We all have challenges we face in the business world. Whether it's overcoming obstacles that delay an improved accounts receivable process or trying to reduce customer complaints on a service or product. It's easy to jump to conclusions when trying to fix problems, especially if it feels like there is a sense of constant fire fighting happening.
Once you have made the decision to tackle a specific challenge or problem in your organization, it's important to be sure a carefully written problem statement is developed. A natural tendency is to write a problem statement too simplistically because your already familiar with the problem. Here are a couple of poorly written problem statements and better ways to to ensure you and your team understand what specific problems need to be addressed.
Poorly written problem statement: Inventory levels are too high and must be reduced
Better problem statement: Inventory levels at (organization name) inventory storage process in at the Bratton Office are consuming space, taking up asset management time, and creating cash flow issues. Inventory levels are averaging 31.2 days, with a high of 45 days. These levels have exceeded the target of 25 days 95% of the time since January 2011.
Benefit potential: We could save $250,00 per year if inventories were at the targeted level.
When you know where the problem is ocurring, you know how long it has occurred, and the magnitude of the problem. This can help an organization prioritize the challenges with the largest pain points and greatest potential return on investment.
Often times, there will be some data gathering required and an analysis of this data to fully understand the full impact of the problems that need to be addressed. It's easy to want to fix what might seem obvious issues and sometimes this can be helpful, but it's rare that applying little fixes prior to completing a full assessment will lead to long term sustainable changes. This can often leave your employees frustrated and contributing to burnout.
This can seem overwhelming when the problem has reached levels that seem insurmountable, and so knowing where to start can be daunting. Or maybe this is the way the organization has always done business and the fear of employees resistant to change will block the path to overcoming these challenges.
The key to remember is keep your problem statements very focused and specific. We have a saying in the Six Sigma world, "Don't try to boil the ocean all at once". It can be easy to delay tackling these challenges, but sometimes having expert resources that understands your business can be a game changer. Let us know if we can help lead the way to increasing your success!
