PROBLEMS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS

PROBLEMS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS

Our next class had a very practical and a viable topic that is problem solving and decision making. The fact is that in our day to day life we come across so many problems and at each step we have to make a decision which is purely based on our choice. So in this session Mandi sir taught us the importance of scientific decision making with respect to the organisation.

The first question is What is Problem Solving? Problem-solving is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing and solving problems. 

The ultimate goal of problem-solving is to overcome obstacles and find a solution that best resolves the issue. This leads to the next step i.e.

DECISION MAKING. Decision making can be regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. 

 It is the process of selecting a course of action among several options. In an organization, there are four possible situations in decision making and its implementation.

1.       Individual Decision, Individual Implementation

2.       Individual Decision, Group Implementation

3.       Group Decision, Individual Implementation

4.       Group Decision, Group Implementation

Individual decision making is decision made by an individual or a single person whereas in Group decision making, as the name itself suggests it is decision making by consensus or majority technique in a group. As one can see individual decision making is fast and simple whereas the later one is more  systematic and  time consuming.

STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING & DECISION MAKING :

The four step approach to problem solving and decision making are as follows :

1.       PROBLEM/SITUATION IDENTIFICATION : In this first step we do valuing of the options and then prioritize then i.e. what is important and what is not.

2.       PROBLEM ANALYSIS : This involves defining of the problem statement after all the data has been gathered both from internal sources and external sources.

3.       PLAN DEVELOPMENT : first we need to get ideas. this can be from brain storming sessions. then we need to make a decision. by nature, both these are contradictory. idea getting is an expanding or selection process while the decision making process is a contracting or eliminating process. usually we use the dialectical method to reach a decision.

4.       IMPLEMENTATION : in this step the most important one the idea is put to affect and hence implemented. One needs to check the implementation part time and again for proper analysis.

Thank you for reading J