Have you ever identified a work problem and then passed it on to your boss to solve? That may not be the best way to handle the situation, as your boss is one step removed from the situation. There may be a better approach. Give your boss a choice of solutions, and you will find that you can get faster decisions while increasing your department's productivity. This is called the "choice-based decision process." Originally applied to health-care situations, this process can now be applied to a variety of areas, including the workspace.
In most organizations, getting the boss to greenlight decisions is an essential step. However, most bosses are swamped and often defer major decisions for weeks while they aim for the quick wins -- putting out fires, appeasing their bosses and whittling away at their endless e-mail inboxes. When they are presented with problems without solutions, they sometimes shut down. As they are more removed from the situation than you may be, they will have less confidence in any particular path to solving those problems.
And they could start to question your abilities if you do not come up with the answers yourself. If, instead, you set upon a strategy to make your boss's life easier through choice-based decisions, you will find greater success in a much shorter time frame.
First, identify a problem for which you need your boss's approval to move forward. Then, create a limited number of well-thought-out solutions (two to three). You may need to do some research or talk to colleagues to hone the most appropriate alternatives. Briefly list the pros and cons of each solution and create a relative comparison across the options.
Fold that information into a short presentation and get onto your boss's calendar. The presentation should be clear, concise and focused on the solutions. At the meeting, you can present both the problem, and each of the solutions, and ask your boss to help decide on the best one. Most bosses like the ability to decide, based on a small number of options.
One potential benefit of this strategy is that you can help convince your boss of your preferred solution by pointing out some of the pitfalls of the others. This can better enable your boss to understand the problem and to choose a solution with greater likelihood of success.
The traditional method of presenting only one solution to a problem often leads bosses to raise more questions than answers. That leads workers to undertake additional research to support the solution, or even to formulate alternative solutions. And, this can take much more time.
Presenting multiple solutions at the onset gives bosses both a set of choices and a mechanism to compare the relative merits of each. This angle can also reassure the boss that you have done your homework, studying the problem from several points of view. Give credit to others who have or will help in any given solution. Most bosses know that problem-solving can involve the cooperation of multiple departments, over a period of time.
Your boss will have a better sense of the right path forward, while viewing you as both a resource and as someone who literally "thinks outside the box," to borrow an appropriate cliché. Developing your ability to filter different viewpoints into appropriate solutions is a critical skill.
Once a solution is chosen, implementation quickly follows. Then, your role becomes not just problem solver, but status updater. It is important to let the boss know your progress through to completion.
Ultimately, solving the problem improves departmental or company functioning, while enhancing your reputation as a person who "gets things done."
Keep that up, and you will be speaking with your boss about that next promotion before you know it.
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