Solving problems is critical at the business level as they could help people identify the problem and solve it in time, make quick decisions, find out the better new ways of doing things and adapt in many ways. If a person has great problem solving or cognitive flexibility skills, then they can serve customers’ needs, change processes, solve potential conflict, whilst reaching for organisational achievements. They can analyse and think rationally, come up with creative solutions and so on.

Creating new thoughts and patterns; finding new ways of doing things, not previously considered which are ultimately better, more productive, more ‘successful’ development; more innovation, more adaptation. Innovation relies on the thinking propensities of intelligence for bringing ideas to reality. Innovation is in business; improvement in products, services, always moving forward, to keep people’s mind interested and coming back.

Decision making; To make good decisions you need to be a good problem solver. Evaluating the risks and benefits and then applying this thinking to make a decision that fits with the direction that a business is taking. Make sure you understand how to be a good problem solver by taking one of our training courses on Problem solving.

Solve conflict; “Skills to solve conflict are very important for building and maintaining healthy relationships at work. Through a good practise of listening, understanding each other and support to provide the best solutions it can help improve relationships and be productive at work.”

Service to satisfy a customer; whenever a customer gets the service, he must be fully satisfied from his needs get everything he expected from the company. The purpose of the company is to satisfy a customer and fix his problem/issue. Sincere and zealous behaviour from the company staff to the problems, is very important for the company.

i.e. relationship between the customer and the company show good feedback from the customer for the company, hope he will visit and put forward good words about the company to other people.

Pick up specifics of the business you’re in, general knowledge about your industry; If you know your field, at least at the contextual level, the problems and what causes them will be much clearer to you. Read about trends in your industry, about dynamics in your market, about new technology and see preventive measures and solutions before they happen.

Improve analytical and critical thinking skills; This form the basis of all good problem solving. Improve your logical reasoning and data analytical skills and your skill at spotting patterns and cause and effect relationships. Develop heightened sensitivity to what’s relevant and when we should assume certain things, when they should be verified and what the best alternative solutions are to a particular problem.

Train creative thinking: Get your creative thinking muscles in shape so that you create a stream of new, nonobvious solutions to your problems. Ask questions; brainstorm; take a wide-angle view; use lateral thinking or mind mapping; use the SCAMPER method; be curious; wonder; admit that you don’t know; question and challenge your assumptions about the problem.

Communication and collaboration; The most popular form of intelligence is analytic intelligence. This is the capacity to learn, gain and apply information, knowledge and skills and use it as a barometer for ‘problem solving’. Understanding that your ability to improve your problem solving is by getting constructive feedback from others. Working on your own skills for listening effectively and learning how to persuade others to follow your ideas are important also. Learn to work together to receive feedback and show respect for divergent ways of thinking. Collaborative action can decrease the size of the problem you face and expand the solutions.

Make mistakes and own them; Dwelling on all the information gathered to solve your problem will be helpful. At times it may seem impossible to remember everything that has happened, but it is always productive to think back to how you have acted previously, or successfully addressed a similar problem. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• What strategies did you rely on?
• What did and did not work?
• What kinds of intuitive appeals did you rely on in approaching the problem?
• What results did you obtain, if any?
• What did you ultimately learn that you could bring to solving the problem at hand?

Find out more on how you can make a deliberate effort to identify learning in your office or town; are there training programs, training ‘workshops’, seminars, or online courses that you can attend with the intention of finding out about good practise or learning about business specific structured problem solving? We have some. Ask our team about them.

And remember that solving problems is iterative as well. Welcome a ‘continually improving’ mindset and look for smaller iterations and opportunities for refinement. Approach problems as a challenge and a learning opportunity. By looking for signals, taking reflection time, practising, you will become a better business problem solver.

Hopefully these tips on how to become more effective at working through business challenges has been helpful to you.