Challenge understanding and solution
You have collected information from local People regarding their challenges, and you have a prioritized list of these challenges.
This section will discuss how to understand the challenges and identify solutions.
Understanding the challenge
First, let’s fundamentally understand the challenges. It means the team will search for the challenges' root cause(s).
Why?
Because you will have to fix the root cause to remove the challenge. The root cause is the fundamental answer to the question: why are local people encountering this challenge?
You don’t want to fix symptoms and let challenges come back. Please feel free to watch the video about fixing symptoms under the “Common mistakes” section.
Use the “Why?” tool
This tool will help you to identify the root cause of a problem. It’s a simple yet powerful tool. You should ask, “Why?” until the root cause is reached.
Let’s use an example. Many local People report that they regularly get sick after drinking the water from the tap.
Let’s use our tool: “Why?”
Why are People sick?
It usually happens after consuming water from the tap.
Why are People sick after consuming water from the tap?
We did an analysis and found bacteria in the tap water People are drinking.
Why are there bacteria in the water arriving at the tap?
We asked the water company. They investigated and told us the water pipe network is connected to the river. We analyzed the water from the river and found a large quantity of bacteria.
Here you go. You have identified a root cause. A root cause of people becoming sick after drinking tap water is the water pipe network connected to the river. I am saying “a root cause” because there could be more than one root cause.
Identifying the root cause(s) will help you to resolve the challenge.
The activity of identifying the root cause is critical as the remaining work depends on it. If you need help, please reach out to me.
Understand the mindset
As i work in change management for 25 years, i fundamentally understand the importance of understanding mindsets. Usually, People don’t even pay attention to mindsets because no one has explained this topic to them. Understanding mindsets to drive change is so important that Peoplelyzer has a full section on it. I invite you to read/watch it here.
If you don’t pay attention to mindsets, you will likely fail the project. Why? Because building a solution is not enough to change behaviors. It is not because you build a solution for the People that they will adopt it. Most of the time, People already have a way of doing things (for instance, women may like to have 4 or 5 kids in some African countries), and these behaviors connect to their current beliefs. To trigger change, you also need to work on the beliefs.
You can only understand mindset by talking to People. They need to speak their mind. By asking relevant questions and establishing rapport, they should tell you why they act in a given manner.
Here are examples of mindsets:
“My kid, you need to be a doctor later on”
“Women should not own properties”
“I should not try to go against my fate”
All these mindsets come from somewhere (parents, school, books, religion, etc.). If you want the father to stop pushing his son to be a doctor, you must work on his mindset.
Can the root cause be quantified?
Putting numbers on the root cause is useful. We sometimes do not think about doing this and want to go straight into fixing the root cause. Let’s use an example. Using the abovementioned example, we identified that the root cause is the connection between the water pipe network and the river.
What would quantifying this root cause mean? For instance, we would count the number of pipes connected to the river. Imagine we deployed a technician, and he identified three pipes connected to the river. We now know that three pipes are related to the root cause. It clearly defines our scope, and if we decide to work on this root cause, we know we have three pipes to work on.
When you quantify the root cause, you enhance the understanding of the problem. It may not always be possible to quantify the root cause, or it may be too much work.
Are there dependencies between identified challenges?
You may be in a situation where a challenge is linked to another challenge. Let’s use an example. Imagine we surveyed local People, who mentioned “not enough food” and “lack of knowledge and tools for agriculture” as two challenges. Imagine you have done the activity to understand the challenges and the root cause for “not enough food,” which is that local People don’t know farming techniques that would help them grow more food.
In that case, the challenge of “lack of knowledge and tools for agriculture” should be fixed first as it will allow the production of more food and resolve the challenge of “not enough food.”
It is helpful to check whether or not there is a link between the challenges, especially a dependency. A dependency is when fixing one challenge depends on fixing another challenge. This will help better plan how to resolve the challenges and help People understand priorities.
How do we approach the “understanding the challenge” activity?
Engaging in the “understanding the challenge” activity requires collaborative teamwork. Ideally, assemble a group of about eight individuals, ensuring that each member either directly experiences the challenge or possesses expertise related to the challenge. For example, if the challenge is a lack of sufficient food, your team should include individuals facing this issue, along with food producers and experts in food production. The aim is to bring together diverse perspectives, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand.
The success of this activity hinges on effective facilitation. Choose a facilitator who excels in coordination and active listening rather than someone accustomed to authoritative roles like a boss or supervisor. The facilitator's primary responsibility is to guide the discussion smoothly toward its goal: pinpointing the root cause of the challenge.
While face-to-face interaction is ideal for this kind of activity, remote participation via a video call platform is a viable alternative if in-person meetings aren't feasible. In such cases, establish clear guidelines to maintain focus and ensure every participant is aligned with the session's objectives.
Finding solutions
You have a list of prioritized challenges, and you have identified the root causes. It’s now time to find solutions.
This is often the part People like the most, as it calls for creativity, curiosity, innovation, and social interactions.
Below are suggested activities to find great solutions.
Start with a humoristic brainstorming session
This session aims to put People in a good mood and unleash their creativity. It will be helpful for the “serious” session.
Let's turn problem-solving into a hilarious adventure! In this creative brainstorming session, we're on a mission to find funny and exaggerated solutions to the challenge at hand. I encourage all participants to unleash their wildest creativity without any concerns about feasibility—think big, think outrageous!
To keep things lively, we'll set a timer for a short burst of intense idea generation. This is the time to let those imaginative juices flow freely. Once we've gathered a collection of humorous solutions, we'll embark on a light-hearted voting session. Everyone gets a chance to identify the most amusing and creative ideas, turning our problem-solving into a laughter-filled journey. Get ready to dive into a world of inventive hilarity!
Envision the situation when the challenge is resolved
To be sure we are working toward the same outcome, i invite you to describe the situation when the challenge has been resolved. This helps with alignment and prevents misunderstanding. For instance, imagine the challenge of being sick after drinking tap water has been resolved, here is how we would describe the situation:
People would not be sick anymore after drinking tap water.
People would not need to go to the doctor for this problem. It also means that the doctor may also expect fewer patients.
As People are no longer sick after drinking tap water, they can do their regular activities.
Write the outcomes somewhere so that People can refer to it.
Idea generation
Pick the first challenge to be resolved and write clearly the identified root cause(s). If there are more than one root cause, write them all. For each root cause, give the participant 5 minutes to think of solutions. Tell the People not to worry about feasibility at this stage.
When the 5 minutes are up, go around the table and allow each person to share one idea at a time. Keep the process fast-paced to maintain energy and engagement. Write down the ideas.
Open the floor for a group discussion. Participants can build upon or combine ideas. It’s an open discussion, and you want People to participate.
Group similar ideas together.
Assess each solution by rating it from 1 to 3 on the following variables:
Likeliness to fix the root cause (1 -> unlikely; 2 -> probably; 3 -> very likely)
Complexity of implementation (1 -> complex; 2 -> average complexity; 3 -> not complicated)
Timeframe of implementation (1 -> long; 2 -> medium; 3 -> short)
Availability of resources to implement the solution (1 -> low; 2 -> medium; 3 -> high)
Cost of implementation (1 -> high; 2 -> medium; 3 -> low)
If an idea is unlikely to fix the root cause, put it on the side. Sort the remaining ideas by score (sum up the points).
Ask the team if there is any objection to implement the idea with the top score. If there is an objection, address it. Once objections are resolved, move on to the implementation phase.
Logistic aspects
If you are in a room, try to use a whiteboard or Post-it on a wall. You want the information to be visible to everyone.
If you do the activities online, i would advise you to have one person gather the information on a virtual board such as Miro.com.
Implementing solutions
Test the solution
Sometimes, we're not sure if a solution will work until we try it, and that uncertainty can be a problem. In the earlier section, I suggested evaluating solutions based on how likely they are to fix the main issue. Imagine we have a problem where people are getting sick from drinking tap water, and we think it's because three pipes are connected to a river.
Let's say we rated the solution's chance of fixing the issue as a "2 -> probably." Now, before investing a lot of time and money in a big project, we want to check if disconnecting those pipes will make the tap water safe. But we don't want to spend too much resources doing this.
Here's an example: We could temporarily block those three pipes using a simple and affordable method. This way, we can see if stopping the connection to the river solves the problem without committing to a full project. If it doesn't work, there might be other causes we missed. This testing step is essential to know if the solution will really solve the problem, and we're doing it with the least resources possible.
The main idea is to check if the solution works while using as few resources as we can. This helps us understand if the solution is effective before going ahead with a bigger plan.
Create a project plan
The project plan is a document that you create to give you a good vision of what you will do. Creating a project plan may be considered an annoying activity, but it is necessary to make the best use of resources and lower the risk of not reaching the outcome we are after.
Imagine you are going on a holiday without any plan. You go to the airport and randomly pick a flight to Mauritius. You arrive in Mauritius, and you go to the first hotel you see. The hotel is fully booked. You go to the next hotel, and one room is available, but you realize you forgot to take enough cash with you.
Imagine the same trip with a bit of planning beforehand. You booked a hotel, calculated your daily budget, planned enough cash, and you scheduled a few activities. Do you see how different the experience is with a little bit of planning ahead?
It’s the same idea for a project. You want to plan ahead to give the team the best chance to reach the outcome it is after.
How to build a project plan?
Below are the main things that you will find in a project plan. You want to do the right amount of planning for your situation. There is no point in creating a complex project plan for a very simple initiative.
The outcome we are after.
Describe it clearly. Use simple terms so that People understand it.
The challenge that stands in our way.
Describe it clearly. Word it as a challenge and not as a solution. Use simple terms.
The root cause analysis of the challenge.
State the root cause. There could be more than one. Use simple terms.
The solution to solve the challenge.
Describe the solution in simple terms. Be as clear as possible. Mention the rating from the “idea generation” section.
The project’s scope.
It’s fundamental to define a scope. A scope is a defined perimeter where you will implement the solution(s) you have identified. For instance, the scope of your project could be 2 villages and only residents with more than 3 kids.
The main activities required to implement the solution.
List the main activities required to implement the solution. Do not go into the details of the main activities.
The resources required to execute the challenge.
These are the resources you will need. It could be anything: People, licenses, materials, information, money, etc.
The indicative timeline to execute the main activities.
For each main activity, ask the person who will do the activity to estimate the workload in hours or man days (a man day is a day of work for a man; around 8 hours)
The main dependencies between the activities.
There will be some activities that you cannot start before one or some activities are finished. For instance, you cannot plant seeds until you receive the seeds. This is a trivial example, but knowing this helps you to plan accordingly.
Key risks
Key risks should be captured and monitored. There is a risk that […]. The root cause of the risk is […]. The potential impact of the risk is […]. Our approach will be to [avoid/mitigate/accept] the risk.
Build the planning
Create a timeline where you have the main activities, their starting and end dates, the person working on them, and dependencies.
Presenting the project
As you create a project, you will likely need to present it to other People (investors, public servants, the general public, etc.). I have built a template you can use for your presentation.
When presenting, you must think from your audience’s perspective and ask yourself: What do they want to know? For example, an investor would pay attention to things like the team makeup and the project's financial return.
Here is the project presentation template: file.
Executing the project
Once the project plan is done, reviewed, and agreed on, it’s time to execute it. You will see that things seldom happen as planned, yet the project plan reduces uncertainties.
The real test of a project plan's effectiveness is its execution. Here, agility plays a pivotal role. Being agile means having the capacity to quickly adapt to changes, whether they arise from internal project dynamics or external environmental factors. It's about being flexible without losing sight of the end goal.
Best practices to execute with agility:
Regular Reviews and Adjustments: Hold frequent review sessions to assess progress and make necessary adjustments to the project plan. These reviews should be more than just status updates; they should be strategic sessions for realignment and reevaluation.
Empowering Team Members: Encourage team members to take ownership and make decisions at their level. An empowered team is more responsive and adaptive to changes.
Effective Communication Channels: Establish open and effective communication channels. This includes not just internal communication within the team but also with stakeholders and clients.
Iterative Development: Implement an iterative approach, breaking the project into smaller segments. This allows for incremental improvements and adjustments along the way.
Embrace a Learning Mindset: Treat challenges and changes as learning opportunities. An agile mindset is one that is open to learning and growth.
An agile project execution is not about rigidly sticking to the plan. It's about understanding when and how to update the plan to reflect the current reality. Updating the project plan should not be seen as a failure of planning but as a strategic response to changing circumstances.
Measuring success
I invite you to have a way to measure success.
Let’s use a simple example. Your project is to move 50 stones from place A to place B. You will be successful when the 50 stones will have reached place B. You start your project. After 30 minutes of work, you want to check where your project stands. What do you do? You could count the number of stones that are located at place B. You can report this number to anyone who follows your project.
The example may seem trivial, but it is the same idea for a complex project. Imagine you have a project to improve education for kids. How do you measure success? If you do not know, don’t do anything. Why? Imagine you start doing changes but you cannot measure success. How can you tell if the changes you did had any impact?
The best is often to ask the People who should benefit from the change. Ask them what can we track to measure success. Imagine you are doing change to farming practices. From the farmer’s viewpoint, yield per field could be a way to measure success.
Team
Please refer to the section: “Team up for local impact.” It’s a whole page dedicated to the team.