Focused Problem Solving Skills
…practical tools & techniques for solving difficult job problems

Workshop Overview:

Focused Problem Solving (FPS) is a highly practical one, two or three-day workshop that helps project managers, technical contributors, supervisors/managers and customer-contact people solve their difficult job and team problems, while working under time pressure. This program provides a logical, step-by-step approach that will enable participants to return to work with usable critical thinking skills that can be applied immediately to their operational, customer or team situations.

FPS does not rely on cumbersome written forms or rigid rules. Participants are guided in building verbal problem solving skills and are encouraged to explore a variety of techniques that best fit their personal style and job situation.  Using their verbal questioning techniques, participants are able to minimize the fuzzy thinking of others.

Workshop Objectives:

This workshop will help participants to...

• identify true causes of problems quickly
• learn to be focused and act calmly in crises
• use focused questioning to draw-out the right information from others
• give information to others with greater clarity and focus
• make difficult decisions confidently while under time pressure
• anticipate and avoid potential future problems
• collaborate more effectively in teams and meetings
• make more persuasive presentations to management and customers

Workshop Process:

This workshop uses highly interactive and hands-on learning methods. Participants are actively involved in solving problems right from the start. In fact, over 70% of the workshop time is dedicated to resolving case study and on-the-job situations both individually and in small groups.

Who Should Attend:

FPS is designed for the action-oriented individual who is immediately responsible for identifying and solving operational, customer or human resource problems under pressure. This includes:

• both new and experienced team leaders, supervisors and managers
• project leaders and/or technical contributors
• internal or external consultants
• intact teams that must develop a common problem solving language and approach