How to Solve Problems with People: 4 Steps to Solving Problems
April 4, 2008 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
Thanks to Jodee Bock for sharing this in the comments on Hear See Do Training. It was very helpful for me to think about. So helpful that it deserves to be showcased as a separate article for those who might have missed it. Thanks Jodee!
I am a certified trainer for Job Relations Training (JRT) which is part of the TWI Program (Training Within Industry) which was developed by the US Government during WWII. Although it is now nearly 70 years old, it is still very effective. I teach the JR part, which is a 4-step method for solving problems with people (1-Get the Facts; 2-Weigh and Decide; 3-Take Action; 4-Check Results) but it sounds like when they designed the Job Instruction part they learned what you’ve talked about here.
The 4 steps for JI are: 1-Prepare the Worker; 2-Present the Operation; 3-Try Out Performance and 4-Follow Up. During one part of the training the instructor merely demonstrates tying a certain kind of knot and then asks someone in the class to do it. They can’t. Then the instructor merely tells the class how to do it without showing them and asks for a volunteer. They still can’t do it, because of what you’ve described here.
For the third part of TWI, Job Methods, the 4-step method helps workers learn how to improve the job. Those 4 steps are: 1-Break down the job; 2-Question every detail; 3-Develop the new method; 4-Apply the new method.
All of these components work together to create the best possible work environment. Although originally designed for the manufacturing industry, they are wonderful foundations for really ensuring that workers understand new instructions and get familiar with the culture of the organization so they can offer suggestions to make the workplace even better. The Hear-See-Do model you’ve described fits perfectly.
Phil: Thanks for the nod here. I’m going to be speaking at the TWI Summit (www.twisummit.com) in Orlando in May where people will be coming together to learn more about this “new” 70-year-old training. If anyone wants to attend and wants to get $50 off, they can just put “bock” in the promo code. It will be a great place to meet lots of others having this conversation about workplace effectiveness.
Keep up the GREAT work here!
Excellent post on a step problem solving technique. I often lead 6 sigma trainings and I feel that a structure helps team and groups solve problems. This is applicable from manfacturing to health care to sales. OFten times people feel that they solve problems with no structure. WHat you did a great job of illustrating in your post is that – we do have structure in our problem solving.
Very nice. I think it is interesting that most of the failings in business have to do with not completing all 4 steps. For example, when solving problems many people do steps 1 through 3, but forget to step 4 (check on the results).