It is never very clever to solve problems. It is far cleverer not
to have them.
E.F.
Shumacher
Looking
for differences between the more productive and less productive
organizations, we found that the most striking difference
is the number of people who are involved and feel responsible
for solving problems.
Michael McTague, Management and training consultant, Personnel Journal, March
1986
All
the problems of the world could be settled easily if men
were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very
often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think,
because thinking is such hard work.
Thomas
J. Watson
Before
one can make good a good decision, one must become a great problem
solver. While
problem solving appears to be easy, it requires understanding
four types of environments: certainty, uncertainty, risk and
conflict.
Many managers
find that teams don't have the ability to even solve problems
under certainty—the easiest envirionment. This
process often doesn't
work so well.
For example,
a recent Nobel
Prize in Economics went to Daniel Kahneman— a psychologist
who spent years discovering and documenting different types
of flawed problem solving and decision making experienced by
the untrained mind.
However, teams
and groups can be trained
in problem solving techniques—a
process critical to meeting business challenges.
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Like
this cartoon, problems occur between people and departments.
These
problems tend to keep recurring since processes are often
not owned by one department or one manager. This means
one person can problem solve downstream, but cannot go
up stream to the source of the problem. As
one professional once remarked, “I’m a problem
solver, I fixed the same problem 150 times last year.” |
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Solving
other peoples' problems will make you rich.
J.
Paul Getty, American Billionaire
A Program For Team Leadership Development
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Solving
Real Problems With Corporate Team Building
We use teams to solve real problems. By getting
people to work together on a common goal, it builds teams.
Another major benefit is the operational improvements that
come out of the process.
Our
Approach To Building Corporate Teams
National
Training Options. For our instructors to fly
from Los Angeles to other parts of the country, we would
recommend training
programs that take one-week. This follows along the lines
of what is done during some types of six sigma and lean
manufacturing
training.
All
team building and problem solving training is provided
at a corporate work site—we bring the team building
program to you.
Legacee's
Background in Corporate Team Building
Legacee
has been developing
corporate teams since 1992,
originally as part of the effort to improve quality and lower
costs
by implementing a philosophy known as Total Quality Management.
Clients
have included service organizations such as hospitals, medical
groups, credit unions,
insurance companies; and to all
sorts of manufacturing organizations ranging from those who
make
chips and printed circuit boards, to forging, stamping
and assembly houses.
The Structure of Team Leadership Training
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We
use a team development process that emphasizes both:
- A
step-by-step problem solving strategy and
- A
process of turning a group into a team.
Following
a well-defined process means the team makes less mistakes and
gets better
results.
Converting
Theory Into Practice
Legacee's
team development approach presents
tools and techniques project teams can use for
cost effective solutions to complex operational problems.
We
also work to develop the people skills necessary to
make
the problem solving successful.
The
approach to training has three elements to them:
1.
A training component to build the knowledge base;
2.
Time for teams to meet to work on projects; and
3.
Practical individual assignments
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Talented
Instructors
Our
instructors are oriented toward building tangible work
skills and function as:
1.
Facilitators who can intervene in group process when
necessary and inject new knowledge as required.
2.
Consultants that possess the right mix of theory
grounded in real world experience.
3.
Coaches that work with team leaders, scribes and
facilitators.
4.
Presenters that capture and hold the audiences' attention.
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Ten Advantages to This Approach
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1.
Corporate executives can typically recoup training
investment within one year if teams get the right type of management
support
and select the right type of problems.
2.
Corporate teams are built using real world problems provided
by executives— no "blue
sky" stuff.
3.
Problem solving skills are developed that can be used
again and again.
4. Less
time is lost running meetings run by individuals going through
the training
5. We can get access to training funds for employers in
California who qualify for State
of California of funds for training
6.
Team members get to fine tune their presentation skills.
7.
One sees improvement in individual ability to perform as
team leaders, facilitators and scribes.
8.
Building corporate teams breaks down barriers
between departments.
9.
One can see tangible improvement in interpersonal skills.
10.
Different
types of assessments and
problem solving techniques are available.
WEB RESOURCES
Techniques For Running Meetings
Meetings can always be run better. Unfortunately, few try to get better at it.
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