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What Is A Solutions Consultant? Deep Expertise and a Demo Crunch

• September 27, 2019
• automation , b2b sales , demo automation , demolytics , Interactive videos , presales , sales , scaling presales

What Is A Solutions Consultant?

Solutions consultant definition.

A Solutions Consultant is a member of the Technical Sales Team who’s primary role is to support sales efforts with extensive product knowledge, answering questions and demonstrating product capabilities as needed.

Alternative titles include Sales Engineer (SE) , Presales Engineer , Solutions Architect , Technical Sales Rep/Engineer , and a host of others, but the most common alternative is Sales Engineer .

The department of which the Solutions Consultant is a member has several names as well, some of which also seem to be perpetually confusing.

In mid-market to enterprise organizations, the “solutions consulting department” that supports sales with deep product knowledge and product demonstrations is usually called Presales (or Pre-sales). You might be saying to yourself, “?” and you wouldn’t be alone. Almost everyone that first hears the term presales immediately thinks of BDR. After all, it’s right there in the name, right? PRE- sales.

But in fact, the Solutions Consultant usually enters the buyer’s journey after they’ve already completed one, or even several meetings with an Account Executive.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

The Solutions Consultant Role

In a nutshell, the role of the Solutions Consultant is threefold:

1) Answer (accurately) all of the deep technical questions that an AE can’t,

2) demonstrate the product, and

3) use the product to craft solutions to complex customer problems.

The demands of 1 and 3 mean that a Solutions Consultant must be highly trained. In fact, it’s not uncommon for an SC to go through a full year of training before they interact with a customer. Presales guru Peter Cohan relates that it usually takes about two years to mint a fully capable Solutions Consultant, with the requisite combination of industry fluency, product expertise, and presentation skills.

This makes Presales teams very difficult to scale, which presents a problem when we get around to #2, above.

Demos are the most requested information by buyers during the buying journey. And with buying groups climbing in size from seven or eight stakeholders to as many as 14, that’s a lot of demos to give per deal, especially because you almost never get all of the stakeholders on the same call. Add to that the fact that a single SC usually supports between four and 14 AEs and the net result is that Solutions Consultants spend an inordinate amount of time giving an introductory product demo, often referred to internally as the standard demo .

Even so, buyers often have to wait weeks before they can get some of an SC’s time just to get a first look at the product in action, let alone begin to ask the crucial questions that only an SC can answer.

This creates a painful bottleneck for buyers and sellers alike, and was the primary driver behind the creation of the Consensus demo automation platform.

For more detail on the role of Solutions Consultants, see this article on Sales Engineers .

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PROBLEM STATEMENT

Learn everything you need to know to develop a Problem Statement by an Ex-McKinsey consultant . Includes best practices , examples, and a free problem statement template at the bottom.

“A problem well stated is a problem half solved.”

– Charles Kettering, Early 1900s American Inventor

I remember my first day on my first project at McKinsey, the partner got the team in a room for us to spend a few hours “defining the problem statement.” At first, I thought to myself, “man, what a dumb idea…this client is paying us millions of dollars, and we don’t even know what we are trying to solve?” But, as we started to debate the context of the client, the issues they faced, and the reasons why they brought us on, I started to appreciate defining the problem statement and the ability for the right problem statement to frame and focus problem solving .

What is a problem statement?

A problem statement is a clear description of the problem you are trying to solve and is typically most effectively stated as a question. Problem statements are subtly critical in effective problem solving. They have an uncanny ability in focusing the efforts of brainstorming , teamwork, and projects .

To understand this better, let’s go through some examples of how you can position a brainstorming session on various topics.

Beyond brainstorming, problem statements should be used at the beginning of any project to frame and focus on the problem. A good problem statement defines the “who” the problem involves, and defines the scope of the problem. Since problem statements guide much of the problem solving of a project, it is important not to be too narrow or broad with the problem statement.

How do you create an effective problem statement?

As stated before, every McKinsey project starts with the development of a problem statement. Once we landed on a strong problem statement, then we had to align the client with the problem statement. The easiest way for a project and team to get off track is if the team and the client are trying to solve different problems. A good problem statement aligns the expectations of the client with the team’s activities and output.

Here are the best practices when creating an effective problem statement:

Use the 5 Ws and one H

One of the most useful tools when developing a problem statement is the 5 Ws and one H, which is simply utilizing who, what, why, where, when, and how questions to frame the problem statement. Simply thinking through these questions as they relate to the problem can help you create a strong problem statement.

Ask the most crucial question, “What are we trying to solve?”

We’ve all been in those brainstorming sessions, meetings or on those projects, where you’re just scratching your head, as the conversation or directions are more like an Olympic ping-pong match going from one topic to the next. The most effective question that I’ve used in over a thousand meetings and conversations is simply “what are we trying to solve?” It cuts through the clutter, confusion, and misalignment, and quickly centers the focus and energy of everyone.

Frame the problem statement as a goal

Some of the best problem statements are simply goals formatted as questions. If you need to increase sales by 10%, a good problem statement is, “Within the next 12 months, what are the most effective options for the team to increase sales by 10%?”

Force the prioritization 

Often, the most effective problem statements force the prioritization of issues and opportunities. Using phrases such as “the most important for the customer” or “the best way” will force prioritization.

DOWNLOAD THE PROBLEM STATEMENT POWERPOINT WORKSHEET

To get you going on defining a strong problem statement, download the free and editable Problem Statement PowerPoint Worksheet.

Correctly defining a problem statement at the beginning of a project or initiative will dramatically improve the success of the project or initiative. Problem statements help guide problem solving, analysis , hypotheses , and solutions.

Developing a problem statement is an iterative brainstorming process. Get the major stakeholders in a room for a few hours and start the process by having everyone write down what they think the problem is on index cards. Collect the index cards and post them on a whiteboard. You can either discuss each one or have the group pick the top 3 and then discuss them. You can use the Problem Statement Worksheet to further define the problem by answering the 5 Ws and 1 H. The key is to find the right problem statement all stakeholders feel strongly about, in that, if the problem statement were solved, the problem would be solved.

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How to master the seven-step problem-solving process

In this episode of the McKinsey Podcast , Simon London speaks with Charles Conn, CEO of venture-capital firm Oxford Sciences Innovation, and McKinsey senior partner Hugo Sarrazin about the complexities of different problem-solving strategies.

Podcast transcript

Simon London: Hello, and welcome to this episode of the McKinsey Podcast , with me, Simon London. What’s the number-one skill you need to succeed professionally? Salesmanship, perhaps? Or a facility with statistics? Or maybe the ability to communicate crisply and clearly? Many would argue that at the very top of the list comes problem solving: that is, the ability to think through and come up with an optimal course of action to address any complex challenge—in business, in public policy, or indeed in life.

Looked at this way, it’s no surprise that McKinsey takes problem solving very seriously, testing for it during the recruiting process and then honing it, in McKinsey consultants, through immersion in a structured seven-step method. To discuss the art of problem solving, I sat down in California with McKinsey senior partner Hugo Sarrazin and also with Charles Conn. Charles is a former McKinsey partner, entrepreneur, executive, and coauthor of the book Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything [John Wiley & Sons, 2018].

Charles and Hugo, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for being here.

Hugo Sarrazin: Our pleasure.

Charles Conn: It’s terrific to be here.

Simon London: Problem solving is a really interesting piece of terminology. It could mean so many different things. I have a son who’s a teenage climber. They talk about solving problems. Climbing is problem solving. Charles, when you talk about problem solving, what are you talking about?

Charles Conn: For me, problem solving is the answer to the question “What should I do?” It’s interesting when there’s uncertainty and complexity, and when it’s meaningful because there are consequences. Your son’s climbing is a perfect example. There are consequences, and it’s complicated, and there’s uncertainty—can he make that grab? I think we can apply that same frame almost at any level. You can think about questions like “What town would I like to live in?” or “Should I put solar panels on my roof?”

You might think that’s a funny thing to apply problem solving to, but in my mind it’s not fundamentally different from business problem solving, which answers the question “What should my strategy be?” Or problem solving at the policy level: “How do we combat climate change?” “Should I support the local school bond?” I think these are all part and parcel of the same type of question, “What should I do?”

I’m a big fan of structured problem solving. By following steps, we can more clearly understand what problem it is we’re solving, what are the components of the problem that we’re solving, which components are the most important ones for us to pay attention to, which analytic techniques we should apply to those, and how we can synthesize what we’ve learned back into a compelling story. That’s all it is, at its heart.

I think sometimes when people think about seven steps, they assume that there’s a rigidity to this. That’s not it at all. It’s actually to give you the scope for creativity, which often doesn’t exist when your problem solving is muddled.

Simon London: You were just talking about the seven-step process. That’s what’s written down in the book, but it’s a very McKinsey process as well. Without getting too deep into the weeds, let’s go through the steps, one by one. You were just talking about problem definition as being a particularly important thing to get right first. That’s the first step. Hugo, tell us about that.

Hugo Sarrazin: It is surprising how often people jump past this step and make a bunch of assumptions. The most powerful thing is to step back and ask the basic questions—“What are we trying to solve? What are the constraints that exist? What are the dependencies?” Let’s make those explicit and really push the thinking and defining. At McKinsey, we spend an enormous amount of time in writing that little statement, and the statement, if you’re a logic purist, is great. You debate. “Is it an ‘or’? Is it an ‘and’? What’s the action verb?” Because all these specific words help you get to the heart of what matters.

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Simon London: So this is a concise problem statement.

Hugo Sarrazin: Yeah. It’s not like “Can we grow in Japan?” That’s interesting, but it is “What, specifically, are we trying to uncover in the growth of a product in Japan? Or a segment in Japan? Or a channel in Japan?” When you spend an enormous amount of time, in the first meeting of the different stakeholders, debating this and having different people put forward what they think the problem definition is, you realize that people have completely different views of why they’re here. That, to me, is the most important step.

Charles Conn: I would agree with that. For me, the problem context is critical. When we understand “What are the forces acting upon your decision maker? How quickly is the answer needed? With what precision is the answer needed? Are there areas that are off limits or areas where we would particularly like to find our solution? Is the decision maker open to exploring other areas?” then you not only become more efficient, and move toward what we call the critical path in problem solving, but you also make it so much more likely that you’re not going to waste your time or your decision maker’s time.

How often do especially bright young people run off with half of the idea about what the problem is and start collecting data and start building models—only to discover that they’ve really gone off half-cocked.

Hugo Sarrazin: Yeah.

Charles Conn: And in the wrong direction.

Simon London: OK. So step one—and there is a real art and a structure to it—is define the problem. Step two, Charles?

Charles Conn: My favorite step is step two, which is to use logic trees to disaggregate the problem. Every problem we’re solving has some complexity and some uncertainty in it. The only way that we can really get our team working on the problem is to take the problem apart into logical pieces.

What we find, of course, is that the way to disaggregate the problem often gives you an insight into the answer to the problem quite quickly. I love to do two or three different cuts at it, each one giving a bit of a different insight into what might be going wrong. By doing sensible disaggregations, using logic trees, we can figure out which parts of the problem we should be looking at, and we can assign those different parts to team members.

Simon London: What’s a good example of a logic tree on a sort of ratable problem?

Charles Conn: Maybe the easiest one is the classic profit tree. Almost in every business that I would take a look at, I would start with a profit or return-on-assets tree. In its simplest form, you have the components of revenue, which are price and quantity, and the components of cost, which are cost and quantity. Each of those can be broken out. Cost can be broken into variable cost and fixed cost. The components of price can be broken into what your pricing scheme is. That simple tree often provides insight into what’s going on in a business or what the difference is between that business and the competitors.

If we add the leg, which is “What’s the asset base or investment element?”—so profit divided by assets—then we can ask the question “Is the business using its investments sensibly?” whether that’s in stores or in manufacturing or in transportation assets. I hope we can see just how simple this is, even though we’re describing it in words.

When I went to work with Gordon Moore at the Moore Foundation, the problem that he asked us to look at was “How can we save Pacific salmon?” Now, that sounds like an impossible question, but it was amenable to precisely the same type of disaggregation and allowed us to organize what became a 15-year effort to improve the likelihood of good outcomes for Pacific salmon.

Simon London: Now, is there a danger that your logic tree can be impossibly large? This, I think, brings us onto the third step in the process, which is that you have to prioritize.

Charles Conn: Absolutely. The third step, which we also emphasize, along with good problem definition, is rigorous prioritization—we ask the questions “How important is this lever or this branch of the tree in the overall outcome that we seek to achieve? How much can I move that lever?” Obviously, we try and focus our efforts on ones that have a big impact on the problem and the ones that we have the ability to change. With salmon, ocean conditions turned out to be a big lever, but not one that we could adjust. We focused our attention on fish habitats and fish-harvesting practices, which were big levers that we could affect.

People spend a lot of time arguing about branches that are either not important or that none of us can change. We see it in the public square. When we deal with questions at the policy level—“Should you support the death penalty?” “How do we affect climate change?” “How can we uncover the causes and address homelessness?”—it’s even more important that we’re focusing on levers that are big and movable.

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Simon London: Let’s move swiftly on to step four. You’ve defined your problem, you disaggregate it, you prioritize where you want to analyze—what you want to really look at hard. Then you got to the work plan. Now, what does that mean in practice?

Hugo Sarrazin: Depending on what you’ve prioritized, there are many things you could do. It could be breaking the work among the team members so that people have a clear piece of the work to do. It could be defining the specific analyses that need to get done and executed, and being clear on time lines. There’s always a level-one answer, there’s a level-two answer, there’s a level-three answer. Without being too flippant, I can solve any problem during a good dinner with wine. It won’t have a whole lot of backing.

Simon London: Not going to have a lot of depth to it.

Hugo Sarrazin: No, but it may be useful as a starting point. If the stakes are not that high, that could be OK. If it’s really high stakes, you may need level three and have the whole model validated in three different ways. You need to find a work plan that reflects the level of precision, the time frame you have, and the stakeholders you need to bring along in the exercise.

Charles Conn: I love the way you’ve described that, because, again, some people think of problem solving as a linear thing, but of course what’s critical is that it’s iterative. As you say, you can solve the problem in one day or even one hour.

Charles Conn: We encourage our teams everywhere to do that. We call it the one-day answer or the one-hour answer. In work planning, we’re always iterating. Every time you see a 50-page work plan that stretches out to three months, you know it’s wrong. It will be outmoded very quickly by that learning process that you described. Iterative problem solving is a critical part of this. Sometimes, people think work planning sounds dull, but it isn’t. It’s how we know what’s expected of us and when we need to deliver it and how we’re progressing toward the answer. It’s also the place where we can deal with biases. Bias is a feature of every human decision-making process. If we design our team interactions intelligently, we can avoid the worst sort of biases.

Simon London: Here we’re talking about cognitive biases primarily, right? It’s not that I’m biased against you because of your accent or something. These are the cognitive biases that behavioral sciences have shown we all carry around, things like anchoring, overoptimism—these kinds of things.

Both: Yeah.

Charles Conn: Availability bias is the one that I’m always alert to. You think you’ve seen the problem before, and therefore what’s available is your previous conception of it—and we have to be most careful about that. In any human setting, we also have to be careful about biases that are based on hierarchies, sometimes called sunflower bias. I’m sure, Hugo, with your teams, you make sure that the youngest team members speak first. Not the oldest team members, because it’s easy for people to look at who’s senior and alter their own creative approaches.

Hugo Sarrazin: It’s helpful, at that moment—if someone is asserting a point of view—to ask the question “This was true in what context?” You’re trying to apply something that worked in one context to a different one. That can be deadly if the context has changed, and that’s why organizations struggle to change. You promote all these people because they did something that worked well in the past, and then there’s a disruption in the industry, and they keep doing what got them promoted even though the context has changed.

Simon London: Right. Right.

Hugo Sarrazin: So it’s the same thing in problem solving.

Charles Conn: And it’s why diversity in our teams is so important. It’s one of the best things about the world that we’re in now. We’re likely to have people from different socioeconomic, ethnic, and national backgrounds, each of whom sees problems from a slightly different perspective. It is therefore much more likely that the team will uncover a truly creative and clever approach to problem solving.

Simon London: Let’s move on to step five. You’ve done your work plan. Now you’ve actually got to do the analysis. The thing that strikes me here is that the range of tools that we have at our disposal now, of course, is just huge, particularly with advances in computation, advanced analytics. There’s so many things that you can apply here. Just talk about the analysis stage. How do you pick the right tools?

Charles Conn: For me, the most important thing is that we start with simple heuristics and explanatory statistics before we go off and use the big-gun tools. We need to understand the shape and scope of our problem before we start applying these massive and complex analytical approaches.

Simon London: Would you agree with that?

Hugo Sarrazin: I agree. I think there are so many wonderful heuristics. You need to start there before you go deep into the modeling exercise. There’s an interesting dynamic that’s happening, though. In some cases, for some types of problems, it is even better to set yourself up to maximize your learning. Your problem-solving methodology is test and learn, test and learn, test and learn, and iterate. That is a heuristic in itself, the A/B testing that is used in many parts of the world. So that’s a problem-solving methodology. It’s nothing different. It just uses technology and feedback loops in a fast way. The other one is exploratory data analysis. When you’re dealing with a large-scale problem, and there’s so much data, I can get to the heuristics that Charles was talking about through very clever visualization of data.

You test with your data. You need to set up an environment to do so, but don’t get caught up in neural-network modeling immediately. You’re testing, you’re checking—“Is the data right? Is it sound? Does it make sense?”—before you launch too far.

Simon London: You do hear these ideas—that if you have a big enough data set and enough algorithms, they’re going to find things that you just wouldn’t have spotted, find solutions that maybe you wouldn’t have thought of. Does machine learning sort of revolutionize the problem-solving process? Or are these actually just other tools in the toolbox for structured problem solving?

Charles Conn: It can be revolutionary. There are some areas in which the pattern recognition of large data sets and good algorithms can help us see things that we otherwise couldn’t see. But I do think it’s terribly important we don’t think that this particular technique is a substitute for superb problem solving, starting with good problem definition. Many people use machine learning without understanding algorithms that themselves can have biases built into them. Just as 20 years ago, when we were doing statistical analysis, we knew that we needed good model definition, we still need a good understanding of our algorithms and really good problem definition before we launch off into big data sets and unknown algorithms.

Simon London: Step six. You’ve done your analysis.

Charles Conn: I take six and seven together, and this is the place where young problem solvers often make a mistake. They’ve got their analysis, and they assume that’s the answer, and of course it isn’t the answer. The ability to synthesize the pieces that came out of the analysis and begin to weave those into a story that helps people answer the question “What should I do?” This is back to where we started. If we can’t synthesize, and we can’t tell a story, then our decision maker can’t find the answer to “What should I do?”

Simon London: But, again, these final steps are about motivating people to action, right?

Charles Conn: Yeah.

Simon London: I am slightly torn about the nomenclature of problem solving because it’s on paper, right? Until you motivate people to action, you actually haven’t solved anything.

Charles Conn: I love this question because I think decision-making theory, without a bias to action, is a waste of time. Everything in how I approach this is to help people take action that makes the world better.

Simon London: Hence, these are absolutely critical steps. If you don’t do this well, you’ve just got a bunch of analysis.

Charles Conn: We end up in exactly the same place where we started, which is people speaking across each other, past each other in the public square, rather than actually working together, shoulder to shoulder, to crack these important problems.

Simon London: In the real world, we have a lot of uncertainty—arguably, increasing uncertainty. How do good problem solvers deal with that?

Hugo Sarrazin: At every step of the process. In the problem definition, when you’re defining the context, you need to understand those sources of uncertainty and whether they’re important or not important. It becomes important in the definition of the tree.

You need to think carefully about the branches of the tree that are more certain and less certain as you define them. They don’t have equal weight just because they’ve got equal space on the page. Then, when you’re prioritizing, your prioritization approach may put more emphasis on things that have low probability but huge impact—or, vice versa, may put a lot of priority on things that are very likely and, hopefully, have a reasonable impact. You can introduce that along the way. When you come back to the synthesis, you just need to be nuanced about what you’re understanding, the likelihood.

Often, people lack humility in the way they make their recommendations: “This is the answer.” They’re very precise, and I think we would all be well-served to say, “This is a likely answer under the following sets of conditions” and then make the level of uncertainty clearer, if that is appropriate. It doesn’t mean you’re always in the gray zone; it doesn’t mean you don’t have a point of view. It just means that you can be explicit about the certainty of your answer when you make that recommendation.

Simon London: So it sounds like there is an underlying principle: “Acknowledge and embrace the uncertainty. Don’t pretend that it isn’t there. Be very clear about what the uncertainties are up front, and then build that into every step of the process.”

Hugo Sarrazin: Every step of the process.

Simon London: Yeah. We have just walked through a particular structured methodology for problem solving. But, of course, this is not the only structured methodology for problem solving. One that is also very well-known is design thinking, which comes at things very differently. So, Hugo, I know you have worked with a lot of designers. Just give us a very quick summary. Design thinking—what is it, and how does it relate?

Hugo Sarrazin: It starts with an incredible amount of empathy for the user and uses that to define the problem. It does pause and go out in the wild and spend an enormous amount of time seeing how people interact with objects, seeing the experience they’re getting, seeing the pain points or joy—and uses that to infer and define the problem.

Simon London: Problem definition, but out in the world.

Hugo Sarrazin: With an enormous amount of empathy. There’s a huge emphasis on empathy. Traditional, more classic problem solving is you define the problem based on an understanding of the situation. This one almost presupposes that we don’t know the problem until we go see it. The second thing is you need to come up with multiple scenarios or answers or ideas or concepts, and there’s a lot of divergent thinking initially. That’s slightly different, versus the prioritization, but not for long. Eventually, you need to kind of say, “OK, I’m going to converge again.” Then you go and you bring things back to the customer and get feedback and iterate. Then you rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. There’s a lot of tactile building, along the way, of prototypes and things like that. It’s very iterative.

Simon London: So, Charles, are these complements or are these alternatives?

Charles Conn: I think they’re entirely complementary, and I think Hugo’s description is perfect. When we do problem definition well in classic problem solving, we are demonstrating the kind of empathy, at the very beginning of our problem, that design thinking asks us to approach. When we ideate—and that’s very similar to the disaggregation, prioritization, and work-planning steps—we do precisely the same thing, and often we use contrasting teams, so that we do have divergent thinking. The best teams allow divergent thinking to bump them off whatever their initial biases in problem solving are. For me, design thinking gives us a constant reminder of creativity, empathy, and the tactile nature of problem solving, but it’s absolutely complementary, not alternative.

Simon London: I think, in a world of cross-functional teams, an interesting question is do people with design-thinking backgrounds really work well together with classical problem solvers? How do you make that chemistry happen?

Hugo Sarrazin: Yeah, it is not easy when people have spent an enormous amount of time seeped in design thinking or user-centric design, whichever word you want to use. If the person who’s applying classic problem-solving methodology is very rigid and mechanical in the way they’re doing it, there could be an enormous amount of tension. If there’s not clarity in the role and not clarity in the process, I think having the two together can be, sometimes, problematic.

The second thing that happens often is that the artifacts the two methodologies try to gravitate toward can be different. Classic problem solving often gravitates toward a model; design thinking migrates toward a prototype. Rather than writing a big deck with all my supporting evidence, they’ll bring an example, a thing, and that feels different. Then you spend your time differently to achieve those two end products, so that’s another source of friction.

Now, I still think it can be an incredibly powerful thing to have the two—if there are the right people with the right mind-set, if there is a team that is explicit about the roles, if we’re clear about the kind of outcomes we are attempting to bring forward. There’s an enormous amount of collaborativeness and respect.

Simon London: But they have to respect each other’s methodology and be prepared to flex, maybe, a little bit, in how this process is going to work.

Hugo Sarrazin: Absolutely.

Simon London: The other area where, it strikes me, there could be a little bit of a different sort of friction is this whole concept of the day-one answer, which is what we were just talking about in classical problem solving. Now, you know that this is probably not going to be your final answer, but that’s how you begin to structure the problem. Whereas I would imagine your design thinkers—no, they’re going off to do their ethnographic research and get out into the field, potentially for a long time, before they come back with at least an initial hypothesis.

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Hugo Sarrazin: That is a great callout, and that’s another difference. Designers typically will like to soak into the situation and avoid converging too quickly. There’s optionality and exploring different options. There’s a strong belief that keeps the solution space wide enough that you can come up with more radical ideas. If there’s a large design team or many designers on the team, and you come on Friday and say, “What’s our week-one answer?” they’re going to struggle. They’re not going to be comfortable, naturally, to give that answer. It doesn’t mean they don’t have an answer; it’s just not where they are in their thinking process.

Simon London: I think we are, sadly, out of time for today. But Charles and Hugo, thank you so much.

Charles Conn: It was a pleasure to be here, Simon.

Hugo Sarrazin: It was a pleasure. Thank you.

Simon London: And thanks, as always, to you, our listeners, for tuning into this episode of the McKinsey Podcast . If you want to learn more about problem solving, you can find the book, Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything , online or order it through your local bookstore. To learn more about McKinsey, you can of course find us at McKinsey.com.

Charles Conn is CEO of Oxford Sciences Innovation and an alumnus of McKinsey’s Sydney office. Hugo Sarrazin is a senior partner in the Silicon Valley office, where Simon London, a member of McKinsey Publishing, is also based.

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How Hiring a Solutions Consultant Can Revolutionize Your Sales Process

James Kaikis, Co-Founder of the PreSales Collective

In a world where growing at all costs is no longer accepted, pressure on sales teams to make the most of every interaction is at an all-time high. Companies and sellers no longer have an abundance of opportunities to sell into — every interaction with a potential prospect makes the difference between success and failure. 

While companies scramble to restructure and reevaluate their go-to-market motions, one role continues to unlock a better sales experience for buyers and sellers alike: solutions consulting.

Solutions consultants, or solutions engineers as they are often referred to, play a central role in organizations, yet this role is often misaligned or misunderstood. Once known as “technical experts,” if applied correctly, these professionals have extensive product knowledge, are both technical and business savvy, and are at the forefront of building trust in your sales process.  

I define a solutions consultant as a customer-centric problem-solver. The best organizations have moved this role away from the traditional tech expert or demo jockey and toward a more impactful part of the sales and buying process; this move produces an impact on revenue, productivity and customer experience. 

How the SC role has evolved

Historically, there were numerous clunky steps within the sales process — many of which were created by the organization without buyer thoughts or preferences in mind.

Sales teams have always, and will likely always, be responsible for generating leads, leading discovery calls, showing the product via demos, negotiating and having the customer sign on the dotted line. In these instances, solutions consultants handle much of the legwork associated with building and showing a standard or customized product demonstration. In more sophisticated or complex organizations, the role has expanded to discovery, whiteboarding, proof of concept and other strategic activities. 

Sales has been changing over the past five years and is wildly different today due to the remote-first acceleration brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors. Most enterprises (more than 90%) are moving to hybrid-selling models. Mix in a tightening macro climate resulting in a decrease in travel expenses, and you have buyers and sellers — again — operating in a remote-first environment. 

Further, buyers are more informed than ever before, and are doing most of their research online before speaking to a salesperson. In fact, they spend only 17% of their time with potential suppliers. If they are only spending 17% of their total time doing this, imagine how much time they are spending with each vendor. Maximizing every interaction is absolutely critical to your organization. 

Together, these factors have transformed the entire sales process. What was once a linear buying journey now has a major influx of touch points that require more sophisticated revenue teams.

As a result, the best organizations are employing the SC role as a more dynamic function that drives value to both internal and external stakeholders. Yes, SCs may still perform the traditional activities that lead up to a close-won. But these solutions professionals are now taking on more of a strategic seat at the table and are more integrated into both the end-to-end customer experience and implementation.

What is the difference between presales and solutions?

Traditionally, the role of a solutions engineer has fallen into the bucket of presales. While we agree that this has historically been the right term for this role, the growth of SaaS has expanded the role into supporting the entire customer journey — not just presales. Further, PreSales Collective research shows that the terms “sales” and “engineer” are massive blockers to bringing nontraditional talent to the solutions profession. 

With the emphasis on post-sale engagements, including adoption and usage, solutions consulting or solutions engineering are the more appropriate terms for this profession.

Who does solutions work with?

While many SC organizations are measured and compensated on sales, the reality is that sales is just the tip of the iceberg for this role. Solutions consultants have their hands in many departments, both internally and externally.

In addition to performing activities leading up to a closed sale, SCs are an integral part of the larger go-to-market team. With extensive product and technical knowledge, their value to the organization extends well beyond the sales teams, collaborating with marketing, enablement, customer success, professional services, product and engineering. 

But to understand potential buyers and their unique business needs, they must also communicate with external stakeholders, such as:

• Executive sponsors
• Decision-makers
• Influencers
• Security and compliance
• Information technology
• Administrators and end users

Ultimately, solutions consultants are on the front lines of business, supporting and empowering teams across the organization to be successful across the customer lifecycle.   

Where solutions goes from here

The sales process is changing, with buyers doing much of their own research before speaking with a salesperson. Organizations must shift to better align to customer expectations and experiences — putting SCs front and center.

This also means that traditional solutions organizations need to evolve. No longer can solutions leaders stay “in the technical box” without proper accountability and responsibility within an organization.

With a macro environment focused on efficiency and cost of sale, organizations should invest more time in upleveling and upskilling their solutions consulting teams to be true business partners to the organization. With increased pressure on sellers, team selling may be the most important aspect for every go-to-market organization in the 2023 fiscal year. 

James Kaikis is the co-founder of PreSales Collective , the largest global community for presales professionals with over 35,000 members worldwide, and PreSales Academy, a career-launch program that provides the underrepresented with access to highly sought after solutions consulting careers in the tech industry. Driven by his passion for helping others and his own experience in customer engagement and solution engineering at companies like Showpad and Salesforce , Kaikis created PSC to provide resources and opportunities for networking and mentorship to individuals in presales roles. 

• Sales Strategy
• Originally published May 17, 2023

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Project Management

8 consulting skills to master for effective client solutions.

ClickUp Contributor

February 19, 2024

Consulting has a certain allure that draws many professionals to its ranks, and for good reason.

The work is varied and dynamic as consultants engage with different types of clients. They’re valued for their specialized expertise, objective insights, and problem-solving capacity. Besides, if you’re with a consulting firm, you get frequent opportunities to travel.

Organizations rely on management consultants in finance, sales, marketing, IT, and HR to enhance performance, streamline operations, and execute growth strategies. Whether you’re a seasoned pro handling multiple clients simultaneously or a newbie considering testing the consulting waters, this professional life can be challenging.

Management consulting has several moving parts, from data analysis and strategy building to stakeholder meetings and tight deadlines. You must quickly adapt to new industries, corporate cultures, and teams, demonstrating flexibility, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills while delivering tangible, cost-effective solutions.

So, if you want to improve at this job, this blog post is for you. We share the essential consulting skills you need to master,  practical ways to develop and enhance those skills, and the tools and resources you need to be a great consultant.

Let’s get started.

1. Creative thinking

2. problem-solving, 3. leadership and teamwork, 4. analytical thinking, 5. strategic planning, 6. risk management, 7. negotiation, 8. decision making, 1. reflect on your performance, 2. find a mentor, 3. take online courses, 4. learn from different sources, 1. data analysis software, 2. business intelligence tools, 3. customer relationship management (crm) software, 4. knowledge management systems, frequently asked questions (faqs).

8 Top Consulting Skills to Master to Grow Your Career

The common perception is that consulting as a career requires only strong domain knowledge. While domain knowledge is a must-have for consultants, there are other essential skills you need if you wish to become a successful consultant. 

Here are the critical consulting skills you need to deliver value to your clients. 

This skill is about coming up with new ideas and solutions. As an independent consultant, creative thinking helps you approach problems from unique angles and arrive at solutions beyond traditional methods.

Being creative equips you to conceptualize complex ideas into understandable models, making it easier for clients to grasp proposed solutions. You can also pivot your strategies efficiently as new challenges and information emerge.

Here are some tips to develop your creative thinking skills: 

• Keep an ideas journal for recording spontaneous thoughts, inspirations, and observations throughout the day. Regularly review how you can apply these ideas and innovative solutions to complex problems
• Adopt a curious mindset. Challenge assumptions by asking ‘Why?’ and ‘What if?’ questions to deepen your understanding and open new perspectives
• Set tight deadlines for brainstorming ideas for a client problem. This can stimulate quick, creative thinking by putting pressure on the usual thought processes
• Block out some time to engage in creative projects, which can unblock your thinking
• Use flowcharts and mindmaps for brainstorming ideas, alone or in collaboration with others

Problem-solving is at the heart of consulting. It involves systematically identifying, analyzing, and overcoming business challenges.

Clients will hire you to find innovative solutions to their challenges; they’ve probably already tried the obvious ways to resolve issues and failed. Your biggest asset here is a solutions-oriented mindset. You must be able to list all the facets of a problem and devise an actionable plan to resolve it.

Here’s how to level up your problem-solving skills:

• Familiarize yourself with established frameworks, such as Porter’s Five Forces and the McKinsey 7S Framework , as a structured way to dissect and learn more about problems

• Practice “issue trees” to find the root cause of a problem and conceive potential solutions accordingly

• Look for problem-solving strategies in industries other than your own. You can adapt solutions from one industry to solve problems in another
• If you’re working with a group, try the 6-3-5 method of brainstorming to generate creative possibilities and solutions
• Practice problem-solving using role-plays and case studies

As a consultant, you must drive the conversation forward to bring your clients closer to their goals and help them make informed decisions. You may be required to make bold decisions, build strong relationships with stakeholders, seek feedback, and take the discussion in a direction that leads to finding solutions quickly.

Leadership skills include influencing people, communicating well, and being self-aware. To work well with a team, you will need all these qualities and well-developed people skills such as respect, collaboration, and flexibility.

Here’s how you can amp up your teamwork and leadership skills:

• Your clients will require your unbiased and objective opinions. Practice active listening and consider all perspectives before you develop practical solutions
• Practice and improve your ability to express yourself verbally and in writing. Being able to express and explain ideas is essential if you want to influence people
• Learn to implement a conflict resolution framework to navigate disagreements with your team or clients and ensure they’re addressed constructively
• Engage in short-term mentorships both as a mentor and a mentee to expose yourself to new leadership styles and strategies
• Spend time learning about yourself—your strengths, areas of development, fears, and also what motivates you. This will help you identify and prioritize opportunities for growth and development as a leader as well as a member of a team
• Learn and practice conflict management, which requires empathy, openness to ideas, and the ability to keep the team goals ahead of individual goals

Strong analytical thinking enables you to visualize, process, and organize complex information quickly, which, in turn, helps you devise effective solutions.

For instance, if you offer sales strategy consulting services to an organization and discover that many of its clients drop out from the sales funnel at a specific stage, your analytical skills can help evaluate the situation and understand the root cause behind the drop.

To sharpen your analytical and critical thinking:

• Dedicate time each week to read industry reports and case studies to learn different types of analysis and ways of thinking and build your analytical depth
• Practice writing reports that require analytical thinking. This habit will clarify your thought process and help you present your analysis coherently while also enhancing your written communication skills
• Engage in business strategy games or simulation exercises that challenge you to analyze scenarios, recognize patterns or trends, make decisions, and observe outcomes
• Play games and puzzles that can sharpen your analytical skills, such as crosswords, Sudoku, strategic board games, etc. 

Organizations bring consultants on board to solve problems or help them find new ways of doing things. Your job as a consultant requires you to audit existing processes, find gaps, and use your specific knowledge to help them improve. This requires a great deal of strategic thinking and planning, as you must see the big picture and zoom into the nitty gritty where needed.

Strategy planning helps you align with a client’s long-term goals and objectives while executing the smaller elements of the overall strategy.

This skill requires a rare combination of conceptual knowledge and practical application. Here’s how you can be a better strategic planner:

• Instead of approaching a problem head-on, start with the desired outcome and work backward to understand the steps needed to achieve it. Use process mapping tools to organize the entire roadmap visually
• Regularly conduct scenario planning sessions where you create detailed responses to hypothetical client problems. This boosts your capability to anticipate changes and develop flexible strategies
• Hone your questioning skills. Make it a habit to ask as many questions as possible, covering all aspects of the problem at hand
• Practice working with opposing viewpoints. Question all your assumptions and look for chinks in your ideas. This helps you develop stronger arguments and sharpen your logical thinking skills

Use consulting templates to make your job easier and speed up the collaboration process with your clients. Create templates for time tracking, contracts, client deliverables, and anything else so you can focus on what matters the most—delivering results for your clients. 

Risk management is about identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks, then organizing and applying resources to minimize, monitor, and control the impact of unforeseen events. This is an essential skill for both project execution and strategic advising.

Here’s how you can master risk management:

• Bank on your project management skills. Develop the ability to spot potential risks early in the project lifecycle by analyzing plans, understanding the client’s business, and considering external factors that could impact outcomes
• Learn to assess the likelihood and impact of identified risks using qualitative and quantitative risk analysis methods, such as risk matrices or Monte Carlo simulations

• Host risk mapping workshops with cross-functional teams to prioritize risks, fostering a culture of shared responsibility for risk management
• Keep up with the current trends and regulatory changes in your industry to be always updated about possible risks

As you advance in your consulting career, you’ll secure contracts, define project scope, optimize client management , and resolve conflicts. These situations demand you to negotiate with your clients and other stakeholders.

Unfortunately, negotiations can be costly and fail to deliver the desired business outcomes if you don’t strike the right balance.

Here’s how you can be a master negotiator:

• Build rapport with your clients to create a more collaborative atmosphere and facilitate smoother negotiations
• Learn to frame proposals to highlight the advantages for both sides, resulting in more amicable and successful negotiations. Always aim for agreements that provide mutual benefits
• Practice strategically thinking about long-term goals and the broader impact of decisions, considering both the big picture and the detailed steps you need to get there. The more convinced you are, the more quickly you can convince your clients
• Develop your emotional intelligence skills like empathy and self-regulation so you can negotiate effectively and with a positive approach

You often work under tight deadlines and must make quick yet effective decisions. Making timely decisions without sacrificing quality is critical for meeting project timelines and delivering value to clients.

Here’s how you can brace yourself to make decisions effectively:

• Educate yourself about common cognitive biases (e.g., confirmation bias, anchoring) that affect decision-making. Mitigate these biases by having a personal checklist that you review before making a decision. You can also use the Ladder of Inference for deeper analysis
• Maintain a decision journal to record the rationale behind significant decisions, expected outcomes, and the actual results. This will help you understand your decision-making patterns and learn from past mistakes
• Adopt structured decision-making frameworks like SWOT analysis or the Eisenhower Matrix (urgent vs. important) to evaluate options methodically

How to Develop and Enhance Your Consulting Skills

The most successful management consultants are the ones who are constantly learning. You must be ready to become a lifelong student and take the following steps to improve your consulting skills:

This means asking yourself key questions, such as:

• What do you do well?
• What do you struggle with?
• What feedback do you often receive from your manager or clients?

By diving deep into how you work and interact with others, you can highlight areas of improvement and plan your training accordingly.

It helps to learn from an experienced consultant, especially if the person has a similar career trajectory. For instance, a mentor can teach you how to achieve that position if you’re a junior consultant, but your leadership instincts make you want to take on more responsibilities.

A mentor can help you recognize your key competencies, improve your consulting skills, and introduce you to better career advancement options.

Enroll in training programs and consulting certifications focusing on data analysis and visualization, project management, strategy building, internal analysis, etc. Platforms like Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and edX offer courses tailored to various levels of expertise.

For example, if you want to learn about CRM best practices, you can look up CRM certifications and be more tech-savvy in managing your marketing consulting projects.

Additionally, keep an eye on the developments in your industry and market trends for continuous learning, and attend industry events to build strong relationships with your peers. 

Don’t just stick to courses. Consume knowledge from all possible sources to increase your chances of being a successful consultant.

For example:

• Read books, blogs, newsletters, industry news, and corporate case studies
• Listen to podcasts, webinars, and audiobooks
• Attend workshops, events, and conferences
• Join online communities and Slack channels and connect with consultants from around the globe, exchanging information and learning along the way

The Role of Tools and Resources in Consulting

In the past decade, the consulting sector has grown significantly owing to ongoing economic change, substantial development in IT, and increasing globalization.

This has given way to new client engagement models and technology uses, including consultancy software , to complement the profession. Let us look at the valuable tools and resources in a day-to-day consulting job that helps you get more done in less time.

Consultants use tools like Excel, SAS, IBM SPSS, and Looker to clean, analyze, and visualize data and derive insights from large datasets.

For instance, you might use Excel to perform a cost-benefit analysis for a new project or Looker for predictive analytics to forecast market trends.

Tools such as Tableau and Power BI transform data into actionable insights and present them to clients in a visual way that is easier to understand. For instance, you could use Tableau to create dashboards that track KPIs for a retail client.

A CRM for consulting helps plan, execute, and monitor client projects easily. You can manage timelines, allocate resources, and communicate with stakeholders without disrupting your email inbox or having unnecessary meetings.

ClickUp CRM Software is an all-in-one productivity hub where you can collaborate with your team and clients via Docs, Chat, and Whiteboards. 

With extensive widgets, you can collect and visualize data on individual accounts in the ClickUp Dashboard for quarterly check-ins with your clients.

Moreover, integrate your emails with ClickUp to fast-track communication. Collaborate on deals, send project updates to clients, and onboard customers from a single email hub.

Assign tasks, present solutions, and get executive sign-off using customizable, automated workflows to save time on client management. 

Use ClickUp Automations to trigger status updates based on activity and switch priorities to alert your team on where to focus or whom to contact next.

In a nutshell, the ClickUp platform allows you to focus on what’s important, i.e., consulting. It offers numerous CRM templates to hit the ground running on the platform without getting overwhelmed.

In addition, remember to optimize your consulting work with the ClickUp Consulting Services Template .

Consulting firms often have proprietary knowledge management systems that store previous project templates, research documents, and industry reports. These resources are invaluable for management consultants, who can leverage past learnings and industry best practices to improve their knowledge and consulting skills.

For example, if you’re consulting a pharmaceutical client, you can access your firm’s library to find benchmarking reports related to their industry.

Be an Asset for Your Consulting Business

The modern consultant is an analyst, a storyteller, a strategist, and a leader, all rolled into one. As a consultant, you unearth insights and ensure they are effectively communicated, resonate with clients, and facilitate meaningful change.

The consulting skills mentioned here will make you better at your job, help you build stronger client relationships, and give you an edge as you move forward in your career as a consultant.

Use ClickUp as your partner in leveling up your consulting business. Cut out the operational grunt work, collaborate with your clients, and implement frameworks and solutions that deliver results—all in one place.

Sign up for ClickUp for free.

1. What are the core consulting skills?

Core consulting skills essential for professionals in this industry are flexibility, a client-first mindset, problem-solving, analytical thinking, change management, collaboration, and risk management.

2. Who can be called a management consultant?

A management consultant offers professional or expert advice in a particular business domain to either an organization or an individual.

3. What’s a consultant mindset?

A consultant mindset is essentially about being curious and analytical, having a collaborative and empathetic attitude, and showcasing leadership and strategic thinking.

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

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What does a Solutions Consultant do?

A solutions consultant is an individual who has an in-depth knowledge of technology that can help a company to overcome issues, increase sales, and have a better connection with their customers. Solutions consultants are responsible for heading the installment of customized software solutions and train dealers and customer sales engineers to administer the customized solution. They represent the company by attending tradeshows and events to demonstrate their company's technology. Solutions consultants must also ensure to demonstrate technical feasibility through beta tests plus trial programs.

• Responsibilities
• Skills And Traits
• Comparisions
• Types of Solutions Consultant

Solutions consultant responsibilities

A solutions consultant plays a vital role in providing expertise for security and ERP functionality, delivering sales presentations, managing client relationships, and designing and developing print management solutions. They work on customer relationship management, opportunity assessment, solution selling, and data solution product knowledge. They also analyze advertising performance to identify consumer purchase decision journey and research and evaluate emerging technologies, both hardware and software. They are responsible for implementing enterprise LMS and CES for fortune 500 customers and presenting technical product demonstrations to key prospects and clients. They also assist in pre-sales activities, form alliances with C-level executives, collect customer and competitive intelligence, and manage business solutions for customers.

Here are examples of responsibilities from real solutions consultant resumes:

• Manage relationships with existing and new clients, and master SalesForce.com.
• Manage the RFP and technology solicitation process; prepare and submit proposals and recommendations to underwriting authorities.
• Manage several SDLC phases for enterprise systems used by state government agencies to perform environmental and environmental management.
• Maintain SalesForce CRM and forecast accurately.
• Help Pre-Sales when they need additional staff.
• Coordinate with PeopleSoft GSC for issues log for resolution with GSC.
• Offer as an add-on to their proprietary vertical market ERP software solution.
• Perform back-end Linux and SANIQ operating systems support at the root level.
• Receive training on numerous technologies to provide premiere support for Linux customers.
• Used JSP/ASP to build the presentation tier, Java Beans/COM components for business tier.
• Create new pages, permission lists, roles and register them in PeopleSoft portal.
• Limit user viewing access to SharePoint web pages by installing JQuery and JavaScript plug-ins.
• Conduct functional training of planning personnel in the use of ERP software at multiple sites.
• Lead program/ project teams to integrate (aggregate) carriers onto SaaS base synchronization platform.
• Work with QA to validate test cases and scripts cover all project requirements and features.

Solutions consultant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 7 % of Solutions Consultants are proficient in Pre Sales , Sales Process , and Cloud . They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills , Problem-solving skills , and Time-management skills .

We break down the percentage of Solutions Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Engaged in solutions consulting and pre sales activities for media customers in US, Europe and Asia.

Complete detailed client-requested security assessment, vulnerability scan, and technical documentation presented during sales processes.

Increased the cloud adoption by 60% in six months by providing the cloud suitability assessment for the applications.

Managed vendor manpower resources for solution implementation resulting in higher customer satisfaction with the implementations and fewer Xerox resources needed.

Configured new demo database environments to support specialty content, including development of demonstration script to enhance sales presentations.

Worked on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration solution architectures including digital assets in PeopleSoft and Microsoft Dynamics.

Most solutions consultants use their skills in "pre sales," "sales process," and "cloud" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential solutions consultant responsibilities here:

Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a solutions consultant to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "management analysts work with managers and other employees of the organizations for which they provide consulting services." Additionally, a solutions consultant resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "maintained professional demeanor, acquired interpersonal, sales, stocking/receiving and customer service experience. "

Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform solutions consultant duties is problem-solving skills. Solutions consultants responsibilities require that "management analysts must be able to think creatively to solve clients’ problems." Solutions consultants also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provide end to end sap solutions, implements sap software s such as sap erp and coordinates execution and operation. "

Time-management skills. This is an important skill for solutions consultants to perform their duties. For an example of how solutions consultant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "management analysts often work under tight deadlines and must use their time efficiently to complete projects on schedule." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a solutions consultant: "implemented and created governance plans, project management guidelines, increase implementation times and quicken sharepoint development. ".

Analytical skills. solutions consultant responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "management analysts must be able to interpret information and use their findings to make proposals." This resume example shows what solutions consultants do with analytical skills on a typical day: "analyze user requirements to determine appropriate erp system configuration and to design customizations. "

Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in solutions consultant job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what solutions consultants do. Solutions consultant responsibilities rely on this skill because "management analysts must be able to convey information clearly in both writing and speaking." You can also see how solutions consultant duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "collaborated with c- level personnel on alternative communication solutions with attention to cost of ownership and roi. "

See the full list of solutions consultant skills

The three companies that hire the most solutions consultants are:

• Oracle 588 solutions consultants jobs
• Deloitte 340 solutions consultants jobs
• Pegasystems 220 solutions consultants jobs

Choose from 10+ customizable solutions consultant resume templates

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Compare different solutions consultants

Solutions consultant vs. business development consultant.

The role of business consultants is to provide an analysis of a company on its business practices and make recommendations for long-term goals. This role is also connected with various duties and responsibilities, including reviewing the company's financial statements, engaging in research on how to improve the company's offers, and developing new business models. Also, business consultants are responsible for negotiating contracts as needed, initiating plans and strategies to minimize company losses and drive profits. They may also function as the company's representative in promotional events and trade associations.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a solutions consultant are more likely to require skills like "pre sales," "database," "client facing," and "c #." On the other hand, a job as a business development consultant requires skills like "strategic thinking," "sales training," "sales pipeline," and "product development." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Solutions consultant vs. Program management consultant

A program management consultant is responsible for analyzing project requirements based on clients' specifications, developing quality improvement techniques, and reviewing project deliverables. Program management consultants work closely with the project team to identify project initiatives and resolve complexities that may arise. They also inspect the resources and materials to be utilized during the project and determine cost-reduction processes without compromising quality and efficiency. A program management consultant coordinates with the clients for progress updates and informs them of any plan adjustments as needed.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, solutions consultant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "pre sales," "sales process," "database," and "c #." Meanwhile, a program management consultant has duties that require skills in areas such as "management program," "scrum," "process improvement," and "sigma." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Solutions consultant vs. Management consultant

A management consultant's responsibility focuses on conducting an in-depth analysis of a company or business, including its target market. Through their findings, they can devise strategies that will help the business grow and attain a significant profit. There are also instances when a management consultant must solve particular issues that will require them to investigate the problem, assess damages, identify risks, and recommend the best solutions to take. Furthermore, a management consultant must adhere to the company's vision, mission, and policies at all times.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from solutions consultant resumes include skills like "sales process," "cloud," "database," and "crm," whereas a management consultant is more likely to list skills in "portfolio," "business strategy," "process improvement," and "infrastructure. "

Solutions consultant vs. Principal consultant

A principal consultant is responsible for evaluating business' needs and opportunities, identifying potential leads to create project proposals, and maintaining strong business relationships that would generate revenues and increase the organization's profitability. Principal consultants must be up-to-date with the current market trends to ensure that the business adapts to the industry's changes. They also initiate new product development to expand its brand image, working closely with the marketing team for marketing strategies and promotions.

Types of solutions consultant

• Marketing Consultant
• Management Consultant
• Business Consultant
• Principal Consultant
• Project Consultant

Updated March 14, 2024

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

What a Solutions Consultant Does FAQs

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Resume for related jobs.

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Hire Problem Solving Experts

Problem-solving is a complex process of multiple activities aligned to resolve an issue with the current product or service. It involves discussions, analysis and research to reach a solution which is satisfactory for all the concerned parties. In this process, mathematical and statistical methods are often used for reaching a logical conclusion. Sometimes, symptoms and problems appear similar to each other and it becomes difficult to find the correct solution. The problem-solving process defines a framework ensuring that symptoms are not confused with the problem itself.

What Do Problem Solving Consultants Do?

Freelance problem solving service providers are experts of the problem-solving process. These professionals can recognize the problem accurately by following the methods and by applying their experiences. As it is easy to get confused between a symptom and a problem, these experts bring in a great value as they are more accurate in identifying the actual problem.

Once problem-solving consultants have identified the problem, they find out all aspects of the problematic system on which they need to work to create a solution. They evaluate all the available options. It is the responsibility of the problem-solving consultant to find out which options will impact or influence the current business processes. They also define any contingencies and possible mitigation plans if any, along with the solution.

If you are looking for problem solving consultants for hire, you can find them on some of the top freelance marketplaces, like Guru. When you hire any consultant, ensure that your freelancer has:

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Good judgement abilities.

Qualifications of Problem Solving Consultants for Hire

There are many problem solving consultants available in the online and offline space. When you plan to hire an expert, then ensure they have the following skills:

A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a related field

Extensive experience of consulting in different domains such as Technology, Retail, E-commerce, etc

Strong logical and analytical skills

Expertise in data analysis tools

Strong attention to detail

High level of agility

Benefits of Hiring Freelance Problem Solving Services

Getting an expert on board can help in more ways than you can imagine. These professionals can help in operations, client management and more. Read on to have an insight into the many advantages of hiring a problem solving consultant:

As problem-solving consultants are efficient at analyzing a problem, they bring significant value to the business by effectively finding the actual problem within a short turn-around time.

Research is something that is at the core of finding solutions. Problem-solving experts can conduct brainstorming sessions to identify the problem and its solution.  

These experts can anticipate business problems early on, helping you build strong relationships with your clients.

Problem-solving consultants can help drive your products forward by providing the right suggestions, feedback and validation.

Before you hire a Freelancer online on Guru, see their All-Time Transaction Data to get a better understanding of their credibility, performance, and suitability for your job. All-time transaction data along with information on services and portfolio showcased by the Freelancer helps Employers make the right hiring decision on Guru. 

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Learning how to break down and solve complex problems is a core skill you need in today’s business world.

The more complex and multi-faceted your problems are, the more your problem solving skills and techniques will be put to the test.

No one understands this better than some of the world's most highly paid and highly regarded problem solving professionals, the strategy consultants whose fame and fortune is dependent on their ability to quickly break down complex problems and develop effective solutions.

This page details two powerful problem solving techniques you can take from the consulting world to begin breaking down your problems and tackling them like a pro.

Problem Solving Technique #1: Focus On The Key Drivers

When analyzing a complex problem, focus your time and energy on the key drivers and big wins; don't get bogged down in the problem solving minutia. And although this sounds obvious, it is easy to inadvertently end up doing the exact opposite when first applying your problem solving techniques.

Consultants recognize that complex problems can have hundreds, if not thousands, of issues surrounding them and that can it be tempting to dig into and analyze them all for potential solutions. To fight this temptation, one problem solving technique that consultants use is to focus their time and energy on the ' key drivers ' of their problem; in other words, they focus on the largest and most salient aspects of the problem that, if solved, would have the biggest immediate impact.

When problem solving, ask yourself this:

"What are two or three 'key drivers,' or main issues, affecting the problem I am trying to solve?"

For example, if you are hired by an organization to cut costs, think of all the different ways you could potentially help them cut costs. Instead of spinning your wheels analyzing all of the potential cost saving areas, you’re better off focusing on the two or three costs that, if reduced, would have the largest overall impact on the organization.

If you're having trouble finding the key drivers of your problem, use the 80-20 rule to find your problem’s highest value components.

The 80-20 Rule: The Secret to Achieving More with Less

The 80-20 rule, or the Pareto principle, was first adopted as a problem solving technique by a management consultant who coined the phrase after Vilfredo Pareto’s 1906 research in which he observed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden produced 80% of the peas.

This principle has since become known as the 80-20 rule, and simply states that 80% of the effects, come from 20% of the causes. When applied to business, the rule can be used as follows:

• 80% of a company's profits come from 20% of its clients.
• 80% of a company's costs come from 20% of its operations.
• 20% of a company's clients produce 80% of its complaints.

Although this is not a universal principle, the distribution often holds true in many aspects of business and life and, as such, is one of the first problem solving techniques used by consultants to get to the heart of an issue.

For example, using the 80-20 problem solving technique for cutting costs, you could start by asking yourself questions like:

• Which 20% of the company’s divisions are generating 80% of its costs? – Reduce or reorganize the company’s divisions.
• Which 20% of the company’s production costs represent 80% of its cost of goods sold? – Streamline manufacturing processes.
• Which 20% of the company’s marketing costs are generating 80% of its new clients? – Cut the marketing fat.

If this problem solving technique produces too many key drivers, you can narrow them down by asking yourself which of them you can build a strong case for with hard data (see #2).

#2: Build Your Case with Hard Data

When problem solving, gathering and analyzing hard data is critical to effectively building a case for, and eventually selling, a solution.

As such, consultants focus their energy on the key drivers that they can prove or disprove, by gathering and analyzing hard factual data.

Executives are not going to give you the time of day unless you can prove your point with convincing facts and figures. As such, assume that no one will listen to you, or your message, unless you have strong factual evidence to back it up.

Arguably the most famous consulting firm in the world, McKinsey, is notorious for its rigorous data gathering methodologies and problem solving analysis. Why such a focus on hard data? As Ethan Rasiel notes in his book, " The McKinsey Way ", hard data allows McKinsey consultants to quickly achieve two things:

Make Up For Lack Of Gut Instinct

Consultants are typically generalists, which means they lack the 30 or 40 years of in-depth industry experience that their clients often have. Whereas a client might have a “gut” instinct for how to solve a specific problem based on their experience, McKinsey consultants will dig for hard data to prove or disprove their clients' “gut” instinct before moving forward.

Bridge The Credibility Gap

Hard data is objective and tends to be less prone to argument. As such, hard data allows McKinsey consultants, who are typically much younger and greener than their clients, to quickly establish credibility and authority when presenting their problem’s solutions.

Recognizing that hard data will be critical to the success of your problem solving, focus on key drivers that you can back up with hard data given your time constraints.

For example, if your solution to the problem of needing to cut an organization's costs was to reorganize all of its divisions into one location, ask yourself whether or not you can get access to enough hard data to thoroughly prove or disprove your solution. If not, ask for a project extension, break your key driver down into smaller pieces, or pick another key driver to focus on.

Two Data Analysis Tips From McKinsey

A common challenge when problem solving complex issues is knowing where to start and when to stop.

Here are two problem solving tips straight from McKinsey:

Problem Solving Tip #1 – Start With The Outliers:

A great problem solving technique when analyzing large sets of data is to calculate a performance metric around your key drivers and focus on the outliers.

For example, costs per unit per region:

• Positive outliers (low cost per unit) will surface potential best practices you can mimic.
• Negative outliers (high cost per unit) will give you something to immediately figure out and fix.

Problem Solving Tip #2 - Don’t Boil The Ocean:

It’s important to realize that when figuring out how to solve a problem, there is always an enormous amount of research and data analysis you could potentially do.

Instead of trying to perform all of it, which is the equivalent of trying to boil the ocean, McKinsey consultants focus on doing enough research and analysis to thoroughly prove or disprove their key drivers and ignore everything else.

Further Reading from Skills You Need

The Skills You Need Guide to Interpersonal Skills eBooks.

Develop your interpersonal skills with our series of eBooks. Learn about and improve your communication skills, tackle conflict resolution, mediate in difficult situations, and develop your emotional intelligence.

Although there are many other problem solving skills and techniques you can apply to your problems, these two strategies from the consulting world will help you quickly break down your problems into their core components and more effectively come up with a credible and fact-based solution.

About the Author

Taylor Croonquist is the co-founder of Nuts & Bolts Speed Training which delivers actionable PowerPoint training courses for working professionals who spend hundreds, if not thousands, of hours a year using the program.

Continue to: Problem Solving Decision Making

See also: Action Planning Harnessing Creativity in Problem-Solving: Innovations for Overcoming Challenges 5 Reasons Why Business Advisors Are So Important

35 problem-solving techniques and methods for solving complex problems

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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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How to Solve Problems

• Laura Amico

To bring the best ideas forward, teams must build psychological safety.

Teams today aren’t just asked to execute tasks: They’re called upon to solve problems. You’d think that many brains working together would mean better solutions, but the reality is that too often problem-solving teams fall victim to inefficiency, conflict, and cautious conclusions. The two charts below will help your team think about how to collaborate better and come up with the best solutions for the thorniest challenges.

• Laura Amico is a former senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

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