Page 4

Tools for identifying problems and developing solutions

All teams and organizations will encounter challenges as they grow. There are problems that might occur for teams when it comes to communication or challenges around growth, design, user activation and retention, or development.

Problem solving activities are primarily designed to help a group or team through a process of first identifying problems and challenges, ideating on possible solutions, and then evaluating the most suitable.

Cause-effect diagram

is a visual tool used to logically organize possible causes for a specific problem or effect by graphically displaying them in increasing detail, suggesting causal relationships among theories. A popular type is also referred to as a fishbone or Ishikawa diagram.

When diagnosing the cause of a problem, a cause-effect diagram helps to organize various theories about root causes and presents them graphically.

Problem tree

helps to find solutions by mapping out the anatomy of cause and effect around an issue in a similar way to a Mind map, but with more structure.

A problem tree provides an overview of all the known causes and effect to an identified problem. This is important in planning a community engagement or behavior change project as it establishes the context in which a project is to occur. Understanding the context helps reveal the complexity of life and this is essential in planning a successful change project.