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Draw a Diagram

Blakes Education Problem Solving

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Problem Solving

Middle Primary

Blake’s Topic Bank

Drawing a Diagram

by Sharon Shapiro

This unit contains:

■ Teaching notes

■ 3 teaching examples

■ 18 task cards

For all your teaching needs visit www.blake.com.au

Sharon Shapiro

THE PROBLEM

SOLVING PROCESS

It is important that students follow a logical and

systematic approach to their problem solving. Following

these four steps will enable students to tackle

problems in a structured and meaningful way.

STEP 1: UNDERSTANDING

❖ Encourage students to read the problem

carefully a number of times until they fully

understand what is wanted.They may need to

discuss the problem with someone else or

rewrite it in their own words.

❖ Students should ask internal questions such as,

what is the problem asking me to do, what

information is relevant and necessary for solving

the problem.

❖ They should underline any unfamiliar words and

find out their meanings.

❖ They should select the information they know

and decide what is unknown or needs to be

discovered.They should see if there is any

unnecessary information.

❖ A sketch of the problem often helps their

understanding.

STEP 2: STUDENTS SHOULD

DECIDE ON A STRATEGY OR PLAN

Students should decide how they will solve the

problem by thinking about the different strategies

that could be used.They could try to make

predictions, or guesses, about the problem. Often

these guesses result in generalisations which help

to solve problems. Students should be discouraged

from making wild guesses but they should be

encouraged to take risks.They should always think

in terms of how this problem relates to other

problems that they have solved.They should keep

a record of the strategies they have tried so that

they don’t repeat them.

Some possible strategies include:

❖ Drawing a sketch, graph or table.

❖ Acting out situations, or using concrete

❖ Organising a list.

❖ Identifying a pattern and extending it.

❖ Guessing and checking.

❖ Working backwards.

❖ Using simpler numbers to solve the problem,

then applying the same methodology to the

real problem.

❖ Writing a number sentence.

❖ Using logic and clues.

❖ Breaking the problem into smaller parts.

STEP 3: SOLVING THE PROBLEM

❖ Students should write down their ideas as they

work so they don’t forget how they approached

❖ Their approach should be systematic.

❖ If stuck, students should reread the problem

and rethink their strategies.

❖ Students should be given the opportunity to

orally demonstrate or explain how they reached

STEP 4: REFLECT

❖ Students should consider if their answer makes

sense and if it has answered what was asked.

❖ Students should draw and write down their

thinking processes, estimations and approach, as

this gives them time to reflect on their

practices.When they have an answer they

should explain the process to someone else.

❖ Students should ask themselves ‘what if’ to link

this problem to another.This will take their

exploration to a deeper level and encourage

their use of logical thought processes.

❖ Students should consider if it is possible to do

the problem in a simpler way.

© Blake Education—Problem Solving: Drawing a Diagram

Teaching Notes Drawing a Diagram

Drawing a picture of a word problem often reveals

aspects of the problem that may not be apparent

at first. If the situation described in the problem is

difficult to visualise, a diagram, using simple

symbols or pictures, may enable students to see

the situation more easily.The diagram will also

assist students to keep track of the stages of a

problem where there are a number of steps.

In order to use the strategy of drawing a

diagram effectively, students will need to develop

the following skills and understanding.

USING A LINE TO

SYMBOLISE AN OBJECT

Simple line drawings help students to visualise a

situation. In a problem students were asked how

many markers would be needed if they placed a

marker at every two metre point on a ten metre

rope. In response, students may calculate mentally

10 ÷ 2 = 5, so five posts are needed. However, if

students draw the rope and markers, they will see

that actually six markers are needed because we

need one for the starting point and another at the

end of the rope.

USING A TIME/DISTANCE LINE

TO DISPLAY THE INFORMATION

A time/distance line helps to show distance, or

movement from one point to another. Students

were asked to calculate how far they are from the

city when they are 17 kilometres from the ocean,

using the information on this signpost.

Students should draw a

line and on it write the

30 km + (65 – 17 km) = 78 km

When students are required to draw a diagram of

a large area the diagram will often need to be

scaled down.

For example, in a drawing, one centimetre could

have the value of one kilometre.

Alternatively, a one centimetre line could

represent ten kilometres or even 500 kilometres,

depending on the scale of the drawing.

Show students how to use scaled down

measurements to solve a problem, then convert

the solution to the actual measurements.

SHOWING DIRECTION

Students will often be faced with drawings that

require them to have an understanding of

direction.They will also meet problems where

they are asked to plot a course by moving up,

down, right or left on a grid.They will also meet

to use the compass points to direct themselves —

north, south, east, west, north-easterly, southwesterly,

They will also need to become familiar with

measurement words which may be unfamiliar to

them, such as pace. Opportunities should be given

for the students to work out how many paces it

takes to cover the length and breadth of the

classroom or to pace out the playground, so they

develop a means of comparison.

Students should

develop the ability

to use a map as the

focus of the problem

they are solving.

They should be able

to plot four different

routes from Byamee to

Gumpy without passing through any town twice.

SHOWING THE RELATIONSHIPS

BETWEEN THINGS

Students will find it helpful to draw diagrams and

use symbols in order to visualise the relationships

between things.

For example:

DRAWING A PICTURE

Drawing a picture can help students organise

their thoughts and so simplify a problem.

These four domino pieces have to be organised in

a square shape with each side of the square adding

up to a total of ten.

Teaching Examples Drawing a Diagram

The children built a log playhouse in a square

shape.They used eight vertical posts on each side

of the house. How many posts did they use

altogether?

Understanding the problem

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

We know the playhouse was a square.

We know how many posts were on each side.

WHAT DO WE NEED TO FIND OUT?

Questioning:

Do we understand the meaning of vertical posts?

How many posts were used altogether?

Planning and communicating

WHAT WE DID

It is important that students develop their abilities

to logically explain their strategy.They should use

some mathematical language and drawings such as

graphs, charts and diagrams in their explanation or

during the problem solving process.

Students may suggest that the solution is easy

because there are four sides and so eight posts

times four sides will equal 32 posts.This is

incorrect. Students should be encouraged to draw

a picture so that the problem is clarified.They will

then be able to see and count the posts.

Step-by-step explanation

Here is a step-by-step explanation of the process.

Let . stand for one post.Ask students to draw

one side of the playhouse first.

They should then continue

with the second side.This is

a perfect time to discuss

whether the corner posts

are used once or twice on

Students will see that,

because the same corner

post is used for both the

horizontal and vertical

sides, only seven posts are

added.The third line will

again reuse the corner post

so only seven posts are

When students draw the

final side it is important

that they count the posts

carefully to ensure that

only eight posts are used.

Because they are reusing

both corner posts only six

others need to be added.

When the posts are carefully counted we see that

28 posts were used.

Reflecting and generalising

Once students have reflected on the solution, they

can generalise about problems of this type and see

how this solution can be applied to similar

problems.They should consider the method used

to see if it can be improved.They should think

about the accuracy of the method.They should

question if there is a shorter or different method

they could have chosen? Suitable technology such

as blocks can be used to assist with the

investigation by replacing pen and paper or can be

used to double-check the answer.

What if the square playhouse was a rectangle, how

would this affect the answer? What if 12 vertical

posts were used? What if the shape was a

rectangle but 26 posts were used and the length

and breadth weren’t specified? How many different

ways could the posts be placed? What if there

were 36 posts altogether?

A thick dowel stick has to be cut into eight pieces.

Each cut takes you 30 seconds. How long will it

take to cut the dowel stick into pieces?

What if the students were building a cubby house

and it took three minutes to join each plank

securely to the others. How long would it take

them to build the walls if they have six vertical

planks on each side?

We know we need eight pieces of dowel.

We know each cut takes 30 seconds.

How many cuts will we make? How long will the

cuts take? Is this simply a numerical problem or

must a diagram be drawn?

A line was drawn to symbolise the stick.

In order to make the eight pieces we cut the

dowel in seven places.

Seven cuts multiplied by 30 seconds per cut equals,

7 x 30 = 210 seconds. It will take 210 seconds or 3

minutes and 30 seconds to make the cuts.

Students who simply multiplied the eight pieces by

30 seconds were working inaccurately and had not

visualised the problem.They needed a concrete

item such as a strip of paper or piece of plasticine

that can be cut into pieces.We are able to

generalise that in future if a larger piece is cut into

smaller pieces, the end pieces are not cut and a

drawing will clarify this idea.

A frog fell down an abandoned well which was 21

metres deep. He found it difficult to jump up the

mud coated walls. He started his long jump up the

well at six a.m. It took him 15 minutes to jump

three metres because the walls were so slippery.

At the end of every 15 minute period he rested

for five minutes while he sadly slipped down one

metre. He continued on at the same rate.At what

time did he finally reach the top of the well?

It is important that students realise that there is

more than one way to approach a problem.The

time line or grid paper will assist them to visualise

the problem but an alternative way to solve the

problem could have been drawing a table.

What if it hailed for an hour and fifteen minutes

and the frog was forced to retreat to the bottom

of the well after covering eighteen metres.The frog

would have to start its jump once more. How long

would the trip take now?

The well was 21 metres deep.

The frog started jumping at six a.m.

He jumped three metres in fifteen minutes.

He slipped down one metre at the end of every

fifteen minute period.

What time did the frog finally reach the top of

This problem can be approached in a number of

ways. Students can use 25 squares of one centimetre

grid paper or they can draw a time line with one

centimetre marks. One centimetre would represent

one metre the frog jumps or slips. Drawing the line

will help students to visualise the problem.

It would take the frog 195 minutes to cover the

distance. He would reach the top of the well at

BLM Drawing a Diagram

★ Understanding the problem

List what you know from reading the problem

What do you need to find out?

What questions do you have?

What are you uncertain about?

Is there any unfamiliar

or unclear language?

★ Planning and communicating a solution

Which solution will you try?

Will you draw a line to symbolise

the objects? Draw a time line to show

passing time or distance covered?

Draw a picture to stand for objects?

Trace a journey on a map? Use

directions on a compass? Use a scale

drawing? Show the relationship between

things using a diagram or symbols?

★ Reflecting and generalising

What did you find?

How accurate is your answer? How can the strategy you used be applied

to other situations? Could another more effective method have been

used? Is there a shorter or different method?

★ Extension

How can this problem

be extended? What factors

can be added as part of a

‘what if’ question?

This page may be reproduced by the original purchaser for non-commercial classroom use.

PROBLEM SOLVING TASK CARDS - Drawing a Diagram

Jane built a square cubby

house on one side of the

river. She used eight vertical

tree branches for each side.

How many branches did she

use altogether?

Brett built a tower using four

different coloured milk cartons.

The red carton was below the

green carton. The blue carton

was above the yellow carton

which was above the green

carton. Which carton is on top?

Measurement

Giovanni has to saw

a pipe into seven

pieces. If it takes him

four minutes to make

one cut, how long will

it take to cut into

seven pieces?

A spider is climbing up a

30 metre building. Each

day it climbs five metres

and slides back one metre.

How many days will it take

to reach the top?

Jacob is building a Lego

figure. It takes him one

and a half seconds to

join two pieces. How long

will it take him to join

nine pieces into one long

Jeremy’s birthday cake was

baked in the shape of a

cube and was covered on

every side with delicious

pink icing. If it was cut into

27 cubes, how many pieces

would have icing on no, one,

two or three sides?

In the Year Four classroom the desks are organised

in equal rows. Jane sits in the desk that is fourth

from the front and third from the back. There are

four desks on the right but only one to the left of

Jane’s desk. How many desks are in the room?

Mrs Williams became terribly lost on the way to an important meeting. She stopped

and asked a farmer the way. He told her that some of the roads were flooded and

she would have to travel a long way round to get to her meeting. The farmer told Mrs

Williams to drive for four kilometres north, then to continue on for five kilometres in

a westerly direction. She was then to travel south for two kilometres and then turn to

the east for one kilometre and finally to travel north for one kilometre. She would

then arrive safely at her meeting.

So she could remember the way, Mrs Williams drew a map on one centimetre grid

paper. Help her draw the map on the grid paper.

For her woodwork project, Angela has to hammer

five nails into a piece of wood. The nails must be

in a straight line and 0.75 centimetres apart. What

is the distance from the first nail to the last?

Mrs Harriman decided to enclose an area of her

garden to use as a vegetable patch. She had to

make sure that the rectangular area was fenced

on all sides so that the sheep would not wander

in and munch on her vegetables. She used 26

posts to make the entire fence but used five

more posts on the longer sides than the shorter

sides. How many posts are on each side?

On a camp, the students are lining up to collect

their breakfast. There are 50 students in front

of Ned. Ned is hungry so he decides to move

towards the front of the line. Each time one

person is given their tray, Ned slips past two

students. How many students will be given their

breakfast before Ned?

Two hundred and twenty seven

students were standing at

assembly. Every tenth student

was chosen to collect a news

sheet. How many were chosen?

Five families are building project

homes in an isolated area. Roads

will have to be built to connect

each house with all the other

houses. How many roads have

to be built?

A gardener is asked to plant

ten trees in five rows, with

each row containing four

trees. How did he do this?

Ten objects must be buried in the

garden for a treasure hunt. To make

this easier the garden has been

divided into an imaginary grid, five

squares across by five squares down.

To make the treasure hard to find it is

important to hide the objects in different

areas. You must make sure that no more than

two objects lie in a line in any direction.

A snail finds itself at the bottom of a deep

well. The well is 1530 centimetres deep. Each

day the snail struggles up 180 centimetres

and then stops to rest. While it is resting the

snail slides down 30 centimetres. How long

before it reaches the top of the well?

The streets around the school have been

closed off for the annual school marathon.

During the marathon, the students must

stay on the road and pass through all the

checkpoints. Which is the quickest route

they could choose without travelling through

any part of the route more than once?

Eric’s back garden is 10 metres by 14

metres in size. Each day Eric rides his

tricycle down the three metre long path

leading from the back door of his house to

the garden and around the very edge of the

garden four times. Then he rides back up

the path where he leaves his tricycle. How

far does he ride each day?

Answers to Task Cards

Jane used 28 tree

branches to build

her square cubby

The blue milk

carton is at the

top of Brett’s

Giovanni has to make six cuts which take him

four minutes each, so 6 x 4 = 24 minutes.

There are six desks

in each row from

the front to the

back of the room

and six desks in

each row across

the room, so there

are 36 desks in the

room, 6 x 6 = 36.

Mrs Williams’

route to the

The spider takes eight days to reach the top.

Angela’s line of nails is three centimetres from the

first nail to the last.

Jacob had to make eight joins to connect his nine

pieces of Lego and each one took one and a half

seconds, so 8 x 1 1 – 2 = 12 seconds

Mrs Harriman

used ten posts

on the long

sides of her

fence and five

posts on the

short sides.

0 pink 1 pink 2 pink 3 pink

sides side sides sides

Either 16 or 17 students will be fed before Ned,

depending on whether a person is served before

Ned makes his move or whether Ned moves first

before anyone has been served.

22 students were chosen to collect a news sheet.

10 students in 100, 20 students in 200

2 students in 27

equals 22 students in total

Ten roads have to be built to connect each house

with all the others.

Here is how

the gardener

planted his

ten trees in

The snail reached the top of the well on the

Day Climbs to Slides to

(cms) (cms)

7 1080 1050

8 1230 1200

9 1380 1350

The route shown on the diagram below

is quickest.

Eric rides 198 metres each day.

1 circuit around the garden, 10 m + 14 m + 10 m

+ 14 m = 48 m

4 circuits, 48 m x 4 = 192 m

Up and back along the driveway 2 x 3 m = 6 m

Total distance 192 m + 6 m = 198 metres

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UNIT P1 ■Problem SolvingMiddle PrimaryBlake’s Topic BankProblem SolvingDrawing a Diagramby Sharon ShapiroThis unit contains:■ Teaching notes■ 3 teaching examples■ 1 BLM■ 18 task cards■ Answers

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How to Solve Problems & Get Ideas with These 5 Diagrams

Drawing a digram is a powerful problem solving technique. The right diagram can reveal hidden relationships that lie hidden behind facts and figures. Try these five simple visualizations for everyday decision making.

Do you diagram to develop ideas and plan? If not, you should! Diagramming makes your ideas more solid because they start to exist in the real world, outside of your mind.

Thinkers out there have also developed visual models you can follow to help you plan and make decisions. We'll introduce you to five models and diagramming methods that you may not know, and tips and tools to help you make the most of them.

Personal Performance Model

The Personal Performance Model (developed by Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tsch ä ppeler, authors of The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking ) helps you decide whether you should change your job by tracking your satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) numerically.

How It Works

You may want to do this in a notebook where you can draw out the model on the pages and flip between them. Alternatively, you could make a line-graph of your answers to track them over time

Every evening for three weeks, ask yourself the following three questions, and insert your answers in the model on a scale of one ('doesn't apply at all') to ten ('totally applies'). Have to. To what extent are my current tasks being imposed on me or demanded of me? Able to. To what extent do my tasks match my abilities? Want to. To what extent does my current task correspond to what I really want? -- The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking

On a three-pointed plane, you'll see that your answers form a "sail".  If your answers change significantly, then the sail is changing, and at least it shows you have variety in your work. The bad days may be only occasional.

If your answers stay roughly the same day-to-day (the sail doesn't change), ask yourself how satisfied you are with that state. Are you getting what you want out of your job? What would you rather, and do you have the means to take the leap?

You might need this diagram when  assessing a job offer in case you're looking for a new career. While there are many apps which can help you make decisions , an analog skill with a simple diagram like this could be a more powerful exercise.

The Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix (developed by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower) helps you prioritize your tasks and work more efficiently. It's also a good model for people to follow to decide what to handle themselves and what to delegate, delete, seek help with, or automate .

Each of the tasks on your to-do list need to be assigned a quadrant according to which ones are 1) Important and Urgent, 2) Important but Not Urgent, 3) Unimportant and Not Urgent, 4) Unimportant, but Urgent. Then, simply follow the model as shown above to decide what to do when.

You can automate the Eisenhower Matrix with this Google Sheet template by Sidekick . After you open it, go to File > Make a Copy , and you'll have your own version to fill in. As you fill in the list, your to-do items will be automatically sorted on the spreadsheet page labeled "My Prioritized To-Do List".

Obviously you have to do the Q1 items first, but the key to living a great life (or planning a great event) is to figure out when you will do the Q2 items. The items in Q2 make us better. They let us "level up".

If you have always wanted to learn to play guitar, you need to put it in Q2, and the rule for Q2 is that you need to schedule it. If it's important, it needs some time in your schedule, whether that's tomorrow or months down the road. Just because you have no pressing need to learn guitar right away, doesn't mean you keep putting it off forever.

Check out our productivity tip on how to prioritize better .

Gantt Charts

Gantt charts (created by  Karol Adamiecki and independently by Henry Gantt) help you manage the phases of complex projects over time by visually showing what tasks need to be completed on a horizontal time scale. Here's a video with some history and tips from projectmanager.com :

To start your Gantt chart simply, try a tool like Smartsheet . Put down your big tasks, and break them down into smaller tasks. Enter the date that each task is to be started and finished, or use your mouse to click and drag on the end points of the subtasks.

Let's say you were planning a wedding.

A big task might be "Organize decorations". That could be split into sub-tasks such as choosing flowers, buying chair covers, and selecting table centerpieces. "Building a guest list" could be a big task including brainstorming attendees, organizing a seating plan, and distributing invitations. Some of these tasks can be done by different people, and some of them have to be done before others, so you can plot all the tasks on your Gantt chart to make sure everyone involved in the planning stays on track and gets done on time.

You can also check out Binfire's product management tool with Gantt Charts for an alternative.

Affinity Diagrams

An affinity diagram helps you brainstorm by building connections between different concepts. It' s a great form of brainstorming for a group.

Unlike traditional group brainstorming, you don't have some people yelling out ideas while others quietly think --"That's a stupid idea," all the while you try to scribble them down on a whiteboard.

You start affinity diagramming by collecting ideas on sticky notes or Post-Its.  Give everyone a stack of sticky notes and a pen, so they can all write their ideas down at once. Give them a prompt,  like, "things you love about our brand" "things our team could work on" or "features of our competitors' product". I nstruct the group to put down one idea per Post-It, and use as many as they like. Use a different color for each question.

After a few minutes of working on each question, put the sticky notes up for everyone to see. Now, you can go through the answers together. You will see common themes emerge among the ideas. Let your group start to move them around and talk about clustering them by what feels right, and what fits the spirit of what the original writer meant.

After everyone seems happy with the clusters of ideas, give each cluster a name. Now you have big themes and concepts for your project that help your team get on the same page, and reveal what's important to the group. Finally, p hotograph the board.

If someone in the group has an iPhone, you can use the Post-It Plus app to capture the post-its, move them around, and share with the group.

Mind maps help you study and build creative ideas by organizing thoughts visually around a concept. It's a little like the opposite process from Affinity Diagramming.

Start by putting the name of your concept in the center of the page, and circle it (like the Cats mindmap I started above in Coggle ). As you're thinking (or paying attention in a classroom or lecture), add branches to that concept and connect it with the big ideas that contribute to it. Branch those concepts off into smaller ideas and notes, and so on and so forth. Use different colors, shapes, and connecting lines as necessary -- or draw illustrations if they help you capture an idea.

When you're done, you'll have a web connecting ideas and concepts together. When you look back on it later, studying will be easy because the concepts won't be displayed linearly, but by how they relate to each other.

If you're mind-mapping to brainstorm, try to approach it from the angle of filling out each of the branches as much as you can. It will help you get past a creative block because if you don't know what to think about next, or what kind of project you should make, you can look to your mind map and ask yourself, "What areas could I stand to fill out more?"

One of my favorite tools for mind mapping is Blumind, for Windows. It's lightweight, has great keyboard shortcuts, and lets you instantly transform your mind map into a variety of different formats like hierarchical organization charts, tree diagrams, and logic diagrams. There are  mind-mapping tools for other platforms  out there too.

What Kinds of Diagrams Do You Use?

There are tons of useful models and diagrams that you can make to solve everyday problems.

What kinds of diagrams do you find yourself using a lot? Let us know what we missed. We'd also love to hear about the kinds of tricky problems you may have had to solve and how you did it -- or challenges that may seem so complicated to plan that you don't know where to begin.

Image Credits : Badges Affinity Diagram by Open Michigan via Flickr

Problem-Solving Flowchart: A Visual Method to Find Perfect Solutions

Lucid Content

Reading time: about 7 min

“People ask me questions Lost in confusion Well, I tell them there's no problem Only solutions” —John Lennon, “Watching the Wheels”

Despite John Lennon’s lyrics, nobody is free from problems, and that’s especially true in business. Chances are that you encounter some kind of problem at work nearly every day, and maybe you’ve had to “put out a fire” before lunchtime once or twice in your career.

But perhaps what Lennon’s saying is that, no matter what comes our way, we can find solutions. How do you approach problems? Do you have a process in place to ensure that you and your co-workers come to the right solution?

In this article, we will give you some tips on how to find solutions visually through a problem-solving flowchart and other methods.

What is visual problem-solving?

If you are a literal thinker, you may think that visual problem-solving is something that your ophthalmologist does when your vision is blurry. For the rest of us, visual problem-solving involves executing the following steps in a visual way:

• Define the problem.
• Brainstorm solutions.
• Pick a solution.
• Implement solutions.
• Review the results.

How to make your problem-solving process more visual

Words pack a lot of power and are very important to how we communicate on a daily basis. Using words alone, you can brainstorm, organize data, identify problems, and come up with possible solutions. The way you write your ideas may make sense to you, but it may not be as easy for other team members to follow.

When you use flowcharts, diagrams, mind maps, and other visuals, the information is easier to digest. Your eyes dart around the page quickly gathering information, more fully engaging your brain to find patterns and make sense of the data.

Identify the problem with mind maps

So you know there is a problem that needs to be solved. Do you know what that problem is? Is there only one problem? Is the problem sum total of a bunch of smaller problems?

You need to ask these kinds of questions to be sure that you are working on the root of the issue. You don’t want to spend too much time and energy solving the wrong problem.

To help you identify the problem, use a mind map. Mind maps can help you visually brainstorm and collect ideas without a strict organization or structure. A mind map more closely aligns with the way a lot of our brains work—participants can bounce from one thought to the next defining the relationships as they go.

Mind mapping to solve a problem includes, but is not limited to, these relatively easy steps:

• In the center of the page, add your main idea or concept (in this case, the problem).
• Branch out from the center with possible root causes of the issue. Connect each cause to the central idea.
• Branch out from each of the subtopics with examples or additional details about the possible cause. As you add more information, make sure you are keeping the most important ideas closer to the main idea in the center.
• Use different colors, diagrams, and shapes to organize the different levels of thought.

Alternatively, you could use mind maps to brainstorm solutions once you discover the root cause. Search through Lucidchart’s mind maps template library or add the mind map shape library to quickly start your own mind map.

Create a problem-solving flowchart

A mind map is generally a good tool for non-linear thinkers. However, if you are a linear thinker—a person who thinks in terms of step-by-step progression making a flowchart may work better for your problem-solving strategy. A flowchart is a graphical representation of a workflow or process with various shapes connected by arrows representing each step.

Whether you are trying to solve a simple or complex problem, the steps you take to solve that problem with a flowchart are easy and straightforward. Using boxes and other shapes to represent steps, you connect the shapes with arrows that will take you down different paths until you find the logical solution at the end.

Flowcharts or decision trees are best used to solve problems or answer questions that are likely to come up multiple times. For example, Yoder Lumber , a family-owned hardwood manufacturer, built decision trees in Lucidchart to demonstrate what employees should do in the case of an injury.

To start your problem-solving flowchart, follow these steps:

• Draw a starting shape to state your problem.
• Draw a decision shape where you can ask questions that will give you yes-or-no answers.
• Based on the yes-or-no answers, draw arrows connecting the possible paths you can take to work through the steps and individual processes.
• Continue following paths and asking questions until you reach a logical solution to the stated problem.
• Try the solution. If it works, you’re done. If it doesn’t work, review the flowchart to analyze what may have gone wrong and rework the flowchart until you find the solution that works.

If your problem involves a process or workflow , you can also use flowcharts to visualize the current state of your process to find the bottleneck or problem that’s costing your company time and money.

Lucidchart has a large library of flowchart templates to help you analyze, design, and document problem-solving processes or any other type of procedure you can think of.

Draw a cause-and-effect diagram

A cause-and-effect diagram is used to analyze the relationship between an event or problem and the reason it happened. There is not always just one underlying cause of a problem, so this visual method can help you think through different potential causes and pinpoint the actual cause of a stated problem.

Cause-and-effect diagrams, created by Kaoru Ishikawa, are also known as Ishikawa diagrams, fishbone diagrams , or herringbone diagrams (because they resemble a fishbone when completed). By organizing causes and effects into smaller categories, these diagrams can be used to examine why things went wrong or might go wrong.

To perform a cause-and-effect analysis, follow these steps.

1. Start with a problem statement.

The problem statement is usually placed in a box or another shape at the far right of your page. Draw a horizontal line, called a “spine” or “backbone,” along the center of the page pointing to your problem statement.

2. Add the categories that represent possible causes.

For example, the category “Materials” may contain causes such as “poor quality,” “too expensive,” and “low inventory.” Draw angled lines (or “bones”) that branch out from the spine to these categories.

3. Add causes to each category.

Draw as many branches as you need to brainstorm the causes that belong in each category.

Like all visuals and diagrams, a cause-and-effect diagram can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be to help you analyze operations and other factors to identify causes related to undesired effects.

Collaborate with Lucidchart

You may have superior problem-solving skills, but that does not mean that you have to solve problems alone. The visual strategies above can help you engage the rest of your team. The more involved the team is in the creation of your visual problem-solving narrative, the more willing they will be to take ownership of the process and the more invested they will be in its outcome.

In Lucidchart, you can simply share the documents with the team members you want to be involved in the problem-solving process. It doesn’t matter where these people are located because Lucidchart documents can be accessed at any time from anywhere in the world.

Whatever method you decide to use to solve problems, work with Lucidchart to create the documents you need. Sign up for a free account today and start diagramming in minutes.

About Lucidchart

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

Related articles

Sometimes you're faced with challenges that traditional problem solving can't fix. Creative problem solving encourages you to find new, creative ways of thinking that can help you overcome the issue at hand more quickly.

Dialogue mapping is a facilitation technique used to visualize critical thinking as a group. Learn how you and your team can start dialogue mapping today to solve problems and bridge gaps in knowledge and understanding (plus get a free template!).

Bring your bright ideas to life.

or continue with

Maths with David

Problem solving. draw diagram.

In mathematics, diagrams are often a useful way of organising information and help us to see relationships. A diagram can be a rough sketch, a number line, a tree diagram or two-way table, a Venn diagram, or any other drawing which helps us to tackle a problem.

Labels (e.g. letters for vertices of a polygon) are useful in a diagram to help us be able to refer to items of interest.

A diagram can be updated as we find out new information.

Examples of using a diagram to tackle a problem

First we will read all three examples and have a quick think about them and then we will look at how a diagram can help us with each one:

Restaurant Example

A restaurant offers a “business lunch” where people can choose either fish or chicken or vegetables for their main course, accompanied by a side portion of rice, chips, noodles or salad. How many different combined meals can they choose between?

Rectangle Area Example

To the nearest centimetre, the length and width of a rectangle is 10cm and 8cm.

• What are the limits of accuracy for the area of the rectangle?
• the lengths of the sides?

Prime Numbers Example

Masha says that if she writes out numbers in rows of six then all of the prime numbers will either be in the column that has 1 at the top, or they will be in the column that has 5 at the top. How can you find out if she is correct?

Worked Solutions to Examples

One way to tackle this would be to write out a list, being systematic to ensure that all combinations are considered.

Another is to draw out a diagram like the one below. As shown, you actually don’t need to finish the diagram in order to conclude how many combinations there are:

You could also use a 2-way table as shown below:

Drawing a rough sketch of the rectangle labelled with the boundaries of its side lengths can really help us to visualise the situation here:

It can then be helpful to draw sketches of the smallest possible rectangle and the largest possible rectangle:

We can now answer the questions, so (a) the smallest possible area is 7.5 x 9.5 = 71.25cm 2 and the largest “possible” area is 8.5 x 10.5 = 89.25cm 2 . So the limits of accuracy are [71.25,89.25) cm 2 .

For (b), we can see from the sketches that the difference between the minimum and the maximum values is 1cm in the case of both the width and the lenght. For part (ii) we simply subtract the numbers above to give 89.25-71.25 = 18cm 2 .

Here, listing out numbers, especially for the first few is going to be helpful. We should list them as specified in the question, and we can highlight the prime numbers:

Because we know that no even numbers other than 2 are prime, we know that further prime numbers cannot be in the second, fourth or sixth column. The third column keeps adding 6s, so it is adding multiples of 3 to multiples of 3, so the numbers will always be divisible by 3, so further numbers in this column cannot be prime. So she is correct that the prime numbers must be in the first or the fifth column.

31 Questions of increasing difficulty

1.) In a cement factory, cement bags are placed on pallets made of planks of wood and bricks. The number of bricks needed to make a pallet is calculated as being one more than the length of the plank in metres (as shown below):

a.) What length of pallet uses five bricks?

b.) If the pallet is 7m long, how many bricks are used in it?

The factory needs pallets with a total length of 15m for the next batch of cement. It has planks of wood that are 4m long and 3m long.

c.) What combinations of planks can they have?

d.) How many bricks would be needed for each combination?

2.) Sonia wants to plant an apple tree in her garden. She needs to make sure that there is a circular area of lawn with diameter 3m around the base of the tree, so that all of the fruit will fall onto the lawn area.

Below is a (not to scale) sketch of Sonia’s garden:

Where could the tree be placed to meet her requirements?

3.) The diagram below represents towns A and B in a mountainous region:

The mountain rescue helicopters from both towns will always be sent to rescue any casualty within a 25km radius of town A or town B. The fire and rescue team from town B will travel to any accident scene closer to town B than town A.

Shade the region that the helicopters and town B’s fire an rescue team will both cover.

4.) A rectangle has length (2x+3) and width (x-1).

a.) Write an expression for the perimeter of the rectangle.

b.) Write an expression for the area of the rectangle.

The area of the rectangle is 250cm 2 .

c.) How long is the longest side?

d.) What is the perimeter of the rectangle?

5.) The probability that Hannah catches the 6.30am train to the city is 0.7.

If she misses the train, she will be late for work.

The probability that the train will be late is 0.15.

If the train is late, she will be late for work.

What is the probability that Hannah will be on time for work on a particular day?

6.) Two five-sided spinners are numbered 1 to 5. When the arrows are spun, your total score is calculated by adding the two numbers that the spinners land on.

a.) Draw a suitable diagram to show all possible outcomes when spinning these spinners.

b.) What is the highest score you could get?

c.) What is the probability of getting a total score of 8?

Worked Solutions to Questions

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Draw a Picture or Diagram Problem Solving PowerPoint, Task Cards and Worksheet

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Description.

This download includes a PowerPoint with tips for solving problems involving the strategy 'draw a picture or diagram' and eleven questions.

Each slide contains a hyperlink to the answer, hyperlink back to the question and also a hyperlink to a hint and back.

The same questions in the PowerPoint are also provided in a task card form. A worksheet with similar questions is also included with an answer key.

Use as an assessment sheet, consolidation activity or homework. Included are:

• Explanation pages (2 pages)
• Steps poster for solving problems (1 page)
• PowerPoint (35 pages)
• Task cards (35 pages)
• Worksheet (1 page)

Please note, this product is included in my Problem Solving Pack.

→ Other than where stated, this product is not editable 

→This file is zipped. Once downloaded, right-click the file and select ‘extract all’ to open. 

Terms of Use:

✔ This resource is for classroom use by the purchaser only.

✖ It may not be shared with other teachers digitally, as a hard copy or uploaded to the internet or shared drives.

✔ Parts of the resource may be shared with student digitally where it is secured behind a log in.

✔If you wish to share with others you can purchase additional individual licenses for a discounted price © Mrs Amy123

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Problem-Solving Strategies

October 16, 2019

There are many different ways to solve a math problem, and equipping students with problem-solving strategies is just as important as teaching computation and algorithms. Problem-solving strategies help students visualize the problem or present the given information in a way that can lead them to the solution. Solving word problems using strategies works great as a number talks activity and helps to revise many skills.

Problem-solving strategies

1. create a diagram/picture, 2. guess and check., 3. make a table or a list., 4. logical reasoning., 5. find a pattern, 6. work backward, 1. create a diagram/draw a picture.

Creating a diagram helps students visualize the problem and reach the solution. A diagram can be a picture with labels, or a representation of the problem with objects that can be manipulated. Role-playing and acting out the problem like a story can help get to the solution.

Alice spent 3/4 of her babysitting money on comic books. She is left with $6. How much money did she make from babysitting?

2. Guess and check

Teach students the same strategy research mathematicians use.

With this strategy, students solve problems by making a reasonable guess depending on the information given. Then they check to see if the answer is correct and they improve it accordingly.  By repeating this process, a student can arrive at a correct answer that has been checked. It is recommended that the students keep a record of their guesses by making a chart, a table or a list. This is a flexible strategy that works for many types of problems. When students are stuck, guessing and checking helps them start and explore the problem. However, there is a trap. Exactly because it is such a simple strategy to use, some students find it difficult to consider other strategies. As problems get more complicated, other strategies become more important and more effective.

Find two numbers that have sum 11 and product 24.

Try/guess  5 and 6  the product is 30 too high

  adjust  to 4 and 7 with product 28 still high

  adjust  again 3 and 8 product 24

3. Make a table or a list

Carefully organize the information on a table or list according to the problem information. It might be a table of numbers, a table with ticks and crosses to solve a logic problem or a list of possible answers. Seeing the given information sorted out on a table or a list will help find patterns and lead to the correct solution.

To make sure you are listing all the information correctly read the problem carefully.

Find the common factors of 24, 30 and 18

Logical reasoning is the process of using logical, systemic steps to arrive at a conclusion based on given facts and mathematic principles. Read and understand the problem. Then find the information that helps you start solving the problem. Continue with each piece of information and write possible answers.

Thomas, Helen, Bill, and Mary have cats that are black, brown, white, or gray. The cats’ names are Buddy, Lucky, Fifi, and Moo. Buddy is brown. Thoma’s cat, Lucky, is not gray. Helen’s cat is white but is not named Moo. The gray cat belongs to Bill. Which cat belongs to each student, and what is its color?

A table or list is useful in solving logic problems.

Since Lucky is not gray it can be black or brown. However, Buddy is brown so Lucky has to be black.

Buddy is brown so it cannot be Helen’s cat. Helen’s cat cannot be Moo, Buddy or Lucky, so it is Fifi.

Therefore, Moo is Bill’s cat and Buddy is Mary’s cat.

5. Find a pattern.

Finding a pattern is a strategy in which students look for patterns in the given information in order to solve the problem. When the problem consists of data like numbers or events that are repeated then it can be solved using the “find a pattern” problem-solving strategy. Data can be organized in a table or a list to reveal the pattern and help discover the “rule” of the pattern.

 The “rule” can then be used to find the answer to the question and complete the table/list.

Shannon’s Pizzeria made 5 pizzas on Sunday, 10 pizzas on Monday, 20 pizzas on Tuesday, and 40 pizzas on Wednesday. If this pattern continues, how many pizzas will the pizzeria make on Saturday?

6. Working backward

Problems that can be solved with this strategy are the ones that  list a series of events or a sequence of steps .

In this strategy, the students must start with the solution and work back to the beginning. Each operation must be reversed to get back to the beginning. So if working forwards requires addition, when students work backward they will need to subtract. And if they multiply working forwards, they must divide when working backward.

Mom bought a box of candy. Mary took 5 of them, Nick took 4 of them and 31 were given out on Halloween night. The next morning they found 8 pieces of candy in the box. How many candy pieces were in the box when mom bought it.

For this problem, we know that the final number of candy was 8, so if we work backward to “put back” the candy that was taken from the box we can reach the number of candy pieces that were in the box, to begin with.

The candy was taken away so we will normally subtract them. However, to get back to the original number of candy we need to work backward and do the opposite, which is to add them.

8 candy pieces were left + the 31 given out + plus the ones Mary took + the ones Nick took

8+31+5+4= 48   Answer: The box came with 48 pieces of candy.

Selecting the best strategy for a problem comes with practice and often problems will require the use of more than one strategies.

Print and digital activities

I have created a collection of print and digital activity cards and worksheets with word problems (print and google slides) to solve using the strategies above. The collection includes 70 problems (5 challenge ones) and their solution s and explanations.

sample below

How to use the activity cards

Allow the students to use manipulatives to solve the problems. (counters, shapes, lego blocks, Cuisenaire blocks, base 10 blocks, clocks) They can use manipulatives to create a picture and visualize the problem. They can use counters for the guess and check strategy. Discuss which strategy/strategies are better for solving each problem. Discuss the different ways. Use the activities as warm-ups, number talks, initiate discussions, group work, challenge, escape rooms, and more.

Ask your students to write their own problems using the problems in this resource, and more, as examples. Start with a simple type. Students learn a lot when trying to compose a problem. They can share the problem with their partner or the whole class. Make a collection of problems to share with another class.

For the google slides the students can use text boxes to explain their thinking with words, add shapes and lines to create diagrams, and add (insert) tables and diagrams.

Many of the problems can be solved faster by using algebraic expressions. However, since I created this resource for grades 4 and up I chose to show simple conceptual ways of solving the problems using the strategies above. You can suggest different ways of solving the problems based on the grade level.

Find the free and premium versions of the resource below. The premium version includes 70 problems (challenge problems included) and their solutions

There are 2 versions of the resource

70 google slides with explanations + 70 printable task cards

70 google slides with explanations + 11 worksheets

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All teams and organizations encounter challenges as they grow. There are problems that might occur for teams when it comes to miscommunication or resolving business-critical issues . You may face challenges around growth , design , user engagement, and even team culture and happiness. In short, problem-solving techniques should be part of every team’s skillset.

Problem-solving methods are primarily designed to help a group or team through a process of first identifying problems and challenges , ideating possible solutions , and then evaluating the most suitable .

Finding effective solutions to complex problems isn’t easy, but by using the right process and techniques, you can help your team be more efficient in the process.

So how do you develop strategies that are engaging, and empower your team to solve problems effectively?

In this blog post, we share a series of problem-solving tools you can use in your next workshop or team meeting. You’ll also find some tips for facilitating the process and how to enable others to solve complex problems.

Let’s get started! 

How do you identify problems?

How do you identify the right solution.

• Tips for more effective problem-solving

Complete problem-solving methods

• Problem-solving techniques to identify and analyze problems
• Problem-solving techniques for developing solutions

Problem-solving warm-up activities

Closing activities for a problem-solving process.

Before you can move towards finding the right solution for a given problem, you first need to identify and define the problem you wish to solve. 

Here, you want to clearly articulate what the problem is and allow your group to do the same. Remember that everyone in a group is likely to have differing perspectives and alignment is necessary in order to help the group move forward. 

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 scary for people to stand up and contribute, especially if the problems or challenges are emotive or personal in nature. Be sure to try and create a psychologically safe space for these kinds of discussions.

Remember that problem analysis and further discussion are also important. Not taking the time to fully analyze and discuss a challenge can result in the development of solutions that are not fit for purpose or do not address the underlying issue.

Successfully identifying and then analyzing a problem means facilitating a group through activities designed to help them clearly and honestly articulate their thoughts and produce usable insight.

With this data, you might then produce a problem statement that clearly describes the problem you wish to be addressed and also state the goal of any process you undertake to tackle this issue.  

Finding solutions is the end goal of any process. Complex organizational challenges can only be solved with an appropriate solution but discovering them requires using the right problem-solving tool.

After you’ve explored a problem and discussed ideas, you need to help a team discuss and choose the right solution. Consensus tools and methods such as those below help a group explore possible solutions before then voting for the best. They’re a great way to tap into the collective intelligence of the group for great results!

Remember that the process is often iterative. Great problem solvers often roadtest a viable solution in a measured way to see what works too. While you might not get the right solution on your first try, the methods below help teams land on the most likely to succeed solution while also holding space for improvement.

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

In 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!

Tips for more 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.

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!

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
• Lightning Decision Jam
• Problem Definition Process
• Discovery & Action Dialogue

Design Sprint 2.0

• Open Space Technology

1. 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.

2. 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   The problem with anything that requires creative thinking is that it’s easy to get lost—lose focus and fall into the trap of having useless, open-ended, unstructured discussions. Here’s the most effective solution I’ve found: Replace all open, unstructured discussion with a clear process. What to use this exercise for: Anything which requires a group of people to make decisions, solve problems or discuss challenges. It’s always good to frame an LDJ session with a broad topic, here are some examples: The conversion flow of our checkout Our internal design process How we organise events Keeping up with our competition Improving sales flow

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. World Cafe

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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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!

• The Creativity Dice
• Fishbone Analysis
• Problem Tree
• SWOT Analysis
• Agreement-Certainty Matrix
• The Journalistic Six
• LEGO Challenge
• What, So What, Now What?
• Journalists

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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

16. Speed Boat

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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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!

20. 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 developing 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 narrow down to the correct solution.

Use these problem-solving techniques when you want to help your team find consensus, compare possible solutions, and move towards taking action on a particular problem.

• Improved Solutions
• Four-Step Sketch
• 15% Solutions
• How-Now-Wow matrix
• Impact Effort Matrix

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. Dotmocracy

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.

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
• Doodling Together
• Show and Tell
• Constellations
• Draw a Tree

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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.

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
• Who What When Matrix
• Response Cards

How do I conclude a problem-solving process?

All good things must come to an end. With the bulk of the work done, it can be tempting to conclude your workshop swiftly and without a moment to debrief and align. This can be problematic in that it doesn’t allow your team to fully process the results or reflect on the process.

At the end of an effective session, your team will have gone through a process that, while productive, can be exhausting. It’s important to give your group a moment to take a breath, ensure that they are clear on future actions, and provide short feedback before leaving the space. 

The primary purpose of any problem-solving method is to generate solutions and then implement them. Be sure to take the opportunity to ensure everyone is aligned and ready to effectively implement the solutions you produced in the workshop.

Remember that every process can be improved and by giving a short moment to collect feedback in the session, you can further refine your problem-solving methods and see further success in the future too.

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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.

Save time and effort discovering the right solutions

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 creative 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! 

thank you very much for these excellent techniques

Certainly wonderful article, very detailed. Shared!

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Problem Solving - Choose Your Own Strategy- PowerPoint, Task Cards and Worksheet

Description

This download includes a PowerPoint with eleven problem solving questions where students need to pick or combine strategies to be able to solve each problem. Each slide contains a hyperlink to the answer, hyperlink back to the question and also a hyperlink to a hint and back.

The same questions in the PowerPoint are also provided in task card form.

A worksheet with similar questions is also included with answer key.

Use as an assessment sheet, consolidation activity or homework.

Included are:

♦ Explanation pages (2 pages)

♦ Steps poster for solving problems (1 page)

♦ PowerPoint (35 pages)

♦ Task cards (35 pages)

♦ Worksheet (1 page)

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Other packages in the problem solving series available for individual purchase:

Problem Solving Strategy Posters and Other Words for Operations<.a>

Logic and Reasoning

Draw a Picture

Make a List or Table

Find a Pattern

Work Backwards

Write a Number Sentence

Guess and Check

Break it into Parts

Problem Solving Choose Your Own Strategy

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