Every professional has to deal with stress on occasion. Unexpected obstacles, surprise problems, or mistakes can all happen. Plus, nearly every workplace has to contend with frequent change, shaking up the existing paradigm, and requiring employees to take on something new.
Stress is just part of the working world; it’s essentially unavoidable. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore options to mitigate it.
By keeping your team’s stress low, they will be more productive and satisfied in their positions. With the addition or enhancement of specific problem-solving skills, your employees can become more capable, something that generally leads to diminishing stress levels. If you want to alleviate your team’s stress, here are three components of problem-solving that are worth your attention.
Identifying the Core Problem
Resolving an issue without fully understanding what is at the center of it is practically impossible. Learning to pinpoint the actual source of a problem is a critical skill, ensuring your team is focused on the right area and approaching the situation from the proper angle.
Usually, employees have to determine what is actually happening. This allows them to drill down deeper, making it easier to figure out where the issue is and what may be behind it. Then, they’ll be better equipped to find a solution.
Brainstorming Solutions
Brainstorming is a skill unto itself. The ability to talk through potential solutions, identify unique approaches, and analyze the likelihood a given option will be a success is a critical part of problem-solving. Similarly, being able to break larger problems into smaller pieces is also vital, as this allows each step to be examined along the way.
In many cases, brainstorming skills improve with time. However, by encouraging your team to present a variety of scenarios that could solve the issue and facilitating discussions, they can enhance their capabilities more quickly.
Choosing a Course of Action
One of the most challenging parts of problem-solving, at times, can be selecting an approach and pursuing it. Usually, each option has positives and negatives to consider and may include a variety of obstacles that need to be addressed.
After identifying a few viable options, your team needs to scrutinize them. Have them consider the potential consequences of each choice, both good and bad, and then commit to the one that seems to be the most reasonable or that has the highest likelihood of success.
By using this approach, your employees can feel more confident in their decision. They’ve weighed the options logically, and are also prepared for any additional difficulties they may face.
Find Out More How to Alleviate Your Team's Stress
Ultimately, by developing the three problem-solving skill areas above, you can alleviate your team’s stress. Then, they can remain fully productive, even when they are faced with a challenge or the unexpected.
If you would like to learn more about effective problem solving, the team at The Armada Group can help. Contact us to speak with a member of our knowledgeable and experienced staff today and see how our skill-building expertise can benefit you.
