[00:00:00] Hi and welcome back to Reflect Forward. I'm your host Kerry Siggins and I'm so glad you are here today. Today I want to talk about how to find and fix problems as quickly as possible. Problem solving is one of the most important leadership traits that we can have
[00:00:26] because let's face it, every single company has problems, every team has problems. The goal is to not have problems because when you are growing, when you're trying new things, you're innovating, you're going to run into problems. But the trick is to find them as
[00:00:41] quickly as possible and fix them so that you can move on, you can learn and you can reduce frustration because let's face it, nobody likes to work for a leader who does not solve
[00:00:51] problems, who avoids them, who deflects them, who sweeps them under the rug. All of those things just make it worse. And so the goal again is not to avoid problems entirely. It's
[00:01:01] to figure out what the problem is as quickly as possible and figure out how to fix it. And the reason why I'm bringing this up today is because I just had an experience where this
[00:01:10] became so crystal clear to me last week. So I was talking to one of my employee owners and she was going over a weekly report that one of her team had turned in and it had a
[00:01:22] whole list of challenges in it. And she said, I don't know that I want to put this in my report to the executive management team because some of these issues are sensitive. And I was
[00:01:31] like, okay, well, why don't you read the problems to me? And so she did. And I was like, no, those are all great things that we can tackle. Let's put them in your
[00:01:39] report and let's we'll discuss it as an EMT when you present. And so we did and then I moved on. But the whole day I had this nagging thing in the back of my mind going, sensitive, why are some of these things that she just told me sensitive?
[00:01:53] I didn't see how they might be sensitive to bring up. So I called her back later that day and I said, hey, I wanted to discuss why you feel like these are sensitive subjects. And she said, well, sometimes it feels like it falls on deaf ears and it
[00:02:06] feels like maybe people don't want to deal with it. I said, okay, can you explain to me a little bit about how these problems are brought up, where they're brought up? And so we discussed it. And what I realized is that there
[00:02:17] just wasn't a good flow of communication. And maybe some people didn't feel empowered to maybe state stop time out and let's bring people together and solve it. Or they're just too busy with their day to day tasks and said, I
[00:02:30] got to get this stuff done. I'll deal with that later. And I really wanted to eradicate this feeling of I can't bring problems up. It might hurt somebody's feelings or it's sensitive. Nobody wants to hear it. I don't
[00:02:43] want to be the squeaky whale. While all of those things I understand are very real. If you want to be a great leader, you've got to figure out how to be able to effectively find those problems and move them through
[00:02:55] a problem solving process so that people don't get frustrated and so that they don't feel like they're the squeaky whale or that they just have to grin and bear it or not say anything. That's not effective leadership. So I told her there is nothing, there's no problem that
[00:03:09] you can tell me about that I'm going to be sensitive about. You're not going to offend me. You're not going to hurt any of my feelings. My job as CEO is to try to make sure that you all have exactly what you need
[00:03:20] to do your jobs and that we're solving these problems effectively so that you can take care of customers and you can take care of each other as teammates and that we can ultimately deliver on the Stone Age Assurance promise to our customers. And so there's a really great
[00:03:32] conversation and lots of good things happened because of this conversation and because of these challenges that came forth in this report. And I'm so proud of the way that the team handled everything. None of them were a really big deal, but those things that could
[00:03:47] have turned into bigger issues if we would have let them fester. And it got me thinking about problem solving and that this is not uncommon in teams and organizations for a variety of reasons. But if you want to be an effective leader, you've got to be able
[00:04:03] to work through problems quickly. You've got to be able to encourage people to speak up and share their frustrations, the challenges that they're having and have a good way to look at process improvement so that people feel like there's progress. There's always going to be
[00:04:18] problems in business, always. If you're growing, you're trying new things, you are dealing with the volatility of everything right now, there's going to be problems. So the goal isn't to avoid problems entirely. It's to find them as quickly as possible and address
[00:04:35] them so that you can move on to the next problem because that's what we're here to do. We're here to solve problems. We're here to solve problems for our customers. None of us would exist if our customers didn't have a problem that needed to be solved
[00:04:46] and therefore we're all trying to figure out how to best serve our customers and therefore we have problems. And so our employees are trying to figure out out our suppliers, our partners, all of those people. Right? We're here to solve tough problems.
[00:04:59] So it's a really important leadership trait, effective problem solving skills. So let's dive into it. So as I said, prompt problem solving helps keep minor issues from escalating into major issues and this helps ensure smooth operations. But effective problem solving also builds trust within the
[00:05:17] organization. It shows that a leader is committed to the team's well-being because when there's lots of problems, people are frustrated. People can get burnt out. And when we effectively solve problems, we boost morale, we boost productivity, and we build that trust within our organization
[00:05:32] because when we solve problems, we're seen as reliable and competent and decisive leaders who are there to help make things easier, who are there to support their teams so that their teams can get work done and feel productive and feel
[00:05:49] good every single day when they go home at night. And I witnessed this when we addressed these problems that came up in this report. The employee who shared the challenges, he was like, this is so awesome. I feel so good.
[00:06:03] This is the best meeting that I've had in a long time. Because he was part of the problem solving meeting and his morale was boosted. And people were like, okay, great. We can solve some of these things before they fester into much
[00:06:14] bigger ones. So that is why leaders need to be able to root out these problems. It 100% makes people feel better about their work. Problem solving also inspires creative thinking when we're saying, okay, we have this problem we're going to solve. What do you all think? How
[00:06:29] do you think we should solve this? It drives innovation. It drives creativity. It drives buy-in because you bring people in and ask their opinions and let them solve problems. You just are an effective facilitator. And that uncovers new opportunities for growth, new ways to
[00:06:45] improve processes, to take care of customers, to add value. So if you're the type of leader who doesn't do this, this is a really key area for you to develop because like I said, there's always problems to be solved
[00:06:57] and your employees are looking to you not to just fix everything for them but to help them come together and solve these challenges so that they feel more productive and less frustrated at work. All right, so why do some leaders
[00:07:12] struggle to address problems? Well this is very real. I worked for a leader who did not want to solve problems. He did not want to be bothered. It always felt like he was annoyed when a problem would be brought to him.
[00:07:26] He would always say bring me solutions, not problems, which could be really frustrating as an employee because hey, I'm a person who likes to solve my own problems too but sometimes people are stuck and they're like I don't
[00:07:38] know what to do here and I really could use some help. And so I think that adage to only bring me solutions, not problems is a way to shut people down, especially when they're really struggling. A lot of leaders want to avoid
[00:07:50] conflict. You have to step in and help navigate a tough situation where there's going to be conflict and that might lead to tension on the team but that's okay. You don't have to be afraid of conflicts. Conflict can be
[00:08:05] really healthy. A little bit of tension is okay as long as you are leading through it effectively. Other leaders might struggle with addressing problems because of poor communication. That was what was happening here in this particular situation is the communication channels were
[00:08:21] just not flowing properly and that led to a breakdown in problem solving. Some companies are really higher archical and so that filters out bad news. There are some leaders who only want yes man, who want to be told that
[00:08:36] their ideas are right and that everything is okay even when it's not. So as a leader, it's really important that you are humble enough. As we talked about in the last advice from a CEO episode, you got to be humble.
[00:08:49] You got to be able to make it safe for people to speak up because if you are in a hierarchy where you are protected as a leader from hearing bad news, then you're going to have all kinds of problems within the company
[00:09:00] and not be able to grow as quickly and you're going to have a lack of engagement and high turnover. You don't want bad news to be filtered out because of your organizational structure or because of your ego. Another reason why I think leaders avoid problems is because
[00:09:17] they can feel overwhelmed and I definitely understand this. There have been times where it's like, oh, gosh, another thing to deal with. So the volume of responsibilities that leaders have can also make them neglect problem solving as they prioritize on other
[00:09:33] urgent tasks and you know with that mindset of like, oh, I'll just get to that later. I'll deal with it later and then never actually dealing with it. So it's really important to understand that your role as a leader is to help solve organizational problems and
[00:09:46] to prioritize them and if you need help prioritize them, sit down with your leader or if you're a CEO, sit down with your leadership team or a trusted mentor or even your board and say, hey, I've got to be able to
[00:10:00] address these problems and need to figure out how to get some of these things off my plate or I need to be able to delegate this problem solving but at least I need to know about it. You can't avoid problems as
[00:10:11] a leader, as an executive leader, as a CEO. And then finally some leaders just don't know how to solve problems. They lack the problem solving skills that are needed which is curiosity, humility and ability to prioritize amongst other things and so they don't
[00:10:32] effectively handle those issues. And finally, some leaders just lack necessary problem solving skills or experience and that is very real. And if you don't have good problem solving skills such as the ability to listen, to be curious, ask questions, get to the
[00:10:48] heart of the problem, to effectively deal with conflict, to be able to come up with a prioritization and an action plan, then you feel like, oh, I don't know how to solve these problems and so you don't handle them very well.
[00:11:01] So there are real reasons that leaders struggle to address problems and there's lots of ways that leaders can get support in making sure that problems rise to their attention and they develop the skills necessary to solve problems. And we'll dive into
[00:11:18] that a little bit later here too. The biggest barrier though for leaders understanding problems is that people are afraid to speak up. As a leader, you really need to foster an environment where it feels safe for people to voice their
[00:11:32] concerns. This is such a great example that just happened to me last week. This employee put all these challenges in the report, his manager was like, how do I bring these up? Luckily she was talking to me and I was like, well, we're
[00:11:44] going to solve all these problems. Let's talk about it because that's how we solve these issues. And I think it really showcased to the Stone Age team how it is safe to be able to bring up problems and voice their concerns.
[00:11:57] And I want to really expand on it because if this happened in this particular instance, then where else are people feeling like, oh, I can't speak up about this? So you've really got to encourage your team to speak up. And as a CEO,
[00:12:09] that's a really important role for you and you have to encourage your executive management team to do that. Same thing if you are a people manager or another type of leader, how do you encourage people to voice their concerns? So how do you do that? You solicit feedback.
[00:12:24] What do you think about this? What's going on? This came from a report that said please share the challenges that you're facing right now and ask this person's opinion. And he gave it. And if you ask for feedback, then you need to actively listen. You need to actually
[00:12:39] hear it and then say, okay, let's do something about this. Let's pull the right people together to solve this problem. Let's brainstorm solutions, whatever the problem is and however you need to begin the problem solving activities that shows that you're listening. So be curious, ask lots of
[00:12:54] questions, solicit that feedback. Another thing that you need to do to make it safe to speak up is lead by example. When you lead by example, by acknowledging your own mistakes, addressing them publicly, it sets this precedence for openness because when they're bringing up problems, it's usually
[00:13:10] because somebody made a mistake or process is broken or something's not running well. And that can be a direct reflection on leadership. And that's okay. No company is ever going to be perfect and there's always room for improvement. But if leaders act infallible and never
[00:13:28] admit their mistakes and never take ownership over the fact that things aren't going well or that there are problems within the company, it certainly is not going to cause other people to be open either. So lead by example, be an effective problem solver, talk about
[00:13:45] issues and mistakes, be open, be transparent. I know that requires a little bit of vulnerability but that's how you build connection and that's how you create a safe environment. And then finally, if you want to create that type of environment that is safe to speak up,
[00:14:01] reward transparency, reward openness, reward courage. Recognize employees who bring issues to the light and that will reinforce the value of being honest, being open and being forthright with what challenges you're facing and it will encourage others to do the same. So reward the behavior that you want
[00:14:18] to see. Reward transparency, openness, honesty, people having that courage to bring up an issue. It really will help make it safe for other people to do the same. All right, so now let's talk about how to avoid overwhelm and that requires prioritization because I
[00:14:35] understand burnout is real and when you just feel like, oh I have one more problem that I have to solve, I'm going to just pull my hair out, scream, lose my mind, whatever it is you're feeling. That's real and I understand that but as leaders we
[00:14:48] have to have a systematic way to approach problem solving and to be able to prioritize the problems that the company is going through, your team is going through, a person's going through so that it doesn't cause overwhelm. I recommend implementing a triage system which helps categorize
[00:15:05] problems based on their urgency and impact so that way you can address high priority issues first and then escalate down. I just recently went through this with one of my direct reports as well and he said, Carrie, I have so much on my plate and I'm
[00:15:21] not quite sure where I need to be focusing my time. Can you help me prioritize? So that's what we did. We had a date that certain things had to be done and so those were the priorities but his role is also customer facing so if there is a
[00:15:35] customer issue that comes in, that has to take a higher priority and so that's how we set it up. So these are triage, these are needs to be addressed immediately and then those can get categorized how they fall into the system once we
[00:15:49] understand what the problem is but your main project is this because it has a deadline that's going to hit in a month and a half. The rest of the stuff can wait. Just let's focus on these things first and if you get done
[00:16:00] with this project earlier then this will be the next priority but let's just keep talking about it. That really helps so we set clear achievable objectives of what needed to happen. He had a good plan and he knew how to prioritize when
[00:16:15] a customer issue came in. Where does that go within my daily work? And so it really helped him stay focused and it helped motivate him. I talked to him a week later and he was like, oh that helped so much. I was just
[00:16:28] feeling the pressure of getting all of these things done. I was like no that list, that's going to take you all year to get that done. Thank you for asking for my help to prioritize so that you can effectively solve problems and move
[00:16:39] forward on your project. So leaders you need to do that. You need to have a system to be able to acknowledge problems and do a triage for high priority ones and then figure out where the rest go in the slew of
[00:16:54] things that you have to do in a very given day. So we use Asana and Salesforce and we use them together to help us manage what those are. You have to figure out what your own system is but not every problem can be a priority, not every problem
[00:17:08] can be addressed immediately. You've got to be able to prioritize them. And then one more point to bring up on this before we hop into how you can lead effective problem solving is that you've got to also delegate. I think that there are a lot of
[00:17:22] leaders out there who feel like I'm the only one who can solve this problem and that is not true. And in fact it's demoralizing when you're the bottleneck, when your team doesn't feel like they are trusted enough to be able to solve their
[00:17:36] own problems. So delegate. You don't have to be the person who solves everything. I didn't solve the problems that were brought up on this report. We talked about it as an executive management team and then these were the three that we're
[00:17:48] going to be a priority and those were delegated to the people best suited to be able to fix those problems. We prioritize where they fit into their workload and we moved on. So don't be afraid to delegate. People want to be empowered to solve
[00:18:03] problems. They want to take on a task that aligns with their strengths or align with their workload or their responsibility that also helps distribute the workload more evenly and helping prevent overwhelm throughout the rest of the organization. So make sure you're prioritizing, make sure
[00:18:18] that not every problem gets that high priority status and then delegate effectively. And then the worst thing you can do is not communicate back about what's happening because in the absence of information people make up their own stories about what's going on. So
[00:18:33] let's say a problem came to your attention, you delegated it but you didn't follow back up with the person who brought it to your attention to say here's how we're going to handle it. If that person doesn't hear anything then he or she
[00:18:45] might feel like well that just fell on deaf ears when really somebody is working the issue. Having that effective communication loop is really important. It's just a quick reconnect to say here's what we're doing to solve that issue. This is the person who's taking the lead on
[00:19:00] it. We'll have a check in two weeks when we have an update on what's happening or whatever the timeline is. So circling back is really important. We just had another example of this where we just put out a new website this great digital customer
[00:19:14] experience platform and we're still working through bugs of how information flows and one of our teammates brought up some issues with the website and it got sent in to the team working on the website and he didn't hear anything back so he just assumed nothing was happening.
[00:19:31] And then the gal who runs our websites set a meeting with him to show him all of the amazing things and he was blown away and he said oh my gosh all of my suggestions were taken and this next phase of the website is going
[00:19:44] to be fantastic. But for that month, I mean he didn't hear anything, he thought it didn't matter. He didn't think that what he brought up was being addressed so closing those loops was really important. People don't expect problems to be solved right
[00:19:59] away but they do expect for you to update them on the status so that they're not left wondering if what they said mattered or not if anybody is addressing the problem. So communicate, communicate, communicate. Alright so now I'm going to give my tips on how to lead effective
[00:20:16] problem solving especially cross-departmentally because let's face it it's harder to solve problems at or cross-departmental where you might not have management authority over other people within the company who are also part of the problem solving activities. So the first thing goes back to something that we talked
[00:20:34] about before in role modeling and I really wanted to bring it up again because it's the number one thing that you have to do as a leader. You need to make sure people are empowered to solve problems, that you don't sweep problems under the rug,
[00:20:47] that you are a good problem solver yourself. So if you do not feel like you can effectively role model problem solving then get a mentor, hire a coach, read a book on problem solving. There's all kinds of good problem solving methods out there.
[00:21:03] I shared one on a previous podcast called Decide. You can google Decide it's out there but it's a very specific way that you can lead people through problem solving activities to be able to make tough decisions and discuss trade-offs. So there's lots of tools out there
[00:21:18] that will help you be a better problem solver but you've got to invest in yourself so be a good role model, address problems head-on, communicate clearly, don't sweep things under the rug, and show people that you too can effectively solve problems. The second thing is to establish
[00:21:35] clear communication channels. You need to ensure that all departments are informed and aligned. You can do that by having regular cross-departmental meetings to discuss issues. We have what we call ownership groups within StoneAge so these are our hot shot teams that we put
[00:21:51] together to go work on a problem. If it's in with the owner mindset and you know thinking and acting like an owner within StoneAge, we set a leader of that problem solving activity so that they are the person who pulls everything together and then they're
[00:22:04] responsible for making sure that information is being disseminated to all of the key stakeholders and that can be through email, that can be through just quick little IMs to give updates. There's lots of different communication platforms that are out there so you have to figure out
[00:22:19] what's best for you. But make sure that you establish those clear communication channels and the timelines that you expect people to communicate on. So what kind of regular check-ins are you going to be having? That's how you establish clear communication channels. The next step is to create a
[00:22:35] cross-functional team that is going to solve this problem. So again we use these ownership groups. We try not to make them too big because when you get too many people in the room it can really slow down problem solving but you have to have a good mix
[00:22:48] of cross-departmental teammates who bring diverse perspectives and expertise. So keep those teams manageable. It might mean you have three people working on a problem or it might mean that you have 10. Depends on what the issue is and the complexity of the things that need to get done
[00:23:04] but if you choose a person to lead that team, that ownership group and they understand what everybody's roles are and you have clear communication channels then the team doesn't have to be big because the key stakeholders are going to get regular updates and maybe even have an
[00:23:20] opportunity to give input into the problem solving action. But is a smaller more effective group actually working the problem? So that's a really important step that you need to take. Make sure that people understand the expectations of the group and what the problem solving activity is,
[00:23:38] what the timelines are and then basically give them the what. This is what and then let them figure out how they're going to solve it. And you'll be so pleasantly surprised at the ideas that people come up with. I've witnessed this over and over
[00:23:53] again when you create these cross-functional teams and give them the what and let them figure out the how. So much creativity and innovation happens and problems get solved much faster and people have buy-in because they're the ones solving it not the executive leadership team or the CEO.
[00:24:09] Fourth, always use data and analytics. Leverage data. Use data to identify root causes, to track trends, to track the progress of the problem solving initiatives. This helps make sure that decisions are informed and effective. The worst thing is to go solve a problem that really wasn't a problem
[00:24:28] because you didn't have the data that you needed. So when you're having an issue go pull the data. What information can you find out that will help guide the team to make sure they're working on the right problem and that they understand what fixing the problem looks like.
[00:24:44] And then finally encourage collaboration and accountability. But you've got to foster a culture of collaboration and collaboration requires trust. It requires honesty and transparency. It requires the willingness to work with others and be curious and consider other people's ideas. So you've really got to foster that.
[00:25:04] Where your departments are working towards the common goal but they also have that accountability piece. We have to hold each other accountable. So when you set deadlines, when you set the what and then allow your team to figure out the how, create those levels of
[00:25:16] accountability. We're going to have a check-in in two weeks and at that check-in this is the information that I would like to see that creates those expectations around what the deliverables are and that creates that level of accountability. So those are my four tips to lead
[00:25:32] effective problem solving cross-departmentally. And they're effective if you use those things and I will have at the end of this podcast because someone told me it's hard to remember all of the information that you're giving us. Can you just have something at the
[00:25:44] end of especially the video cast that just sums it up? So I'm going to do that so for those of you watching on YouTube you'll be able to see that. For those of you who are listening to the podcast, if you want these you can go to my
[00:25:56] website which has the latest podcast up and also just in the show notes these will all be here as well. So anyway I'm going to do a better job of making sure that I recap that at the end of each podcast and video cast as well.
[00:26:11] Alright so let's talk about the benefits of all of this. Why does this matter? What are you going to see as an organization? Well no matter what it's going to make you more successful because when you solve problems people are happier, their morale is
[00:26:25] higher, higher engagement, and you create an environment of innovation and continuous improvement which helps companies and helps teams grow. This is backed up by data according to the Project Management Institute, PMI. Organizations who excel at problem solving are two and a half times more likely
[00:26:44] to complete their projects on time and on budget. That is huge. So many of us cannot complete projects on time and there's always scope creep that costs more money. So if you have good problem solvers you're going to be able to stay on time and within budget
[00:27:00] and that is a really big deal for organizational and team performance. On the employee side, Gallup research also indicates that employees who feel like their opinions count like their ideas matter and they see their leaders effectively addressing problems are 4.6 times more likely to be
[00:27:18] engaged at work and we all know how prevalent disengagement is within companies and I think this is a lot of it. People are frustrated that problems do not get solved within their organizations so problem solving matters and it does help with engagement, dramatically helps with engagement.
[00:27:35] So when you prioritize problem solving as part of your company values, your system, your way of doing business, your way of working, it's going to translate into a higher productivity, better retention rates and a more positive work environment because problems aren't swept under the rug.
[00:27:50] People see that they're getting dealt with and that matters. So in conclusion, effective problem solving is a critical leadership trait hopefully I showed that today that directly impacts the organization's success by addressing problems proactively, by fostering open communication when you prioritize effectively and lead these cross-departmental efforts.
[00:28:10] You can mitigate risks, you can drive innovation, you can enhance team morale and the very best thing you can solve problems because that's what we're here to do. So I hope by embracing these strategies you'll feel more equipped to handle the complex issues that every leader is facing
[00:28:27] today and that it makes your growth both personally, professionally and as a company or team feel more sustainable and fun and successful. Okay so I'm just going to quickly recap what we discussed today to help you remember it. First we discussed why problem solving is so important
[00:28:45] it's all throughout this podcast. It increases morale, it increases productivity and engagement because people want to work for leaders who are effective at solving problems. We talked about why some leaders struggle to address problems which is due to fear of conflict, worrying that
[00:29:02] it might lead to tension within the teams. It could be because of poor communication channels, it could because of a hierarchical structure where leaders are insulated from issues going on whether that's on purpose or not. We talked about leaders who don't have problem solving skills and how they
[00:29:18] need to invest in themselves but those are the reasons why people have struggled to address problems. We also discussed the number one thing that leaders need to do which is encourage people to speak up. How do you make it safe? You do that by encouraging
[00:29:32] feedbacks, listening feedback, listening while leading by example, by owning your own mistakes, by publicly saying hey these are issues that we need to address and by rewarding courage rewarding those people who are brave enough to bring issues to the light that reinforces that you do want to
[00:29:49] hear problems and it will encourage others to speak up. Then we talked about how to prioritize problem solving, building a systematic approach where you have a triage system these things are high priority otherwise this is how it flows into the organization. And then finally we talked about
[00:30:06] leading effective problem solving which includes role modeling problem solving, establishing clear lines of communication, creating cross-functional teams, utilizing data and analytics and encouraging accountability and collaboration within those cross-functional teams. So that's the recap. I hope that you enjoyed this podcast please give me
[00:30:26] feedback on how it can be better I always want to make sure that I'm being helpful to all of you. With that I will leave you to your day and look forward to hosting you next week and if you like this podcast and all of these
[00:30:38] kinds of tips please get my book The Ownership Mindset you can get it on Amazon, you can get it on Audible, you can get it on Spotify if you want to listen to books and it's filled with all kinds of great actionable tips like this
[00:30:50] so that you can improve your leadership skills. So thank you so much and we'll see you next week.