growing country home would have a roof over their head.

Canada met the moment. Canada chose to build. What followed was a national effort to build homes at a record pace to meet the needs of a new generation of Canadians. Governments and private industry came together and made the investments necessary to get the job done. We overcame what seemed impossible and created a generation of housing that can still be found in our cities today.

A generation later, as baby boomers came of age, Canada once again faced a housing shortage. Through a mix of government programs that spurred a construction boom, our country was able to rapidly build our housing stock at record levels to create opportunities for another generation to find a place to live that they could actually afford.

In the decades that followed, investments and ambition in housing started to wane. Successive governments at every level and of varying partisan stripes chose not to invest in building homes. They failed to understand the need to build homes for future generations of Canadians.

Over time it became more challenging to build homes in Canada. Restrictive planning policies prevented the construction of high-density housing near existing infrastructure and transit. Municipalities started charging extra fees to help meet budget demands. Provinces fell behind on supportive housing investments. And the federal government pulled back when it should have stepped up. These factors created higher costs, construction delays, and a lack of affordable housing options.

We are still paying the price today.

Canada did not stop growing. Families expanded and new neighbours arrived to pursue opportunities in a peaceful country with good jobs, stable governance, and a bright future. This population growth has helped fuel opportunity and prosperity across the country, and it has created a talented, diverse, and innovative economy. But the construction of housing didn't keep pace. We didn't build the homes we needed for the country we were becoming.

In 2017, Canada started investing in housing again. For the first time in decades, our country invested in more housing for low-income and vulnerable Canadians, we started incentivizing rental construction, and we created programs to make it easier for people to buy their first home.

This allowed us to achieve near record levels of home construction, and the fastest pace of building in decades.

However, as we came out of the pandemic, housing pressures grew. A lot of Canada's housing stock was purchased while interest rates were low and more people came seeking opportunities in Canada. Then higher interest rates slowed the economy, including home construction.

Today, the national housing crisis presents one of Canada's greatest social and economic challenges. But if we commit ourselves to solving it, we can build a country and economy that promotes generational fairness so we can create the same opportunities for young Canadians today that previous generations enjoyed.

These new challenges have impacted the cost of housing, not just in large urban centres, but in small towns and in northern and rural communities as well. The affordability challenges that have long impacted low-income Canadians are now having serious impacts on middle class households. Rents have gone up. Home prices have gone up. An entire generation of young Canadians is questioning whether they can afford a place to live today and whether they will ever be able to own a home of their own. Racialized and newcomer communities continue to disproportionately experience these pressures.

If you work hard in this country, you should be able to afford a home. But that middle class dream is feeling further and further out of reach. Too many Canadians have been pushed towards housing instability or homelessness.

We can change this.

All young Canadians are asking for is a fair shot. They deserve the same opportunity to rent or own a place of their own as every other generation that came before them.

We need to restore that dream. Canada has extraordinary potential, but to fully realize it we must get housing right.

At the heart of this plan lies a commitment to make housing affordable. No hard-working Canadian should have to spend more than 30% of their income on shelter costs. No Canadian should have to live without knowing they have a safe and affordable place to live.

This plan acknowledges the diverse needs of Canadians, including Indigenous people, racialized communities, newcomers, seniors, persons with disabilities, those fleeing gender-based violence, Canadians across the income spectrum, and those who live in rural and remote communities. For many, the housing crisis is decades old, and linked to a history of marginalization and systemic discrimination. We are committed to building a Canada we can be proud of, where everyone has a place to call home.

Right now, Canada is building homes at a pace not seen in decades. But if we are going to solve today's challenge, we need to build even faster to meet the demand of a growing Canada.

Canada is rising to this challenge once again. We are:

•   Building more homes by bringing down the costs of homebuilding, helping cities make it easier to build homes at a faster pace, changing the way Canadian homebuilders manufacture homes, and growing the workforce to ensure we get the job done.
•   Making it easier to own or rent a home by ensuring that every renter or homeowner has a home that suits their needs, and the stability to retain it.
•   Helping Canadians who can't afford a home by building more affordable housing for students, seniors, persons with disabilities, equity-deserving communities, and eliminating chronic homelessness in Canada.

Building more homes by bringing down the costs of homebuilding, helping cities make it easier to build homes at a faster pace, changing the way Canadian homebuilders manufacture homes, and growing the workforce to ensure we get the job done.

Making it easier to own or rent a home by ensuring that every renter or homeowner has a home that suits their needs, and the stability to retain it.

Helping Canadians who can't afford a home by building more affordable housing for students, seniors, persons with disabilities, equity-deserving communities, and eliminating chronic homelessness in Canada.

This document is Canada's plan to solve the housing crisis. But the federal government cannot do it alone.

This plan charts a path forward for the federal government, but it doubles as a call to action. Solving the housing crisis demands a Team Canada approach. No one level of government, home builder, not-for-profit, or community can do it alone. We need every partner pulling in the same direction to build the homes Canadians need.

To provincial, territorial, and municipal governments in particular: Canadians need you to match our ambition with a laser focus on increasing housing supply, enhancing affordability, and supporting vulnerable populations.

Canada can and will solve the housing crisis.

1: Building More Homes

We need to build more homes, faster. From concept to construction, we need to increase the pace of homebuilding to get Canadians into homes that meet their needs at prices they can afford.

Canada will create incentives to get builders building. We will encourage certain types of buildings, like apartments or multiplexes, to help reduce the cost of renting, free up space in the market, and create more opportunities for Canadians to save for a downpayment on their first home.

We will speed up the pace of construction. By incentivizing municipalities to improve their zoning and permitting processes, building the infrastructure to support housing growth, and working with provinces and territories on the National Building Code, among other things, we can shave months off of lengthy bureaucratic processes that slow down construction and drive up costs for those who build homes and those who need them.

We will help change the way homes are built in Canada. We need to take the new technologies and building techniques that exist today and deploy them on a scale that Canada has never seen before, including by supporting industry to build more homes in factories. Buildings that are energy efficient and climate resilient can help reduce the lifetime cost of maintaining a home by lowering utility bills and insurance costs.

We will grow, train, and support the Canadian workforce to develop the skills workers need to build the homes we all want and create good paying jobs along the way.

Here's how we are going to build more homes in Canada:

•   Introducing an Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for Apartments

We are going to create the next generation of Canada's rental stock, and get them built faster by introducing a temporary accelerated capital cost allowance tax measure that will be proposed in Budget 2024. Increasing the capital cost allowance rate from 4% to 10% will incentivize builders to get more projects moving by increasing their after-tax return on investment.

Eligible new purpose-built rental projects would be those beginning construction on or after April 16, 2024, and before January 1, 2031, and that are available for use before January 1, 2036.

•    Expanding the Removal of Federal Taxes (GST) for Rental Housing

We eliminated the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from new rental apartment projects and co-ops which was estimated to kickstart the construction of up to 300,000 new homes.

In Budget 2024, the government will propose to expand this measure to remove the GST for student residences built by public universities, public colleges, and public school authorities. This change will apply to new student residences that begin construction on or after September 14, 2023, and before 2031, so long as they complete construction before 2036.

This builds on existing measures to unlock cheaper financing for lenders that will result in competitive rates charged to builders. It will bring more homes to the market, faster and at better prices.

•   Increase the Annual Limit for Canada Mortgage Bonds

We need more private sector players to invest in housing. To help, we made low-cost financing available through an increase in the annual limit for Canada Mortgage Bonds from $40 billion to $60 billion, unlocking up to 30,000 more rental apartments per year. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Canada Mortgage Bond program support the low-cost financing of new rental housing by providing mortgage loan insurance and securitization. For example, the Multi-Unit Mortgage Loan Insurance Select provides access to preferred interest rates for multi-unit residential properties, lowering borrowing costs for construction.

•   Providing Low-Cost Loans to Build Apartments for the Middle-Class

Access to low-cost loans helps get projects off the shelf and shovels in the ground. The federal government's Apartment Construction Loan Program boosts the construction of rental housing by providing low-cost repayable loans to builders and developers. Since 2017, the program has supported over 48,000 new rental homes and is on track to support over 101,000 new homes by 2031-32.

Budget 2024 will propose another $15 billion in loans for the Apartment Construction Loan Program to build a minimum of 30,000 new rental apartments in big cities, small towns, and rural communities alike. With this additional financing, the program is on track to build over 131,000 new apartments by 2031-32.

•   Making our Programs Easier and Faster to Use

We are making changes to the Apartment Construction Loan Program to make it easier for builders to build and to get more projects done faster. These changes include:

• Extending the terms of the loans offered;
• Extending access to financing to include housing projects for students and seniors;
• Introducing a portfolio approach so builders can move forward on multiple projects at once;
• Providing additional flexibility on affordability, energy efficiency, and accessibility requirements; and
• Launching a new frequent builder stream to fast-track the application process for proven home builders.

These measures will make it easier, cheaper, and faster to build homes in Canada. For students, it will mean finding a spot closer to campus. For young families, it will mean getting a good home in a liveable neighbourhood near workplaces. For seniors, it will mean an affordable place where they can downsize comfortably if and when they're ready.

•   Launching Canada Builds, a Team Canada Approach to Building Affordable Homes for the Middle Class, Including on Under-Utilized Public Lands across the Country

Canada Builds combines the federal low-cost loans with provincial and territorial investments to scale up construction on rental homes for the middle class, from coast to coast to coast.

We are leveraging the Apartment Construction Loan Program by making it available to provinces and territories that launch their own ambitious housing plans, similar to the recently announced BC Builds initiative. To access federal financing, provinces and territories will be expected to meet the benchmark set by BC Builds and take actions like:

• Complementing federal funds with provincial or territorial investments in housing;
• Building on government, non-profit, community-owned, and underused lands;
• Considering access to early childhood education and the expansion of non-profit and public child care in the development process;
• Streamlining the process to cut development approval timelines; and
• Meeting the criteria of the Apartment Construction Loan Program, including affordability requirements.

BC Builds is a game-changing program. Canada Builds is taking the program national, focused on delivering affordable homes for hard-working Canadians.

•   Building Homes on Top of Shops and Businesses

Land is harder to come by in urban areas, and it is easier to build where infrastructure already exists. To take advantage of this reality, we will increase housing supply where land is scarce and where density is key to building more homes. We will provide at least $100 million in low-cost loans from the Apartment Construction Loan Program to build above existing shops and businesses across the country.

•   Launching a Historic Public Lands for Homes Plan

The high cost and scarcity of land are key barriers that prevent homes from being built.

These barriers also make homes more expensive to build and more expensive for Canadians. Governments across Canada are sitting on surplus, underused, and vacant lands that are offering no  public benefit. By unlocking these lands for housing, governments can lower the costs of construction and build more homes, faster, at prices Canadians can afford.

The federal government intends to lead a Team Canada effort to use federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal public lands across the country. We will partner with homebuilders and housing providers to build homes on every possible site across the public portfolio.

This plan will involve:

• Leasing public lands as opposed to selling them off, so public land stays public and affordable homes stay affordable;
• Making more land available for housing by identifying and building on underutilized public lands;
• Further integrated planning around shared federal and provincial priorities, including access to public health care and affordable early learning and child care;
• Launching a new mapping tool and publishing an ongoing inventory of public lands; and
• Accelerating the process to make public lands available for affordable housing.

Budget 2024 will present the government's plan to implement a historic shift in its approach to public lands. We will use all tools available to convert public lands to housing, acquiring new public lands for housing and retaining ownership where possible.

More details will be released in Budget 2024.

•   Modernizing Housing Data

All levels of government should be committed to a data-driven response to the housing crisis. To help, Budget 2024 will propose $20 million for Statistics Canada and CMHC to modernize and enhance the collection and dissemination of housing data, including municipal-level data on housing starts and completions.

•   Offering Low-Cost Financing for Homeowners to Add Additional Suites

Canadians from coast to coast to coast want to be part of the Team Canada response to solving the housing crisis. Many homeowners have extra space they could convert into a rental suite, such as an unused basement or a garage that could be converted into a laneway home. Historically, the cost of renovating, combined with municipal red tape, has made this both difficult and expensive.

This is starting to change. Recent municipal zoning reforms in Canada's major cities, including reforms through Housing Accelerator Fund agreements, are creating new opportunities for homeowners to quickly add additional suites to their properties in support of densification. New rental suites would provide more homes for Canadians and could provide an important source of income for seniors and families who would be able to afford continuing to age at home. New suites can also be built free of barriers, to accommodate physical impairments of an aging family member or a parent, sibling, or child with a disability.

Budget 2024 will propose a new Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program, to be delivered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, enabling homeowners to access up to $40,000 in low-interest loans to add a secondary suite to their homes. Details of this program will be shared in the coming months.

•   Further Incentivizing Density to Existing Homes

Recent municipal zoning reforms in Canada's major cities, including reforms through Housing Accelerator Fund agreements, are creating new opportunities for homeowners to redevelop properties to add density. This could be in the form of adding a secondary suite or entirely rebuilding what was a small bungalow into a triplex with home for three families.

To give effect to these zoning reforms, we intend to make targeted changes to mortgage insurance rules to encourage densification by enabling homeowners to add density to their current homes or properties by, among other things, increasing the applicable insured mortgage limit.

•   Investing in Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure

When the government removes outdated, colonial barriers, Indigenous communities can deliver results.

Since 2015, the Government of Canada has been charting a new way forward, based on the affirmation of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership with Indigenous Peoples through Nation-to-Nation, Inuit-Crown, and Government-to-Government relationships. This has resulted in new, co-developed distinctions-based approaches to Indigenous housing and homelessness, more than $10.7B, which has created almost 22,000 new or repaired homes on-reserve.

With federal partnership, Indigenous communities can build the homes and infrastructure needed to meet the needs of their members, families, and youth. That's why Budget 2024 will propose additional funding for First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities, which will be over and above the $5 billion allocated to Indigenous infrastructure in 2024-2025.

•   Supporting Indigenous People Living Away from their Communities in Urban, Rural, and Northern areas

Close to 50% of the Indigenous population in Canada resides in urban areas. This means young people and families leave their communities in search of education and economic opportunities. With two-thirds of the population of working age, they should have every opportunity to succeed and have a safe place to call home – and that's the important work that the National Indigenous Housing Centre will be tasked to achieve.

Indigenous Peoples face distinct housing challenges. They also represent a disproportionately high share of shelter users, 33% in 2022, while only comprising 5% of Canada's population. We recognize the magnitude of the work ahead.

The Government of Canada committed an additional $4.3 billion towards the Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy that will launch in 2024. With this funding, the strategy is establishing a ‘for Indigenous, by Indigenous' National Housing Centre and will provide additional distinctions-based investments for culturally appropriate Indigenous housing to be delivered by Indigenous governments, organizations, housing and service providers.

While there is much more work to be done, we've seen what we can achieve when all levels of government work together.

In 2020, Canada ranked 37 out of 38 for municipal approval process timeline in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We're 3 times slower than the United States. This is due to restrictive zoning practices, excessive red tape, and outdated processes.

To fix this, we will work with provinces and municipalities to improve their zoning and permitting processes, ensure the needed infrastructure is in place for the homes we are building, and adopt changes to the National Building Code.

Together, we are going to build homes faster by:

•   Helping Municipalities Legalize Housing and Streamline Approvals

Right now, in many cities across Canada, it's illegal to build more than one housing unit on your own property. Missing middle housing is also often heavily restricted. We have been working with municipalities to change that by allowing more missing middle housing options. Canada's $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund has incentivized the removal of zoning barriers, speeding up permitting, and investing in affordable housing. To date, the federal government has signed 179 Housing Accelerator Fund agreements which, combined, will fast-track an estimated total of over 750,000 housing units across the country over the next decade, and we are just getting started.

Building on this success, Budget 2024 will propose another $400 million to the program so more municipalities can cut red tape, fast-track home construction, and invest in affordable housing. This will fast-track an additional 12,000 new homes in the next three years.

•   Attaching Housing Conditions on Public Transit Funding

Many Canadians rely on public transit to go to school, to their jobs, to see friends, and explore their communities. More homes near transit will mean shorter commutes and more time with family and friends. That's why, to access long-term, predictable funding for public transit through the federal government's forthcoming public transit fund, any community that wants transit funding will be required to take action that will directly unlock housing supply where it's needed most, including:

• Eliminating mandatory minimum parking requirements within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line;
• Allowing high-density housing within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line;
• Allowing high-density housing within 800 metres of post-secondary institutions; and,
• Completing Housing Needs Assessments for communities with a population over 30,000.

These are long overdue changes that will mean more people can live near transit to access the services and opportunities in their communities, and will allow home construction to happen faster and at more affordable prices.

Starting in 2026, this permanent fund will provide billions of dollars each year to maintain and expand public transit across the country.

•   Building the Necessary Infrastructure to Support Growing Communities

Many communities want to grow and see more homes get built, but they point to a lack of water and wastewater infrastructure as a barrier to doing this. We're going to help change that. It's time to get to work.

To build on existing federal infrastructure funding, Budget 2024 will propose launching a new $6-billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate the construction and upgrading of critical housing infrastructure. This includes water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste infrastructure to support the construction of more homes. This fund will include:

• $1 billion available to municipalities to support urgent infrastructure needs to enable more housing; and
• $5 billion for agreements with provinces and territories to support long-term priorities. Provinces and territories can access this funding if they commit to key actions that increase housing supply, including:
• Legalizing more housing options by adopting zoning that allows four units as-of-right and that permits more “missing middle” homes, including duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and small multi-unit apartments;
• Implementing a three-year freeze on increasing development charges from April 2, 2024 levels for municipalities with a population greater than 300,000;
• Adopting forthcoming changes to the National Building Code to support more accessible, affordable, and climate-friendly housing options;
• Providing pre-approval for construction of designs included in the government's upcoming Housing Design Catalogue; and
• Implementing measures from the forthcoming Home Buyers' Bill of Rights and Renters' Bill of Rights.

Provinces will have until January 1, 2025 to secure an agreement, and territories will have until April 1, 2025. If a province or territory does not secure an agreement by their respective deadline, their funding allocation will be transferred to the municipal stream.

To ensure this funding reaches communities of all sizes and needs, provinces must dedicate at least 20% of their agreement-based funding for northern, rural and Indigenous communities.

These investments build on the Canada Community-Building Fund, which offers permanent, flexible infrastructure funding to communities in return for making progress on housing priorities and reporting on how infrastructure funding is prioritized to help meet housing needs.

•   Leveraging the Canada Infrastructure Bank

The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) will scale up its efforts to partner with the private sector to offer low-cost financing to municipalities through its new Infrastructure for Housing Initiative, a new financing tool for municipalities and Indigenous communities.

This new initiative will reduce the barriers to building housing-enabling infrastructure (e.g., water treatment, transit, green energy, broadband) for municipalities. The CIB has already committed up to $140 million to the City of Brandon and the Red-Seine-Rat wastewater cooperative located in southeastern Manitoba, which is expected to allow for the development of up to 15,000 housing units in these growing communities.

As we face tight labour markets and increasing costs of construction, we must innovate. We have to build homes smarter, faster, and at prices Canadians can afford. We need to invest in ideas and technologies like prefabricated housing factories, mass timber production, panelization, 3D printing, and pre-approved home design catalogues.

We will make sure homebuilders have the tools they need to contribute to this national effort by introducing a housing catalogue and proposing an over $600 million package for innovative housing solutions through Budget 2024.

We will do this by:

•   Implementing an Industrial Strategy for Homebuilding

Canada needs an industrial strategy to end its housing crisis. As material prices rise and tight labour markets persist, we're committed to an all-hands-on-deck approach to a productive homebuilding sector. In the coming months, we will engage the housing, construction and building material sectors, along with labour unions, Indigenous housing experts, and other relevant stakeholders, to develop a Canadian industrial strategy for homebuilding. Together we will explore all essential inputs into building homes in Canada, including raw and manufactured materials, supply chains, and building techniques to ensure that all orders of government and industry can achieve our ultimate goal of building homes smarter, faster, and at prices Canadians can afford.

•   Introducing a Standardized Housing Design Catalogue

Standardized housing design catalogues were originally a tool used by the federal government between the late 1940s and 1970s. Budget 2024 will propose $11.6 million to reinvent this 1940s catalogue for 2024.

The catalogue will reduce costs and timelines for home building by providing a standard set of designs that will provide economies of scale and reduce barriers to entry in the homebuilding sector.

In Fall 2024, we will publish the first phase of the catalogue which will include up to 50 low-rise housing designs—including accessory dwelling units, modular homes, and multiplexes—for use across Canada. The next phase of the catalogue will include mid-rise and single family home designs.

•    Scaling up New Tech to Build New Homes

While we standardize designs, we are also investing to help standardize faster and more efficient processes. That is why Budget 2024 will propose launching a new Homebuilding Technology and Innovation Fund to help scale up, commercialize, and promote adoption of innovative housing technologies and materials in Canada's homebuilding industry, including for modular and prefabricated homes.

The Fund will provide $50 million to be delivered through Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), one of Canada's Global Innovation Clusters. The Fund will seek to leverage an additional $150 million from the private sector and other orders of government to support a targeted $200-million investment in innovative housing.

•   Investing in New Approaches to Homebuilding

Different regions across the country require different solutions. What works for a roof in Winnipeg might not in St. John's. What works for a foundation in Vancouver or Toronto won't work in Iqaluit or Yellowknife. To help tailor approaches and invest in the best technology for each region of the country, Budget 2024 will propose to earmark $50 million through Canada's regional development agencies to support innovative housing projects, including those in modular housing, automation, and robotics. Made-in-Canada housing solutions like 3D printing, mass timber construction, and panelized construction are part of the future of homebuilding and will become an important component of how we address our housing needs.

•   Providing Low-Cost Loans to Prefabricated Housing Projects

Companies using new homebuilding technologies have told us that in order to scale-up, they need predictability and stability in the number of orders they get. To help, we will leverage investments like the Apartment Construction Loan Program to support a steady demand of projects delivered by prefabricated housing manufacturers and other home builders that use innovative construction techniques.

Budget 2024 will propose earmarking at least $500 million in low-cost financing to be made available through the program for new apartments that use prefabricated or innovative homebuilding techniques.

•   Simplifying the Way That Canada Builds Homes

Over the years, it has become incredibly complicated to build homes in Canada. To help fix this, we are going to make specific changes to the National Building Code, in consultation with the provinces and territories. These changes will bring a focus on building homes smarter, faster, and at prices Canadians can afford. This includes a national approach to support factory-built housing, and changes to allow more multi-bedroom apartments in existing neighbourhoods.

To help accomplish this, the National Research Council (NRC) will launch consultations this Summer to address regulatory barriers, including point access blocks and single egress designs, and streamline the inspection process. In addition, the NRC will identify ways to reduce duplication between factory inspections of modular home components and on-site building inspections, and support efforts to address regulatory barriers to help scale up factory-built housing across the country.

•   Making Building Codes Digital

Building Codes and the related approvals require a lot of paper, mail, and time-consuming manual review. We are working to digitalize building codes, advance construction sector productivity, and support innovation.

The National Research Council and the province of British Columbia have partnered to do this in BC's construction sector. Their efforts align with a larger sectoral transition towards digitization to realize efficiency and capacity in the construction sector. This partnership with BC is a blueprint for other provinces and municipalities to address digital planning and permitting challenges and adopt productivity-enhancing technology.

People build homes. To build more homes, we need the right people with the right skills to get the job done. We will get rid of the barriers that prevent certified workers from working at job sites anywhere in Canada. We will also prioritize newcomers through our immigration programs who have the skills to build more homes, and invest in training so more Canadians can help build more homes in their communities and across the country.

•   Training the Next Generation of Skilled Trades Workers

To encourage more people to pursue a career in the skilled trades, we are making investments to attract young people to good paying middle class careers in the skilled trades, and ensuring there are adequate opportunities through apprenticeship opportunities to support their early growth and development in their pursuit of a career. Specifically, Budget 2024 will propose to invest $10 million in the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness program to encourage high school students to enter the skilled trades, and an additional $90 million for the Apprenticeship Service, creating apprenticeship opportunities to train and recruit the next generation of skilled trades workers.

•   Improving Labour Mobility to Connect More People to Opportunity

Newcomers with the skills and experience needed to build new homes should be able to join the Canadian labour market without delays. The Foreign Credential Recognition program has helped over 9,000 skilled newcomers receive work placements and wage subsidies, and another 20,000 workers received low-cost loans and support services to minimize the costs and requirements associated with practicing their trade in Canada.

Building on our $115-million investment in the Foreign Credential Recognition Program, Budget 2024 will propose $50 million to streamline foreign credential recognition with a focus on residential construction to help skilled trades workers get more homes built.

The federal government is calling on provinces and territories to expedite removal of their unnecessary and bureaucratic barriers to foreign credential recognition and to urgently streamline their trades certification standards for inter-provincial consistency. This includes streamlining requirements in trades or sub-trades that have no or limited equivalents in other jurisdictions. Carpenters, electricians, ironworkers and others need to be allowed to do the jobs they were trained to do.

2: Making it Easier to Rent or Own a Home

Homeownership is a big part of the middle-class dream. If you work hard and save your money, you should be able to buy a home if you choose. That was the deal for generations. But young adults feel like the possibility of owning a home like the one they grew up in is less and less likely as increases in home prices continue to outpace their salaries and wages. The prospect of owning a home in Canada needs to be as real for young people today as it was for any other generation.

And for the millions of Canadians who rent, including many who prefer the flexibility that comes with renting,  the drastic increases to rent have pushed what was once an affordable option out of reach.

Canadians need help now. Canada will work to make homeownership a reality for young Canadians and to protect renters, many of whom are Millennial and Gen Z, who are paying a much higher portion of their earnings towards rent than previous generations.

We are going to restore the prospect of home ownership and create a healthy rental sector in Canada. We will do this by:

•    Launching a Tenant Protection Fund

Renters face unique challenges to ensure their homes are properly maintained and that their landlords follow provincial laws. Tenant organizing and legal services can help renters face and overcome these challenges during tenancy difficulties—because no renter should face these challenges alone. Renters can have a hard time navigating different provincial laws and lack resources to fight disputes with landlords, whether it concerns faulty heating, an illegal rent increase, or an illegal eviction.

To protect tenant rights and ensure that renting a home is fair, open, and transparent, Budget 2024 will propose a new $15-million Tenant Protection Fund. This will provide funding to legal services and tenants' rights advocacy organizations to better protect tenants against unfairly rising rent payments, renovictions, or bad landlords.

•   Creating a New Canadian Renters' Bill of Rights

We will create a Canadian Renters' Bill of Rights which will be developed and implemented in partnership with provinces and territories. This would provide a clear history of apartment pricing so renters can bargain fairly, crack down on renovictions, and create a nationwide standard lease agreement.

•   Leveraging Rental Payment History to Improve Credit Scores

Too many Canadian renters are unable to use their rental payment history to demonstrate their credit worthiness when applying for their first mortgage, seeking to refinance a mortgage and in many other situations that require credit evaluations. This applies particularly to young Canadians, newcomers to Canada, and those with an otherwise incomplete credit history.

In Budget 2024, the government will propose to amend the Mortgage Charter to call on fintech companies, credit bureaus, and lenders to build the ecosystem that will give renters the option to include their rental payment history in their credit scores, helping renters qualify for a mortgage and better rates. The government expects that lenders will prioritize holistic credit information that includes rental payment history when performing a credit evaluation where and when feasible.

The government's advancement of Canada's Framework for Consumer-Driven Banking, which will be proposed in Budget 2024, will facilitate this by providing Canadian financial consumers with the ability to securely transfer their financial data to different service providers, including banks, credit unions, and accredited fintechs.

•   Extending Mortgage Amortizations for First-Time Buyers Buying Newly Built Homes

First-time  home buyers, especially younger Canadians, are often discouraged from entering  the housing market due to the high cost of mortgage payments.

To restore  generational fairness in the housing market for younger Canadians, in Budget  2024 the government is proposing to strengthen the Canadian Mortgage Charter by announcing that mortgage insurance rules will be amended to allow 30-year  mortgage amortizations for first-time home buyers purchasing new builds. This  new insured mortgage product will be available to first-time home buyers starting August 1, 2024 .

•   Strengthening the Canadian Mortgage Charter

Higher interest rates are leaving some Canadians concerned with how they will make their mortgage payments. That is why we will enhance the Canadian Mortgage Charter to help ensure Canadians know of the fair, reasonable, and timely mortgage relief they can seek and receive from their financial institutions.

Mortgage lenders have a range of tools available for providing tailored relief. Lenders will communicate with borrowers facing mortgage hardship to discuss possible approaches based on the borrower's individual circumstances and criteria set by lenders and mortgage insurers. While Canadians are continuing to manage the impacts of higher mortgage rates, it is essential that borrowers and lenders remain proactive in identifying and addressing mortgage hardship.

Budget 2024 will propose the government's enhancements to the Canadian Mortgage Charter to provide further support to Canadians facing mortgage hardship. This includes more detailed expectations for lenders to proactively contact borrowers, including making permanent mortgage relief measures available where appropriate, and providing information to help borrowers make informed decisions, such as before renewal.

•   Leveraging the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account

The federal government is helping Canadians save for a down payment on their first home. The new Tax-Free First Home Savings Account is a registered savings account that allows Canadians to contribute up to $8,000 per year, and up to a lifetime limit of $40,000, towards their first down payment. To help Canadians reach their savings goals faster, Tax-Free First Home Savings Account contributions are tax deductible on annual income tax returns, like a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). And, like a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), withdrawals to purchase a first home—including any investment income on contributions—are non-taxable. Tax-free in, tax-free out.

More than 750,000 Canadians have already opened a Tax-Free First Home Savings Account to save for their first down payment—putting homeownership back within reach across the country and helping them reach their savings goals sooner.

•   Increasing the Home Buyers' Plan Withdrawal Limit

Support to help first-time buyers save for a downpayment must keep pace with market prices. While home prices have risen—and building more new homes will help to lower prices—the government is unlocking pathways to a down payment so more Canadians can buy a home and build a good middle-class life.

The Home Buyers' Plan is an existing federal program that allows you to withdraw from your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) to buy or build a qualifying home for yourself. Today, Canadians can use the Home Buyers' Plan to withdraw up to $35,000 from their RRSP to purchase their first home without having to pay any tax on that withdrawal. To unlock pathways to a faster down payment, Budget 2024 will propose the government's intention to increase the Home Buyers' Plan limit from $35,000 to $60,000. This means that first-time home buyers will have the opportunity to take advantage of the tax benefits of an RRSP to save up to $25,000 more for their down payment, faster.

•   Extending the Grace Period to Repay Home Buyers' Plan Withdrawals

To help recent and upcoming homeowners with the high cost of housing, the government is also announcing that it is extending the grace period during which homeowners are not required to repay their Home Buyers' Plan withdrawals to their RRSP by an additional three years. This grace period extension will apply to all those who withdrew from their Home Buyers Plan between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2025.

•   Making your Home Cheaper to Heat, and Easier on the Environment

To address the twin challenges of climate change and energy affordability, the government will launch the Canada Green Buildings Strategy. The strategy will focus on lowering home energy bills and reducing building emissions by supporting energy efficient retrofits.

Through Budget 2024, we will propose investing $903.5 million to:

• Launch a new Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program. This will support energy efficient retrofits for Canadian homeowners and renters with low to median incomes, bringing down the monthly cost of home heating for hard-working Canadian families;
• Renew and improve existing energy efficiency programs that offer tools to building owners. This funding will spur the development of better building codes to further reduce emissions and lower energy bills. The federal government, through various housing investments, will incentivize provinces and territories to adopt these top-tier building codes; and
• Continue developing national approaches to home energy labelling, which will empower prospective home buyers with information about the energy efficiency of their new home, with the support of energy auditors.

More details on the Canada Green Buildings Strategy will be released in the coming weeks.

•   Helping Municipalities Enforce Regulations Limiting Short-Term Rentals

We need to limit short-term rentals that take away from Canadian homebuyers and renters across the country.

To do this, we are creating a short-term rental enforcement fund where municipalities with regulations in place will be able to apply for funding to help them with enforcement. Through the 2023 Fall Economic Statement, we have committed $50 million to support municipal enforcement of restrictions on short-term rentals.

•   Removing Tax Deductions for Certain Short-term Rental Operators

New income tax legislation to remove income tax deductions for expenses incurred for short-term rentals operating contrary to provincial or municipal regulations is also being introduced.

Housing must be made available for people who live and work in our communities.

•   Extending the Ban on Foreign Homebuyers

The Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act aims to curb speculation and ensure that houses are used as homes for Canadians to live in, rather than as financial assets for foreign investors.

The federal government introduced a ban on the purchase of residential property by foreign investors, which the government intends to extend until January 1, 2027.

•   Combatting Mortgage Fraud

Criminal organizations as well as individuals are seeking to take advantage of the housing crisis by perpetrating high value mortgage frauds, victimizing homeowners and new homebuyers, and artificially inflating demand which can increase home prices.

Independently verifying borrower income helps financial institutions detect and deter the types of fraud or misrepresentation that can increase the costs of mortgages for all borrowers. However, fraud risks are always evolving—and so too are the tools to combat these risks.

Budget 2024 will propose the government's intention to consult with the mortgage industry on making a tool available through the Canada Revenue Agency to verify borrower income for mortgages.

•   Cracking Down on Real Estate Fraud

Cracking down on real estate tax fraud protects homebuyers by making the housing market healthier, more competitive, and stable. The government is committed to reinforcing the fairness of the tax system and combatting tax non-compliance across the housing sector.

Budget 2024 will propose funding for the Canada Revenue Agency to continue addressing tax non-compliance in real estate transactions. By ensuring that everyone pays their fair share, the government is protecting first-time home buyers from artificial market distortions that increase home prices.

•   Confronting the Financialization of Housing

Housing should be treated as homes for people, instead of a commodity for big investment portfolios.

When purchasing a home, Canadians expect to be bidding against other potential buyers, not a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund. The role of private equity in our housing market needs to be addressed. Budget 2024 will propose that we intend to restrict the purchase and acquisition of existing single-family homes by very large, corporate investors. The government will consult in the coming months and provide further details in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement and fiscal update.

3: Helping Canadians Who Can't Afford a Home

Housing provides stability and security and serves as the foundation for overall well-being. Making sure everyone has a place to live is the right thing to do, and it's the Canadian thing to do. We can help support vulnerable people if we have a strong and growing community housing sector that can protect more Canadians from rent increases, keep affordable housing affordable, and help build a strong pipeline of new affordable options that meet everyone's needs. Everyone has a right to decent housing, regardless of income.

We are going to increase the amount of affordable housing in Canada so we can restore what was lost over the past few decades and bring chronic homelessness in Canadian communities to an end.

We have a moral obligation to change this. Here is how we plan to make our vision a reality:

•   Providing $1 billion for the Affordable Housing Fund to Build Affordable Homes

The Affordable Housing Fund is a $13.2-billion program which provides low-interest or forgivable loans and contributions for new and repaired affordable and community housing. It also provides priority funding for Indigenous communities, Black-led organizations to increase housing that benefit Black households, and women and children's shelters and transitional housing.

Through the 2023 Fall Economic Statement, the government announced an additional $1 billion for the Affordable Housing Fund, bringing the total funding to over $14 billion. To further support non-profit, co-operative, and public housing providers and respond to the needs of those most impacted by the housing crisis, Budget 2024 will propose to provide the Fund with an additional $1 billion.

•   Launching a New Rapid Housing Stream

The Rapid Housing Initiative was first launched in 2020 to create new permanent affordable housing for vulnerable populations. As of December 31, 2023, CMHC has committed $3.83 billion to support the creation of over 15,700 new affordable units. Twenty-five percent (25%) of investments went towards women-focused housing projects and 40% of units being created support Indigenous peoples. To build on this success, Budget 2024 will propose a Rapid Housing Stream within the Affordable Housing Fund to build deeply affordable housing, supportive housing, and shelters for our most vulnerable.

•   Making the Affordable Housing Fund Easier to Use

We are making changes to make the Affordable Housing Fund easier to use. These changes include:

• Fast-tracking approvals;
• Allowing for economies of scale; and
• Prioritizing projects that better support vulnerable populations.
•   Launching a $1.5-billion Canada Rental Protection Fund

Canada is losing affordable homes faster than we can build them. The Canada Rental Protection Fund will preserve the affordability of existing homes and support the acquisition of new affordable homes. This new Fund will be co-led by the federal government and other partners. The Fund will seek to mobilize investments and financing from the charitable sector, private sector, and other orders of government. It will provide immediate and direct support to community housing providers to acquire affordable rental units at risk of being sold to investors and repriced in order to preserve their affordability over the long term.

Over the coming months, the federal government will engage experts from the community housing sector to ensure the new Fund is designed in a way that can alleviate constraints to growth, allow affordable housing protection to happen quickly, and create long-term sustainability for the sector.

•   Launching a New Co-operative Housing Development Program

Co-operative housing is an effective and affordable model that has stood the test of time.

Housing co-operatives, often known as co-ops, fill important gaps in the housing continuum, offering housing at rates that are generally more affordable than other private rental housing. Co-ops offer housing at near-market rents in the short-term and below-market rents in the longer term.

To build capacity in the sector and support its sustainability, following the co-development of the program with the co-operative housing sector, the federal government will launch a $1.5-billion Co-operative Housing Development Program in Summer 2024.

This is the largest federal investment in the co-operative housing space in more than 30 years. The Program will include a mix of loans and contributions to focus on new co-operative housing developments across the country.

•   Keeping Non-Profit and Co-op Homes Affordable

Given the financial challenges facing community and social housing providers like co-ops, we provide support to affordable housing providers to ensure existing affordable housing can be maintained. To date, the Federal Community Housing Initiative has already delivered over $150 million to ensure more than 47,000 homes can remain affordable for vulnerable Canadians, including persons with disabilities, single-parent families, seniors, and newcomers.

Through Budget 2024, we will propose flexibilities to the Federal Community Housing Initiative to ensure that eligible housing providers can access funding to maintain housing affordability for low-income tenants and co-op members.

The housing crisis has made finding a safe, long-term home more difficult for too many Canadians.

In 2019, we launched a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness across Canada, called Reaching Home. It provides funding to urban, Indigenous, territorial, and rural and remote communities to help address their local homelessness needs.

Through Reaching Home, $4 billion has been committed to address homelessness priorities in urban centres, Indigenous, territorial, and rural and remote communities. The Program encourages the adoption of a Coordinated Access system and a Housing First approach that supports people experiencing or at risk of homelessness to move into stable and long-term housing.

•   Introducing More Supports to Address Homelessness

To ensure Reaching Home can provide long-term support to communities to address their local homelessness challenges, Budget 2024 will propose an additional $1 billion over four years to stabilize funding for the program. To date, Reaching Home has protected 125,000 people from chronic homelessness, and helped over 71,000 people find stable homes.

•   Reducing Homelessness Faster

Communities that have been able to reduce chronic homelessness have done so by identifying and overcoming barriers for those experiencing homelessness.

To help these efforts, a portion of this investment in Reaching Home ($50 million) will focus on accelerating community-level reductions in homelessness. This investment will support communities across Canada as they adopt best practices and lessons learned from other jurisdictions to reduce the time it takes to move individuals and families into more stable housing.

•   Addressing Encampments and Unsheltered Homelessness

We will not have solved the housing crisis while there are people living in tents in communities across Canada because they can't afford a place to live or access much-needed mental health and wellness supports.

To address the urgent issue of encampments and unsheltered homelessness, we are proposing to invest $250 million through Budget 2024. This funding is intended to be cost-matched by provinces and territories, for a total of $500 million, to support our most vulnerable and end encampments in our communities as we support vulnerable Canadians in transitioning to a dignified housing solution.

The Fund will support human rights-based community action plans that commit to a housing-first approach to ending encampments, and include supportive and transitional housing, housing-focused services, and rent supplements specifically dedicated to individuals living in encampments or experiencing homelessness.

•   Ending Homelessness for Veterans in Canada

Veterans have served our country with courage and pride and they deserve a safe and affordable place to call home. To address the fact that there are more than 2,600 Veterans experiencing homelessness, we launched a dedicated Veterans Homelessness Program.

The Veterans Homelessness Program provides $79.1 million over five years to fund local organizations to provide rent supplements, wraparound supports for veterans, and to provide funding for projects that build capacity to serve veterans experiencing homelessness.

•   Sheltering Asylum Claimants

Around the world, people are being displaced from their homes due to violence, persecution, and natural disasters. This has increased the pressure on asylum claim systems around the world. In Canada, the federal government knows that everyone needs to work together to help address these pressures.

In March 2023, Canada and the United States announced the expansion of the Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires asylum claimants to request protection in the first safe country they arrive in, unless they qualify for an exception to the Agreement. This has resulted in significantly fewer individuals claiming asylum at irregular crossings between Canada's land ports of entry.

The government also adjusted the travel requirements for Mexican citizens, who represented 17 per cent of all asylum claims in 2023. While the majority will continue to be able to travel visa-free to Canada, some Mexican nationals will now need to apply for a Canadian visitor visa.

Since 2017, we have provided almost $960 million through the Interim Housing Assistance Program, which helps provincial and municipal governments prevent homelessness for asylum claimants on a cost-sharing basis.

Through Budget 2024, we will propose to further extend the Interim Housing Assistance Program. The federal government is working with all orders of government to find long-term solutions to prevent asylum seekers from experiencing homelessness. We will never turn our back on those seeking refuge in Canada.

•   Funding Culturally Relevant Services, Shelter and Transitional Housing

Through Reaching Home's Indigenous Homelessness stream, the federal government provides funding to organizations that support the unique needs of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The intent is that the funding be provided to Indigenous organizations located in urban centres, as well as distinctions-based funding to some Self-Governing First Nations and national or regional representatives of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

Additionally, in direct response to the Final Report of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ People, the 2020 Fall Economic Statement committed $420 million to support the construction of new shelters and transitional homes via the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative. This initiative is part of the Comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy and supports the construction of shelters and transitional homes for Indigenous women, children, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people escaping gender-based violence across Canada, including in urban areas and the North.

For too many Canadians, the housing crisis isn't an abstract concept for discussion.

It is impacting them in profound ways. It is being forced to leave your apartment because your landlord increased rent. It is having to leave the community you came from or turning down a good job opportunity because you can't afford a place to live. It is sleeping on the streets because you have nowhere else to go.

We have to ask ourselves - what kind of a country do we want to be?

We can build a Canada where young people can pursue a career based on the quality of the opportunity instead of the cost of rent.

We can build a Canada where families can afford a home of their own to raise their kids.

We can build a Canada where seniors can find a place to live next to their grandkids.

We can build a Canada where the people who build our houses and work in our communities can afford to live in them.

We can build a Canada where we read about homelessness in our history books and not in our newspapers.

Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada's Housing Plan is an ambitious plan that recognizes addressing the national housing crisis is a team effort.

We are asking provinces and municipalities to step up, too. Together, they hold the levers on planning and land use policy, influence the cost of building, fund and deliver supportive housing, and more. In the section below, we've provided a long list of changes that can be made at the provincial and municipal level to build more homes at every level of affordability right across the country.

Together, we can restore the promise of Canada, where every generation can afford a place to call home.

Provinces & Territories

• P/T taxation (ex. provincial sales tax, land transfer tax)
• Financial oversight & consumer protection
• P/T building codes
• Landlord & tenant rights and responsibilities (ex. rent control)
• Planning & development
• Community housing funding & delivery
• Management & sale of P/T lands

Federal Government

• Federal taxation (ex. GST)
• Banking & financial regulation (ex. mortgage finance)
• National Building Code
• Immigration levels planning
• Funding & cost-sharing (ex. community housing, homelessness programs)
• Management & sale of federal lands
• Census & statistics (ex. monitoring core housing need)

Local Governments

• Property taxes
• Zoning, permitting, development cost charges
• Bylaws (ex. residential occupancy and repair)
• Community housing delivery
• Program delivery and implementation (ex. homelessness programing)

Foundation: Collaboration and Shared Responsibilities

Certain responsbilities are shared, requiring close collaboration and alignment between stakeholders. For example, support for community housing and homelessness programing is often cost-shared between federal and provincial or territorial governments, while programs may be implmented or delivered at a local level.

Indigenous communities have a special relationship with the Crown, in some cases allowing for a more direct federal role in housing, and self governing Indigenous governments have powers and responsibilities that have been negotiated with the federal and provincial or territorial governments. The federal government is committed to advancing reconciliation with Indegenous peoples and supprt self determination. Provinces and territories are key partners in this work. For example, both levels of government contribute to finding Indegenous community housing.

Canada's housing crisis will not be solved without all levels of government pitching in and pulling in the same direction. The federal government, through this plan, is committing to do its part. We know other levels of government are stepping up to address the challenge, too, but we're asking for more ambition and urgency.

To address the housing challenges and for the successful implementation of the Housing Plan, we need provinces, territories and municipalities  to commit to actions that go beyond their status quo. These could include, but are not limited to:

• matching the federal GST waiver with a full rebate of provincial sales tax (PST) on the construction of new rental housing;
• developing tax incentives for the construction of purpose-built rental housing units;
• limiting increases to development charges and restricting their usage to growth-related costs;
• minimizing development costs for affordable and/or community housing projects by adopting policies that include waiving planning application fees and development charges;
• introducing zoning reforms, such as the elimination of exclusionary zoning and the implementation of minimum density targets near transit hubs, to support densification and transit-oriented development;
• developing provincial housing targets based on evidence of need;
• implementing stronger vacancy control policies and ensuring there is a clear framework in place to avoid bad faith renovictions and excessive rent increases;
• supporting technology and productivity improvements (e.g., modular housing) and standardizing industrial regulations;
• developing building code guidelines, in line with national building codes, to expedite approval processes for new housing, particularly missing middle, such as pre-approved building design catalogue and floorplans and allowing single-egress and mass-timber construction on a wider variety of building types;
• setting aside and/or optimizing publicly owned land with a view toward maximizing the amount of new affordable and deeply affordable housing that can be built;
• supporting a scale-up of non-market and community housing;
• committing to long-term non-market and community housing targets;
• expediting municipal approvals and permitting processes;
• allowing middle-high density as of right within walking distance to transit;
• enforcing municipal regulations on short-term rentals in order to return short-term rental listings to the long-term market; and,
• eliminating mandatory minimum parking requirements.

© 2024 HIS MAJESTY THE KING IN RIGHT OF CANADA as represented by the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.

Catalogue No. T94-62/2024E-PDF

ISBN 978-0-660-71226-0

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'Build more houses' sure sounds great as a solution to the housing crisis, but a few key factors scream 'buyer beware'

Analysis 'Build more houses' sure sounds great as a solution to the housing crisis, but a few key factors scream 'buyer beware'

According to Abraham Maslow's famed "Hierarchy of Needs", human beings will act with urgency to address basic physiological requirements for survival (food, air, shelter, water and so on) before worrying about more existentially trifling issues, like whether they are actually happy or what they think of the Marvel franchise. 

In Maslow's theory, you only worry about the next level — they range up through safety, then belonging and love, then esteem, then cognitive well-being and so on — once you've satisfied the one before. 

The final level, the pointy bit of the pyramid with which Maslow's model is regularly depicted, is "Transcendence", which until recently in Australia involved buying a $15,000 light machine off Pete Evans .

The theory finds broad support in the current Australian political environment, where basic needs are absolutely front of mind: food, warmth, housing. 

These basic needs are all expensive, and getting more so, and the number of households finding themselves obliged to "pick any two" is on the way up .

But what is it about this last-mentioned need — housing — which lends itself historically to quite such crazed policy-making at the federal level?

Australia is in the grips of a legitimate housing crisis and yet the temptation for our leaders to deny the bleeding obvious, or make promises that are patently undeliverable, continues to prove too much for them.

This week marked the beginning of the five-year period over which the Albanese government has claimed its Housing Accord will deliver "1.2 million new, well-located homes". To achieve this target, we will need to build 240,000 new homes each year — or 20,000 a month.

This seems as good a time as any to evaluate the reliability of what politicians tell us about housing, and how they're going to make things better.

Let's break down the problem

The first thing to remember is that there are two very distinct groups of Australians with a keen interest in housing affordability: people who own homes already and people who don't but want to.

People who already own homes — especially those who bought them recently, and thus wake every day to the nauseous certainty that today is the day the property bubble will burst — want prices to keep growing.

People who want to buy a house, however, want prices to crash. Ideally precipitously, and for long enough for the interested party to relieve some distressed seller of a well-positioned three-bedder close to all facilities, before booming again. This is the Australian dream.

No politician can make both groups happy at once. So who wins? Let's look at the numbers.

In the 2021 Census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 67 per cent of Australian households were owner-occupied. So in the war of "do we want house prices to boom or bust", it's easy to see why no political leader who wants to survive is ever selling a "bust" model.

It's why, at state and federal levels, governments will periodically pretend that the best way to address the raging bin-fire of real property prices is to give first-home buyers money to spend. Arm them with their own personal can of accelerant, in other words.

Between 2012 and 2021, according to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute , Australian governments spent $20 billion on assistance to first-home buyers.

Over that time, according to CoreLogic, house prices in Sydney doubled.

These types of measures are by no means out of favour, despite their hilariously predictable effects on the market. The Queensland Labor government doubled its first home buyer grant to $30,000 last September, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton recently restated his policy of allowing first home buyers to use their super to buy a house.

The opposition's other "demand side" solutions to the housing crisis include banning foreigners from buying established houses at auction and cutting immigration numbers so there'll be less competition for the limited number of houses on offer.

The Albanese government, so far, has shown itself to be more interested in "supply side" solutions. Street name: "Build More Houses".

And it sounds great because it makes sense and you can and absolutely should wear high-vis and a hard hat while announcing such initiatives. Building more houses means people get jobs AND houses. And that's a win-win. Building 1.2 million new "well-located" houses in five years? C'mon Aussie! Let's go! 

But the strong denial-of-the-bleeding-obvious tradition around housing policy in this country does not stop at political leaders squirting accelerant onto the bonfire of house prices and acting all surprised when it works.

And there are several bleedingly obvious factors that mean, even with the best will in the world, it is highly unlikely that in five years' time, Australians will be carrying each other over the thresholds of 1.2 million new, well-located homes.

Why 1.2 million homes are unlikely to happen

The last time Australia got even close to building 240,000 new homes in a single year was 2017, when we built 223,563.

As property analyst Cameron Kusher noted this week , that was back when interest rates were still sitting pleasantly at 1.5 per cent. Today, interest rates are at 4.5 per cent and there is a watching brief on Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock's eyebrows, lest even their merest twitch betray an intention to raise them further.

Meanwhile, construction companies — especially the mid-tier types that build medium-density apartment buildings — are dropping like flies.

By March, according to ASIC, 1,913 construction companies had so far gone bust this financial year. Three times as many as at the comparable point in 2021/22.

Why? Because banks aren't financing these companies the way they used to. Because a bunch of them got caught up in fixed-price projects during COVID, and now can't afford to carry them out.

Also, because building materials are about a third more expensive than they were before the pandemic.

Also, because there is an acute labour shortage of tradies, owing in part to the decline in apprenticeships. There were 376,800 in 2012, and only 134,800 by 2020. Australia's tradie workforce is aging and overworked.

What's the solution?

Well. We could import more skilled labour from overseas. But Dutton doesn't want to do that because they'd be competition at house auctions, and the Albanese government last year expressly excluded tradies from its new super-expedited visa scheme .

Unions don't love importing labour, and the Albanese government doesn't love offending unions.

And one last conundrum

One of the other strands to this infuriating knot is the whole idea of "well-located" homes.

Gone are the halcyon days of the 1970s, when vast tracts of developable land were to be had within an easy commute of city centres.

These days, well-located, medium-density housing usually entails careful planning. And guess what Australia also lacks? Yep, town planners.

Matt Collins, the Planning Institute of Australia's chief executive, recently warned that there are now 232 local government areas in Australia where no planners are working at all. "This is 43 per cent of all local government areas," he said, in an update posted to LinkedIn.

Bond University has recently announced the closure of its planning school; James Cook University is set to follow suit.

There's no doubt that the Albanese government is pouring energy and attention into addressing the issue central to this housing crisis. And "Build more houses!" is an eminently saleable proposition.

But a detailed title search on this attractive electoral property leaves many questions unanswered.

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Bibliometrics & citations, view options, recommendations, an improved nsga-ⅱ for multi-objective job shop scheduling problems with overtime work consideration.

In make-to-order (MTO) manufacturing systems, the workshop capacity is limited due to the production time horizon constraint of the order contract. If the total work load exceeds the shop capacity, a delay incurs, followed by a penalty, costs increasing ...

A no-tardiness job shop scheduling problem with overtime consideration and the solution approaches

• A no-tardiness job shop scheduling problem with overtime consideration is proposed.

In make-to-order manufacturing environments, overtime work is one of the effective and commonly used resources for expanding production capacity to ensure orders on-time delivery. However, if overtime work is not used reasonably and ...

A neighborhood for complex job shop scheduling problems with regular objectives

Due to the limited applicability in practice of the classical job shop scheduling problem, many researchers have addressed more complex versions of this problem by including additional process features, such as time lags, setup times, and buffer ...

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• AI technologies

gradient descent

• George Lawton

What is gradient descent?

Gradient descent is an optimization algorithm that refines a machine learning model's parameters to create a more accurate model. The goal is to reduce a model's error or cost function when testing against an input variable and the expected result. It's called gradient because it is analogous to measuring how steep a hill might be and descent because, with this approach, the goal is to get to a lower error or cost function.

Making slight variations to a machine learning model is analogous to experiencing changes in the incline when stepping away from the top of a hill. The gradient represents a combination of the direction and steepness of a step toward the lowest possible error rate in the machine learning model. The learning rate, which refers to the impact of changes to a given variable on the error rate, is also a critical component. If the learning rate is too high, the training process may miss things, but if it is too low, it requires more time to reach the lowest point. In practice, a given machine learning problem might have many more dimensions than you might find with a real hill.

Many other approaches can help machine learning algorithms explore feature variations, including Newton's method, genetic algorithms and simulated annealing. However, gradient descent is often a first choice because it is easy to implement and scales well. Its principles are applicable across various domains and types of data.

Why gradient descent is important in machine learning

Gradient descent helps the machine learning training process explore how changes in model parameters affect accuracy across many variations. A parameter is a mathematical expression that calculates the impact of a given variable on the result. For example, temperature might have a greater effect on ice cream sales on hot days, but past a certain point, its impact lessens. Price might have a greater impact on cooler days but less on hot ones.

Sometimes, slight changes to various combinations of parameters don't make the model any more accurate. This is called a local optimum . Ideally, the machine learning algorithm finds the global optimum -- that is, the best possible solution across all the data. But, sometimes, a model that is not as good as the global optimum is suitable, especially if it is quicker and cheaper.

Gradient descent makes it easier to iteratively test and explore variations in a model's parameters and thus get closer to the global optimum faster. It can also help machine learning models explore variations of complex functions with many parameters and help data scientists frame different ways of training a model for a large training data set.

Sometimes, a machine learning algorithm can get stuck on a local optimum. Gradient descent provides a little bump to the existing algorithm to find a better solution that is a little closer to the global optimum. This is comparable to descending a hill in the fog into a small valley, while recognizing you have not walked far enough to reach the mountain's bottom. A step in any direction takes you up the edge of a little valley. A little momentum is required to get far enough to scale the edge from where you can find another edge that might take you even further toward the bottom. In the case of gradient descent, it takes you further toward the bottom to create a more accurate model.

How does gradient descent work?

Putting gradient descent to work starts by identifying a high-level goal, such as ice cream sales, and encoding it in a way that can guide a given machine learning algorithm, such as optimal pricing based on weather predictions. Let's walk through how this might work in practice:

• Identify a goal. Create a model that minimizes the error in predicting the profits of ice cream sales.
• Initialize parameters. Start by assigning a higher weight to the importance of temperature on hot days but less on cold days.
• Minimize losses. Identify which features, such as the weights of temperature and price, affect the model's performance. Assess how much the current model's predictions vary from previous results, and then use this information to adjust the features in the next round of iterations.
• Update parameters. Subtract a fraction of the gradient from each parameter based on the learning rate, which determines the magnitude of changes. For example, temperature may have a lower learning rate than price changes in a model for predicting peak ice cream profits in the summer.
• Repeat. Repeat the process until the model fails to improve despite new variations.

Types of gradient descent

There are two main types of gradient descent techniques and then a hybrid between the two:

• Batch gradient descent. The model's parameters are updated after computing the loss function across the entire data set. It can yield the best results because parameters are only updated after considering the entire training data set. However, it can be slow and expensive for larger data sets as the model's error rate needs to be calculated for the entire training data set.
• Stochastic gradient descent. After each training example, the model's parameters are updated. It's much faster since parameters are updated more frequently. However, it can miss opportunities to converge on a suitable local optimum because of the frequent pace of parameter changes.
• Mini-batch gradient descent. The model's parameters are updated after processing the training data set in small batches. It combines the stability of batch gradient descent with the speed of stochastic gradient descent. However, data scientists must spend more time selecting the appropriate batch size, which can affect convergence rate and performance.

Benefits of gradient descent

Gradient descent is one of the first techniques that data scientists consider for optimizing the training of machine learning algorithms that explore the impact of iteratively adjusting the weight of features. Here is why:

• Scalability. Gradient descent can efficiently explore the impact of small adjustments of feature weights when training on large data sets. It can also take advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of graphics processing units to accelerate this process.
• Efficiency. It minimizes the memory requirements for exploring lots of feature weight variations.
• Flexibility. Its straightforward implementation process makes it applicable to a wide range of machine learning algorithms, including neural networks , logistic regression , linear regression and support vector machine algorithms.
• Simplicity. The basic concepts are straightforward, making them accessible to beginners, and are available in most machine learning tools. Gradient descent also makes it easy to understand how models are improving over time, which can simplify the debugging process.
• Adaptability. Modern variants enable data scientists to adjust the learning rate for different features that can improve convergence rates and adapt to various data. In addition, it can enable fine-tuning for sparse data sets required to provide better results for edge conditions.

Challenges of gradient descent

Data scientists and developers face many challenges in getting the best results when using gradient descent. These include the following:

• Learning rate. It is important to fine-tune the learning rate or the pace of change across different iterations for the various features. The learning rate can miss opportunities to train the most accurate algorithm if set too high. If it is too low, more iterations are required.
• Local optimum. Gradient descent tends to get stuck, generating models that can't be improved with minor changes. In particular, saddle points can emerge where small changes don't look better or worse.
• Convergence. In some cases, improvement can slow down or oscillate, making it hard to evolve a better model across iterations.
• Efficiency. It's important to balance the technique for a given data set and problem. Batch gradient processes require a full pass through the data for each update, which slows the process. However, stochastic gradient descent can introduce noise into the update, making the update process more erratic and harder to track.
• Data quality. Variations in data quality can lead to inefficient updates and poorer convergence. Careful feature selection and engineering are required to help mitigate these issues.

Continue Reading About gradient descent

• How to build a neural network from the ground floor
• A comprehensive guide to stochastic gradient descent algorithms
• Comparison of optimization techniques based on gradient descent algorithm: A review

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