Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Leadership And Problem Solving

Leaders are the persons who has to play always with Problems. And Every Organisation need some problem solvers. The role has been taken by the HR people in every team and group.That means that to leverage a leader’s problem-solving skills, he or she must transfer that ability to the team. A good leader can “read” the team, and provide the appropriate amount of guidance and clarification around problem solving .You may have heard the saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" Lemons are like the 
"sour" problems of life. Dynamic leaders use problem-solving skills to turn those lemons into sweet success; like lemonade! 

You can be a dynamic leader who solves problems for yourself and in groups. You can learn to define a problem, develop creative alternatives, analyze choices, and make good decisions. 

Creative Critics

Two kinds of thinking are used to solve problems: 
• Creative thinking is finding all possible ideas and making up new ones.  
• Critical thinking is analyzing and evaluating ideas to see if they will work for the current 
situation.  

Both kinds of thinking are important and help solve problems. You’ll learn how to influence your team’s attitudes toward problem solving and how to match an employee’s skill sets with appropriate challenges, thereby creating opportunities for improvement. In addition, you will practice facilitating problem solving processes (SWOT analysis and brainstorming), then develop a list of best practices around problem solving.

Goals
  1. Review group problem solving processes.
  2. Understand the state of Optimum Performance.
  3. Practice facilitating the solution of problems through SWOT and Brainstorming.
  4. Develop a list of problem-solving best practices.

Four-Hour Workshop
  1. Warm-up stretches and answering questions about company culture and problem solving.
  2. Reflect on past successes with problem solving and capture best practices.
  3. Complete facilitated team challenges that focus on team problem solving.
  4. Present the Map of Everyday Experience.
  5. Complete facilitated team challenge that focuses on resource allocation.
  6. Engage in a SWOT analysis.
  7. Practice brainstorming.
  8. Finalize list of best practices for problem solving.
Leadership Excellence
Dynamic leaders know how to deal with problems, on their own and in a group. They see problems as challenges that can and should be addressed. They lead others through a step-by-step process to: 
• Define the challenge 
• Gather related information 
• Inventory useful resources 
• Generate ideas for addressing the challenge 
• Identify obstacles 
• Make decisions 
• Take action. 

Solving Problems with Vision 

Dynamic leaders solve problems in ways that move a group forward. They know where they want to go. They have a vision for what their organization can achieve. They inspire others to work toward the same vision. Dynamic leaders help groups create goals that are stepping stones toward the vision. They generate creative ideas for reaching goals and solving problems. They analyze how choices fit with the vision and goals. They make effective decisions.