Implementing your project
Monitoring: problem-solving approaches
Before you can solve problems, you may need to think a bit more deeply about what a problem actually is. The key aspects of problems that could impact on your project are likely to be:
- Things which increase costs
- Things which delay or halt the project
- Things which undermine performance.
If you have identified that there is a problem which needs solving, you also need to bear in mind that so-called solutions can cause problems of their own. You need to think carefully about the consequences of any action you take - whether to solve a problem or more generally with the project.
The following list outlines the primary ways in which you can respond to a problem. In all cases - as with every aspect of the project - good and timely communication is vital when trying to sort out problems. Good communication should underpin any other action you take. Clearly, the support of managers and colleagues , and possibly partners, will help a great deal.
To solve a problem you can:
- Change your plans (eg re-schedule, re-allocate tasks etc)
- Be less ambitious - narrow the scope of your project (eg 1 event rather than 3)
- Deliver on less (eg survey only rather than survey and focus groups)
- Make a substitute (eg a new venue/ different supplier etc)
- Increase the budget (eg to cover unexpected venue costs)
- Bring in new resources (eg provide extra training or better IT support)
- Increase incentives to co-operate (eg to deal with reluctant/ difficult colleagues)
- Defer tackling it until a later date (potentially risky but may be appropriate in some cases).
The most important thing to remember is that you will probably have some problems or glitches. What matters is that you can respond appropriately and with confidence, so that the problems can be managed.
See Pitfalls and challenges for more on problem identification.
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