Contents
Skills For Problem Solving
Sophie Chong
Program Director, Effective Tuition
MA (New York University, Steinhardt, Education and Social Policy)
Skills For Problem Solving
Why Are Problem Solving Skills Important?
A strong ability to solve problems is essential for our personal and professional development.
At work, we might often come across different challenges.
At school, we might face problems with homework, understanding new content, or difficulties in getting along with our classmates or teachers.
Knowing a range of problem solving skills can help us through issues that we have to confront at school and at work.
Types Of Problem Solving Skills
1. Analysis
When you encounter a problem, the first step that you should take is to analyze the issue.
When you sharpen your analytical skills, you can better understand the problem and find out the cause of the problem, so that you can develop appropriate solutions for it.
Analytical skills can also help you to research solutions for the problems that you are facing at work or in school.
2. Research
After you analyze the cause of the issue that you are facing, you should do some research in order to further understand the challenges that you are facing.
Doing research helps you to find and accumulate information before you find a solution for it.
You can work with your friends, classmates or colleagues when researching for a solution to your problem, and this can help you come to a solution more quickly.
3. Active Listening
When you listen actively, you will be able to remain open-minded to solutions that your school teacher, parents, home tuition teacher, colleagues, or bosses may be suggesting to you.
After you have listened to these solutions, you can do further research, and analyze the different options so that you can decide on which one works best for your problem.
4. Decision Making
When you have spent time listening, analyzing and researching for solutions to the problem, you may shortlist possible solutions before coming to a final decision on how to solve the problem.
With enough experience and knowledge, you can instinctively decide which solution suits you best.
If you are having difficulty in finding a solution, you might want to compile your list of possible solutions and speak to a trusted classmate, colleague, parent, teacher, private tutor, or counsellor to ask for their opinion.
5. Communication
Communication skills are useful when you are trying to solve a problem.
Knowing when and how to communicate a problem and some possible solutions to your classmates, teammates, parents, or bosses can help them understand the problem better so that they can help you.
After you have decided on a solution to your problem, it is important to clearly explain and describe it to your team, your teacher, or your parents so that you can reduce or eliminate confusion when implementing the solution.
6. Resilience And Determination
Sometimes, no matter what types of methods you have been trying, you are still having difficulty in finding a solution that is satisfactory to you.
When this happens, having resilience and determination can help you press on and not give up when faced with a problem.
Being resilient and determined can also help you find more possible and creative ways to solve the problem.
Why Are Problem-Solving Skills Important?
Problem solving skills can help you find what are the real sources of a problem, and find a solution for the problem.
You need a lot of logic and creative imagination, since you are trying to make sense of an issue and create intelligent solutions for the problem, in order to ensure that these problems do not arise again.
Throughout your career, problem solving skills are important because it helps you stand out from your competitors in the workplace.
Your employer would appreciate how you solve work-related problems.
When you are a leader in school or at work, you will be required to solve problems for your team, or guide your team members towards solving issues.
