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Systems Approach to Problem Solving

The systems approach to problem solving used a systems orientation to define problems and opportunities and develop solutions. Studying a problem and formulating a solution involve the following interrelated activities:

• Recognize and define a problem or opportunity using systems thinking.
• Develop and evaluate alternative system solutions.
• Select the system solution that best meets your requirements.
• Design the selected system solution.
• Implement and evaluate the success of the designed system.

1. Defining Problems and Opportunities

Problems and opportunities are identified in the first step of the systems approach. A problem can be defined as a basic condition that is causing undesirable results. An opportunity is a basic condition that presents the potential for desirable results. Symptoms must be separated from problems. Symptoms are merely signals of an underlying cause or problem.

Symptom: Sales of a company’s products are declining. Problem: Sales persons are losing orders because they cannot get current information on product prices and availability. Opportunity: We could increase sales significantly if sales persons could receive instant responses to requests for price quotations and product availability.

2. Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is to try to find systems, subsystems, and components of systems in any situation your are studying. This viewpoint ensures that important factors and their interrelationships are considered. This is also known as using a systems context, or having a systemic view of a situation. I example, the business organization or business process in which a problem or opportunity arises could be viewed as a system of input, processing, output, feedback, and control components. Then to understand a problem and save it, you would determine if these basic system functions are being properly performed.

The sales function of a business can be viewed as a system. You could then ask: Is poor sales performance (output) caused by inadequate selling effort (input), out-of-date sales procedures (processing), incorrect sales information (feedback), or inadequate sales management (control)? Figure illustrates this concept.

3. Developing Alternate Solutions

There are usually several different ways to solve any problem or pursue any opportunity. Jumping immediately from problem definition to a single solution is not a good idea. It limits your options and robs you of the chance to consider the advantages and disadvantages of several alternatives. You also lose the chance to combine the best points of several alternative solutions.

Where do alternative solutions come from/ experience is good source. The solutions that have worked, or at least been considered in the past, should be considered again. Another good source of solutions is the advice of others, including the recommendations of consultants and the suggestions of expert systems. You should also use your intuition and ingenuity to come up with a number of creative solutions. These could include what you think is an ideal solution. The, more realistic alternatives that recognize the limited financial, personnel, and other resources of most organizations could be developed. Also, decision support software packages can be used to develop and manipulate financial, marketing, and other business operations. This simulation process can help you generate a variety of alternative solutions. Finally, don’t forget that “doing nothing” about a problem or opportunity is a legitimate solution, with its own advantages and disadvantages.

4. Evaluating Alternate Solutions

Once alternative solutions have been developed, they must be evaluated so that the best solution can be identified. The goal of evaluation is to determine how well each alternative solution meets your business and personal requirements. These requirements are key characteristics and capabilities that you feed are necessary for your personal or business success.

If you were the sales manager of a company, you might develop very specific requirements for solving the sales-related information problems of your salespeople. You would probably insist that any computer-based solution for your sales force be very reliable and easy to use. You might also require that any proposed solution have low start-up costs, or have minimal operating costs compared to present sales processing methods.

Then you would develop evaluation criteria and determine how well each alternative solution meets these criteria. The criteria you develop will reflect how you previously defined business and personal requirements. For example, you will probably develop criteria for such factors as start-up costs, operating costs, ease of use, and reliability. Criteria may be ranked or weighted, based on their importance in meeting your requirements.

5. Selecting the Best Solution

Once all alternative solutions have been evaluated, you can being the process of selecting the best solution. Alternative solutions can be compared to each other because they have been evaluated using the same criteria.

Alternatives with a low accuracy evaluation (an accuracy score less than 10), or a low overall evaluation (an overall score less than 70) should be rejected. Therefore, alternative B for sales data entry is rejected, and alternative A, the use of laptop computers by sales reps, is selected.

6. Desingning and Implementing Solution

Once a solution has been selected, it must be designed and implemented. You may have to depend on other business end users technical staff to help you develop design specifications and an implementation plan. Typically, design specifications might describe the detailed characteristics and capabilities of the people, hardware, software, and data resources and information system activities needed by a new system. An implementation plan specifies the resources, activities, and timing needed for proper implementation. For example, the following items might be included in the design specifications and implementation plan for a computer-based sales support system:

• Types and sources of computer hardware, and software to be acquired for the sales reps.
• Operating procedures for the new sales support system.
• Training of sales reps and other personnel.
• Conversion procedures and timetable for final implementation.

7. Post Implementation Review

The final step of the systems approach recognizes that an implemented solution can fail to solve the problem for which it was developed. The real world has a way of confounding even the most well-designed solutions. Therefore, the results of implementing a solution should be monitored and evaluated. This is called a postimple-implemented. The focus of this step is to determine if the implemented solution has indeed helped the firm and selected subsystems meet their system objectives. If not, the systems approach assumes you will cycle back to a previous step and make another attempt to find a workable solution.

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• Case Study on Information Systems: Cisco Systems
• System – Concept, Meaning, Definition and Characteristics
• 4 Important Types of Systems
• 11 Types of Information Systems Used in Business
• Strategic Information Systems
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• Role of a Systems Analyst in Organizations

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• 2.3 Modern Business Applications
• 2.4 AI in Business: Transforming Modern Enterprises
• AI in Business: Transforming Modern Enterprises
• 4 Vizio Case: What's the Most Important Business Function?
• Chapter 2: Information
• Chapter 3: Hardware
• Chapter 4: Software
• Chapter 5: Network
• Chapter 6: Database
• Chapter 7: Security
• Chapter 8: Development

Management Information Systems ¶

1 introduction ¶.

Management Information Systems (MIS) is a field that combines the practices of managing people, processes, and technology to provide essential information that supports decision-making in organizations. MIS bridges the gap between computer science and business, offering a comprehensive approach to managing and utilizing information systems to achieve organizational goals.

• Management refers to the process of coordinating and overseeing the activities of an organization to achieve defined objectives. It involves planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources, including human, financial, and technological assets. Effective management ensures that all parts of the organization work together harmoniously and efficiently to meet goals.
• Information refers to data that has been processed and organized in a meaningful way, making it useful for decision-making. In the context of MIS, information is the valuable output derived from data that helps managers understand their environment, make informed decisions, and solve problems.
• A system is a set of interrelated components that work together to achieve a common goal. In MIS, a system typically refers to a combination of hardware, software, data, procedures, and people that interact to process data and produce information. Systems in MIS are designed to collect, store, process, and distribute information.

Therefore MIS is an information-processing system for business operation. The terms data, information, and knowledge are often used interchangeably, but they represent distinct concepts in the context of information processing and decision-making in MIS.

• Data: Raw facts and figures without context, such as numbers ( 200 ) or text ( James ).
• Information: Data that has been processed and interpreted to provide meaning. For example, 200 units sold , First name: James .
• Knowledge: Information that has been further processed, analyzed, and combined with experience, insights, and context to create a deeper understanding. It is used to inform decisions and actions. For example, The average daily sales for the past three days is 200 units. may give the knowledge of Implementing a promotional campaign on weekdays increases daily sales by 20% based on past trends .

Management Information Systems (MIS) is an interdisciplinary field that integrates management practices with information technology to provide managers with the information necessary to make informed decisions. By understanding the components of management, information, and systems, organizations can effectively harness technology to improve efficiency, support strategic planning, and gain competitive advantages.

2 A Brief History of MIS ¶

MIS is based on computer systems and evolves with the computer system evolution. There are new type of business application in almost every decade.

• 1950s-1960s: Emergence of early computer systems for data processing.
• 1970s: Introduction of Decision Support Systems (DSS).
• 1980s: Rise of Personal Computers (PCs), office automation, and relational databases.
• 1990s: ERP systems gain popularity.
• 2000s: Internet and E-business
• 2010s: Big data, cloud computing, and Business Intelligence (BI).
• Present: AI-driven business operation.

2.1 Early Business Applications ¶

Most of today's business applications were first developed in 1960s. Following are some examples, some are even used today. Guess which one?

• IBM 1401 Computer: The IBM 1401 was a popular business computer during the 1960s.It was widely used for tasks such as payroll processing, inventory management, and accounts receivable/payable. Companies could input data using punched cards, and the computer would process transactions and generate reports.The IBM 1401 played a crucial role in automating routine business operations.
• Banking Systems: Banks adopted early computer systems to manage customer accounts, track transactions, and calculate interest. These systems allowed for faster account updates, check processing, and statement generation.For example, the Bank of America used computers to handle its growing customer base.
• Reservation Systems: Airlines, hotels, and other travel-related businesses relied on computerized reservation systems.
• Inventory Control:Businesses needed efficient ways to track inventory levels and reorder products. Early computer applications helped manage stock, monitor sales, and optimize supply chains. Companies like General Electric and Ford used computerized inventory control systems.
• Manufacturing Process Control: Industries such as automotive manufacturing embraced computer control systems. Computers monitored production lines, adjusted machinery settings, and ensured quality control. The IBM 1620 was used for process control in various manufacturing plants.
• Decision Support Systems: While not as widespread, some companies experimented with decision support systems. These systems provided data analysis, forecasting, and scenario modeling. They helped managers make informed decisions based on available information.

Below is the image of IBM 1401 -- the first widely used business computer.

The IBM 1401 use punched cards as its data input.

2.2 The SABRE System ¶

In the early 1960s, one of the most remarkable innovations in the field of Management Information Systems (MIS) was the development of the SABRE (Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment) system by American Airlines. This pioneering effort not only revolutionized the airline industry but also set a precedent for the use of real-time processing systems in business.

The Birth of SABRE ¶

The story begins in the mid-1950s when American Airlines was grappling with the challenges of managing an increasingly complex reservation system. At that time, booking a flight was a manual process involving paper tickets, handwritten logs, and telephone calls. This method was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, especially as the volume of passengers grew.

In 1953, C.R. Smith, then president of American Airlines, met with R. Blair Smith, an IBM sales representative, during a flight. Inspired by IBM's work with real-time computer systems for the U.S. Air Force's SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) project, which used computers to manage and process air defense information, C.R. Smith envisioned a similar system for managing airline reservations. This serendipitous conversation led to a groundbreaking partnership between American Airlines and IBM.

Development and Implementation ¶

Work on the SABRE system began in earnest in 1957, and it took several years of intensive development to bring the system to life. The project was ambitious, aiming to create a real-time computer network that could handle the reservation needs of American Airlines across the entire United States.

By 1960, the system was partially operational, and in 1964, it was fully deployed. SABRE used two IBM 7090 mainframe computers located in Briarcliff Manor, New York. These computers were interconnected with a network of over 1,000 terminals installed in airports and ticket offices across the country.

Source: Sabre.com

Impact and Legacy ¶

The introduction of the SABRE system had a profound impact on American Airlines and the airline industry as a whole. Here are a few key aspects of its impact:

Efficiency and Accuracy: SABRE automated the booking process, significantly reducing the time required to make a reservation from hours to just a few seconds. This not only improved customer satisfaction but also increased the accuracy of reservations, reducing errors and overbooking.

Competitive Advantage: The system gave American Airlines a significant competitive edge. By streamlining operations and improving customer service, American Airlines was able to attract more passengers and operate more efficiently than its competitors.

Industry Transformation: SABRE set a new standard for the airline industry. Other airlines soon recognized the benefits of such systems, leading to widespread adoption of similar technologies. The success of SABRE demonstrated the potential of computer systems to transform business operations, paving the way for the development of other MIS applications in various industries.

Technological Innovation: The collaboration between American Airlines and IBM showcased the possibilities of real-time computing and networking. The technologies and methodologies developed for SABRE influenced future innovations in computer science and information systems.

A Lasting Legacy ¶

Today, SABRE remains one of the most iconic examples of early MIS implementation. The system has evolved significantly over the decades, incorporating modern technologies and expanding its capabilities. SABRE now operates as an independent company, providing technology solutions to airlines and travel agencies worldwide.

The story of SABRE is not just a tale of technological innovation but also a testament to the power of visionary leadership and collaboration. It highlights how a chance meeting and a bold idea can lead to transformative changes, setting the stage for the modern information systems that drive businesses today.

2.3 Modern Business Applications ¶

With the advances of computer hardware and software, today's business applications are everywhere and more intelligent than their precedences. A historical view shows the evolution of business applications - often called ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or Enterprise Systems (ES).

• 1960s: ERP's foundational system, known as MRP (Material Requirements Planning), emerged. It was designed to assist businesses in: Balancing production with demand; Managing inventory levels; Scheduling production processes.
• 1970s: MRP I was developed, which utilized software applications for generating schedules for operations and raw material purchases and tracking orders
• 1980s: MRP II was developed, which utilized software applications and applications for: (1) Coordinating manufacturing processes; (2) Managing product planning, parts purchasing, and inventory control; (3) Tracking product distribution and shipping; (4) Automating accounting and financial processes.
• 1990s: ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) emerged, which integrated various functions of a company into a single, interconnected system, including: (1) Financial management (accounting, budgeting, forecasting); (2) Human resource management (payroll, benefits, performance management); (3) Supply chain management (procurement, inventory management, logistics); (4) Customer relationship management (sales, marketing, customer service)
• 2000s: ERP II or Enterprise Systems (ES) emerged, which described the new advancements in ERP systems, including (1)Business intelligence (data analytics, reporting, dashboards); (2) Extended ERP. Integration with other systems, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM); (3) E-business and e-commerce capabilities
• Present day: ERP or ES systems continue to evolve with the latest business and technological trends, including (1)Cloud-based deployment options; (2) Mobile accessibility and apps; (3) Artificial intelligence and machine learning integration; (4) Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity;

Modern applications are designed with cloud-native architecture in mind. They run on cloud platforms (such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud), allowing for scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Cloud-native applications use micro-services, which break down complex systems into smaller, independent components. This approach enables faster development, easier maintenance, and better resource utilization.

Modern business applications are used in almost every business domain and process, empowering organizations to operate efficiently, adapt to changing market dynamics, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. By leveraging the latest technologies, businesses can ensure they remain competitive and responsive to market demands.

2.4 AI in Business: Transforming Modern Enterprises ¶

Ai in business: transforming modern enterprises ¶.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a pivotal force in modern business, driving innovation, efficiency, and competitiveness. By automating routine tasks, providing deep insights through data analysis, and enhancing decision-making processes, AI technologies are reshaping how businesses operate and compete in the global market.

AI offers several features that make it invaluable in the business context. One of the most significant is automation. AI can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing up human resources for more strategic activities. For instance, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is used to handle routine tasks such as data entry, invoice processing, and customer service inquiries. This not only improves efficiency but also reduces the potential for human error.

Data analysis and insights are another critical feature of AI. AI systems can analyze large volumes of data to uncover patterns, trends, and insights that would be difficult to detect manually. Machine learning algorithms, for example, can analyze customer data to identify purchasing patterns and predict future behavior, enabling businesses to develop targeted marketing strategies.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a feature of AI that enables machines to understand, interpret, and respond to human language. This capability is seen in chatbots and virtual assistants that interact with customers, providing instant support and improving customer satisfaction. Predictive analytics, which uses historical data to predict future outcomes and trends, is another powerful feature of AI. In manufacturing, predictive maintenance uses sensors and data analytics to foresee equipment failures before they occur, reducing downtime and maintenance costs.

AI also excels in delivering personalized experiences and recommendations to users based on their behavior and preferences. E-commerce platforms like Amazon use AI to recommend products based on past purchases and browsing history. Additionally, AI provides intelligent recommendations and supports decision-making processes through decision support systems. Financial institutions, for example, use AI to assess credit risk and make lending decisions by analyzing vast amounts of financial data and transaction histories.

The applications of AI in business are vast and varied.

• In customer service, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants handle customer inquiries, provide support, and resolve issues 24/7. Companies like H&M use chatbots on their websites and social media to answer customer questions, track orders, and provide product recommendations.
• In marketing and sales, AI analyzes customer data to optimize marketing campaigns and improve sales strategies. Netflix, for instance, uses AI to analyze viewing habits and preferences, delivering personalized content recommendations to its users.
• In supply chain management, AI optimizes logistics, inventory management, and demand forecasting. DHL employs AI to predict demand and optimize delivery routes, reducing operational costs and improving delivery times.
• Human resources also benefit from AI, with applications assisting in recruiting, employee engagement, and performance management. Companies like Unilever use AI to screen job applicants by analyzing video interviews, assessing facial expressions, tone of voice, and word choice.
• In the finance sector, AI enhances fraud detection, algorithmic trading, and financial planning. JP Morgan Chase uses AI for fraud detection by analyzing transaction patterns and flagging unusual activities in real-time. In healthcare, AI supports diagnostic processes, treatment recommendations, and patient monitoring. IBM Watson Health, for example, assists doctors by analyzing medical records and research papers to provide evidence-based treatment options.

In conclusion, AI is revolutionizing the business landscape by enhancing efficiency, improving decision-making, and delivering personalized experiences. As AI technologies continue to evolve, their applications in business are expected to expand, offering even more innovative solutions and driving further transformation across industries. Businesses that leverage AI effectively will gain a significant competitive edge in the market.

While AI offers significant advantages and transformative potential, its implementation in business also comes with several challenges. These challenges can impact the effectiveness of AI solutions and pose risks to organizations that must be managed carefully to realize the full benefits of AI technologies.

• Data Quality and Availability: One of the primary challenges in deploying AI systems is ensuring the availability and quality of data. AI systems rely on large volumes of high-quality data to function effectively. However, businesses often face difficulties in gathering, cleaning, and maintaining such data. Incomplete, inconsistent, or biased data can lead to inaccurate AI predictions and insights, undermining the reliability of AI applications. To address this, organizations must invest in robust data management practices and tools to ensure their data is accurate, complete, and relevant.
• Integration with Existing Systems: Integrating AI solutions with existing business systems and processes can be complex and time-consuming. Many organizations have legacy systems that may not be compatible with modern AI technologies, requiring significant modifications or even complete overhauls. This integration process can disrupt normal business operations and incur substantial costs. To mitigate these issues, businesses should plan for phased integration and allocate adequate resources for system upgrades and training.
• Talent Shortage: There is a notable shortage of skilled professionals who can design, implement, and manage AI systems. AI expertise requires a combination of skills in data science, machine learning, software engineering, and domain-specific knowledge. This talent gap can slow down AI adoption and development within organizations.
• Ethical and Legal Concerns: The use of AI in business raises various ethical and legal issues that need to be carefully considered. AI systems can inadvertently perpetuate biases present in the training data, leading to unfair or discriminatory outcomes. Moreover, the lack of transparency in AI decision-making processes, often referred to as the "black box" problem, can create accountability challenges. Organizations must establish ethical guidelines and frameworks for AI development and use, ensuring fairness, accountability, and transparency in their AI applications. Compliance with data protection laws and regulations, such as GDPR, is also crucial to avoid legal repercussions.
• Cost and Resource Allocation: Implementing AI technologies can be expensive, requiring substantial investments in hardware, software, and skilled personnel. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may find it particularly challenging to allocate the necessary resources for AI initiatives. Additionally, ongoing maintenance and updates of AI systems can add to the costs. Businesses need to conduct thorough cost-benefit analyses to ensure that AI investments are justified and align with their strategic goals.
• Security Risks: AI systems can introduce new security vulnerabilities, as they often require access to sensitive data and critical business operations. Cybersecurity threats, such as data breaches and adversarial attacks, can compromise the integrity and reliability of AI systems. Organizations must implement robust security measures to protect AI systems and the data they process, including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits.

While AI holds immense potential to transform business operations and drive innovation, organizations must navigate several challenges to harness its full benefits. Addressing issues related to data quality, system integration, talent shortages, ethical considerations, costs, change management, and security is crucial for the successful deployment of AI in business. By proactively managing these challenges, businesses can leverage AI to achieve greater efficiency, enhance decision-making, and gain a competitive edge in the market.

3 Components of MIS ¶

Management Information Systems (MIS) are integral to modern organizations, providing the necessary tools and information to support business operations and decision-making. At the core of any MIS are three critical components: people, processes, and data. These components work together seamlessly, supported by underlying information technology comprising hardware and software.

3.1 High Level Components ¶

People ¶.

People are the most important component of any MIS. They include the users who interact with the system and the IT professionals who design, implement, and maintain it. This group encompasses a wide range of roles, each contributing to the effective functioning of the MIS:

• End Users: These are individuals who use the MIS to perform their daily tasks. They include employees at various levels, from clerical staff to senior management, who rely on the system to access information, generate reports, and make decisions.
• IT Professionals: This group includes system analysts, developers, network administrators, and support staff who are responsible for creating, managing, and maintaining the MIS. They ensure that the system is reliable, secure, and performs efficiently.

The collaboration between end users and IT professionals is crucial for the successful implementation and operation of an MIS. End users provide valuable feedback that helps IT professionals to refine and improve the system, ensuring it meets the organization’s needs.

Processes ¶

Processes refer to the methods and procedures that define how tasks are performed within the organization. In the context of MIS, processes are the structured activities that transform raw data into meaningful information. These processes can be broadly categorized into several types:

• Data Collection: This involves gathering raw data from various sources within and outside the organization. Effective data collection processes ensure that the data is accurate, relevant, and timely.
• Data Processing: Once collected, the data is processed using algorithms and rules to convert it into usable information. This may involve sorting, filtering, aggregating, and analyzing the data.
• Information Dissemination: The processed information is then distributed to the relevant stakeholders through reports, dashboards, and other means. This ensures that decision-makers have access to the information they need when they need it.
• Feedback and Improvement: Continuous feedback from end users is used to improve the processes, ensuring they remain efficient and effective.

Well-defined and optimized processes are essential for an MIS to provide accurate and timely information, which in turn supports effective decision-making and organizational efficiency.

Data ¶

Data is the raw material that drives an MIS. It includes all the facts, figures, and statistics that are collected, processed, and stored by the system. Data can come from various sources, including internal operations, customer interactions, market research, and external databases. The quality of data is critical, as inaccurate or outdated data can lead to poor decision-making.

• Data Collection: Data must be collected systematically to ensure its accuracy and completeness. This can involve manual entry, automated sensors, or integration with other information systems.
• Data Storage: Once collected, data must be stored securely and efficiently. This involves the use of databases and data warehouses that can handle large volumes of data and provide quick access when needed.
• Data Management: Managing data involves ensuring its accuracy, consistency, and security. Data management practices include regular updates, backups, and access controls to protect sensitive information.

Data is the foundation of an MIS, and its proper management is essential for transforming it into valuable information that can drive business decisions.

Hardware components include servers, computers, storage devices, and networking infrastructure. Servers host databases and applications, while end-user devices (such as desktops, laptops, and mobile devices) access the MIS. Scalable and reliable hardware is essential for efficient MIS operations.

Software encompasses various applications and tools used within the MIS.

• Office tools and collaboration tools.
• Database management systems (DBMS) store and retrieve data.
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate multiple essential functions (e.g., manufacturing, accounting, finance, HR, inventory) into a unified platform.
• Today's enterprise system (ES) includes Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Capital Management (HCM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Business Intelligence (BI).
• Business intelligence (BI) software analyzes data and provides insights.

3.2 Information Technology and Business Applications ¶

The components of people, processes, and data are supported by the underlying information technology, which includes both hardware and software.

• Hardware: This includes all the physical devices and equipment used to collect, store, process, and disseminate data. Examples of hardware components are servers, computers, networking devices, and storage systems. Reliable and scalable hardware is essential for the smooth operation of an MIS.
• Software: Software includes the programs and applications that run on the hardware, enabling the processing and analysis of data. This can range from operating systems and database management systems to specialized applications for data analysis, reporting, and visualization. Software must be user-friendly, reliable, and capable of meeting the specific needs of the organization.

Business application software plays a critical role in modern enterprises by streamlining operations, enhancing decision-making, and improving overall efficiency. Among the various types of business application software, four key categories stand out: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Business Intelligence (BI). Each of these categories serves distinct functions and offers unique benefits to organizations.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) ¶

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems integrate various functions of a business into a unified system to streamline processes and information across the organization. ERP systems are designed to improve the efficiency of business operations by providing a comprehensive and real-time view of core business processes. Key Functions of ERP are:

• Financial Management: Manages financial transactions, including accounting, budgeting, and financial reporting. It ensures compliance with regulatory standards and provides insights into the financial health of the organization.
• Human Resource Management (HRM): Automates HR processes such as payroll, recruitment, performance evaluations, and employee records management. It helps in optimizing workforce management and improving employee satisfaction.
• Manufacturing and Production Planning: Facilitates production scheduling, material requirements planning, and quality control. It helps in optimizing manufacturing processes and ensuring timely production of goods.
• Supply Chain Management: many ERP solutions include basic SCM functionalities include procurement, inventory management, and logistics to ensure smooth operations from raw material acquisition to product delivery. Large companies have a separate SCM system.
• Customer Relationship Management: many ERP solutions include basic CRM functionalities to manage customer interactions and sales processes. Large companies have a separate CRM system.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ¶

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems focus on managing a company’s interactions with current and potential customers. The primary goal of CRM software is to improve business relationships, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive sales growth. Key Functions of CRM are:

• Sales Management: Tracks sales leads, opportunities, and customer interactions. It helps in managing the sales pipeline, forecasting sales, and closing deals more efficiently.
• Marketing Automation: Automates marketing campaigns, including email marketing, social media marketing, and lead generation. It enables personalized marketing efforts and improves the effectiveness of marketing strategies.
• Customer Service and Support: Manages customer service requests, support tickets, and customer feedback. It provides tools for resolving customer issues promptly and improving overall customer satisfaction.
• Customer Data Management: Centralizes customer information, including contact details, purchase history, and communication records. It helps in creating a 360-degree view of the customer, enabling better relationship management.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) ¶

Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems oversee the flow of goods, information, and finances as they move from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. SCM systems aim to optimize supply chain operations, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. Key Functions of SCM are:

• Procurement: Manages the acquisition of raw materials and goods from suppliers. It includes vendor selection, purchase orders, and supplier relationship management.
• Inventory Management: Tracks inventory levels, orders, and deliveries. It ensures that the right amount of inventory is available at the right time to meet customer demand.
• Logistics and Distribution: Manages the transportation and storage of goods. It includes route planning, shipping, and warehousing to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of products.
• Demand Planning and Forecasting: Predicts customer demand to optimize inventory levels and production schedules. It helps in minimizing stock outs and reducing excess inventory.
• Supply Chain Analytics: Provides insights into supply chain performance through data analysis and reporting. It helps in identifying bottlenecks and improving supply chain processes.

Business Intelligence (BI) ¶

Business Intelligence (BI) systems analyze data to provide actionable insights that inform business decisions. BI tools help organizations make sense of their data, identify trends, and drive strategic planning. Key Functions of BI are:

• Data Mining and Analytics: Extracts patterns and insights from large datasets. It includes techniques such as clustering, classification, and regression analysis to uncover hidden trends.
• Reporting and Dashboards: Generates visual reports and dashboards that provide real-time insights into business performance. It enables users to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and make data-driven decisions.
• Performance Management: Tracks and measures organizational performance against predefined goals. It helps in setting targets, monitoring progress, and identifying areas for improvement.
• Predictive Analytics: Uses statistical models and machine learning algorithms to predict future trends and outcomes. It helps organizations anticipate changes and make proactive decisions.
• Data Visualization: Presents data in graphical formats such as charts, graphs, and maps. It makes complex data easier to understand and interpret, facilitating better decision-making.

4 Vizio Case: What's the Most Important Business Function? ¶

Which is the most important function of a business? accounting, finance, marketing, management, HR, IS, or supply chain? It depends. You can outsource any function if it is not the core of your company operation.

In 1986, William Wang graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in electrical engineering. His career began in the realm of customer service, working for a company that manufactured computer monitors. During this time, monitors were unimpressive, typically grim beige boxes displaying monochrome green or amber text on black backgrounds. This job provided Wang with invaluable insight into the supply chain of electronic devices and honed his understanding of customer needs and industry standards.

In the early 2000s, Wang encountered the burgeoning technology of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) televisions. He immediately recognized the potential of LCD technology to revolutionize home entertainment, offering superior picture quality and a sleek design compared to the existing bulky television sets. This revelation sparked an idea: why not make these high-quality LCD TVs affordable for the average consumer? Driven by this vision, Wang made a bold decision. He refinanced his house to gather the necessary funds to create a prototype LCD TV. In 2002, with his prototype in hand and a mission to democratize access to high-quality LCD and plasma TVs, Wang launched Vizio.

Wang's next move was crucial. He knew that gaining a foothold in the highly competitive electronics market required a strategic partnership. He approached Costco, a major retail giant, with his vision. During a pivotal meeting, Wang asked for just one thing: a spot at the entrance of Costco stores to demo his LCD TVs. He promised to handle all customer support issues personally, ensuring that Costco would not have to bear any additional burden. At the end of the meeting, Wang made a bold proclamation: “I will beat SONY in five years.” Skepticism filled the room. While nobody believed such an audacious claim, they saw little risk in giving him a chance.

By the second quarter of 2003, Vizio’s products had found a place on Costco shelves. The strategy was simple yet effective: leverage Costco's high foot traffic and strategic placement to capture consumer attention without spending heavily on traditional marketing. Vizio's focus on providing high-quality products at affordable prices, combined with excellent customer service, began to pay off. Consumers quickly embraced Vizio TVs, drawn by their value and performance.

The results were nothing short of remarkable. By the fourth quarter of 2007, Vizio’s market share had soared to 14.2%, surpassing Sony’s 12.5%. William Wang’s bold vision and strategic execution had paid off, making Vizio the number-one seller of LCD TVs in North America within just five years. This journey from a simple customer service role to the helm of a leading consumer electronics brand underscores the power of innovation, strategic partnerships, and unwavering determination.

5 Why Should One Learn MIS? ¶

For business major students in fields such as accounting, finance, management, and marketing, learning Management Information Systems (MIS) is crucial. MIS provides the knowledge and skills necessary to leverage technology effectively in today's business environment. Here are the three most important reasons, supported by data, why business students should learn MIS:

1. Enhancing Decision-Making and Strategic Planning ¶

In fields like accounting, finance, and management, making informed decisions is key to success. MIS equips students with the ability to analyze data, generate actionable insights, and support strategic planning. By understanding MIS, business students can:

• Accounting : Utilize accounting information systems (AIS) to track financial transactions accurately, generate financial reports, and ensure regulatory compliance. According to a study by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), 83% of accounting firms use AIS to enhance their decision-making processes.
• Finance : Leverage financial information systems to analyze market trends, manage investment portfolios, and perform risk assessments. Notably, more than 70% of stock exchange transactions are now executed by computer algorithms, known as high-frequency trading, demonstrating the importance of MIS in financial markets.

2. Driving Efficiency and Operational Excellence ¶

Efficiency is a critical factor in all business disciplines. MIS helps streamline operations, automate routine tasks, and optimize resource utilization, leading to improved productivity and reduced costs. Business students can benefit from MIS by:

• Marketing : Utilizing marketing information systems (MKIS) to analyze customer data, track marketing campaigns, and segment markets. According to HubSpot, 64% of marketers actively invest in website optimization and marketing analytics tools, indicating the critical role of MIS in marketing.
• Management : Applying enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to integrate various business functions, ensuring smooth operations and real-time access to information. Gartner reports that 88% of organizations consider ERP systems essential for business operations, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.

3. Supporting Innovation and Competitive Advantage ¶

In a rapidly changing business environment, innovation and adaptability are essential. MIS provides the tools and knowledge needed to stay ahead of technological trends and maintain a competitive edge. Business students can leverage MIS to:

• Accounting : Adopt innovative accounting software that incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate complex tasks and detect anomalies. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) reports that 63% of accountants believe AI will have a significant impact on the accounting profession.
• Marketing : Implement digital marketing tools and platforms that utilize big data analytics to gain deeper insights into consumer behavior. Google reports that businesses leveraging data-driven marketing are 6 times more likely to be profitable year-over-year, highlighting the importance of MIS in marketing strategies.

1.2 Problem Solving: The Most Important Skill in Information Systems

An example of a problem solving that instead exploits an opportunity is a brick and mortar business, such as a furniture store, that sees an opportunity to increase sales by adding the ability to sell online. An IS professional exploits that opportunity by determining and designing the best option for selling online. Designing a solution to the opportunity facing the furniture store is considered “problem solving.”

Related to problem solving, employers have indicated the main capabilities expected of all IS graduates. 1 These include the ability to:

Improve Organizational Processes

Exploit Opportunities Created by Technology Innovations

Understand and Address Information Requirements

Identify and Evaluate Solution and Sourcing Alternatives

Design and Manage Enterprise Architecture

Secure Data and Infrastructure

Understand, Manage, and Control IT Risks

The capabilities in the list above may be somewhat unfamiliar to you right now, but recognize that the ones that have been italicized require problem-solving skills. Therefore, regardless of the IS classes that an IS graduate may take when completing a degree, over half of the capabilities employers expect of graduates involve the ability to solve problems in a technology context. For example, improving organizational processes means that an IS professional needs to first understand what is wrong with an organizational process, and then design a solution. Similarly, exploiting an opportunity means that an IS professional must understand the opportunity, then design a solution with a technology that takes advantage of the opportunity. Understanding and addressing information requirements means that an IS professional needs to understand what is wanted from stakeholders, and then meet those wants through a solution that the professional designs. Lastly, identifying and evaluating solutions and sourcing alternatives means that an IS professional first understands a problem to be solved, and then thoughtfully selects the best way to solve the problem, which will include alternatives such as either building custom software from scratch or buying existing software that other software companies have already created.

The job placement statistics for IS graduates provide further evidence of the importance of problem-solving skills. According to a 2019 job index report sponsored by AIS and Temple University, the leading job categories for graduates include the following: 2

IT Consulting

Computer Systems Analyst

Data Analytics

Software Development

Information Security

The primary responsibility of professionals working in IT Consulting and Computer Systems Analyst jobs is to solve problems for organizations using technology. Together, these two job categories represent over one-fourth of the jobs in IS. Other job roles in IS also require significant problem-solving skills, even if those skills aren't considered a primary responsibility. Consider the role of a software developer. They might think of their job as merely writing code, but in reality, they are asked to do far more than this by providing solutions to important organizational problems. For example, they may be asked to solve the business problem of not having web-based payment options for customers, or they may be asked to solve the problem of expensive and inefficient public transportation (think of Uber as a solution), or they may be asked to solve the problem of a sales team that has no means of accessing organizational data when they are away from the office (see Vignette 1.2 for an example of a problem that was solved in a university setting).

Any time a developer is required to build a solution to a problem, they first have to research it and determine what they need to do. In other words, they have to solve the problem conceptually before they can physically implement its solution. That is precisely what this book teaches IS professionals to do: solve problems conceptually before implementing them physically.

One type of organization all students are familiar with is a university, and one task they are all familiar with is registering for classes. Today, most students enjoy the relative ease of course registration. It involves an electronic list of courses available, and often it reveals the number of seats still available in a given section of a course. Adding and dropping a class can be as easy as clicking a button.

However, it wasn’t always so simple. Students used to fill out cards for classes that they wanted to register for and then have to wait in lines for each class to submit their cards. Imagine the number of headaches this caused: needing to be in a physical location to submit your card, finding out the class you wanted was full when you got to the front of the line, selecting another class, and starting the process all over again. Moving class registration online wasn’t just a technical task (e.g., programming a website); it was also a way to remove a lot of pain points for a lot of people—it was solving a problem. Just as IS professionals have solved a registration problem for universities, IS professionals today help organizations address an ever-evolving list of problems.

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Systems approach to problem solving.

By Dinesh Thakur

Systems approach is widely used in problem solving in different contexts. Researchers in the field of science and technology have used it for quite some time now. Business problems can also be analyzed and solved using this approach. The following steps are required for this:

We’ll be covering the following topics in this tutorial:

Defining the Problem

This is the step when the problem has to be defined. Sometimes one may confuse the symptoms or the exhibition of a behavior to be a problem but actually it may only be a symptom of a larger malaise. It may just exhibit the behavior of a larger phenomenon. It is vital to drill deep into an issue and clearly understand the problem rather than having a superficial understanding of the problem. One must appreciate that this in the initial stage of problem solving and if the problem itself is not correctly diagnosed then the solution will obviously be wrong. Systems approach is therefore used to understand the problem in granular detail to establish requirement and objectives in-depth. By using the systems approach the problem will be analyzed in its totality with inherent elements and their interrelationships and therefore this detailed analysis will bring out the actual problem and separate out the symptom from it.

Developing Alternative Solutions

This the logical next step in the systems approaches for problem solving. In this stage alternative solutions are generated. This requires creativity and innovation. In this stage-the analyst uses creativity to come up with possible solutions to the problem. Typically in this stage only the outline of solutions are generated rather than the actual solutions.

Selecting a Solution

In this step, the solution that suits the requirement and objectives in the most comprehensive manner is selected as the ‘best’ solution. This is done after evaluating all the possible solutions and then comparing the possible set of solutions to find the most suitable solution lot of mathematical, financial and technical models is used to select the most appropriate solution.

Designing the Solution

Once the most appropriate solution is chosen, it is then made into a design document to give it the shape of an actionable solution, as in the evaluation stage, only the outline of the solution is used. At this stage the details of the solution are worked out to create the blueprint for the solution. Several design diagrams are used to prepare the design document. At this stage the requirement specifications are again compared with the solution design to double check the suitability of the solution for the problem.

Implementing the Solution

It is the next step in the process. The solution that has been designed is implemented as per the specifications -laid down in the design document. During implementation care is taken to ensure that there are no deviations from the design.

Reviewing the Solution

This is the final step in the problem solving process where the review of the impact of the solution is noted. This is a stage for finding out if the desired result has been achieved that was set out.

A Systems Approach Example

Let us assume that A is the coach of the Indian cricket team. Let us also assume that the objective that A has been entrusted with is to secure a win over the touring Australian cricket team. The coach uses a systems approach to attain this objective. He starts by gathering information about his own team.

Through systems approach he views his own Indian team as a system whose environment would include the other team in the competition, umpires, regulators, crowd and media. His system, i.e., team itself maybe conceptualized as having two subsystems, i.e., players and supporting staff for players. Each subsystem would have its own set of components/entities like the player subsystem will have openers, middle order batsmen, fast bowlers, wicket keeper, etc. The supporting staff subsystem would include bowling coach, batting coach, physiotherapist, psychologist, etc. All these entities would indeed have a bearing on the actual outcome of the game. The coach adopts a systems approach to determine the playing strategy that he will adopt to ensure that the Indian side wins. He analyses the issue in a stepwise manner as given below:

Step 1: Defining the problem-In this stage the coach tries to understand the past performance of his team and that of the other team in the competition. His objective is to defeat the competing team. He realizes that the problem he faces is that of losing the game. This is his main problem.

Step 2: Collecting data-The coach employs his supporting staff to gather data on the skills and physical condition of the players in the competing team by analyzing past performance data, viewing television footage of previous games, making psychological profiles of each player. The support staff analyses the data and comes up with the following observations:

• Both teams use an aggressive strategy during the period of power play. The competing Australian team uses the opening players to spearhead this attack. However, recently the openers have had a personal fight and are facing interpersonal problems.
• The game is being played in Mumbai and the local crowd support is estimated to be of some value amounting to around fifty runs. Also the crowd has come to watch the Indian team win. A loss here would cost the team in terms of morale.
• The umpires are neutral and are not intimidated by large crowd support but are lenient towards sledging.

Step 3: Identifying alternatives-Based on the collected data the coach generates the following alternate strategies:

• Play upon the minds of the opening players of the competitors by highlighting their personal differences using sledging alone.
• Employ defensive tactics during power play when the openers are most aggressive and not using sledging.
• Keep close in fielders who would sledge and employ the best attacking bowlers of the Indian team during the power play.

Step 4: Evaluating alternatives-After having generated different alternatives, the coach has to select only one. The first alternative may lead to loss of concentration on the part of openers and result in breakthroughs. However, there is a chance that the interpersonal differences between the two openers may have already been resolved before they come to the field and in such a case this strategy will fail. The second strategy provides a safer option in the sense that it will neutralize the aggressive game of the openers but there is limited chance of getting breakthroughs. The third option of employing aggressive close in fielders to play upon the internal personal differences of the openers and at the same time employing the best bowlers may lead to breakthroughs and may also restrict the aggressive openers.

Step 5: Selecting the best alternative-The coach selects the third alternative as it provides him with the opportunity of neutralizing the aggressive playing strategy of the openers as well as increases the chances of getting breakthrough wickets.

Step 6: Implementing and monitoring-The coach communicates his strategy to his players and support staff, instructs support staff to organize mock sessions and tactics to be employed to make the strategy a success. The players and support staff performance is monitored by the coach on a regular basis to ensure that the strategy is employed perfectly.

Simplifying a System or Applying Systems Approach For Problem Solving

The easiest way to simplify a system for better understanding is to follow a two-stage approach.

Partitioning the System into Black Boxes

This is the first stage of the simplification process, in this stage the system is partitioned into black boxes. Black boxes need limited knowledge to be constructed. To construct a black box one needs to know the input that goes into it, the output that comes out of it and its function. The knowledge of how the functionality is achieved is not required for constructing a black box. Black box partitioning helps in the comprehension of the system, as the entire system gets broken down into granular functionalities of a set of black boxes.

Organizing the Black Boxes into Hierarchies

This is the second stage of the simplification process, in this stage the black boxes constructed in the earlier phase are organized into hierarchies so that the relationships among the black boxes is easily established. Once, a hierarchy of the black boxes is established, the system becomes easier to understand as the internal working of the system becomes clearer.

You’ll also like:

• What is Systems Approach? Definition and Meaning
• Basic Concepts of the Systems Approach
• Database Approach
• Types of Systems
• Information Systems Planning

Dinesh Thakur is a Freelance Writer who helps different clients from all over the globe. Dinesh has written over 500+ blogs, 30+ eBooks, and 10000+ Posts for all types of clients.

For any type of query or something that you think is missing, please feel free to Contact us .

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Management Information Systems: In Business, in Academia, and in The Future

By Andy Marker | October 26, 2017 (updated December 14, 2021)

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Management information systems (MIS) is a changing and challenging field. Modern businesses can’t survive for long without using some sort of MIS to manage massive amounts of data, and there are plenty of opportunities to study or work in the discipline. In this article, we’ll cover what is happening with MIS in both business and academia. You’ll learn about what constitutes an MIS, their origin and evolution, their capabilities, and also gain insights from experts in the field.

What Is a Management Information System?

In business, management information systems (or information management systems) are tools used to support processes, operations, intelligence, and IT. MIS tools move data and manage information. They are the core of the information management discipline and are often considered the first systems of the information age.

MIS produce data-driven reports that help businesses make the right decisions at the right time. While MIS overlaps with other business disciplines, there are some differences:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) : This discipline ensures that all departmental systems are integrated. MIS uses those connected systems to access data to create reports. 
• IT Management : This department oversees the installation and maintenance of hardware and software that are parts of the MIS. The distinction between the two has always been fuzzy.
• E-commerce: E-commerce activity provides data that the MIS uses. In turn, the MIS reports based on this data affect e-commerce processes. 

Maeve Cummings , Co-author of Management Information Systems for the Information Age and Professor of Accounting & Computer Information Systems at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, explains how MIS functions in academia. “[Management information systems is] the study of computers and computing in a business environment. Computer science focuses on the machine while information systems, or management information systems, focuses on how IT can support the strategy and operation of organizations,” she explains.

The concept includes what computers can do in this field, how people process information, and how best to make it accessible and up-to-date. Cummings adds, “The ‘right information in the right place at the right time’ is what we are striving for. This discipline is much more eclectic than straight computer science.” 

Besides computer science, there are fields of study that overlap with MIS, both at the theoretical and practical levels:

• Information Systems (IS): In IS, there is a greater emphasis on tools, while MIS places more emphasis on business processes and operations.
• Information Technology (IT): IT is similar to IS, but it focuses solely on computers.
• Informatics: A discipline that combines software engineering, information systems development, and networking. 
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering: These fields focus on the development and improvement of hardware and software, respectively. MIS helps determine the practical and theoretical implications of these changes. 

History of Management Information Systems

The technology and tools used in MIS have evolved over time. Kenneth and Aldrich Estel, who are widely cited on the topic, have identified six eras in the field. 

After an era ends, the previous era’s hardware are still in use. In fact, mainframes (albeit much faster, cheaper, and easier to access than their predecessors) are still used today.

From Ledgers to Flash Memory

In the days where businesses recorded all transactions in a bound ledger, tallying and tracking what was going on took a lot of time and work. In the late 1800s, process automation began to appear in the the form of punch cards. Associated machines tabulated the punch card data and printed results, which made it easier to capture transactions. The company that came to eventually be known as IBM was founded in the early 1900s and became the leader in business machines and punch cards. These cards evolved from a solution to automate pattern creation in weaving machines. The company adapted the idea to store and input data for applications from as simple as time for payroll to very complicated uses like recording census data. When general-purpose computers became available after WWII (originally developed for codebreaking, calculating shell trajectories, and other war-related needs), the punch card became an input method as well as a way to store outputs (though it required readers to decode and print the data so people could read it). 

Later, magnetic media (such as tapes and floppy disks) took over the storage of input and output, and computers could read and write directly to their own memory. This eliminated the need for the specialized machines. Next, optical media (like CDs and DVDs) that could store much more data on a single disc came along. Today, we are transitioning to flash memory (which also goes by solid state, as in a solid state drive or SSD). Flash memory has a higher capacity, is less volatile, and you can reuse it thousands of times with little degradation in quality.

Each of these periods has brought an increase in storage capacity at a lower cost. In tandem with the constant increase in computing power, more and more powerful software, almost-ubiquitous connectivity via wifi and mobile devices, and ever-expanding networking that evolved into the internet, work that previously took many hours - like tabulating a company's shipping costs over a year or population increases in a state over a century - now takes little time or human effort.

On the software side, the functions that paper ledgers performed moved to spreadsheet programs (the term spreadsheet came from the large sheets of paper spread out on tables). Microsoft Excel is the best-known example, but it wasn’t the first to become popular. VisiCalc, which was created for the Apple II in the late 1970s by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston, was the first to gain popularity. There were spreadsheet programs available for mainframes and minicomputers before VisiCalc, but they didn’t offer the ability to see results in real time. 

Spreadsheets became more powerful in the 70s and 80s. When connected with databases, they gave users the ability to easily and quickly access and manipulate data. As users’ needs and desires changed, specialized programs were developed for different user groups, allowing innovative ways to use data. 

Information technology and MIS used to be synonymous. Task automation (such as report creation) led to an expansion of the work that fell under MIS. Simultaneously, the definition of IT expanded even more, and it now encompases areas beyond MIS, such as cyber security and network administration.

Categories of Management Information Systems

Management information system is a broad term that incorporates many specialized systems. The major types of systems include the following:

• Executive Information System (EIS): Senior management use an EIS to make decisions that affect the entire organization. Executives need high-level data with the ability to drill down as necessary. 
• Marketing Information System (MkIS): Marketing teams use MkIS to report on the effectiveness of past and current campaigns and use the lessons learned to plan future campaigns.
• Business Intelligence System (BIS): Operations use a BIS to make business decisions based on the collection, integration, and analysis of the collected data and information. This system is similar to EIS, but both lower level managers and executives use it. 
• Customer Relationship Management System (CRM): A CRM system stores key information about customers, including previous sales, contact information, and sales opportunities. Marketing, customer service, sales, and business development teams often use CRM .
• Sales Force Automation System (SFA): A specialized component of a CRM system that automates many tasks that a sales team performs. It can include contact management, lead tracking and generation, and order management.
• Transaction Processing System (TPS): An MIS that completes a sale and manages related details. On a basic level, a TPS could be a point of sale (POS) system, or a system that allows a traveller to search for a hotel and include room options, such as price range, the type and number of beds, or a swimming pool, and then select and book it. Employees can use the data created to report on usage trends and track sales over time.
• Knowledge Management System (KMS): Customer service can use a KM system to answer questions and troubleshoot problems. 
• Financial Accounting System (FAS): This MIS is specific to departments dealing with finances and accounting, such as accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR).
• Human Resource Management System ( HRMS ): This system tracks employee performance records and payroll data.
• Supply Chain Management System (SCM): Manufacturing companies use SCM to track the flow of resources, materials, and services from purchase until final products are shipped.  

Types of MIS Reports

At their core, management information systems exist to store data and create reports that business pros can use to analyze and make decisions. There are three basic kinds of reports: 

• Scheduled: Created on a regular basis, these reports use rules the requestor has provided to pull and organize the data. Scheduled reports allow businesses to analyze data over time (e.g. an airline can see the percentage of lost luggage by month), location (e.g. a retail chain can compare sales figures from different stores), or other parameters.
• Ad-hoc: These are one-off reports that a user creates to answer a question. If the reports are useful, you can turn ad-hoc reports into scheduled reports. 
• Real-time: This type of MIS report allows someone to monitor changes as they occur. For example, a call center manager may see an unexpected spike in call volume, and find a way to increase productivity or send some of the calls elsewhere.

Benefits of Using Management Information Systems

Using an MIS system can improve the performance of a company in many ways. R. Kelly Rainer, Jr. , George Phillips Privett Professor at Auburn University and Co-author of Management Information Systems, Moving Business Forward , says, “Any organization that does not use MIS simply will not exist for long. This statement would not have been true a couple of decades ago, but computer-based information systems are now essential to the survival of any organization.” 

Beyond the need to stay competitive, there are some key advantages of effective use of management information systems:

• Management can get an overview of their entire operation.
• Managers have the ability to get feedback about their performance.
• Organizations can maximize benefits from their investments by seeing what is working and what isn’t.
• Managers can compare results to planned performance by identifying strengths and weakness in both the plan and the performance.
• Companies can drive workflow improvements that result in better alignment of business processes to customer needs.
• Many business decisions are moved out of upper management to levels of the organization that is closer to where the knowledge and experience lie.

Management Information Systems in Healthcare Organizations

As healthcare companies continue to evolve with the changing technology landscape, and more information, like treatment data, patient information, and operations processes are stored within these systems, healthcare organizations face a need to gain visibility into this critical information anytime, anywhere.

MIS in healthcare enables data and information management related to clinical trials, financial and legal information, pharmaceutical details, physician credentials, and more, to be handled within one comprehensive system. However, because much of this information is confidential and must abide by HIPAA regulatory requirements, these organizations must also be confident that their MIS is safeguarded.

To enable healthcare teams to organize, manage, and store critical information within one holistic system, while also ensuring that their data is safe and all protected health information (PHI) is secure, they need a tool that provides transparency into critical processes, while remaining protected.

Smartsheet is a work execution platform that enables healthcare companies to improve work efficiency, scale business processes, and manage patient data and information, all while securely storing and sharing PHI. Streamline reporting, track and manage assets and resources, and organize all business-critical information in one centralized location to ensure your business runs efficiently, knowing that your data is protected and compliant under HIPAA guidelines.

Interested in learning more about how Smartsheet can help you maximize your efforts? Discover Smartsheet for Healthcare .

MIS Degrees and Careers

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) projection for employment in computer and information occupations are projected to grow by 22 percent from 2010 to 2020, adding about 758,000 new jobs.

There’s a common misconception that MIS is just coding. Though that task is a part of it, there are many skills and attributes required for MIS-related careers, including the following:

• Problem solving
• Liking to work with people
• Strategic thinking, especially about technology. In a 1998 paper titled The Balanced Scorecard: A Foundation For the Strategic Management of Information Systems , authors Maris Martinsons, Robert Davison, and Dennis Tse state: In addition to managing current performance, there is also a need to measure and evaluate the readiness of the IS department or function for the future. The future readiness perspective is concerned with: 1. continually improving the skillset of IS specialists in order to prepare them for potential changes and challenges in the future; 2. regularly updating the applications portfolio; and 3. putting effort into researching emerging technologies and their potential value to the organization.
• Developing and implementing new ideas
• Understanding both technology and business
• The ability to look at both details and the big picture
• Communication skills, both written and oral. R. Kelly Rainer, Jr. explains, “The ability of MIS employees to communicate effectively with users in order to understand their business problems. After gaining that understanding, MIS employees must present computer-based solution(s) to those problem(s) without using MIS jargon. The trickiest problem here occurs when a business problem does not have a computer-based solution. In some cases, users are looking for a ‘silver, computer-based bullet’ for a problem that does not have such a solution. For example, a problem with corporate culture might not have a technological solution.”
• Time and resource management
• Comfortable with technological change. R. Kelly Rainer, Jr. says, “One function of MIS employees is to keep abreast of emerging technologies and the potential impacts that these technologies will have on their organization. In fact, MIS employees must be conversant with SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analyses for each of these technologies. MIS employees must use original thinking when they present these analyses to organizational management.”

There are many employment paths for someone who wants to pursue a career in MIS. These are some MIS-related job titles/fields:

• Business analyst
• Business application developer
• Business intelligence analyst
• Computer and information systems manager
• Computer systems analyst
• Data communications analyst
• Data integration
• Database administrator
• Database analyst
• Information exchange
• Information integration
• Information resources management
• Information security
• Information systems manager
• IT consultant
• IT development project leader
• IT user liaison
• Knowledge management
• Network administrator
• Network systems analyst
• Systems analyst
• Systems developer
• Technical support specialist
• Web developer

While every modern business needs MIS, some industries devote more of their resources to the practice than others do; these include health care, financial services, and telecommunications. Therefore, job seekers might find more opportunity in those verticals.

If someone wants to pursue a degree in an MIS-related field, Collegefactual.com has compiled a list of the top BA programs in the U.S., based on related overall education quality, degrees offered, earnings potential, and other factors:

• University of Notre Dame
• University of Washington
• Georgetown University
• Villanova University
• Santa Clara University
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• University of Texas at Austin
• Rochester Institute of Technology

Recent Developments and The Future of Management Information Systems

Management information systems, like any discipline that involves computers and software, is constantly changing. Some recent developments in the field include the following:

• PCs Can Now Host MISs: A small business can have access to the powerful software that previously was only available to large enterprises.
• Application and Management Service Providers: Similar to renting cloud storage, companies can rent software packages and systems management services and expand as their needs change.
• Security: As proved by recent data breaches, data security has moved from a minor concern to a major one. Detailed information about security practices can be found here . 

In the future, many of the same forces that will change the larger world will affect MIS, but some will have a greater impact than others. MIS experts weigh-in on the topic and what we can expect going forward:

Maeve Cummings believes:

One big area of development in information technology is artificial intelligence (AI), which goes far beyond robots that control production (for example, in the automobile industry). Machines are becoming smarter in that they can learn how to solve problems. One such system is a neural network, which is used to alert you that your credit card may have been used unlawfully. These neural networks form a pattern of your spending and based on that, they flag purchases that are out of character, which is when you're notified or your credit card is frozen, depending on the situation. Such developments undoubtedly affect MIS, but they also affect the culture, the law, medicine, military defense, etc.

With so much big data being collected and analyzed nowadays, there will be a great need for legal minds to help sort through the various issues of what should and should not be legal from a privacy point of view. Also, with the budding field of computer-aided mind reading, still very much in its infancy, the issue of what society is allowed to do with that information will be crucial. For example, if you can read a person’s mind to determine whether that person is lying or not, would that be considered evidence or testimony? The law protects people from incriminating themselves (i.e. testimony). However, evidence, such as blood and hair samples may be taken without the consent of the accused. So which is mind-reading? The most interesting part of this business is that it is constantly changing and becoming more powerful. That is also the most alarming part of it.

R. Kelly Rainer Jr shares his thoughts on emerging technologies:

• Artificial Intelligence: Narrow AI (AI for specific tasks) is now pervasive in many organizations. Advances in machine learning and deep learning are making narrow AI much more valuable to all of us. Think instantaneous translation, autonomous vehicles, robots, digital manufacturing (3D printing), etc. MIS departments must try to keep up with these advances and decide how narrow AI can be used in their organizations. 
• The Internet of Things (IoT): The rapid increase of placing sensors on all objects (animate and inanimate) is leading to a sense-and-respond environment. MIS employees should perform the SWOT analysis on IoT for their organizations. A well-publicized example of IoT is General Electric and its Predix operating system.
• Blockchain: Distributed-ledger technology is now being used in a large number of areas. Again, MIS employees must keep up with this technology and see how it impacts their organizations. 
• Financial Technology (FinTech): If your organization is in the financial sector, your MIS employees had better be closely watching start-up FinTech companies. These companies are planning on disrupting the traditional financial sector.
• Quantum Computing: As Moore’s Law begins to slow as we reach the physical limits on how many integrated circuits we can place on a chip, a new paradigm is emerging called quantum computing. Classical computing uses bits, which are either a “0” or a “1.” Quantum computing uses quantum bits (qubits). Unlike classical bits, qubits can store much more information than just 1 or 0 because they can exist in any superposition of these values. Quantum computing is in its very early days, but its potential can provide a dramatic increase in computing speeds. For example, scientists are hoping to be able to accurately model the climate. Another application lies in the field of information security.

Revue of Top Management Information Systems Textbooks

The future of MISs and new technologies will provide new ways to use data to improve business processes, acquire and work with customers, educate employees, and more. If you’re interested in learning more about management information systems, these books can help flush out your understanding of the field and its opportunities. 

Management Information Systems for the Information Age by Steven Haag and Maeve Cummings. Learn the basics of the field and study examples of how organizations have implemented the concepts presented. 

Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm by Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon. This is geared toward business students and provides insight into how businesses leverage IT systems to meet their corporate objectives.

Management Information Systems, Moving Business Forward by by R. Kelly Rainer, Jr. and Hugh J. Watson. This book ties MIS concepts to practice activities, and the activities give students experience with software used in the business world.

Business Information Management: Improving Performance Using Information Systems by Dave Chaffey and Gareth White. In this book, you’ll learn how to apply problem-solving skills to MIS-related problems while looking at them from the perspective of different roles inside a company.

Improve Management Information Systems with Smartsheet for IT & Ops

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Why Problem-Solving Skills Are Essential for Leaders in Any Industry

• 17 Jan 2023

Any organization offering a product or service is in the business of solving problems.

Whether providing medical care to address health issues or quick convenience to those hungry for dinner, a business’s purpose is to satisfy customer needs .

In addition to solving customers’ problems, you’ll undoubtedly encounter challenges within your organization as it evolves to meet customer needs. You’re likely to experience growing pains in the form of missed targets, unattained goals, and team disagreements.

Yet, the ubiquity of problems doesn’t have to be discouraging; with the right frameworks and tools, you can build the skills to solve consumers' and your organization’s most challenging issues.

Here’s a primer on problem-solving in business, why it’s important, the skills you need, and how to build them.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Problem-Solving in Business?

Problem-solving is the process of systematically removing barriers that prevent you or others from reaching goals.

Your business removes obstacles in customers’ lives through its products or services, just as you can remove obstacles that keep your team from achieving business goals.

Design Thinking

Design thinking , as described by Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar in the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , is a human-centered , solutions-based approach to problem-solving and innovation. Originally created for product design, design thinking’s use case has evolved . It’s now used to solve internal business problems, too.

The design thinking process has four stages :

• Clarify: Clarify a problem through research and feedback from those impacted.
• Ideate: Armed with new insights, generate as many solutions as possible.
• Develop: Combine and cull your ideas into a short list of viable, feasible, and desirable options before building prototypes (if making physical products) and creating a plan of action (if solving an intangible problem).
• Implement: Execute the strongest idea, ensuring clear communication with all stakeholders about its potential value and deliberate reasoning.

Using this framework, you can generate innovative ideas that wouldn’t have surfaced otherwise.

Creative Problem-Solving

Another, less structured approach to challenges is creative problem-solving , which employs a series of exercises to explore open-ended solutions and develop new perspectives. This is especially useful when a problem’s root cause has yet to be defined.

You can use creative problem-solving tools in design thinking’s “ideate” stage, which include:

• Brainstorming: Instruct everyone to develop as many ideas as possible in an allotted time frame without passing judgment.
• Divergent thinking exercises: Rather than arriving at the same conclusion (convergent thinking), instruct everyone to come up with a unique idea for a given prompt (divergent thinking). This type of exercise helps avoid the tendency to agree with others’ ideas without considering alternatives.
• Alternate worlds: Ask your team to consider how various personas would manage the problem. For instance, how would a pilot approach it? What about a young child? What about a seasoned engineer?

It can be tempting to fall back on how problems have been solved before, especially if they worked well. However, if you’re striving for innovation, relying on existing systems can stunt your company’s growth.

Related: How to Be a More Creative Problem-Solver at Work: 8 Tips

Why Is Problem-Solving Important for Leaders?

While obstacles’ specifics vary between industries, strong problem-solving skills are crucial for leaders in any field.

Whether building a new product or dealing with internal issues, you’re bound to come up against challenges. Having frameworks and tools at your disposal when they arise can turn issues into opportunities.

As a leader, it’s rarely your responsibility to solve a problem single-handedly, so it’s crucial to know how to empower employees to work together to find the best solution.

Your job is to guide them through each step of the framework and set the parameters and prompts within which they can be creative. Then, you can develop a list of ideas together, test the best ones, and implement the chosen solution.

Related: 5 Design Thinking Skills for Business Professionals

4 Problem-Solving Skills All Leaders Need

1. problem framing.

One key skill for any leader is framing problems in a way that makes sense for their organization. Problem framing is defined in Design Thinking and Innovation as determining the scope, context, and perspective of the problem you’re trying to solve.

“Before you begin to generate solutions for your problem, you must always think hard about how you’re going to frame that problem,” Datar says in the course.

For instance, imagine you work for a company that sells children’s sneakers, and sales have plummeted. When framing the problem, consider:

• What is the children’s sneaker market like right now?
• Should we improve the quality of our sneakers?
• Should we assess all children’s footwear?
• Is this a marketing issue for children’s sneakers specifically?
• Is this a bigger issue that impacts how we should market or produce all footwear?

While there’s no one right way to frame a problem, how you do can impact the solutions you generate. It’s imperative to accurately frame problems to align with organizational priorities and ensure your team generates useful ideas for your firm.

To solve a problem, you need to empathize with those impacted by it. Empathy is the ability to understand others’ emotions and experiences. While many believe empathy is a fixed trait, it’s a skill you can strengthen through practice.

When confronted with a problem, consider whom it impacts. Returning to the children’s sneaker example, think of who’s affected:

• Your organization’s employees, because sales are down
• The customers who typically buy your sneakers
• The children who typically wear your sneakers

Empathy is required to get to the problem’s root and consider each group’s perspective. Assuming someone’s perspective often isn’t accurate, so the best way to get that information is by collecting user feedback.

For instance, if you asked customers who typically buy your children’s sneakers why they’ve stopped, they could say, “A new brand of children’s sneakers came onto the market that have soles with more traction. I want my child to be as safe as possible, so I bought those instead.”

When someone shares their feelings and experiences, you have an opportunity to empathize with them. This can yield solutions to their problem that directly address its root and shows you care. In this case, you may design a new line of children’s sneakers with extremely grippy soles for added safety, knowing that’s what your customers care most about.

Related: 3 Effective Methods for Assessing Customer Needs

3. Breaking Cognitive Fixedness

Cognitive fixedness is a state of mind in which you examine situations through the lens of past experiences. This locks you into one mindset rather than allowing you to consider alternative possibilities.

For instance, your cognitive fixedness may make you think rubber is the only material for sneaker treads. What else could you use? Is there a grippier alternative you haven’t considered?

Problem-solving is all about overcoming cognitive fixedness. You not only need to foster this skill in yourself but among your team.

4. Creating a Psychologically Safe Environment

As a leader, it’s your job to create an environment conducive to problem-solving. In a psychologically safe environment, all team members feel comfortable bringing ideas to the table, which are likely influenced by their personal opinions and experiences.

If employees are penalized for “bad” ideas or chastised for questioning long-held procedures and systems, innovation has no place to take root.

By employing the design thinking framework and creative problem-solving exercises, you can foster a setting in which your team feels comfortable sharing ideas and new, innovative solutions can grow.

How to Build Problem-Solving Skills

The most obvious answer to how to build your problem-solving skills is perhaps the most intimidating: You must practice.

Again and again, you’ll encounter challenges, use creative problem-solving tools and design thinking frameworks, and assess results to learn what to do differently next time.

While most of your practice will occur within your organization, you can learn in a lower-stakes setting by taking an online course, such as Design Thinking and Innovation . Datar guides you through each tool and framework, presenting real-world business examples to help you envision how you would approach the same types of problems in your organization.

Are you interested in uncovering innovative solutions for your organization’s business problems? Explore Design Thinking and Innovation —one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses —to learn how to leverage proven frameworks and tools to solve challenges. Not sure which course is right for you? Download our free flowchart .

About the Author

40 problem-solving techniques and processes

All teams and organizations encounter challenges. Approaching those challenges without a structured problem solving process can end up making things worse.

Proven problem solving techniques such as those outlined below can guide your group through a process of identifying problems and challenges , ideating on possible solutions , and then evaluating and implementing the most suitable .

In this post, you'll find problem-solving tools you can use to develop effective solutions. You'll also find some tips for facilitating the problem solving process and solving complex problems.

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What is problem solving?

Problem solving is a process of finding and implementing a solution to a challenge or obstacle. In most contexts, this means going through a problem solving process that begins with identifying the issue, exploring its root causes, ideating and refining possible solutions before implementing and measuring the impact of that solution.

For simple or small problems, it can be tempting to skip straight to implementing what you believe is the right solution. The danger with this approach is that without exploring the true causes of the issue, it might just occur again or your chosen solution may cause other issues.

Particularly in the world of work, good problem solving means using data to back up each step of the process, bringing in new perspectives and effectively measuring the impact of your solution.

Effective problem solving can help ensure that your team or organization is well positioned to overcome challenges, be resilient to change and create innovation. In my experience, problem solving is a combination of skillset, mindset and process, and it’s especially vital for leaders to cultivate this skill.

What is the seven step problem solving process?

A problem solving process is a step-by-step framework from going from discovering a problem all the way through to implementing a solution.

With practice, this framework can become intuitive, and innovative companies tend to have a consistent and ongoing ability to discover and tackle challenges when they come up.

You might see everything from a four step problem solving process through to seven steps. While all these processes cover roughly the same ground, I’ve found a seven step problem solving process is helpful for making all key steps legible.

We’ll outline that process here and then follow with techniques you can use to explore and work on that step of the problem solving process with a group.

The seven-step problem solving process is:

1. Problem identification 

The first stage of any problem solving process is to identify the problem(s) you need to solve. This often looks like using group discussions and activities to help a group surface and effectively articulate the challenges they’re facing and wish to resolve.

Be sure to align with your team on the exact definition and nature of the problem you’re solving. An effective process is one where everyone is pulling in the same direction – ensure clarity and alignment now to help avoid misunderstandings later.

2. Problem analysis and refinement

The process of problem analysis means ensuring that the problem you are seeking to solve is  the   right problem . Choosing the right problem to solve means you are on the right path to creating the right solution.

At this stage, you may look deeper at the problem you identified to try and discover the root cause at the level of people or process. You may also spend some time sourcing data, consulting relevant parties and creating and refining a problem statement.

Problem refinement means adjusting scope or focus of the problem you will be aiming to solve based on what comes up during your analysis. As you analyze data sources, you might discover that the root cause means you need to adjust your problem statement. Alternatively, you might find that your original problem statement is too big to be meaningful approached within your current project.

Remember that the goal of any problem refinement is to help set the stage for effective solution development and deployment. Set the right focus and get buy-in from your team here and you’ll be well positioned to move forward with confidence.

3. Solution generation

Once your group has nailed down the particulars of the problem you wish to solve, you want to encourage a free flow of ideas connecting to solving that problem. This can take the form of problem solving games that encourage creative thinking or techniquess designed to produce working prototypes of possible solutions.

The key to ensuring the success of this stage of the problem solving process is to encourage quick, creative thinking and create an open space where all ideas are considered. The best solutions can often come from unlikely places and by using problem solving techniques that celebrate invention, you might come up with solution gold.

4. Solution development

No solution is perfect right out of the gate. It’s important to discuss and develop the solutions your group has come up with over the course of following the previous problem solving steps in order to arrive at the best possible solution. Problem solving games used in this stage involve lots of critical thinking, measuring potential effort and impact, and looking at possible solutions analytically.

During this stage, you will often ask your team to iterate and improve upon your front-running solutions and develop them further. Remember that problem solving strategies always benefit from a multitude of voices and opinions, and not to let ego get involved when it comes to choosing which solutions to develop and take further.

Finding the best solution is the goal of all problem solving workshops and here is the place to ensure that your solution is well thought out, sufficiently robust and fit for purpose. 

5. Decision making and planning

Nearly there! Once you’ve got a set of possible, you’ll need to make a decision on which to implement. This can be a consensus-based group decision or it might be for a leader or major stakeholder to decide. You’ll find a set of effective decision making methods below.

Once your group has reached consensus and selected a solution, there are some additional actions that also need to be decided upon. You’ll want to work on allocating ownership of the project, figure out who will do what, how the success of the solution will be measured and decide the next course of action.

Set clear accountabilities, actions, timeframes, and follow-ups for your chosen solution. Make these decisions and set clear next-steps in the problem solving workshop so that everyone is aligned and you can move forward effectively as a group.

Ensuring that you plan for the roll-out of a solution is one of the most important problem solving steps. Without adequate planning or oversight, it can prove impossible to measure success or iterate further if the problem was not solved. 

6. Solution implementation 

This is what we were waiting for! All problem solving processes have the end goal of implementing an effective and impactful solution that your group has confidence in.

Project management and communication skills are key here – your solution may need to adjust when out in the wild or you might discover new challenges along the way. For some solutions, you might also implement a test with a small group and monitor results before rolling it out to an entire company.

You should have a clear owner for your solution who will oversee the plans you made together and help ensure they’re put into place. This person will often coordinate the implementation team and set-up processes to measure the efficacy of your solution too.

7. Solution evaluation 

So you and your team developed a great solution to a problem and have a gut feeling it’s been solved. Work done, right? Wrong. All problem solving strategies benefit from evaluation, consideration, and feedback.

You might find that the solution does not work for everyone, might create new problems, or is potentially so successful that you will want to roll it out to larger teams or as part of other initiatives.

None of that is possible without taking the time to evaluate the success of the solution you developed in your problem solving model and adjust if necessary.

Remember that the problem solving process is often iterative and it can be common to not solve complex issues on the first try. Even when this is the case, you and your team will have generated learning that will be important for future problem solving workshops or in other parts of the organization. 

It’s also worth underlining how important record keeping is throughout the problem solving process. If a solution didn’t work, you need to have the data and records to see why that was the case. If you go back to the drawing board, notes from the previous workshop can help save time.

What does an effective problem solving process look like?

Every effective problem solving process begins with an agenda . In our experience, a well-structured problem solving workshop is one of the best methods for successfully guiding a group from exploring a problem to implementing a solution.

The format of a workshop ensures that you can get buy-in from your group, encourage free-thinking and solution exploration before making a decision on what to implement following the session.

This Design Sprint 2.0 template is an effective problem solving process from top agency AJ&Smart. It’s a great format for the entire problem solving process, with four-days of workshops designed to surface issues, explore solutions and even test a solution.

Check it for an example of how you might structure and run a problem solving process and feel free to copy and adjust it your needs!

For a shorter process you can run in a single afternoon, this remote problem solving agenda will guide you effectively in just a couple of hours.

Whatever the length of your workshop, by using SessionLab, it’s easy to go from an idea to a complete agenda . Start by dragging and dropping your core problem solving activities into place . Add timings, breaks and necessary materials before sharing your agenda with your colleagues.

The resulting agenda will be your guide to an effective and productive problem solving session that will also help you stay organized on the day!

Complete problem-solving methods

In this section, we’ll look at in-depth problem-solving methods that provide a complete end-to-end process for developing effective solutions. These will help guide your team from the discovery and definition of a problem through to delivering the right solution.

If you’re looking for an all-encompassing method or problem-solving model, these processes are a great place to start. They’ll ask your team to challenge preconceived ideas and adopt a mindset for solving problems more effectively.

Six Thinking Hats

Individual approaches to solving a problem can be very different based on what team or role an individual holds. It can be easy for existing biases or perspectives to find their way into the mix, or for internal politics to direct a conversation.

Six Thinking Hats is a classic method for identifying the problems that need to be solved and enables your team to consider them from different angles, whether that is by focusing on facts and data, creative solutions, or by considering why a particular solution might not work.

Like all problem-solving frameworks, Six Thinking Hats is effective at helping teams remove roadblocks from a conversation or discussion and come to terms with all the aspects necessary to solve complex problems.

The Six Thinking Hats   #creative thinking   #meeting facilitation   #problem solving   #issue resolution   #idea generation   #conflict resolution   The Six Thinking Hats are used by individuals and groups to separate out conflicting styles of thinking. They enable and encourage a group of people to think constructively together in exploring and implementing change, rather than using argument to fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Lightning Decision Jam

Featured courtesy of Jonathan Courtney of AJ&Smart Berlin, Lightning Decision Jam is one of those strategies that should be in every facilitation toolbox. Exploring problems and finding solutions is often creative in nature, though as with any creative process, there is the potential to lose focus and get lost.

Unstructured discussions might get you there in the end, but it’s much more effective to use a method that creates a clear process and team focus.

In Lightning Decision Jam, participants are invited to begin by writing challenges, concerns, or mistakes on post-its without discussing them before then being invited by the moderator to present them to the group.

From there, the team vote on which problems to solve and are guided through steps that will allow them to reframe those problems, create solutions and then decide what to execute on. 

By deciding the problems that need to be solved as a team before moving on, this group process is great for ensuring the whole team is aligned and can take ownership over the next stages. 

Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ)   #action   #decision making   #problem solving   #issue analysis   #innovation   #design   #remote-friendly   It doesn’t matter where you work and what your job role is, if you work with other people together as a team, you will always encounter the same challenges: Unclear goals and miscommunication that cause busy work and overtime Unstructured meetings that leave attendants tired, confused and without clear outcomes. Frustration builds up because internal challenges to productivity are not addressed Sudden changes in priorities lead to a loss of focus and momentum Muddled compromise takes the place of clear decision- making, leaving everybody to come up with their own interpretation. In short, a lack of structure leads to a waste of time and effort, projects that drag on for too long and frustrated, burnt out teams. AJ&Smart has worked with some of the most innovative, productive companies in the world. What sets their teams apart from others is not better tools, bigger talent or more beautiful offices. The secret sauce to becoming a more productive, more creative and happier team is simple: Replace all open discussion or brainstorming with a structured process that leads to more ideas, clearer decisions and better outcomes. When a good process provides guardrails and a clear path to follow, it becomes easier to come up with ideas, make decisions and solve problems. This is why AJ&Smart created Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ). It’s a simple and short, but powerful group exercise that can be run either in-person, in the same room, or remotely with distributed teams.

Problem Definition Process

While problems can be complex, the problem-solving methods you use to identify and solve those problems can often be simple in design. 

By taking the time to truly identify and define a problem before asking the group to reframe the challenge as an opportunity, this method is a great way to enable change.

Begin by identifying a focus question and exploring the ways in which it manifests before splitting into five teams who will each consider the problem using a different method: escape, reversal, exaggeration, distortion or wishful. Teams develop a problem objective and create ideas in line with their method before then feeding them back to the group.

This method is great for enabling in-depth discussions while also creating space for finding creative solutions too!

Problem Definition   #problem solving   #idea generation   #creativity   #online   #remote-friendly   A problem solving technique to define a problem, challenge or opportunity and to generate ideas.

The 5 Whys 

Sometimes, a group needs to go further with their strategies and analyze the root cause at the heart of organizational issues. An RCA or root cause analysis is the process of identifying what is at the heart of business problems or recurring challenges. 

The 5 Whys is a simple and effective method of helping a group go find the root cause of any problem or challenge and conduct analysis that will deliver results. 

By beginning with the creation of a problem statement and going through five stages to refine it, The 5 Whys provides everything you need to truly discover the cause of an issue.

The 5 Whys   #hyperisland   #innovation   This simple and powerful method is useful for getting to the core of a problem or challenge. As the title suggests, the group defines a problems, then asks the question “why” five times, often using the resulting explanation as a starting point for creative problem solving.

World Cafe is a simple but powerful facilitation technique to help bigger groups to focus their energy and attention on solving complex problems.

World Cafe enables this approach by creating a relaxed atmosphere where participants are able to self-organize and explore topics relevant and important to them which are themed around a central problem-solving purpose. Create the right atmosphere by modeling your space after a cafe and after guiding the group through the method, let them take the lead!

Making problem-solving a part of your organization’s culture in the long term can be a difficult undertaking. More approachable formats like World Cafe can be especially effective in bringing people unfamiliar with workshops into the fold. 

World Cafe   #hyperisland   #innovation   #issue analysis   World Café is a simple yet powerful method, originated by Juanita Brown, for enabling meaningful conversations driven completely by participants and the topics that are relevant and important to them. Facilitators create a cafe-style space and provide simple guidelines. Participants then self-organize and explore a set of relevant topics or questions for conversation.

Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD)

One of the best approaches is to create a safe space for a group to share and discover practices and behaviors that can help them find their own solutions.

With DAD, you can help a group choose which problems they wish to solve and which approaches they will take to do so. It’s great at helping remove resistance to change and can help get buy-in at every level too!

This process of enabling frontline ownership is great in ensuring follow-through and is one of the methods you will want in your toolbox as a facilitator.

Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD)   #idea generation   #liberating structures   #action   #issue analysis   #remote-friendly   DADs make it easy for a group or community to discover practices and behaviors that enable some individuals (without access to special resources and facing the same constraints) to find better solutions than their peers to common problems. These are called positive deviant (PD) behaviors and practices. DADs make it possible for people in the group, unit, or community to discover by themselves these PD practices. DADs also create favorable conditions for stimulating participants’ creativity in spaces where they can feel safe to invent new and more effective practices. Resistance to change evaporates as participants are unleashed to choose freely which practices they will adopt or try and which problems they will tackle. DADs make it possible to achieve frontline ownership of solutions.

Design Sprint 2.0

Want to see how a team can solve big problems and move forward with prototyping and testing solutions in a few days? The Design Sprint 2.0 template from Jake Knapp, author of Sprint, is a complete agenda for a with proven results.

Developing the right agenda can involve difficult but necessary planning. Ensuring all the correct steps are followed can also be stressful or time-consuming depending on your level of experience.

Use this complete 4-day workshop template if you are finding there is no obvious solution to your challenge and want to focus your team around a specific problem that might require a shortcut to launching a minimum viable product or waiting for the organization-wide implementation of a solution.

Open space technology

Open space technology- developed by Harrison Owen – creates a space where large groups are invited to take ownership of their problem solving and lead individual sessions. Open space technology is a great format when you have a great deal of expertise and insight in the room and want to allow for different takes and approaches on a particular theme or problem you need to be solved.

Start by bringing your participants together to align around a central theme and focus their efforts. Explain the ground rules to help guide the problem-solving process and then invite members to identify any issue connecting to the central theme that they are interested in and are prepared to take responsibility for.

Once participants have decided on their approach to the core theme, they write their issue on a piece of paper, announce it to the group, pick a session time and place, and post the paper on the wall. As the wall fills up with sessions, the group is then invited to join the sessions that interest them the most and which they can contribute to, then you’re ready to begin!

Everyone joins the problem-solving group they’ve signed up to, record the discussion and if appropriate, findings can then be shared with the rest of the group afterward.

Open Space Technology   #action plan   #idea generation   #problem solving   #issue analysis   #large group   #online   #remote-friendly   Open Space is a methodology for large groups to create their agenda discerning important topics for discussion, suitable for conferences, community gatherings and whole system facilitation

Techniques to identify and analyze problems

Using a problem-solving method to help a team identify and analyze a problem can be a quick and effective addition to any workshop or meeting.

While further actions are always necessary, you can generate momentum and alignment easily, and these activities are a great place to get started.

We’ve put together this list of techniques to help you and your team with problem identification, analysis, and discussion that sets the foundation for developing effective solutions.

Let’s take a look!

Fishbone Analysis

Organizational or team challenges are rarely simple, and it’s important to remember that one problem can be an indication of something that goes deeper and may require further consideration to be solved.

Fishbone Analysis helps groups to dig deeper and understand the origins of a problem. It’s a great example of a root cause analysis method that is simple for everyone on a team to get their head around. 

Participants in this activity are asked to annotate a diagram of a fish, first adding the problem or issue to be worked on at the head of a fish before then brainstorming the root causes of the problem and adding them as bones on the fish. 

Using abstractions such as a diagram of a fish can really help a team break out of their regular thinking and develop a creative approach.

Fishbone Analysis   #problem solving   ##root cause analysis   #decision making   #online facilitation   A process to help identify and understand the origins of problems, issues or observations.

Problem Tree 

Encouraging visual thinking can be an essential part of many strategies. By simply reframing and clarifying problems, a group can move towards developing a problem solving model that works for them. 

In Problem Tree, groups are asked to first brainstorm a list of problems – these can be design problems, team problems or larger business problems – and then organize them into a hierarchy. The hierarchy could be from most important to least important or abstract to practical, though the key thing with problem solving games that involve this aspect is that your group has some way of managing and sorting all the issues that are raised.

Once you have a list of problems that need to be solved and have organized them accordingly, you’re then well-positioned for the next problem solving steps.

Problem tree   #define intentions   #create   #design   #issue analysis   A problem tree is a tool to clarify the hierarchy of problems addressed by the team within a design project; it represents high level problems or related sublevel problems.

SWOT Analysis

Chances are you’ve heard of the SWOT Analysis before. This problem-solving method focuses on identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is a tried and tested method for both individuals and teams.

Start by creating a desired end state or outcome and bare this in mind – any process solving model is made more effective by knowing what you are moving towards. Create a quadrant made up of the four categories of a SWOT analysis and ask participants to generate ideas based on each of those quadrants.

Once you have those ideas assembled in their quadrants, cluster them together based on their affinity with other ideas. These clusters are then used to facilitate group conversations and move things forward. 

SWOT analysis   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   #meeting facilitation   The SWOT Analysis is a long-standing technique of looking at what we have, with respect to the desired end state, as well as what we could improve on. It gives us an opportunity to gauge approaching opportunities and dangers, and assess the seriousness of the conditions that affect our future. When we understand those conditions, we can influence what comes next.

Agreement-Certainty Matrix

Not every problem-solving approach is right for every challenge, and deciding on the right method for the challenge at hand is a key part of being an effective team.

The Agreement Certainty matrix helps teams align on the nature of the challenges facing them. By sorting problems from simple to chaotic, your team can understand what methods are suitable for each problem and what they can do to ensure effective results. 

If you are already using Liberating Structures techniques as part of your problem-solving strategy, the Agreement-Certainty Matrix can be an invaluable addition to your process. We’ve found it particularly if you are having issues with recurring problems in your organization and want to go deeper in understanding the root cause. 

Agreement-Certainty Matrix   #issue analysis   #liberating structures   #problem solving   You can help individuals or groups avoid the frequent mistake of trying to solve a problem with methods that are not adapted to the nature of their challenge. The combination of two questions makes it possible to easily sort challenges into four categories: simple, complicated, complex , and chaotic .  A problem is simple when it can be solved reliably with practices that are easy to duplicate.  It is complicated when experts are required to devise a sophisticated solution that will yield the desired results predictably.  A problem is complex when there are several valid ways to proceed but outcomes are not predictable in detail.  Chaotic is when the context is too turbulent to identify a path forward.  A loose analogy may be used to describe these differences: simple is like following a recipe, complicated like sending a rocket to the moon, complex like raising a child, and chaotic is like the game “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”  The Liberating Structures Matching Matrix in Chapter 5 can be used as the first step to clarify the nature of a challenge and avoid the mismatches between problems and solutions that are frequently at the root of chronic, recurring problems.

Organizing and charting a team’s progress can be important in ensuring its success. SQUID (Sequential Question and Insight Diagram) is a great model that allows a team to effectively switch between giving questions and answers and develop the skills they need to stay on track throughout the process. 

Begin with two different colored sticky notes – one for questions and one for answers – and with your central topic (the head of the squid) on the board. Ask the group to first come up with a series of questions connected to their best guess of how to approach the topic. Ask the group to come up with answers to those questions, fix them to the board and connect them with a line. After some discussion, go back to question mode by responding to the generated answers or other points on the board.

It’s rewarding to see a diagram grow throughout the exercise, and a completed SQUID can provide a visual resource for future effort and as an example for other teams.

SQUID   #gamestorming   #project planning   #issue analysis   #problem solving   When exploring an information space, it’s important for a group to know where they are at any given time. By using SQUID, a group charts out the territory as they go and can navigate accordingly. SQUID stands for Sequential Question and Insight Diagram.

To continue with our nautical theme, Speed Boat is a short and sweet activity that can help a team quickly identify what employees, clients or service users might have a problem with and analyze what might be standing in the way of achieving a solution.

Methods that allow for a group to make observations, have insights and obtain those eureka moments quickly are invaluable when trying to solve complex problems.

In Speed Boat, the approach is to first consider what anchors and challenges might be holding an organization (or boat) back. Bonus points if you are able to identify any sharks in the water and develop ideas that can also deal with competitors!   

Speed Boat   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   Speedboat is a short and sweet way to identify what your employees or clients don’t like about your product/service or what’s standing in the way of a desired goal.

The Journalistic Six

Some of the most effective ways of solving problems is by encouraging teams to be more inclusive and diverse in their thinking.

Based on the six key questions journalism students are taught to answer in articles and news stories, The Journalistic Six helps create teams to see the whole picture. By using who, what, when, where, why, and how to facilitate the conversation and encourage creative thinking, your team can make sure that the problem identification and problem analysis stages of the are covered exhaustively and thoughtfully. Reporter’s notebook and dictaphone optional.

The Journalistic Six – Who What When Where Why How   #idea generation   #issue analysis   #problem solving   #online   #creative thinking   #remote-friendly   A questioning method for generating, explaining, investigating ideas.

Individual and group perspectives are incredibly important, but what happens if people are set in their minds and need a change of perspective in order to approach a problem more effectively?

Flip It is a method we love because it is both simple to understand and run, and allows groups to understand how their perspectives and biases are formed. 

Participants in Flip It are first invited to consider concerns, issues, or problems from a perspective of fear and write them on a flip chart. Then, the group is asked to consider those same issues from a perspective of hope and flip their understanding.  

No problem and solution is free from existing bias and by changing perspectives with Flip It, you can then develop a problem solving model quickly and effectively.

Flip It!   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   Often, a change in a problem or situation comes simply from a change in our perspectives. Flip It! is a quick game designed to show players that perspectives are made, not born.

LEGO Challenge

Now for an activity that is a little out of the (toy) box. LEGO Serious Play is a facilitation methodology that can be used to improve creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

The LEGO Challenge includes giving each member of the team an assignment that is hidden from the rest of the group while they create a structure without speaking.

What the LEGO challenge brings to the table is a fun working example of working with stakeholders who might not be on the same page to solve problems. Also, it’s LEGO! Who doesn’t love LEGO! 

LEGO Challenge   #hyperisland   #team   A team-building activity in which groups must work together to build a structure out of LEGO, but each individual has a secret “assignment” which makes the collaborative process more challenging. It emphasizes group communication, leadership dynamics, conflict, cooperation, patience and problem solving strategy.

What, So What, Now What?

If not carefully managed, the problem identification and problem analysis stages of the problem-solving process can actually create more problems and misunderstandings.

The What, So What, Now What? problem-solving activity is designed to help collect insights and move forward while also eliminating the possibility of disagreement when it comes to identifying, clarifying, and analyzing organizational or work problems. 

Facilitation is all about bringing groups together so that might work on a shared goal and the best problem-solving strategies ensure that teams are aligned in purpose, if not initially in opinion or insight.

Throughout the three steps of this game, you give everyone on a team to reflect on a problem by asking what happened, why it is important, and what actions should then be taken. 

This can be a great activity for bringing our individual perceptions about a problem or challenge and contextualizing it in a larger group setting. This is one of the most important problem-solving skills you can bring to your organization.

W³ – What, So What, Now What?   #issue analysis   #innovation   #liberating structures   You can help groups reflect on a shared experience in a way that builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict. It is possible for every voice to be heard while simultaneously sifting for insights and shaping new direction. Progressing in stages makes this practical—from collecting facts about What Happened to making sense of these facts with So What and finally to what actions logically follow with Now What . The shared progression eliminates most of the misunderstandings that otherwise fuel disagreements about what to do. Voila!

Journalists  

Problem analysis can be one of the most important and decisive stages of all problem-solving tools. Sometimes, a team can become bogged down in the details and are unable to move forward.

Journalists is an activity that can avoid a group from getting stuck in the problem identification or problem analysis stages of the process.

In Journalists, the group is invited to draft the front page of a fictional newspaper and figure out what stories deserve to be on the cover and what headlines those stories will have. By reframing how your problems and challenges are approached, you can help a team move productively through the process and be better prepared for the steps to follow.

Journalists   #vision   #big picture   #issue analysis   #remote-friendly   This is an exercise to use when the group gets stuck in details and struggles to see the big picture. Also good for defining a vision.

Problem-solving techniques for brainstorming solutions

Now you have the context and background of the problem you are trying to solving, now comes the time to start ideating and thinking about how you’ll solve the issue.

Here, you’ll want to encourage creative, free thinking and speed. Get as many ideas out as possible and explore different perspectives so you have the raw material for the next step.

Looking at a problem from a new angle can be one of the most effective ways of creating an effective solution. TRIZ is a problem-solving tool that asks the group to consider what they must not do in order to solve a challenge.

By reversing the discussion, new topics and taboo subjects often emerge, allowing the group to think more deeply and create ideas that confront the status quo in a safe and meaningful way. If you’re working on a problem that you’ve tried to solve before, TRIZ is a great problem-solving method to help your team get unblocked.

Making Space with TRIZ   #issue analysis   #liberating structures   #issue resolution   You can clear space for innovation by helping a group let go of what it knows (but rarely admits) limits its success and by inviting creative destruction. TRIZ makes it possible to challenge sacred cows safely and encourages heretical thinking. The question “What must we stop doing to make progress on our deepest purpose?” induces seriously fun yet very courageous conversations. Since laughter often erupts, issues that are otherwise taboo get a chance to be aired and confronted. With creative destruction come opportunities for renewal as local action and innovation rush in to fill the vacuum. Whoosh!

Mindspin  

Brainstorming is part of the bread and butter of the problem-solving process and all problem-solving strategies benefit from getting ideas out and challenging a team to generate solutions quickly. 

With Mindspin, participants are encouraged not only to generate ideas but to do so under time constraints and by slamming down cards and passing them on. By doing multiple rounds, your team can begin with a free generation of possible solutions before moving on to developing those solutions and encouraging further ideation. 

This is one of our favorite problem-solving activities and can be great for keeping the energy up throughout the workshop. Remember the importance of helping people become engaged in the process – energizing problem-solving techniques like Mindspin can help ensure your team stays engaged and happy, even when the problems they’re coming together to solve are complex.

MindSpin   #teampedia   #idea generation   #problem solving   #action   A fast and loud method to enhance brainstorming within a team. Since this activity has more than round ideas that are repetitive can be ruled out leaving more creative and innovative answers to the challenge.

The Creativity Dice

One of the most useful problem solving skills you can teach your team is of approaching challenges with creativity, flexibility, and openness. Games like The Creativity Dice allow teams to overcome the potential hurdle of too much linear thinking and approach the process with a sense of fun and speed. 

In The Creativity Dice, participants are organized around a topic and roll a dice to determine what they will work on for a period of 3 minutes at a time. They might roll a 3 and work on investigating factual information on the chosen topic. They might roll a 1 and work on identifying the specific goals, standards, or criteria for the session.

Encouraging rapid work and iteration while asking participants to be flexible are great skills to cultivate. Having a stage for idea incubation in this game is also important. Moments of pause can help ensure the ideas that are put forward are the most suitable. 

The Creativity Dice   #creativity   #problem solving   #thiagi   #issue analysis   Too much linear thinking is hazardous to creative problem solving. To be creative, you should approach the problem (or the opportunity) from different points of view. You should leave a thought hanging in mid-air and move to another. This skipping around prevents premature closure and lets your brain incubate one line of thought while you consciously pursue another.

Idea and Concept Development

Brainstorming without structure can quickly become chaotic or frustrating. In a problem-solving context, having an ideation framework to follow can help ensure your team is both creative and disciplined.

In this method, you’ll find an idea generation process that encourages your group to brainstorm effectively before developing their ideas and begin clustering them together. By using concepts such as Yes and…, more is more and postponing judgement, you can create the ideal conditions for brainstorming with ease.

Idea & Concept Development   #hyperisland   #innovation   #idea generation   Ideation and Concept Development is a process for groups to work creatively and collaboratively to generate creative ideas. It’s a general approach that can be adapted and customized to suit many different scenarios. It includes basic principles for idea generation and several steps for groups to work with. It also includes steps for idea selection and development.

Problem-solving techniques for developing and refining solutions 

The success of any problem-solving process can be measured by the solutions it produces. After you’ve defined the issue, explored existing ideas, and ideated, it’s time to develop and refine your ideas in order to bring them closer to a solution that actually solves the problem.

Use these problem-solving techniques when you want to help your team think through their ideas and refine them as part of your problem solving process.

Improved Solutions

After a team has successfully identified a problem and come up with a few solutions, it can be tempting to call the work of the problem-solving process complete. That said, the first solution is not necessarily the best, and by including a further review and reflection activity into your problem-solving model, you can ensure your group reaches the best possible result. 

One of a number of problem-solving games from Thiagi Group, Improved Solutions helps you go the extra mile and develop suggested solutions with close consideration and peer review. By supporting the discussion of several problems at once and by shifting team roles throughout, this problem-solving technique is a dynamic way of finding the best solution. 

Improved Solutions   #creativity   #thiagi   #problem solving   #action   #team   You can improve any solution by objectively reviewing its strengths and weaknesses and making suitable adjustments. In this creativity framegame, you improve the solutions to several problems. To maintain objective detachment, you deal with a different problem during each of six rounds and assume different roles (problem owner, consultant, basher, booster, enhancer, and evaluator) during each round. At the conclusion of the activity, each player ends up with two solutions to her problem.

Four Step Sketch

Creative thinking and visual ideation does not need to be confined to the opening stages of your problem-solving strategies. Exercises that include sketching and prototyping on paper can be effective at the solution finding and development stage of the process, and can be great for keeping a team engaged. 

By going from simple notes to a crazy 8s round that involves rapidly sketching 8 variations on their ideas before then producing a final solution sketch, the group is able to iterate quickly and visually. Problem-solving techniques like Four-Step Sketch are great if you have a group of different thinkers and want to change things up from a more textual or discussion-based approach.

Four-Step Sketch   #design sprint   #innovation   #idea generation   #remote-friendly   The four-step sketch is an exercise that helps people to create well-formed concepts through a structured process that includes: Review key information Start design work on paper,  Consider multiple variations , Create a detailed solution . This exercise is preceded by a set of other activities allowing the group to clarify the challenge they want to solve. See how the Four Step Sketch exercise fits into a Design Sprint

Ensuring that everyone in a group is able to contribute to a discussion is vital during any problem solving process. Not only does this ensure all bases are covered, but its then easier to get buy-in and accountability when people have been able to contribute to the process.

1-2-4-All is a tried and tested facilitation technique where participants are asked to first brainstorm on a topic on their own. Next, they discuss and share ideas in a pair before moving into a small group. Those groups are then asked to present the best idea from their discussion to the rest of the team.

This method can be used in many different contexts effectively, though I find it particularly shines in the idea development stage of the process. Giving each participant time to concretize their ideas and develop them in progressively larger groups can create a great space for both innovation and psychological safety.

1-2-4-All   #idea generation   #liberating structures   #issue analysis   With this facilitation technique you can immediately include everyone regardless of how large the group is. You can generate better ideas and more of them faster than ever before. You can tap the know-how and imagination that is distributed widely in places not known in advance. Open, generative conversation unfolds. Ideas and solutions are sifted in rapid fashion. Most importantly, participants own the ideas, so follow-up and implementation is simplified. No buy-in strategies needed! Simple and elegant!

15% Solutions

Some problems are simpler than others and with the right problem-solving activities, you can empower people to take immediate actions that can help create organizational change. 

Part of the liberating structures toolkit, 15% solutions is a problem-solving technique that focuses on finding and implementing solutions quickly. A process of iterating and making small changes quickly can help generate momentum and an appetite for solving complex problems.

Problem-solving strategies can live and die on whether people are onboard. Getting some quick wins is a great way of getting people behind the process.   

It can be extremely empowering for a team to realize that problem-solving techniques can be deployed quickly and easily and delineate between things they can positively impact and those things they cannot change. 

15% Solutions   #action   #liberating structures   #remote-friendly   You can reveal the actions, however small, that everyone can do immediately. At a minimum, these will create momentum, and that may make a BIG difference.  15% Solutions show that there is no reason to wait around, feel powerless, or fearful. They help people pick it up a level. They get individuals and the group to focus on what is within their discretion instead of what they cannot change.  With a very simple question, you can flip the conversation to what can be done and find solutions to big problems that are often distributed widely in places not known in advance. Shifting a few grains of sand may trigger a landslide and change the whole landscape.

Problem-solving techniques for making decisions and planning

After your group is happy with the possible solutions you’ve developed, now comes the time to choose which to implement. There’s more than one way to make a decision and the best option is often dependant on the needs and set-up of your group.

Sometimes, it’s the case that you’ll want to vote as a group on what is likely to be the most impactful solution. Other times, it might be down to a decision maker or major stakeholder to make the final decision. Whatever your process, here’s some techniques you can use to help you make a decision during your problem solving process.

How-Now-Wow Matrix

The problem-solving process is often creative, as complex problems usually require a change of thinking and creative response in order to find the best solutions. While it’s common for the first stages to encourage creative thinking, groups can often gravitate to familiar solutions when it comes to the end of the process. 

When selecting solutions, you don’t want to lose your creative energy! The How-Now-Wow Matrix from Gamestorming is a great problem-solving activity that enables a group to stay creative and think out of the box when it comes to selecting the right solution for a given problem.

Problem-solving techniques that encourage creative thinking and the ideation and selection of new solutions can be the most effective in organisational change. Give the How-Now-Wow Matrix a go, and not just for how pleasant it is to say out loud. 

How-Now-Wow Matrix   #gamestorming   #idea generation   #remote-friendly   When people want to develop new ideas, they most often think out of the box in the brainstorming or divergent phase. However, when it comes to convergence, people often end up picking ideas that are most familiar to them. This is called a ‘creative paradox’ or a ‘creadox’. The How-Now-Wow matrix is an idea selection tool that breaks the creadox by forcing people to weigh each idea on 2 parameters.

Impact and Effort Matrix

All problem-solving techniques hope to not only find solutions to a given problem or challenge but to find the best solution. When it comes to finding a solution, groups are invited to put on their decision-making hats and really think about how a proposed idea would work in practice. 

The Impact and Effort Matrix is one of the problem-solving techniques that fall into this camp, empowering participants to first generate ideas and then categorize them into a 2×2 matrix based on impact and effort.

Activities that invite critical thinking while remaining simple are invaluable. Use the Impact and Effort Matrix to move from ideation and towards evaluating potential solutions before then committing to them. 

Impact and Effort Matrix   #gamestorming   #decision making   #action   #remote-friendly   In this decision-making exercise, possible actions are mapped based on two factors: effort required to implement and potential impact. Categorizing ideas along these lines is a useful technique in decision making, as it obliges contributors to balance and evaluate suggested actions before committing to them.

If you’ve followed each of the problem-solving steps with your group successfully, you should move towards the end of your process with heaps of possible solutions developed with a specific problem in mind. But how do you help a group go from ideation to putting a solution into action? 

Dotmocracy – or Dot Voting -is a tried and tested method of helping a team in the problem-solving process make decisions and put actions in place with a degree of oversight and consensus. 

One of the problem-solving techniques that should be in every facilitator’s toolbox, Dot Voting is fast and effective and can help identify the most popular and best solutions and help bring a group to a decision effectively. 

Dotmocracy   #action   #decision making   #group prioritization   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   Dotmocracy is a simple method for group prioritization or decision-making. It is not an activity on its own, but a method to use in processes where prioritization or decision-making is the aim. The method supports a group to quickly see which options are most popular or relevant. The options or ideas are written on post-its and stuck up on a wall for the whole group to see. Each person votes for the options they think are the strongest, and that information is used to inform a decision.

Straddling the gap between decision making and planning, MoSCoW is a simple and effective method that allows a group team to easily prioritize a set of possible options.

Use this method in a problem solving process by collecting and summarizing all your possible solutions and then categorize them into 4 sections: “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, or “Would like but won‘t get”.

This method is particularly useful when its less about choosing one possible solution and more about prioritorizing which to do first and which may not fit in the scope of your project. In my experience, complex challenges often require multiple small fixes, and this method can be a great way to move from a pile of things you’d all like to do to a structured plan.

MoSCoW   #define intentions   #create   #design   #action   #remote-friendly   MoSCoW is a method that allows the team to prioritize the different features that they will work on. Features are then categorized into “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, or “Would like but won‘t get”. To be used at the beginning of a timeslot (for example during Sprint planning) and when planning is needed.

When it comes to managing the rollout of a solution, clarity and accountability are key factors in ensuring the success of the project. The RAACI chart is a simple but effective model for setting roles and responsibilities as part of a planning session.

Start by listing each person involved in the project and put them into the following groups in order to make it clear who is responsible for what during the rollout of your solution.

• Responsibility  (Which person and/or team will be taking action?)
• Authority  (At what “point” must the responsible person check in before going further?)
• Accountability  (Who must the responsible person check in with?)
• Consultation  (Who must be consulted by the responsible person before decisions are made?)
• Information  (Who must be informed of decisions, once made?)

Ensure this information is easily accessible and use it to inform who does what and who is looped into discussions and kept up to date.

RAACI   #roles and responsibility   #teamwork   #project management   Clarifying roles and responsibilities, levels of autonomy/latitude in decision making, and levels of engagement among diverse stakeholders.

Problem-solving warm-up activities

All facilitators know that warm-ups and icebreakers are useful for any workshop or group process. Problem-solving workshops are no different.

Use these problem-solving techniques to warm up a group and prepare them for the rest of the process. Activating your group by tapping into some of the top problem-solving skills can be one of the best ways to see great outcomes from your session.

Check-in / Check-out

Solid processes are planned from beginning to end, and the best facilitators know that setting the tone and establishing a safe, open environment can be integral to a successful problem-solving process. Check-in / Check-out is a great way to begin and/or bookend a problem-solving workshop. Checking in to a session emphasizes that everyone will be seen, heard, and expected to contribute.

If you are running a series of meetings, setting a consistent pattern of checking in and checking out can really help your team get into a groove. We recommend this opening-closing activity for small to medium-sized groups though it can work with large groups if they’re disciplined!

Check-in / Check-out   #team   #opening   #closing   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   Either checking-in or checking-out is a simple way for a team to open or close a process, symbolically and in a collaborative way. Checking-in/out invites each member in a group to be present, seen and heard, and to express a reflection or a feeling. Checking-in emphasizes presence, focus and group commitment; checking-out emphasizes reflection and symbolic closure.

Doodling Together  

Thinking creatively and not being afraid to make suggestions are important problem-solving skills for any group or team, and warming up by encouraging these behaviors is a great way to start.

Doodling Together is one of our favorite creative ice breaker games – it’s quick, effective, and fun and can make all following problem-solving steps easier by encouraging a group to collaborate visually. By passing cards and adding additional items as they go, the workshop group gets into a groove of co-creation and idea development that is crucial to finding solutions to problems.

Doodling Together   #collaboration   #creativity   #teamwork   #fun   #team   #visual methods   #energiser   #icebreaker   #remote-friendly   Create wild, weird and often funny postcards together & establish a group’s creative confidence.

Show and Tell

You might remember some version of Show and Tell from being a kid in school and it’s a great problem-solving activity to kick off a session.

Asking participants to prepare a little something before a workshop by bringing an object for show and tell can help them warm up before the session has even begun! Games that include a physical object can also help encourage early engagement before moving onto more big-picture thinking.

By asking your participants to tell stories about why they chose to bring a particular item to the group, you can help teams see things from new perspectives and see both differences and similarities in the way they approach a topic. Great groundwork for approaching a problem-solving process as a team! 

Show and Tell   #gamestorming   #action   #opening   #meeting facilitation   Show and Tell taps into the power of metaphors to reveal players’ underlying assumptions and associations around a topic The aim of the game is to get a deeper understanding of stakeholders’ perspectives on anything—a new project, an organizational restructuring, a shift in the company’s vision or team dynamic.

Constellations

Who doesn’t love stars? Constellations is a great warm-up activity for any workshop as it gets people up off their feet, energized, and ready to engage in new ways with established topics. It’s also great for showing existing beliefs, biases, and patterns that can come into play as part of your session.

Using warm-up games that help build trust and connection while also allowing for non-verbal responses can be great for easing people into the problem-solving process and encouraging engagement from everyone in the group. Constellations is great in large spaces that allow for movement and is definitely a practical exercise to allow the group to see patterns that are otherwise invisible. 

Constellations   #trust   #connection   #opening   #coaching   #patterns   #system   Individuals express their response to a statement or idea by standing closer or further from a central object. Used with teams to reveal system, hidden patterns, perspectives.

Draw a Tree

Problem-solving games that help raise group awareness through a central, unifying metaphor can be effective ways to warm-up a group in any problem-solving model.

Draw a Tree is a simple warm-up activity you can use in any group and which can provide a quick jolt of energy. Start by asking your participants to draw a tree in just 45 seconds – they can choose whether it will be abstract or realistic. 

Once the timer is up, ask the group how many people included the roots of the tree and use this as a means to discuss how we can ignore important parts of any system simply because they are not visible.

All problem-solving strategies are made more effective by thinking of problems critically and by exposing things that may not normally come to light. Warm-up games like Draw a Tree are great in that they quickly demonstrate some key problem-solving skills in an accessible and effective way.

Draw a Tree   #thiagi   #opening   #perspectives   #remote-friendly   With this game you can raise awarness about being more mindful, and aware of the environment we live in.

Closing activities for a problem-solving process

Each step of the problem-solving workshop benefits from an intelligent deployment of activities, games, and techniques. Bringing your session to an effective close helps ensure that solutions are followed through on and that you also celebrate what has been achieved.

Here are some problem-solving activities you can use to effectively close a workshop or meeting and ensure the great work you’ve done can continue afterward.

One Breath Feedback

Maintaining attention and focus during the closing stages of a problem-solving workshop can be tricky and so being concise when giving feedback can be important. It’s easy to incur “death by feedback” should some team members go on for too long sharing their perspectives in a quick feedback round. 

One Breath Feedback is a great closing activity for workshops. You give everyone an opportunity to provide feedback on what they’ve done but only in the space of a single breath. This keeps feedback short and to the point and means that everyone is encouraged to provide the most important piece of feedback to them. 

One breath feedback   #closing   #feedback   #action   This is a feedback round in just one breath that excels in maintaining attention: each participants is able to speak during just one breath … for most people that’s around 20 to 25 seconds … unless of course you’ve been a deep sea diver in which case you’ll be able to do it for longer.

Who What When Matrix 

Matrices feature as part of many effective problem-solving strategies and with good reason. They are easily recognizable, simple to use, and generate results.

The Who What When Matrix is a great tool to use when closing your problem-solving session by attributing a who, what and when to the actions and solutions you have decided upon. The resulting matrix is a simple, easy-to-follow way of ensuring your team can move forward. 

Great solutions can’t be enacted without action and ownership. Your problem-solving process should include a stage for allocating tasks to individuals or teams and creating a realistic timeframe for those solutions to be implemented or checked out. Use this method to keep the solution implementation process clear and simple for all involved. 

Who/What/When Matrix   #gamestorming   #action   #project planning   With Who/What/When matrix, you can connect people with clear actions they have defined and have committed to.

Response cards

Group discussion can comprise the bulk of most problem-solving activities and by the end of the process, you might find that your team is talked out! 

Providing a means for your team to give feedback with short written notes can ensure everyone is head and can contribute without the need to stand up and talk. Depending on the needs of the group, giving an alternative can help ensure everyone can contribute to your problem-solving model in the way that makes the most sense for them.

Response Cards is a great way to close a workshop if you are looking for a gentle warm-down and want to get some swift discussion around some of the feedback that is raised. 

Response Cards   #debriefing   #closing   #structured sharing   #questions and answers   #thiagi   #action   It can be hard to involve everyone during a closing of a session. Some might stay in the background or get unheard because of louder participants. However, with the use of Response Cards, everyone will be involved in providing feedback or clarify questions at the end of a session.

Tips for effective problem solving

Problem-solving activities are only one part of the puzzle. While a great method can help unlock your team’s ability to solve problems, without a thoughtful approach and strong facilitation the solutions may not be fit for purpose.

Let’s take a look at some problem-solving tips you can apply to any process to help it be a success!

Clearly define the problem

Jumping straight to solutions can be tempting, though without first clearly articulating a problem, the solution might not be the right one. Many of the problem-solving activities below include sections where the problem is explored and clearly defined before moving on.

This is a vital part of the problem-solving process and taking the time to fully define an issue can save time and effort later. A clear definition helps identify irrelevant information and it also ensures that your team sets off on the right track.

Don’t jump to conclusions

It’s easy for groups to exhibit cognitive bias or have preconceived ideas about both problems and potential solutions. Be sure to back up any problem statements or potential solutions with facts, research, and adequate forethought.

The best techniques ask participants to be methodical and challenge preconceived notions. Make sure you give the group enough time and space to collect relevant information and consider the problem in a new way. By approaching the process with a clear, rational mindset, you’ll often find that better solutions are more forthcoming.  

Try different approaches  

Problems come in all shapes and sizes and so too should the methods you use to solve them. If you find that one approach isn’t yielding results and your team isn’t finding different solutions, try mixing it up. You’ll be surprised at how using a new creative activity can unblock your team and generate great solutions.

Don’t take it personally 

Depending on the nature of your team or organizational problems, it’s easy for conversations to get heated. While it’s good for participants to be engaged in the discussions, ensure that emotions don’t run too high and that blame isn’t thrown around while finding solutions.

You’re all in it together, and even if your team or area is seeing problems, that isn’t necessarily a disparagement of you personally. Using facilitation skills to manage group dynamics is one effective method of helping conversations be more constructive.

Get the right people in the room

Your problem-solving method is often only as effective as the group using it. Getting the right people on the job and managing the number of people present is important too!

If the group is too small, you may not get enough different perspectives to effectively solve a problem. If the group is too large, you can go round and round during the ideation stages.

Creating the right group makeup is also important in ensuring you have the necessary expertise and skillset to both identify and follow up on potential solutions. Carefully consider who to include at each stage to help ensure your problem-solving method is followed and positioned for success.

Create psychologically safe spaces for discussion

Identifying a problem accurately also requires that all members of a group are able to contribute their views in an open and safe manner.

It can be tough for people to stand up and contribute if the problems or challenges are emotive or personal in nature. Try and create a psychologically safe space for these kinds of discussions and where possible, create regular opportunities for challenges to be brought up organically.

Document everything

The best solutions can take refinement, iteration, and reflection to come out. Get into a habit of documenting your process in order to keep all the learnings from the session and to allow ideas to mature and develop. Many of the methods below involve the creation of documents or shared resources. Be sure to keep and share these so everyone can benefit from the work done!

Bring a facilitator 

Facilitation is all about making group processes easier. With a subject as potentially emotive and important as problem-solving, having an impartial third party in the form of a facilitator can make all the difference in finding great solutions and keeping the process moving. Consider bringing a facilitator to your problem-solving session to get better results and generate meaningful solutions!

Develop your problem-solving skills

It takes time and practice to be an effective problem solver. While some roles or participants might more naturally gravitate towards problem-solving, it can take development and planning to help everyone create better solutions.

You might develop a training program, run a problem-solving workshop or simply ask your team to practice using the techniques below. Check out our post on problem-solving skills to see how you and your group can develop the right mental process and be more resilient to issues too!

Design a great agenda

Workshops are a great format for solving problems. With the right approach, you can focus a group and help them find the solutions to their own problems. But designing a process can be time-consuming and finding the right activities can be difficult.

Check out our workshop planning guide to level-up your agenda design and start running more effective workshops. Need inspiration? Check out templates designed by expert facilitators to help you kickstart your process!

Save time and effort creating an effective problem solving process

A structured problem solving process is a surefire way of solving tough problems, discovering creative solutions and driving organizational change. But how can you design for successful outcomes?

With SessionLab, it’s easy to design engaging workshops that deliver results. Drag, drop and reorder blocks  to build your agenda. When you make changes or update your agenda, your session  timing   adjusts automatically , saving you time on manual adjustments.

Collaborating with stakeholders or clients? Share your agenda with a single click and collaborate in real-time. No more sending documents back and forth over email.

Explore  how to use SessionLab  to design effective problem solving workshops or  watch this five minute video  to see the planner in action!

Over to you

The problem-solving process can often be as complicated and multifaceted as the problems they are set-up to solve. With the right problem-solving techniques and a mix of exercises designed to guide discussion and generate purposeful ideas, we hope we’ve given you the tools to find the best solutions as simply and easily as possible.

Is there a problem-solving technique that you are missing here? Do you have a favorite activity or method you use when facilitating? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you! 

James Smart is Head of Content at SessionLab. He’s also a creative facilitator who has run workshops and designed courses for establishments like the National Centre for Writing, UK. He especially enjoys working with young people and empowering others in their creative practice.

thank you very much for these excellent techniques

Certainly wonderful article, very detailed. Shared!

Your list of techniques for problem solving can be helpfully extended by adding TRIZ to the list of techniques. TRIZ has 40 problem solving techniques derived from methods inventros and patent holders used to get new patents. About 10-12 are general approaches. many organization sponsor classes in TRIZ that are used to solve business problems or general organiztational problems. You can take a look at TRIZ and dwonload a free internet booklet to see if you feel it shound be included per your selection process.

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What is Problem Solving? (Steps, Techniques, Examples)

By Status.net Editorial Team on May 7, 2023 — 4 minutes to read

What Is Problem Solving?

Definition and importance.

Problem solving is the process of finding solutions to obstacles or challenges you encounter in your life or work. It is a skill that allows you to tackle complex situations, adapt to changes, and overcome difficulties with ease.

Problem-Solving Steps

The problem-solving process typically includes the following steps:

• Identify the issue : Recognize the problem that needs to be solved.
• Analyze the situation : Examine the issue in depth, gather all relevant information, and consider any limitations or constraints that may be present.
• Generate potential solutions : Brainstorm a list of possible solutions to the issue, without immediately judging or evaluating them.
• Evaluate options : Weigh the pros and cons of each potential solution, considering factors such as feasibility, effectiveness, and potential risks.
• Select the best solution : Choose the option that best addresses the problem and aligns with your objectives.
• Implement the solution : Put the selected solution into action and monitor the results to ensure it resolves the issue.
• Review and learn : Reflect on the problem-solving process, identify any improvements or adjustments that can be made, and apply these learnings to future situations.

Defining the Problem

To start tackling a problem, first, identify and understand it. Analyzing the issue thoroughly helps to clarify its scope and nature. Ask questions to gather information and consider the problem from various angles. Some strategies to define the problem include:

• Brainstorming with others
• Asking the 5 Ws and 1 H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How)
• Analyzing cause and effect
• Creating a problem statement

Generating Solutions

Once the problem is clearly understood, brainstorm possible solutions. Think creatively and keep an open mind, as well as considering lessons from past experiences. Consider:

• Creating a list of potential ideas to solve the problem
• Grouping and categorizing similar solutions
• Prioritizing potential solutions based on feasibility, cost, and resources required
• Involving others to share diverse opinions and inputs

Evaluating and Selecting Solutions

Evaluate each potential solution, weighing its pros and cons. To facilitate decision-making, use techniques such as:

• SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
• Decision-making matrices
• Pros and cons lists
• Risk assessments

After evaluating, choose the most suitable solution based on effectiveness, cost, and time constraints.

Implementing and Monitoring the Solution

Implement the chosen solution and monitor its progress. Key actions include:

• Communicating the solution to relevant parties
• Setting timelines and milestones
• Assigning tasks and responsibilities
• Monitoring the solution and making adjustments as necessary
• Evaluating the effectiveness of the solution after implementation

Utilize feedback from stakeholders and consider potential improvements.

Problem-Solving Techniques

During each step, you may find it helpful to utilize various problem-solving techniques, such as:

• Brainstorming : A free-flowing, open-minded session where ideas are generated and listed without judgment, to encourage creativity and innovative thinking.
• Root cause analysis : A method that explores the underlying causes of a problem to find the most effective solution rather than addressing superficial symptoms.
• SWOT analysis : A tool used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to a problem or decision, providing a comprehensive view of the situation.
• Mind mapping : A visual technique that uses diagrams to organize and connect ideas, helping to identify patterns, relationships, and possible solutions.

Brainstorming

When facing a problem, start by conducting a brainstorming session. Gather your team and encourage an open discussion where everyone contributes ideas, no matter how outlandish they may seem. This helps you:

• Generate a diverse range of solutions
• Encourage all team members to participate

When brainstorming:

• Reserve judgment until the session is over
• Encourage wild ideas
• Combine and improve upon ideas

Root Cause Analysis

For effective problem-solving, identifying the root cause of the issue at hand is crucial. Try these methods:

• 5 Whys : Ask “why” five times to get to the underlying cause.
• Fishbone Diagram : Create a diagram representing the problem and break it down into categories of potential causes.
• Pareto Analysis : Determine the few most significant causes underlying the majority of problems.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis helps you examine the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to your problem. To perform a SWOT analysis:

• List your problem’s strengths, such as relevant resources or strong partnerships.
• Identify its weaknesses, such as knowledge gaps or limited resources.
• Explore opportunities, like trends or new technologies, that could help solve the problem.
• Recognize potential threats, like competition or regulatory barriers.

SWOT analysis aids in understanding the internal and external factors affecting the problem, which can help guide your solution.

Mind Mapping

A mind map is a visual representation of your problem and potential solutions. It enables you to organize information in a structured and intuitive manner. To create a mind map:

• Write the problem in the center of a blank page.
• Draw branches from the central problem to related sub-problems or contributing factors.
• Add more branches to represent potential solutions or further ideas.

Mind mapping allows you to visually see connections between ideas and promotes creativity in problem-solving.

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