Fostering a Problem-Solving Culture
by Jonathan Jones
With today’s fast-changing business environment and the complexity involved, yesterday’s command-and-control model does not work quickly enough to address the problems facing your company in the time required. If your employees have the training and psychological safety to solve and make decisions on the front lines, your customers will be happier, and you can spend more time thinking strategically. Here are seven tips to support a problem-solving culture.
1. Lead by example: Leadership is key to building a strong company culture. Problem solving, open-mindedness and continual development set the tone for the workforce from leaders.
2. Give your teams tools and training: With the proper tools, workshops and training, staff can face issues with confidence.
3. Promote open communication: Make staff feel comfortable discussing problems, feedback and suggestions. Collaboration begins when people can freely express their opinions without fear of repercussions.
4. Cultivate a growth mindset: Promote a culture of learning and growth via challenges. Encourage staff to use setbacks as learning opportunities to build resilience and flexibility.
5. Recognize innovation: Reward employees who actively solve problems. Showing innovation’s value through rewards, promotions or public recognition inspires others.
6. Learn from failures: Stress the significance of learning from mistakes. Understanding that setbacks are part of the journey and can provide useful lessons makes people more inclined to take reasonable risks.
7. Give employees autonomy: Give workers control over handling problems. Taking responsibility for problems improves confidence and accountability, leading to creative solutions.
By promoting open communication, a development mentality, and the right tools and training, you enable employees to overcome obstacles while creating a problem-solving culture that leads to creativity, flexibility and growth.
Jonathan Jones (Jonathan.jones@vistagechair.com or 314-608-0783) is a CEO peer group chair/coach for Vistage International.