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Why Problem-Solving Skills Are Essential for Leaders in Any Industry

• 17 Jan 2023

Any organization offering a product or service is in the business of solving problems.

Whether providing medical care to address health issues or quick convenience to those hungry for dinner, a business’s purpose is to satisfy customer needs .

In addition to solving customers’ problems, you’ll undoubtedly encounter challenges within your organization as it evolves to meet customer needs. You’re likely to experience growing pains in the form of missed targets, unattained goals, and team disagreements.

Yet, the ubiquity of problems doesn’t have to be discouraging; with the right frameworks and tools, you can build the skills to solve consumers' and your organization’s most challenging issues.

Here’s a primer on problem-solving in business, why it’s important, the skills you need, and how to build them.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Problem-Solving in Business?

Problem-solving is the process of systematically removing barriers that prevent you or others from reaching goals.

Your business removes obstacles in customers’ lives through its products or services, just as you can remove obstacles that keep your team from achieving business goals.

Design Thinking

Design thinking , as described by Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar in the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , is a human-centered , solutions-based approach to problem-solving and innovation. Originally created for product design, design thinking’s use case has evolved . It’s now used to solve internal business problems, too.

The design thinking process has four stages :

• Clarify: Clarify a problem through research and feedback from those impacted.
• Ideate: Armed with new insights, generate as many solutions as possible.
• Develop: Combine and cull your ideas into a short list of viable, feasible, and desirable options before building prototypes (if making physical products) and creating a plan of action (if solving an intangible problem).
• Implement: Execute the strongest idea, ensuring clear communication with all stakeholders about its potential value and deliberate reasoning.

Using this framework, you can generate innovative ideas that wouldn’t have surfaced otherwise.

Creative Problem-Solving

Another, less structured approach to challenges is creative problem-solving , which employs a series of exercises to explore open-ended solutions and develop new perspectives. This is especially useful when a problem’s root cause has yet to be defined.

You can use creative problem-solving tools in design thinking’s “ideate” stage, which include:

• Brainstorming: Instruct everyone to develop as many ideas as possible in an allotted time frame without passing judgment.
• Divergent thinking exercises: Rather than arriving at the same conclusion (convergent thinking), instruct everyone to come up with a unique idea for a given prompt (divergent thinking). This type of exercise helps avoid the tendency to agree with others’ ideas without considering alternatives.
• Alternate worlds: Ask your team to consider how various personas would manage the problem. For instance, how would a pilot approach it? What about a young child? What about a seasoned engineer?

It can be tempting to fall back on how problems have been solved before, especially if they worked well. However, if you’re striving for innovation, relying on existing systems can stunt your company’s growth.

Related: How to Be a More Creative Problem-Solver at Work: 8 Tips

Why Is Problem-Solving Important for Leaders?

While obstacles’ specifics vary between industries, strong problem-solving skills are crucial for leaders in any field.

Whether building a new product or dealing with internal issues, you’re bound to come up against challenges. Having frameworks and tools at your disposal when they arise can turn issues into opportunities.

As a leader, it’s rarely your responsibility to solve a problem single-handedly, so it’s crucial to know how to empower employees to work together to find the best solution.

Your job is to guide them through each step of the framework and set the parameters and prompts within which they can be creative. Then, you can develop a list of ideas together, test the best ones, and implement the chosen solution.

Related: 5 Design Thinking Skills for Business Professionals

4 Problem-Solving Skills All Leaders Need

1. problem framing.

One key skill for any leader is framing problems in a way that makes sense for their organization. Problem framing is defined in Design Thinking and Innovation as determining the scope, context, and perspective of the problem you’re trying to solve.

“Before you begin to generate solutions for your problem, you must always think hard about how you’re going to frame that problem,” Datar says in the course.

For instance, imagine you work for a company that sells children’s sneakers, and sales have plummeted. When framing the problem, consider:

• What is the children’s sneaker market like right now?
• Should we improve the quality of our sneakers?
• Should we assess all children’s footwear?
• Is this a marketing issue for children’s sneakers specifically?
• Is this a bigger issue that impacts how we should market or produce all footwear?

While there’s no one right way to frame a problem, how you do can impact the solutions you generate. It’s imperative to accurately frame problems to align with organizational priorities and ensure your team generates useful ideas for your firm.

To solve a problem, you need to empathize with those impacted by it. Empathy is the ability to understand others’ emotions and experiences. While many believe empathy is a fixed trait, it’s a skill you can strengthen through practice.

When confronted with a problem, consider whom it impacts. Returning to the children’s sneaker example, think of who’s affected:

• Your organization’s employees, because sales are down
• The customers who typically buy your sneakers
• The children who typically wear your sneakers

Empathy is required to get to the problem’s root and consider each group’s perspective. Assuming someone’s perspective often isn’t accurate, so the best way to get that information is by collecting user feedback.

For instance, if you asked customers who typically buy your children’s sneakers why they’ve stopped, they could say, “A new brand of children’s sneakers came onto the market that have soles with more traction. I want my child to be as safe as possible, so I bought those instead.”

When someone shares their feelings and experiences, you have an opportunity to empathize with them. This can yield solutions to their problem that directly address its root and shows you care. In this case, you may design a new line of children’s sneakers with extremely grippy soles for added safety, knowing that’s what your customers care most about.

Related: 3 Effective Methods for Assessing Customer Needs

3. Breaking Cognitive Fixedness

Cognitive fixedness is a state of mind in which you examine situations through the lens of past experiences. This locks you into one mindset rather than allowing you to consider alternative possibilities.

For instance, your cognitive fixedness may make you think rubber is the only material for sneaker treads. What else could you use? Is there a grippier alternative you haven’t considered?

Problem-solving is all about overcoming cognitive fixedness. You not only need to foster this skill in yourself but among your team.

4. Creating a Psychologically Safe Environment

As a leader, it’s your job to create an environment conducive to problem-solving. In a psychologically safe environment, all team members feel comfortable bringing ideas to the table, which are likely influenced by their personal opinions and experiences.

If employees are penalized for “bad” ideas or chastised for questioning long-held procedures and systems, innovation has no place to take root.

By employing the design thinking framework and creative problem-solving exercises, you can foster a setting in which your team feels comfortable sharing ideas and new, innovative solutions can grow.

How to Build Problem-Solving Skills

The most obvious answer to how to build your problem-solving skills is perhaps the most intimidating: You must practice.

Again and again, you’ll encounter challenges, use creative problem-solving tools and design thinking frameworks, and assess results to learn what to do differently next time.

While most of your practice will occur within your organization, you can learn in a lower-stakes setting by taking an online course, such as Design Thinking and Innovation . Datar guides you through each tool and framework, presenting real-world business examples to help you envision how you would approach the same types of problems in your organization.

Are you interested in uncovering innovative solutions for your organization’s business problems? Explore Design Thinking and Innovation —one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses —to learn how to leverage proven frameworks and tools to solve challenges. Not sure which course is right for you? Download our free flowchart .

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The Top 10 Characteristics of Problem Solvers

September 24th, 2017

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be natural born problem solvers? Look closer, and you’ll discover that problem solving is more a skill than a gift. Effective problem solvers share ten common characteristics.

1. They have an “attitude”!

Simply expressed, effective problem solvers invariably see problems as opportunities, a chance to learn something new, to grow, to succeed where others have failed, or to prove that “it can be done”.  Underlying these attitudes is a deeply held conviction that, with adequate preparation, the right answer will come.

2. They re-define the problem.

Problem solving is a primary consulting skill. Seasoned consultants know that, very often, the initial definition of the problem (by the client) is incorrect or incomplete. They learn to discount statements such as, “Obviously, the problem is that …” and follow their own leadings, but…

3. They have a system.

Perhaps the most common model is the old consulting acronym: DACR/S in which the letters stand for Describe, Analyze, Conclude, and Recommend/Solve. As with many formulas, its usefulness stems from the step-by-step approach it represents. Effective problem solvers take the steps in order and apply them literally. For example, in describing the problem (the first step), they strenuously avoid making premature judgments or ruling out possibilities. In analyzing the information, they are careful that their own prejudices do not interfere. In developing conclusions, they are aware of the need to test them thoroughly. Finally, most astute problem solvers recognize that there is almost always more than one solution, so they develop several alternatives from which to choose.

4. They avoid the experience trap.

The world is becoming increasingly non-linear. Things happen in pairs, triads, and groups and often don’t follow traditional lines from past to present and cause to effect. In such an environment, where synchronicity and simultaneity rather than linearity prevails, past experience must be taken with a grain of salt. Seasoned problem solvers know the pitfalls of relying on what worked in the past as a guide to what will work in the future. They learn to expect the unexpected, illogical, and non-linear.

5. They consider every position as though it were their own.

For effective problem solvers, standing in the other person’s shoes is more than a cute saying. It’s a fundamental way of looking at the problem from every perspective. This ability to shift perspectives quickly and easily is a key characteristic of effective problem solvers. As one especially capable consultant put it, “I take the other fellow’s position, and then I expand upon it until I understand it better than he does”.

6. They recognize conflict as often a prerequisite to solution.

When the stakes are high in a problem situation, the parties are often reluctant to show their hands and cautious about giving away too much. In such instances, managed conflict can be an effective tool for flushing out the real facts of a situation.

7. They listen to their intuition.

Somewhere during the latter stages of the fact-finding (description) process, effective problem solvers experience what can best be called, “inklings”-gut-level feelings about the situation. When this happens, they listen, hypothesize, test and re-test. They realize that, while intuition may be partially innate, effective intuition is overwhelmingly a developed faculty-and they work to develop it!

8. They invariably go beyond “solving the problem”.

On a time scale, just solving the problem at hand brings you to the present, to a point you might call, ground-zero. Truly effective problem solvers push further. They go beyond simply solving the problem to discover the underlying opportunities that often lie concealed within the intricacies of the situation. Implicit in this approach is the premise that every problem is an opportunity in disguise.

9. They seek permanent solutions.

Permanent, as opposed to band-aid solutions, has two characteristics: (1) they address all aspects of the problem, and (2) they are win/win in that they offer acceptable benefits to all parties involved.  Symptomatic problem solving, like bad surgery or dentistry, leaves part of the decay untouched, with the result that, over time, it festers and erupts.  Just for the record, a permanent solution is one that STAYS solved and doesn’t come back to bite you.

10. They gain agreement and commitment from the parties involved.

It’s easy, in the heady rush of finding “the answer” to a problem, to fail to gain agreement and commitment on the part of everyone involved. For effective problem solvers, just “going along” via tacit agreement isn’t enough. There must be explicit statements from all parties that they concur and are willing to commit to the solution. Agreement and concurrence really constitute a third characteristic of the “permanent” solution discussed above, but they are so often ignored that it is important that they be viewed separately.

Written by Shale Paul, Copyright Coach University. All Rights Reserved.

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Team Dynamics: Problem-Solving and Decision Making

• Teamwork and Team Leadership Table of Contents
• Fostering Communication & Promoting Cooperation
• Problem-Solving and Decision Making
• Handling Conflict
• Dealing with Power and Influence

1. Overview

• Different stages of team development call for different problem solving methods
• Problem solving requires the use of a systematic process
• The appropriate decision making method is determined by the amount of time available for the decision and the impact of the decision
• Effective decision making requires the use of smart techniques

2. Problem Solving in Team Development Stages

3. General Problem Solving Steps

• Defining the problem : phrase problem as probing questions to encourage explorative thinking; make explicit goal statement
• Establish criteria for evaluating the solution : identify characteristics of a satisfactory solution; distinguish requirements from desires
• Analyzing the problem : discover the root cause and extent of the problem
• Considering alternate solutions : brainstorm to generate many ideas before judging any of them
• Evaluate alternate solutions : use ranking-weighting matrix; check for issues/disagreement
• Deciding on a solution :  choose best answer to the problem from among all possible solutions
• Develop action plan : make team assignments with milestones(don’t underestimate time)
• Implementing the action plan : check for consistency with requirements identified in step 2
• Following up on the solution :  check up on the implementation and make necessary adjustments
• Evaluate outcomes and process :  review performance, process, and personal aspects of the solution

4. Decision Making Method Based on Time and Impact

5. Smart Decision Making is Enabled By. . .

• Modeling an open mind and asking for candid opinions
• What elements would you choose to change?
• What changes would you make to solve …?  
• Aligning rewards to team successes to ensure that individuals share what they know
• Ensuring that team members are aware of relevant roles and unique information required for team success
• Charging some team members to assume a position that opposes the team’s preference
• Creating an alternate team that attempts to find errors and weaknesses in the solution
• Using successive rounds of blind voting interspersed with discussions

6. Additional Readings

• Hartnett, T. (n.d). Consensus decision making. Retrieved from http://www.consensusdecisionmaking.org/
• UMass|Dartmouth (n.d.) 7 steps to effective decision making . Retrieved from https://www.umassd.edu/media/u massdartmouth/fycm/decision_ma king_process.pdf
• Sunstein, C.R. (2014).  Making dumb groups smarter.  Harvard Business Review, 92(12), 90-98. 
• << Previous: Fostering Communication & Promoting Cooperation
• Next: Handling Conflict >>

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Top 15 problem-solving activities for your team to master

May 27, 2022 - 10 min read

Some people see problems as roadblocks, others see them as opportunities! Problem-solving activities are a great way to get to know how members of your team work, both individually and together. It’s important to teach your team strategies to help them quickly overcome obstacles in the way of achieving project goals.

In this article, you’ll explore 15 problem-solving activities designed to enhance collaboration and creativity. Additionally, if you want to discuss the insights and outcomes with your team after the activities, you can use Wrike’s actionable meeting notes template. This template allows you to record meeting discussions, assign action items, and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

The importance of problem-solving skills in today’s workplace

According to a 2019  report by McKinsey , soft skills are increasingly important in today's world — and problem-solving is the top area in which skills are lacking. A company or team’s success weighs heavily on the willingness of managers to help employees improve their problem-solving abilities. Team building activities targeting focus areas like communication and collaboration, adaptability, or strengthening decision-making techniques help.

All problem-solving processes start with identifying the problem. Next, the team must assess potential courses of action and choose the best way to tackle the problem. This requires a deep understanding of your team and its core strengths. A problem-solving exercise or game helps identify those strengths and builds problem-solving skills and strategies while having fun with your team.

Problem-solving games aren't for just any team. Participants must have an open mind and accept all ideas and solutions . They must also have an Agile mindset and embrace different structures, planning, and processes. Problems usually arise when we least expect them, so there's no better way to prepare than to encourage agility and flexibility.

Another aspect to keep in mind when engaging in problem-solving games and activities: There are no winners or losers. Sure, some games might end with a single winner, but the true goal of these exercises is to learn how to work together as a team to develop an Agile mindset. The winning team of each game should share their strategies and thought processes at the end of the exercise to help everyone learn.

Here’s a list of fun problem-solving activity examples to try with your team. From blindfolds to raw eggs, these problem-solving, team-building activities will have your team solving problems faster than Scooby and the gang.

Classic team-building, problem-solving activities

1. a shrinking vessel.

Helps with: Adaptability

Why adaptability is important for problem-solving: Adaptability is highly associated with cognitive diversity, which helps teams solve problems faster , according to the Harvard Business Review. Innovation and disruption are happening faster than ever before . People, teams, and organizations that can adapt will come out on top.

What you’ll need:

• A rope or string

Instructions:

1. Using the rope, make a shape on the floor everyone can fit into.

2. Slowly shrink the space over 10-15 minutes.

3. Work together to figure out how to keep everyone within the shrinking boundaries.

2. Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower

Helps with: Collaboration

Why collaboration is important for problem-solving: “Collectively, we can be more insightful, more intelligent than we can possibly be individually,” writes Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline . We can solve problems better as a team than we can alone, which means developing your team’s collaboration skills will lead to better problem-solving outcomes.

What you’ll need (per team):

• 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti
• 1 roll of masking tape
• 1 yard of string
• 1 marshmallow

1. The goal of this exercise is to see which team can use the materials provided to build the tallest tower within an allotted time period. The tower must be able to stand on its own.

2. To make this exercise more challenging, try adding a marshmallow to the top of the tower. This team problem-solving exercise helps people think on their toes while building camaraderie and leadership.

3. Egg Drop

Helps with: Collaboration, decision-making

Why decision-making is important for problem-solving: Making decisions isn’t easy , but indecision leads to team paralysis, stagnant thinking, and unsolved problems. Decision-making activities help your team practice making quick, effective choices. Train your team’s decision-making muscles and they will become more adept at problem-solving.

• A carton of eggs
• Basic construction materials such as newspapers, straws, tape, plastic wrap, balloons, rubber bands, popsicle sticks, etc., tarp, or drop cloth
• A parking lot, or some other place you don’t mind getting messy!

1. Each team gets an egg and must select from the construction materials.

2. Give everyone 20-30 minutes to construct a carrier for the egg and protect it from breaking.

3. Drop each egg carrier off a ledge (i.e. over a balcony) and see whose carrier protects the egg from breaking.

4. If multiple eggs survive, keep increasing the height until only one egg is left.

4. Stranded

Helps with: Communication, decision-making

Why communication is important for problem-solving: More employees work remotely than ever before. Good communication skills are vital to solving problems across  virtual teams . Working on communication skills while your team is together will help them solve problems more effectively when they’re apart.

Here's the setting: Your team has been stranded in the office. The doors are locked, and knocking down the doors or breaking the windows is not an option. Give your team 30 minutes to decide on ten items in the office they need for survival and rank them in order of importance. The goal of the game is to have everyone agree on the ten items and their rankings in 30 minutes.

Creative problem-solving activities

Helps with: Communication

What you'll need:

1. Divide everyone into small teams of two or more.

2. Select an overseer who isn't on a team to build a random structure using Lego building blocks within ten minutes.

3. The other teams must replicate the structure exactly (including size and color) within 15 minutes. However, only one member from each group may look at the original structure. They must figure out how to communicate the size, color, and shape of the original structure to their team.

4. If this is too easy, add a rule that the member who can see the original structure can't touch the new structure.

• A lockable room
• 5-10 puzzles or clues (depending on how much time you want to spend on the game)

1. The goal of this exercise is to solve the clues, find the key, and escape a locked room within the time allotted.

2. Hide the key and a list of clues around the room.

3. Gather the team into the empty room and "lock" the door.

4. Give them 30 minutes to an hour to find the key using the clues hidden around the room.

7. Frostbite

Helps with: Decision-making, adaptability

• A blindfold
• 1 packet of construction materials (such as card stock, toothpicks, rubber bands, and sticky notes) for each team
• An electric fan

Instructions:  Your employees are Arctic explorers adventuring across an icy tundra! Separate them into teams of four or five and have them select a leader to guide their exploration. Each team must build a shelter from the materials provided before the storm hits in 30 minutes. However, both the team leader’s hands have frostbite, so they can’t physically help construct the shelter, and the rest of the team has snow blindness and is unable to see. When the 30 minutes is up, turn on the fan and see which shelter can withstand the high winds of the storm.

8. Minefield

• An empty room or hallway
• A collection of common office items

1. Place the items (boxes, chairs, water bottles, bags, etc.) around the room so there's no clear path from one end of the room to the other.

2. Divide your team into pairs and blindfold one person on the team.

3. The other must verbally guide that person from one end of the room to the other, avoiding the "mines."

4. The partner who is not blindfolded can't touch the other.

5. If you want to make the activity more challenging, have all the pairs go simultaneously so teams must find ways to strategically communicate with each other.

9. Blind Formations

1. Have the group put on blindfolds and form a large circle.

2. Tie two ends of a rope together and lay it in a circle in the middle of the group, close enough so each person can reach down and touch it.

3. Instruct the group to communicate to create a shape with the rope — a square, triangle, rectangle, etc.

4. If you have a very large group, divide them into teams and provide a rope for each team. Let them compete to see who forms a particular shape quickest.

Quick and easy problem-solving activities

10. line up blind.

1. Blindfold everyone and whisper a number to each person, beginning with one.

2. Tell them to line up in numerical order without talking.

3. Instead of giving them a number, you could also have them line up numerically by height, age, birthday, etc.

11. Reverse Pyramid

Helps with: Adaptability, collaboration

1. Have everyone stand in a pyramid shape, horizontally.

2. Ask them to flip the base and the apex of the pyramid moving only three people.

3. This quick exercise works best when smaller groups compete to see who can reverse the pyramid the fastest.

12. Move It!

• Chalk, rope, tape, or paper (something to mark a space)

1. Divide your group into two teams and line them up front to back, facing each other.

2. Using the chalk, tape, rope, or paper (depending on the playing surface), mark a square space for each person to stand on. Leave one extra empty space between the two facing rows.

3. The goal is for the two facing lines of players to switch places.

4. Place these restrictions on movement:

• Only one person may move at a time.
• A person may not move around anyone facing the same direction.
• No one may not move backward.
• A person may not move around more than one person on the other team at a time.

13. Human Knot

1. Have everyone stand in a circle, and ask each person to hold hands with two people who aren’t directly next to them.

2. When everyone is tangled together, ask them to untangle the knot and form a perfect circle — without letting go of anyone's hand.

Our last two problem-solving activities work best when dealing with an actual problem:

14. Dumbest Idea First

Helps with: Instant problem-solving

1. "Dumb" ideas are sometimes the best ideas. Ask everyone to think of the absolute dumbest possible solution to the problem at hand.

2. After you have a long list, look through it and see which ones might not be as dumb as you think.

3. Brainstorm your solutions in Wrike. It's free and everyone can start collaborating instantly!

15. What Would X Do

1. Have everyone pretend they're someone famous.

2. Each person must approach the problem as if they were their chosen famous person. What options would they consider? How would they handle it?

3. This allows everyone to consider solutions they might not have thought of originally.

Looking for more team-building and virtual meeting games? Check out these virtual icebreaker games or our  Ultimate Guide to Team Building Activities that Don't Suck.

Additional resources on problem-solving activities

• Problem-Solving Model : Looking for a model to provide a problem-solving structure? This detailed guide gives you the tools to quickly solve any problem.
• The Simplex Process:  Popularized by Min Basadur's book, The Power of Innovation , the Simplex Process provides training and techniques for each problem-solving stage. It helps frame problem-solving as a continuous cycle, rather than a “one and done” process.
• Fun Problem-Solving Activities and Games : Looking for more ideas? Check out this list of interesting and creative problem-solving activities for adults and kids!
• The Secret to Better Problem-Solving:  This article provides tips, use cases, and fresh examples to help you become a whiz at solving the toughest problems.

How to organize problem-solving activities with Wrike

If you want to make problem-solving activities more effective, consider using team collaboration software such as Wrike. 

Wrike’s pre-built actionable meeting notes template helps you keep track of meeting discussions, assign action items, and keep everyone in the loop. It’s an effective tool to streamline your problem-solving sessions and turn insights into real projects.

Brianna Hansen

Brianna is a former Content Marketing Manager of Wrike. When she’s not writing about collaboration and team building games, you’ll find her in the kitchen testing out the latest recipes, sharing her favorite wine with friends, or playing with her two cats.

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7 Teamwork Terrors and How to Conquer Them

Since the dawn of man, teamwork and cooperation has been the preferred method of getting things done. From the pyramids of Giza to the Golden Gate Bridge, we rely heavily on teams of engineers and architects to create such majestic masterpieces. However, where there is teamwork, there is work required to be a team. Too many voices and conflicting opinions can lead to a giant headache and bring productivity to a grinding halt. Throw in egos, politics, and laziness and you've got a recipe for disaster. Here are 7 barriers that harm the harmony of your team: 1. Anchoring Have you ever been part of a group brainstorming session where, once two or three ideas have been shared, new ideas stop flowing and the group sort of shuts down? That’s anchoring. Teams get mentally stuck on the first few ideas and stop thinking of new solutions. Avoid the anchoring trap with these 7 brainstorming tricks, including brain writing. Be sure to keep all types of workers in mind with team building exercises for remote workers, so everyone feels included in the creative conversation. 2. Groupthink This teamwork barrier occurs when a majority of the group conforms to one idea despite their own concerns and insights, perhaps due to laziness, fear of judgement, time limitations, or being subjected to peer pressure from other members of the group. Because this is another common brainstorming risk, techniques like Stepladder and Round Robin brainstorming encourage everyone in the group to share their thoughts before settling on a course of action. 3. Social Loafing "If I don't get around to it, then someone on my team will just do it for me." If you've said this to yourself, then you're guilty of social loafing. Don't pat your lazy self on the back quite yet, you might have just cost your team some valuable productivity! Social loafing is the act of putting in less effort for a team project than you would for a solo task. This forces other team members to pick up the slack and possibility grow to resent you. One way to avoid this is by breaking a project into individual tasks and holding each team member accountable for certain steps. See how Wrike can help you assign tasks and delegate big projects. 4. Unresolvable Conflict Even the most successful teams sometimes experience conflict due to differences in opinion, perspectives, and experiences. However, if there is no way to resolve the conflict, then conflict harms your project's outcome. Unresolvable conflict can be caused by unclear goals and expectations for the project at hand, so avoid it by clearly communicating goals with the team and helping everyone understand their role. 5. Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias is the tendency to only accept information or evidence that confirms your own preconceptions. This bias can quickly become a roadblock when trying to iron out team conflict or justify a decision, and it can potentially lead to the Halo/Horn Effect (see below) and compromise good decision-making. To ward off this bias, challenge your beliefs and play devil's advocate. The Six Thinking Hats technique can also help you see a different perspective on the issue. 6. Halo/Horn Effect The way you perceive an individual strongly affects how you interact with them. If they made a poor first impression, or an offhand comment rubbed you the wrong way, you may have a subconscious bias against them. When that individual voices an opinion, you might automatically be more critical than you normally would. This can work to the opposite effect too. When someone you like shares their opinion, you might have a tendency to agree. When making big team decisions, try to be aware of this bias and focus on the best outcome for the team. 7. Overconfidence Effect Your perceptions and experiences inevitably shape who you are — but they can also lead to subtle mental biases that result in flawed decision making. The Overconfidence Effect happens when you accept or reject an idea based purely off a hunch with no evidence to back you up. (In fact, studies show that entrepreneurs are more likely to fall for this mental fallacy, rejecting others' ideas because of the false belief that they know what's best.) Don't fall for this mental trap! Always research new information and seek objective evidence to combat confirmation bias (and hopefully learn something new as well). What other teamwork barriers have you experienced? We'd love to hear how you resolved your teamwork troubles in the comments!

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Whether you want to do new hire orientation icebreakers or just bond your team closer together, check out our list of awesome team building games that you and your team will want to play over and over again.

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Understanding these 6 team effectiveness models can help you figure out which model to adopt for your own team. Or it may simply help shed light into what's working in your own group, and how to help improve what's lacking.

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15 Problem-Solving Strategies for Projects and Teams

In project management and team collaboration, problem-solving is the process of identifying and resolving issues that arise during a project. It is a crucial skill that helps fix broken processes, improve performance, and identify opportunities. Problem-solving enables project managers and team leaders to overcome challenges and achieve success.

In this blog article, we will explore 15 problem-solving strategies that can revolutionize your approach and help you achieve success. From effective communication techniques to fostering collaboration, these strategies are designed to tackle the most common obstacles encountered in project management. Get ready to unlock the potential of your projects and teams with these tried-and-tested problem-solving strategies!

The 5 Whys Analysis

This problem-solving technique aims to uncover a problem's underlying cause by repeatedly asking the question, "Why?". The goal is to dig deep and identify the root cause rather than addressing surface-level symptoms. By asking "Why?" five times or more, depending on the complexity of the problem, you and your team members can gain valuable insights into the chain of events or processes that led to the issue. This method helps expose weaknesses, improve processes, and achieve project goals.

SWOT Analysis in Project Management

A SWOT analysis is a valuable tool in project management that helps identify and evaluate the internal pros and cons, weaknesses and strengths, and the external impacts that can threaten your project. By examining these factors, project managers can better understand the project's current state and potential risks.

SWOT analysis provides insights that help decision-making, resource allocation, and risk mitigation strategies. It allows project teams to counter threats, address weaknesses, and capitalize on strengths, ultimately enhancing project success.

Bring in a Facilitator

A skilled facilitator can provide objective guidance, ensure everyone's participation, and create a safe space for open discussions. They can help the project team effectively identify and evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Additionally, a facilitator can assist in summarizing and documenting the analysis, ensuring clarity and alignment among team members. Bringing in a facilitator enhances quality and efficiency, leading to better project outcomes.

Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis is a systematic approach used to identify the underlying causes of problems or incidents. It involves investigating the factors contributing to an issue rather than just addressing the symptoms.

By understanding the root causes, organizations can develop effective solutions to prevent similar problems from recurring in the future. This analysis helps improve processes, enhance quality, and reduce risks, ultimately leading to better outcomes and customer satisfaction.

Kipling Method

Also known as the 6 W's, this technique is used to gather information and comprehensively understand a situation. It involves asking and answering six key questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Addressing these questions helps team members and leaders analyze and evaluate a problem or decision from various angles, ensuring a thorough examination of the topic at hand. This method is widely used in journalism, problem-solving, and decision-making processes.

Work Backward

Working backward is a problem-solving approach where you start with the desired outcome and then identify the steps needed to achieve it. This method allows you to break down complex problems into smaller, manageable tasks.

By starting with the end goal in mind, you can create a clear roadmap and prioritize actions accordingly. Working backward helps ensure that your efforts are focused and aligned with the desired outcome, leading to more efficient and effective problem-solving.

Trial and Error

Trial and Error is a problem-solving approach that involves trying different solutions and learning from the outcomes. It is a standard method used to discover what works and what doesn't in various situations. By systematically testing different options, you can identify the most effective solution through a process of elimination.

Trial and Error allow team members flexibility and adaptability, as it encourages learning from mistakes and refining strategies based on feedback. This approach can be beneficial when dealing with complex or ambiguous problems that require experimentation.

Risk Analysis and Mitigation within Teams

Risk analysis and mitigation play a crucial role in project management. By identifying and planning for potential risks, teams can prevent problems. One effective way to facilitate this process is by utilizing project management software.

Project management software such as ActiveCollab provides a centralized platform where teams can document and track risks throughout the project lifecycle. This software often includes features such as risk registers , where risks can be identified, categorized, and assigned to team members for mitigation. Additionally, the software may offer risk assessment tools that help teams evaluate the impact and likelihood of each risk.

With ActiveCollab, teams can collaborate in real time, ensuring all members can access the latest risk information. This promotes transparency and allows immediate communication and decision-making regarding risk mitigation strategies.

Using project management software for risk analysis and mitigation, your team members can proactively address potential challenges, minimize project disruptions, and improve project success rates.

Implementing Conflict Resolution Techniques

Conflict resolution techniques are essential for maintaining healthy relationships and fostering a positive work environment. Some effective methods include active listening, communication skills training, mediation, negotiation, and compromise. Conflicts can be understood and resolved more effectively by actively listening to all parties involved and encouraging open and honest communication.

Mediation allows a neutral third party to facilitate discussions, while negotiation and compromise help find mutually agreeable solutions. These techniques promote understanding, empathy, and collaboration, improving relationships and increasing productivity.

Scenario Planning and Forecasting

Scenario planning and forecasting are essential tools used by organizations to anticipate and prepare for future uncertainties. Scenario planning involves creating multiple plausible narratives or scenarios to explore possible futures, allowing decision-makers to identify risks and opportunities. Forecasting, on the other hand, uses historical data and statistical models to project future outcomes.

Combining these approaches allows businesses to develop robust strategies and make informed decisions in an ever-changing and unpredictable environment. This proactive approach helps organizations adapt, minimize risks, and seize opportunities, ensuring long-term success and resilience in an uncertain world.

Brainstorming and Ideation Sessions

Brainstorming and ideation sessions are great for generating creative ideas and solutions. You can bring together a diverse group of individuals while these sessions help them with collaboration and free thinking. Participants in brainstorming sessions are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas without judgment, allowing for a wide range of possibilities to be explored.

The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible, with the understanding that quantity leads to quality. Through active listening and open-mindedness, participants can build upon each other's ideas and spark new insights. This collaborative process fosters innovation and can lead to breakthrough solutions to complex problems.

Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and collaboration. It involves understanding the needs and experiences of users, generating a wide range of ideas, prototyping, testing solutions, and iterating based on feedback.

It encourages a human-centered and iterative mindset, which leads to exploring multiple possibilities before arriving at a final solution. Design Thinking enables teams to approach challenges with an open mind, fostering innovation and driving meaningful change. By putting people at the heart of the process, Design Thinking helps create solutions that meet their needs and aspirations.

Creating a Feedback Loop with Team Members

Creating a feedback loop with team members leads to a culture of continuous improvement. Regularly soliciting positive and constructive feedback allows open communication, builds trust, and enhances teamwork. Encourage team members to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns in a safe and non-judgmental environment.

Actively listen to their feedback, acknowledge their contributions, and provide actionable insights to help them grow professionally. Remember, a well-functioning feedback loop promotes collaboration, boosts morale, and ultimately leads to better outcomes for the entire team.

Agile Principles for Efficient Problem-Solving (Enhance Flexibility and Responsiveness)

Agile principles are values and practices that enhance flexibility and responsiveness in problem-solving. These principles prioritize individuals and interactions, working solutions, customer collaboration, and responding to change.

Agile principles promote a more efficient problem-solving process by encouraging frequent communication and collaboration. Iterative development, continuous feedback, and adaptive planning are key components of agile problem-solving, allowing teams to adapt and respond to changing requirements quickly. Focusing on delivering value to the customer and embracing change enables organizations to address problems efficiently and effectively.

Importance of Effective Problem-Solving

Effective problem-solving is crucial in project management as it ensures that issues are identified, analyzed, and resolved promptly and efficiently. By integrating problem-solving strategies with project management software like ActiveCollab, teams can enhance collaboration and streamline workflow.

Integrating problem-solving strategies with project management software allows for better communication and coordination among team members. It enables teams to track the progress of problem-solving activities, assign tasks, and monitor deadlines, ensuring everyone is on the same page. This integration also facilitates the sharing of information and knowledge, enabling teams to leverage their collective expertise and experience.

Moreover, project management software such as ActiveCollab provides a centralized platform where team members can document and access relevant information, making it easier to analyze problems and make informed decisions. It also allows the implementation of feedback loops, enabling continuous improvement and learning from past experiences.

In conclusion, integrating problem-solving strategies with ActiveCollab enhances teamwork, improves communication, and facilitates the efficient resolution of issues. This integration ultimately contributes to the successful execution of projects and achieving desired outcomes.

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8 Consistent Behaviors Of Practically Perfect Problem Solvers

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The concept of a business strategy, analytics, search for solutions, the search output. Labyrinth of ... [+] colorful wooden blocks. People in the maze, finding a way out. The man in the maze.

This past month I celebrated my 42nd anniversary with my dear wife. One of her finest qualities is her ability to solve problems. I admit, while I like to analyze and contemplate the various approaches to solving a problem, she just gets it done. It turns out she is not the only female with this fantastic quality. According to our database, there is a trend among male and female leaders in solving problems.

In a dataset of over 47,000 men and 24,000 women leaders, men were rated higher on their technical/professional acumen. Still, women were rated higher on their ability to solve problems. The data came from 360-degree evaluations on each leader with an average of 13 assessments from their manager, peers, direct reports, and others. The graph below displays those results that were statistically significant. 

ZFCO Study 2021- Problem Solving/Technical Expertise Scores

How These Skills Were Evaluated 

I evaluated Technical/Professional Acumen by evaluating if people sought after the leader's opinions, had knowledge and skills that help achieve team results and if their ideas were trusted because of their in-depth knowledge. 

Problem Solving was evaluated by assessing the leader's ability to anticipate and respond quickly to problems, was trusted to use good judgment in making decisions, and their ability to spot new trends and opportunities early.

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Understanding the Results

The results for the analysis were confusing because it was clear that being rated better at technical expertise should give men an advantage at solving problems. 

To verify the results, I re-ran the data with more of an experimental design selecting only 50% of the cases for the analysis. In the experimental design, the results yielded the same conclusions. Technical/Professional Expertise rated significantly higher for men (T-Value 2.276, Sig. 0.023). Problem Solving rated significantly higher for women (T-Value 2.432, Sig. 0.015).

So... What Does This Mean?

To better understand what created the differences in the results on Problem Solving, I analyzed the top behaviors highly correlated with problem-solving. Why? Because these were behaviors that would impact the perceptions about HOW problems were solved. I then compared the results for men versus women on 16 behaviors and found that 12 behaviors showed significant differences between men and women. Four of the behaviors were rated more positively for men, and eight were rated more positively for women. The graph below shows the 12 items that were significantly different for women and men. The items that were significantly different for men clustered around two issues. Technical/Professional expertise was rated significantly higher on two items and can influence problem-solving ability. The two other items focused on strategic perspective. Having the ability to understand how a problem connects to the vision and direction of the organization was a skill that also helped men solve problems. While these four behaviors were helpful for men, the eight behaviors that women performed more effectively made a bigger difference in the results.

In the end, regardless of men or women, these behaviors teach us some essential requirements for practical problem-solving that we ALL need to improve!

8 Behaviors of Practically Perfect Problem Solvers

What is evident in this analysis is that having an excellent solution to a problem, and a clear context for how that solution aligns with the strategy, are not the only two issues that impact a leader's expertise in problem-solving. Once again, the behaviors listed below influenced the PERCEPTIONS of others on problem-solving. So, what do others perceive these practically perfect problem-solvers to do?

ZFCO Problem Solving Study (2021)

1.       They get it done right away . In other studies comparing men and women leaders, we have found that this competency consistently shows the most significant difference between genders. It is easy for problems to get put on the "I will do that later list." It seems we can learn a lot from the women in our lives that take on problems sooner and invest more energy to get them corrected. 

2.       They model this behavior to those around them . If you want to change the way others perceive you in that behavior, you need to be considered the role model for it. Be consistent. Those who are good role models are more trusted. 

3.       They don't work on problems alone . Many problems in an organization flow across multiple groups and cannot be resolved without collaboration. Women were rated as better at collaboration. Men tended to act more independently. If you're going to solve a problem quickly, involve those around you and share the glory. 

4.       They know how to explain the problem and solution effectively.  A significant part of solving any problem is having good communication between everyone impacted by the problem. The first benefit of good communication is that it helps everyone understand the problem, when it occurs, and why it occurs. Second, the solution needs to be communicated to all involved parties. 

5.       They can influence others to stretch their abilities to solve the problem.   Many problems are hard to solve and require that people do something differently than they have done in the past. This requires you to be more skillful at getting others to step up and stretch to accomplish difficult goals.

6.       They quickly recognize where change is needed.  It is easy to ignore many problems. It's harder to identify where change is needed and do something about it quickly. 

7.       They know how to focus on top priorities.  We cannot fix everything, so concentrating on top priorities makes it possible for an organization to change the most pressing issues. 

8.       They understand the full context.  Solving problems requires that all people affected know how their role impacts the problem to be solved. Solving problems is more than just coming up with an excellent solution. 

Aren't you grateful for the problem solvers in your life? Problems can be stressful, overwhelming, and many of us want to pretend they don't exist. We want to hide them in a corner and tiptoe around them, pretending they are not there, and if we don't give them attention, they will walk away. They won't. 

Problems get solved when someone takes the initiative to fix the problem, understands their role in the solution, and cooperates. Problem-solving frequently requires the efforts and involvement of others. If you have a significant problem that needs to be solved in your organization, be the person that doesn’t just understand the problem but solves it.

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Are you looking to enhance your or your team’s problem-solving abilities? Engaging in activities specifically designed to stimulate your and your team’s critical thinking skills can be an excellent way to sharpen your problem-solving prowess. Whether you enjoy puzzles, brain teasers, or interactive challenges, these activities provide an opportunity to overcome obstacles and think creatively.

By immersing yourself in problem-solving activities, you can develop valuable strategies, improve your decision-making abilities, and boost your overall problem-solving IQ.

One key aspect of successful problem-solving is ensuring clear and effective communication, such as when teams use critical tools available online. For example, testing emails for deliverability and using an email spam checker to avoid spam filters can improve team efficiency. Try Maileroo’s free mail tester to validate your email campaigns effectively. Get ready to unlock your full potential and tackle any challenge that comes your way with these exciting activities for problem-solving.

In this article, we will explore activities for problem-solving that can help enhance your team’s problem-solving skills, allowing you to approach challenges with confidence and creativity.

What Are Problem Solving Activities?

Problem-solving activities or problem-solving exercises are interactive games requiring critical thinking to solve puzzles. They enhance teamwork & critical thinking. Examples include building towers, navigating simulated challenges, and fostering creativity and communication.

For instance, imagine a team working together to construct the tallest tower using limited materials. They strategize, communicate ideas, and problem-solve to create the best structure, promoting collaboration and inventive thinking among team members.

Some widely practiced problem-solving activities include:

• A Shrinking Vessel: Teams must fit into a shrinking space, testing their cooperation and adaptability.
• Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower: Participants build a tower using marshmallows and spaghetti, promoting creative engineering.
• Egg Drop: Protecting an egg from a fall challenges problem-solving skills.
• Desert Island Survival: Teams simulate survival scenarios, encouraging creative solutions.
• Rolling Dice: A simple yet effective game involving chance and decision-making.
• Build a Tower: Constructing a stable tower with limited resources fosters teamwork and innovation, etc.

13 Easy Activities For Problem-Solving Ideas to Enhance Team Collaboration

Team building activities offer a great opportunity to test problem-solving abilities and promote effective collaboration within a group to problem solving group activities. By engaging in these activities, teams can break the monotony of the workplace and create a more inclusive and welcoming environment.

Here are nine easy-to-implement activities that can bring substantial change to your team culture and overall workplace dynamics.

#1. Crossword Puzzles

Objective: To enhance problem-solving skills, vocabulary, and cognitive abilities through engaging crossword puzzles. 

Estimated Time: 15-20 Minutes 

Materials Needed:

• Crossword puzzle sheets
• Pens or pencils
• Distribute crossword puzzle sheets and pens/pencils to each participant.
• Explain the rules of crossword puzzles and the goal of completing as many clues as possible within the given time.
• Participants individually or in pairs work on solving the crossword puzzle by filling in the correct words.
• Encourage critical thinking, word association, and collaborative discussions for solving challenging clues.
• At the end of the time limit, review the answers and discuss any interesting or challenging clues as a group.
• Enhanced Problem-Solving: Participants engage in critical thinking while deciphering clues, promoting effective problem-solving skills.
• Vocabulary Expansion: Exposure to new words and phrases within the crossword improves vocabulary and comprehension.
• Cognitive Stimulation: The mental exercise of solving the puzzle stimulates the brain, enhancing cognitive abilities.
• Team Collaboration: If done in pairs, participants practice collaboration and communication to solve clues together.
• Achievement and Motivation: Successfully completing the crossword brings a sense of accomplishment and motivates individuals to explore more puzzles.

Tips for Facilitators:

• Provide varying levels of crossword puzzles to accommodate different skill levels.
• Encourage participants to share strategies for solving challenging clues.
• Emphasize the fun and educational aspects of the activity to keep participants engaged.

#2. A Shrinking Vessel

Estimated Time: 10-15 Minutes

• Materials Needed: A rope and a ball of yarn
• Prepare the Setting: Lay a rope on the floor in a shape that allows all team members to stand comfortably inside it. For larger teams, multiple ropes can be used, dividing them into smaller groups.
• Enter the Circle: Have all team members stand inside the rope, ensuring that nobody steps outside its boundaries.
• Shrinking the Circle: Begin gradually shrinking the rope’s size, reducing the available space inside the circle.
• Adapt and Maintain Balance: As the circle shrinks, team members must make subtle adjustments to maintain their positions and balance within the shrinking area.
• The Challenge: The objective for the team is to collectively brainstorm and find innovative ways to keep every team member inside the circle without anyone stepping outside.
• Collaboration and Communication: The activity promotes teamwork and open communication as participants strategize to stay within the shrinking circle.
• Adaptability: Team members learn to adapt swiftly to changing circumstances, fostering agility and flexibility.
• Creative Problem-Solving: The challenge encourages inventive thinking and brainstorming to find unique solutions.
• Trust Building: By relying on each other’s actions, participants build trust and cohesion among team members.
• Time-Efficient: The short duration makes it an ideal icebreaker or energizer during meetings or workshops.
• Observe and Facilitate: Monitor the team’s dynamics and offer guidance to encourage equal participation and effective problem-solving.
• Encourage Verbalization: Prompt participants to voice their ideas and collaborate vocally, aiding in real-time adjustments.
• Debrief Thoughtfully: Engage the team in a discussion afterward, reflecting on strategies employed and lessons learned.
• Emphasize Adaptability: Highlight the transferable skill of adaptability and its significance in both professional and personal contexts.

#3. Human Knots

• Objective: Improving Collaboration & enhancing Communication Skills

Estimated Time: 15-20 minutes

• Materials: None required

Procedure: 

• Organize your team into a compact circle. For more sizable teams, subdivide them into smaller clusters, with each cluster forming its own circle. 
• Direct each individual to grasp the hands of two other people in the circle, with the exception of those positioned directly adjacent to them. This action will result in the formation of a complex “human knot” within the circle. 
• Present the challenge to the group: to unravel themselves from this entanglement while maintaining their hold on each other’s hands. If preferred, you can establish a specific time limit. 
• Observe the team members collaborating to unravel the knot, witnessing their collective effort to devise solutions and free themselves from the intricate puzzle.
• Team Cohesion: The activity encourages team members to interact closely, promoting bonding and understanding among participants.
• Effective Communication: Participants practice clear and concise communication as they coordinate movements to untangle the knot.
• Problem-Solving: The challenge stimulates creative thinking and problem-solving skills as individuals work collectively to find the optimal path for untangling.
• Adaptability: Participants learn to adapt their actions based on the evolving dynamics of the human knot, fostering adaptability.
• Trust Building: As individuals rely on each other to navigate the intricate knot, trust and cooperation naturally develop.
• Set a Positive Tone: Create an inclusive and supportive atmosphere, emphasizing that the focus is on collaboration rather than competition.
• Encourage Verbalization: Urge participants to articulate their intentions and listen to others’ suggestions, promoting effective teamwork.
• Observe Group Dynamics: Monitor interactions and step in if needed to ensure everyone is actively engaged and included.
• Reflect and Share: Conclude the activity with a debriefing session, allowing participants to share their experiences, strategies, and key takeaways.
• Vary Grouping: Change group compositions for subsequent rounds to enhance interactions among different team members.

#4. Egg Drop

Helps With: Decision Making, Collaboration

• A carton of eggs
• Construction materials (balloons, rubber bands, straws, tape, plastic wrap, etc.)
• A suitable location for the activity
• Assign each team a single egg and random construction materials.
• Teams must create a carrier to protect the egg from breaking.
• Drop the carriers one by one and increase the height if necessary to determine the most durable carrier.
• The winning team is the one with the carrier that survives the highest drop.
• Decision Making: Participants engage in critical decision-making processes as they select construction materials and determine carrier designs.
• Collaboration: The activity necessitates collaboration and coordination among team members to construct an effective carrier.
• Problem-Solving: Teams apply creative problem-solving skills to devise innovative methods for safeguarding the egg.
• Risk Management: Participants learn to assess potential risks and consequences while making design choices to prevent egg breakage.
• Celebrating Success: The victorious team experiences a sense of accomplishment, boosting morale and promoting a positive team spirit.
• Provide Diverse Materials: Offer a wide range of construction materials to stimulate creativity and allow teams to explore various design options.
• Set Safety Guidelines: Prioritize safety by specifying a safe drop height and ensuring participants follow safety protocols during construction.
• Encourage Brainstorming: Prompt teams to brainstorm multiple carrier ideas before finalizing their designs, fostering diverse perspectives.
• Facilitate Reflection: After the activity, lead a discussion where teams share their design strategies, challenges faced, and lessons learned.
• Highlight Collaboration: Emphasize the significance of teamwork in achieving success, acknowledging effective communication and cooperation.

As a teamwork activity, Egg Drop can help team members solve problems through collaboration and communication.

Each team can design and customize their own balloons and can display their team logo, slogan, or elements related to team culture through custom balloons . Awards can also be set up, such as the most creative balloon design, the strongest frangipani structure, etc., to increase the motivation for competition and participation. 

After the activity, team sharing and feedback can be conducted to allow everyone to share their learning experience and feelings about teamwork.

This combination allows team members to experience the importance of teamwork in creativity and practice, and strengthen team cohesion by completing challenges and sharing experiences.

#5. Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower

Helps With: Collaboration

Estimated Time: 20-30 Minutes

Materials Needed (per team):

• Raw spaghetti: 20 sticks
• Marshmallow: 1
• String: 1 yard
• Masking tape: 1 roll
• Tower Construction: Instruct teams to collaborate and utilize the provided materials to construct the tallest tower possible within a designated time frame.
• Marshmallow Support: Emphasize that the tower must be capable of standing independently and supporting a marshmallow at its highest point.
• Prototype and Iterate: Encourage teams to engage in prototyping and iteration, testing different design approaches and refining their tower structures.
• T eamwork and Communication: Promote effective teamwork and communication as team members coordinate their efforts to build a stable and tall tower.
• Evaluation Criteria: Evaluate each tower based on its height, stability, and the successful placement of the marshmallow at the top.
• Collaboration: Participants collaborate closely, sharing ideas and working together to design and construct the tower.
• Innovative Thinking: The activity encourages innovative thinking as teams experiment with different strategies to build a stable tower.
• Time Management: Teams practice time management skills as they work within a specified time limit to complete the task.
• Problem-Solving: Participants engage in creative problem-solving to address challenges such as balancing the marshmallow and constructing a sturdy tower.
• Adaptability: Teams adapt their approaches based on trial and error, learning from each iteration to improve their tower designs.
• Set Clear Guidelines: Clearly explain the materials, objectives, and evaluation criteria to ensure teams understand the task.
• Foster Creativity: Encourage teams to think outside the box and explore unconventional methods for constructing their towers.
• Emphasize Collaboration: Highlight the importance of effective communication and teamwork to accomplish the task successfully.
• Time Management: Remind teams of the time limit and encourage them to allocate their time wisely between planning and construction.
• Reflect and Share: Facilitate a discussion after the activity, allowing teams to share their design choices, challenges faced, and lessons learned.

Objective: To engage participants in the strategic and analytical world of Sudoku, enhancing logical thinking and problem-solving abilities. 

Estimated Time: 20-25 Minutes 

• Sudoku puzzle sheets
• Pencils with erasers
• Distribute Sudoku puzzle sheets and pencils to each participant.
• Familiarize participants with the rules and mechanics of Sudoku puzzles.
• Explain the goal: to fill in the empty cells with numbers from 1 to 9 while adhering to the rules of no repetition in rows, columns, or subgrids.
• Encourage participants to analyze the puzzle’s layout, identify potential numbers, and strategically fill in cells.
• Emphasize the importance of logical deduction and step-by-step approach in solving the puzzle.
• Provide hints or guidance if needed, ensuring participants remain engaged and challenged.
• Logical Thinking: Sudoku challenges participants’ logical and deductive reasoning, fostering analytical skills.
• Problem-Solving: The intricate interplay of numbers and constraints hones problem-solving abilities.
• Focus and Patience: Participants practice patience and attention to detail while gradually unveiling the solution.
• Pattern Recognition: Identifying number patterns and possibilities contributes to enhanced pattern recognition skills.
• Personal Achievement: Successfully completing a Sudoku puzzle provides a sense of accomplishment and boosts confidence.
• Offer varying levels of Sudoku puzzles to cater to different skill levels.
• Encourage participants to share strategies and techniques for solving specific challenges.
• Highlight the mental workout Sudoku provides and its transferable skills to real-life problem-solving.

Helps With: Communication, Problem-solving, & Management

• A lockable room
• 5-10 puzzles or clues
• Hide the key and a set of clues around the room.
• Lock the room and provide team members with a specific time limit to find the key and escape.
• Instruct the team to work together, solving the puzzles and deciphering the clues to locate the key.
• Encourage efficient communication and effective problem-solving under time pressure.
• Communication Skills: Participants enhance their communication abilities by sharing observations, ideas, and findings to collectively solve puzzles.
• Problem-solving Proficiency: The activity challenges teams to think critically, apply logical reasoning, and collaboratively tackle intricate challenges.
• Team Management: The experience promotes effective team management as members assign tasks, prioritize efforts, and coordinate actions.
• Time Management: The imposed time limit sharpens time management skills as teams strategize and allocate time wisely.
• Adaptability: Teams learn to adapt and adjust strategies based on progress, evolving clues, and time constraints.
• Clear Introduction: Provide a concise overview of the activity, emphasizing the importance of communication, problem-solving, and time management.
• Diverse Challenges: Offer a mix of puzzles and clues to engage various problem-solving skills, catering to different team strengths.
• Supportive Role: Act as a facilitator, offering subtle guidance if needed while allowing teams to independently explore and solve challenges.
• Debriefing Session: Organize a debriefing session afterward to discuss the experience, highlight successful strategies, and identify areas for improvement.
• Encourage Reflection: Encourage participants to reflect on their teamwork, communication effectiveness, and problem-solving approach.

#8. Frostbite for Group Problem Solving Activities

Helps With: Decision Making, Trust, Leadership

• An electric fan
• Construction materials (toothpicks, cardstock, rubber bands, sticky notes, etc.)
• Divide the team into groups of 4-5 people, each with a designated leader.
• Blindfold team members and prohibit leaders from using their hands.
• Provide teams with construction materials and challenge them to build a tent within 30 minutes.
• Test the tents using the fan to see which can withstand high winds.
• Decision-Making Proficiency: Participants are exposed to critical decision-making situations under constraints, allowing them to practice effective and efficient decision-making.
• Trust Development: Blindfolding team members and relying on the designated leaders fosters trust and collaboration among team members.
• Leadership Skills: Designated leaders navigate the challenge without hands-on involvement, enhancing their leadership and communication skills.
• Creative Problem Solving: Teams employ creative thinking and resourcefulness to construct stable tents with limited sensory input.
• Team Cohesion: The shared task and unique constraints promote team cohesion and mutual understanding.
• Role of the Facilitator: Act as an observer, allowing teams to navigate the challenge with minimal intervention. Offer assistance only when necessary.
• Clarity in Instructions: Provide clear instructions regarding blindfolding, leader restrictions, and time limits to ensure a consistent experience.
• Debriefing Session: After the activity, conduct a debriefing session to discuss team dynamics, leadership approaches, and decision-making strategies.
• Encourage Communication: Emphasize the importance of effective communication within teams to ensure smooth coordination and successful tent construction.
• Acknowledge Creativity: Celebrate creative solutions and innovative approaches exhibited by teams during the tent-building process.

#9. Dumbest Idea First

Helps With: Critical Thinking & Creative Problem Solving Activity

Estimated Time: 15-20 Minutes

Materials Needed: A piece of paper, pen, and pencil

• Problem Presentation: Introduce a specific problem to the team, either a real-world challenge or a hypothetical scenario that requires a solution.
• Brainstorming Dumb Ideas: Instruct team members to quickly generate and jot down the most unconventional and seemingly “dumb” ideas they can think of to address the problem.
• Idea Sharing: Encourage each participant to share their generated ideas with the group, fostering a relaxed and open atmosphere for creative expression.
• Viability Assessment: As a team, review and evaluate each idea, considering potential benefits and drawbacks. Emphasize the goal of identifying unconventional approaches.
• Selecting Promising Solutions: Identify which seemingly “dumb” ideas could hold hidden potential or innovative insights. Discuss how these ideas could be adapted into workable solutions.
• Divergent Thinking: Participants engage in divergent thinking, pushing beyond conventional boundaries to explore unconventional solutions.
• Creative Exploration: The activity sparks creative exploration by encouraging participants to let go of inhibitions and embrace imaginative thinking.
• Critical Analysis: Through evaluating each idea, participants practice critical analysis and learn to identify unique angles and aspects of potential solutions.
• Open Communication: The lighthearted approach of sharing “dumb” ideas fosters open communication, reducing fear of judgment and promoting active participation.
• Solution Adaptation: Identifying elements of seemingly “dumb” ideas that have merit encourages participants to adapt and refine their approaches creatively.
• Safe Environment: Foster a safe and non-judgmental environment where participants feel comfortable sharing unconventional ideas.
• Time Management: Set clear time limits for idea generation and sharing to maintain the activity’s energetic pace.
• Encourage Wild Ideas: Emphasize that the goal is to explore the unconventional, urging participants to push the boundaries of creativity.
• Facilitator Participation: Participate in idea generation to demonstrate an open-minded approach and encourage involvement.
• Debriefing Discussion: After the activity, facilitate a discussion on how seemingly “dumb” ideas can inspire innovative solutions and stimulate fresh thinking.

This activity encourages out-of-the-box thinking and creative problem-solving. It allows teams to explore unconventional ideas that may lead to unexpected, yet effective, solutions.

#10: Legoman

Helps With: Foster teamwork, communication, and creativity through a collaborative Lego-building activity.

Estimated Time: 20-30 minutes

• Lego bricks
• Lego instruction manuals

Procedure :

• Divide participants into small teams of 3-5 members.
• Provide each team with an equal set of Lego bricks and a Lego instruction manual.
• Explain that the goal is for teams to work together to construct the Lego model shown in the manual.
• Set a time limit for the building activity based on model complexity.
• Allow teams to self-organize, build, and collaborate to complete the model within the time limit.
• Evaluate each team’s final model compared to the manual’s original design.
• Enhanced Communication: Participants must communicate clearly and listen actively to collaborate effectively.
• Strengthened Teamwork: Combining efforts toward a shared goal promotes camaraderie and team cohesion.
• Creative Problem-Solving: Teams must creatively problem-solve if pieces are missing or instructions unclear.
• Planning and Resource Allocation: Following instructions fosters planning skills and efficient use of resources.
• Sense of Achievement: Completing a challenging build provides a sense of collective accomplishment.
• Encourage Participation: Urge quieter members to contribute ideas and take an active role.
• Highlight Teamwork: Emphasize how cooperation and task coordination are key to success.
• Ensure Equal Engagement: Monitor group dynamics to ensure all members are engaged.
• Allow Creativity: Permit modifications if teams lack exact pieces or wish to get creative.
• Focus on Enjoyment: Create a lively atmosphere so the activity remains energizing and fun.

#11: Minefield

Helps With: Trust, Communication, Patience

Materials Needed: Open space, blindfolds

• Mark a “minefield” on the ground using ropes, cones, or tape. Add toy mines or paper cups.
• Pair up participants and blindfold one partner.
• Position blindfolded partners at the start of the minefield. Direct seeing partners to verbally guide them through to the other side without hitting “mines.”
• Partners switch roles once finished and repeat.
• Time partnerships and provide prizes for the fastest safe crossing.
• Trust Building: Blindfolded partners must trust their partner’s instructions.
• Effective Communication: Giving clear, specific directions is essential for navigating the minefield.
• Active Listening: Partners must listen closely and follow directions precisely.
• Patience & Support: The exercise requires patience and encouraging guidance between partners.
• Team Coordination: Partners must work in sync, coordinating movements and communication.
• Test Boundaries: Ensure the minefield’s size accommodates safe movement and communication.
• Monitor Interactions: Watch for dominant guidance and ensure both partners participate fully.
• Time Strategically: Adjust time limits based on the minefield size and difficulty.
• Add Obstacles: Introduce additional non-mine objects to increase challenge and communication needs.
• Foster Discussion: Debrief afterward to discuss communication approaches and trust-building takeaways.

#12: Reverse Pyramid

Helps With: Teamwork, Communication, Creativity

Materials Needed: 36 cups per group, tables

• Form small groups of 5-7 participants.
• Provide each group with a stack of 36 cups and a designated building area.
• Explain the objective: Build the tallest pyramid starting with just one cup on top.
• Place the first cup on the table, and anyone in the group can add two cups beneath it to form the second row.
• From this point, only the bottom row can be lifted to add the next row underneath.
• Cups in the pyramid can only be touched or supported by index fingers.
• If the structure falls, start over from one cup.
• Offer more cups if a group uses all provided.
• Allow 15 minutes for building.

Teamwork: Collaborate to construct the pyramid.

Communication: Discuss and execute the building strategy.

Creativity: Find innovative ways to build a tall, stable pyramid.

Clarify Expectations: Emphasize the definition of a pyramid with each row having one less cup.

Encourage Perseverance: Motivate groups to continue despite challenges.

Promote Consensus: Encourage groups to work together and help each other.

Reflect on Failure: Use collapses as a metaphor for overcoming obstacles and improving.

Consider Competitions: Modify the activity for competitive teams and scoring.

#13: Stranded

Helps With: Decision-making, Prioritization, Teamwork

Materials Needed: List of salvaged items, paper, pens

• Present a scenario where teams are stranded and must prioritize items salvaged from a plane crash.
• Provide teams with the same list of ~15 salvaged items.
• Instruct teams to agree on an item ranking with #1 being the most important for survival.
• Teams share and compare their prioritized lists. Identify differences in approach.
• Discuss what factors influenced decisions and how teams worked together to agree on priorities.
• Critical Thinking: Weighing item importance requires analytical thinking and discussion.
• Team Decision-Making: Coming to a consensus fosters team decision-making capabilities.
• Prioritization Skills: Ranking items strengthen prioritization and justification abilities.
• Perspective-Taking: Understanding different prioritizations builds perspective-taking skills.
• Team Cohesion: Collaborating toward a shared goal brings teams closer together.
• Encourage Discussion: Urge teams to discuss all ideas rather than allow single members to dominate.
• Be Engaged: Circulate to listen in on team discussions and pose thought-provoking questions.
• Add Complexity: Introduce scenarios with additional constraints to expand critical thinking.
• Highlight Disagreements: When priorities differ, facilitate constructive discussions on influencing factors.
• Recognize Collaboration: Acknowledge teams that demonstrate exceptional teamwork and communication.

Now let’s look at some common types of problem-solving activities.

Types of Problem-Solving Activities

The most common types of problem-solving activities/exercises are:

• Creative problem-solving activities
• Group problem-solving activities
• Individual problem-solving activities
• Fun problem-solving activities, etc.

In the next segments, we’ll be discussing these types of problem-solving activities in detail. So, keep reading!

Creative Problem-Solving Activities

Creative problem solving (CPS) means using creativity to find new solutions. It involves thinking creatively at first and then evaluating ideas later. For example, think of it like brainstorming fun game ideas, discussing them, and then picking the best one to play.

Some of the most common creative problem-solving activities include:

• Legoman: Building creative structures with LEGO.
• Escape: Solving puzzles to escape a room.
• Frostbite: Finding solutions in challenging situations.
• Minefield: Navigating a field of obstacles.

Group Problem-Solving Activities

Group problem-solving activities are challenges that make teams work together to solve puzzles or overcome obstacles. They enhance teamwork and critical thinking.

For instance, think of a puzzle-solving game where a group must find hidden clues to escape a locked room.

Here are the most common group problem-solving activities you can try in groups:

• A Shrinking Vessel
• Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower
• Cardboard Boat Building Challenge
• Clue Murder Mystery
• Escape Room: Jewel Heist
• Escape Room: Virtual Team Building
• Scavenger Hunt
• Dumbest Idea First

Individual Problem-Solving Activities

As the name suggests, individual problem-solving activities are the tasks that you need to play alone to boost your critical thinking ability. They help you solve problems and stay calm while facing challenges in real life. Like puzzles, they make your brain sharper. Imagine it’s like training your brain muscles to handle tricky situations.

Here are some of the most common individual problem-solving activities:

• Puzzles (jigsaw, crossword, sudoku, etc.)
• Brain teasers
• Logic problems
• Optical illusions
• “Escape room” style games

Fun Problem-Solving Activities

Fun problem-solving activities are enjoyable games that sharpen your critical thinking skills while having a blast. Think of activities like the Legoman challenge, escape rooms, or rolling dice games – they make problem-solving exciting and engaging!

And to be frank, all of the mentioned problem-solving activities are fun if you know how to play and enjoy them as all of them are game-like activities.

Team Problems You Can Address Through Problem Solving Activities

Fun problem-solving activities serve as dynamic tools to address a range of challenges that teams often encounter. These engaging activities foster an environment of collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, enabling teams to tackle various problems head-on. Here are some common team problems that can be effectively addressed through these activities:

• Communication Breakdowns:  

Activities like “Escape,” “A Shrinking Vessel,” and “Human Knots” emphasize the importance of clear and effective communication. They require teams to work together, exchange ideas, and devise strategies to accomplish a shared goal. By engaging in these activities, team members learn to communicate more efficiently, enhancing overall team communication in real-world situations.

• Lack of Trust and Cohesion:  

Problem-solving activities promote trust and cohesiveness within teams. For instance, “Frostbite” and “Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower” require teams to collaborate closely, trust each other’s ideas, and rely on each member’s strengths. These activities build a sense of unity and trust, which can translate into improved teamwork and collaboration.

• Innovative Thinking:  

“Dumbest Idea First” and “Egg Drop” encourage teams to think outside the box and explore unconventional solutions. These activities challenge teams to be creative and innovative in their problem-solving approaches, fostering a culture of thinking beyond traditional boundaries when faced with complex issues.

• Decision-Making Challenges:  

Activities like “Onethread” facilitate group decision-making by providing a platform for open discussions and collaborative choices. Problem-solving activities require teams to make decisions collectively, teaching them to weigh options, consider different viewpoints, and arrive at informed conclusions—a skill that is transferable to real-world decision-making scenarios.

• Leadership and Role Clarification:  

Activities such as “Frostbite” and “Egg Drop” designate team leaders and roles within groups. This provides an opportunity for team members to practice leadership, delegation, and role-specific tasks. By experiencing leadership dynamics in a controlled setting, teams can improve their leadership skills and better understand their roles in actual projects.

• Problem-Solving Strategies:  

All of the problem-solving activities involve the application of different strategies. Teams learn to analyze problems, break them down into manageable components, and develop systematic approaches for resolution. These strategies can be adapted to real-world challenges, enabling teams to approach complex issues with confidence.

• Team Morale and Engagement:  

Participating in engaging and enjoyable activities boosts team morale and engagement. These activities provide a break from routine tasks, energize team members, and create a positive and fun atmosphere. Elevated team morale can lead to increased motivation and productivity.

The incentives of event prizes can further stimulate the enthusiasm and participation of team members. The choice of prizes is crucial, as it can directly affect the attractiveness and participation of the event. Among them, Medals are essential prizes.

Medals are symbols of honor awarded to winners and represent the value and achievement of an event.

Medals also have a motivational effect, they encourage team members to pursue higher achievements and progress.

Medals are artistic and aesthetic. They are usually designed by designers according to different occasions and themes and have high collection value.

By incorporating these fun problem-solving activities, teams can address a variety of challenges, foster skill development, and build a more cohesive and effective working environment. As teams learn to collaborate, communicate, innovate, and make decisions collectively, they are better equipped to overcome obstacles and achieve shared goals.

The Benefits of Problem Solving Activities for Your Team

#1 Better Thinking

Problem-solving activities bring out the best in team members by encouraging them to contribute their unique ideas. This stimulates better thinking as team managers evaluate different solutions and choose the most suitable ones.

For example, a remote team struggling with communication benefited from quick thinking and the sharing of ideas, leading to the adoption of various communication modes for improved collaboration.

#2 Better Risk Handling

Team building problem solving activities condition individuals to handle risks more effectively. By engaging in challenging situations and finding solutions, team members develop the ability to respond better to stressful circumstances.

#3 Better Communication

Regular communication among team members is crucial for efficient problem-solving. Engaging in problem-solving activities fosters cooperation and communication within the team, resulting in better understanding and collaboration. Using tools like OneThread can further enhance team communication and accountability.

#4 Improved Productivity Output

When teams work cohesively, overall productivity improves, leading to enhanced profit margins for the company or organization. Involving managers and team members in problem-solving activities can positively impact the company’s growth and profitability.

How Onethread Enhances the Effect of Problem Solving Activities

Problem-solving activities within teams thrive on collaborative efforts and shared perspectives. Onethread emerges as a potent facilitator, enabling teams to collectively tackle challenges and harness diverse viewpoints with precision. Here’s a comprehensive view of how Onethread amplifies team collaboration in problem-solving initiatives:

Open Channels for Discussion:

Onethread’s real-time messaging feature serves as a dedicated hub for open and seamless discussions. Teams can engage in brainstorming sessions, share insightful observations, and propose innovative solutions within a flexible environment. Asynchronous communication empowers members to contribute their insights at their convenience, fostering comprehensive problem analysis with ample deliberation.

Centralized Sharing of Resources:

Effective problem-solving often hinges on access to pertinent resources. Onethread’s document sharing functionality ensures that critical information, references, and research findings are centralized and readily accessible. This eradicates the need for cumbersome email attachments and enables team members to collaborate with precise and up-to-date data.

Efficient Task Allocation and Monitoring:

Problem-solving journeys comprise a series of tasks and actions. Onethread’s task management capability streamlines the delegation of specific responsibilities to team members. Assign tasks related to research, data analysis, or solution implementation and monitor progress in real time. This cultivates a sense of accountability and guarantees comprehensive coverage of every facet of the problem-solving process.

Facilitated Collaborative Decision-Making: Navigating intricate problems often demands collective decision-making. Onethread’s collaborative ecosystem empowers teams to deliberate over potential solutions, assess pros and cons, and make well-informed choices. Transparent discussions ensure that decisions are comprehensively comprehended and supported by the entire team.

Seamless Documentation and Insights Sharing:

As the problem-solving journey unfolds, the accumulation of insights and conclusions becomes pivotal. Onethread’s collaborative document editing feature empowers teams to document their discoveries, chronicle the steps undertaken, and showcase successful solutions. This shared repository of documentation serves as a valuable resource for future reference and continuous learning.

With Onethread orchestrating the backdrop, team collaboration during problem-solving activities transforms into a harmonious fusion of insights, ideas, and actionable steps.

What are the 5 problem-solving skills?

The top 5 problem-solving skills in 2023 are critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and data literacy. Most employers seek these skills in their workforce.

What are the steps of problem-solving?

Problem-solving steps are as follows: 1. Define the problem clearly. 2. Analyze the issue in detail. 3. Generate potential solutions. 4. Evaluate these options. 5. Choose the best solution. 6. Put the chosen solution into action. 7. Measure the outcomes to assess effectiveness and improvements made. These sequential steps assist in efficient and effective problem resolution.

How do you teach problem-solving skills?

Teaching problem-solving involves modelling effective methods within a context, helping students grasp the problem, dedicating ample time, asking guiding questions, and giving suggestions. Connect errors to misconceptions to enhance understanding, fostering a straightforward approach to building problem-solving skills.

So here is all about “activities for problem solving”.No matter which activity you choose, engaging in problem-solving activities not only provides entertainment but also helps enhance cognitive abilities such as critical thinking, decision making, and creativity. So why not make problem solving a regular part of your routine?

Take some time each day or week to engage in these activities and watch as your problem-solving skills grow stronger. Plus, it’s an enjoyable way to pass the time and challenge yourself mentally.

So go ahead, grab a puzzle or gather some friends for a game night – get ready to have fun while sharpening your problem-solving skills!

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• Turn your team into skilled problem sol ...

Turn your team into skilled problem solvers with these problem-solving strategies

Picture this, you're handling your daily tasks at work and your boss calls you in and says, "We have a problem." 

Unfortunately, we don't live in a world in which problems are instantly resolved with the snap of our fingers. Knowing how to effectively solve problems is an important professional skill to hone. If you have a problem that needs to be solved, what is the right process to use to ensure you get the most effective solution?

In this article we'll break down the problem-solving process and how you can find the most effective solutions for complex problems.

What is problem solving? 

Problem solving is the process of finding a resolution for a specific issue or conflict. There are many possible solutions for solving a problem, which is why it's important to go through a problem-solving process to find the best solution. You could use a flathead screwdriver to unscrew a Phillips head screw, but there is a better tool for the situation. Utilizing common problem-solving techniques helps you find the best solution to fit the needs of the specific situation, much like using the right tools.

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4 steps to better problem solving

While it might be tempting to dive into a problem head first, take the time to move step by step. Here’s how you can effectively break down the problem-solving process with your team:

1. Identify the problem that needs to be solved

One of the easiest ways to identify a problem is to ask questions. A good place to start is to ask journalistic questions, like:

Who : Who is involved with this problem? Who caused the problem? Who is most affected by this issue?

What: What is happening? What is the extent of the issue? What does this problem prevent from moving forward?

Where: Where did this problem take place? Does this problem affect anything else in the immediate area? 

When: When did this problem happen? When does this problem take effect? Is this an urgent issue that needs to be solved within a certain timeframe?

Why: Why is it happening? Why does it impact workflows?

How: How did this problem occur? How is it affecting workflows and team members from being productive?

Asking journalistic questions can help you define a strong problem statement so you can highlight the current situation objectively, and create a plan around that situation.

Here’s an example of how a design team uses journalistic questions to identify their problem:

Overarching problem: Design requests are being missed

Who: Design team, digital marketing team, web development team

What: Design requests are forgotten, lost, or being created ad hoc.

Where: Email requests, design request spreadsheet

When: Missed requests on January 20th, January 31st, February 4th, February 6th

How : Email request was lost in inbox and the intake spreadsheet was not updated correctly. The digital marketing team had to delay launching ads for a few days while design requests were bottlenecked. Designers had to work extra hours to ensure all requests were completed.

In this example, there are many different aspects of this problem that can be solved. Using journalistic questions can help you identify different issues and who you should involve in the process.

2. Brainstorm multiple solutions

If at all possible, bring in a facilitator who doesn't have a major stake in the solution. Bringing an individual who has little-to-no stake in the matter can help keep your team on track and encourage good problem-solving skills.

Here are a few brainstorming techniques to encourage creative thinking:

Brainstorm alone before hand: Before you come together as a group, provide some context to your team on what exactly the issue is that you're brainstorming. This will give time for you and your teammates to have some ideas ready by the time you meet.

Say yes to everything (at first): When you first start brainstorming, don't say no to any ideas just yet—try to get as many ideas down as possible. Having as many ideas as possible ensures that you’ll get a variety of solutions. Save the trimming for the next step of the strategy. 

Talk to team members one-on-one: Some people may be less comfortable sharing their ideas in a group setting. Discuss the issue with team members individually and encourage them to share their opinions without restrictions—you might find some more detailed insights than originally anticipated.

Break out of your routine: If you're used to brainstorming in a conference room or over Zoom calls, do something a little different! Take your brainstorming meeting to a coffee shop or have your Zoom call while you're taking a walk. Getting out of your routine can force your brain out of its usual rut and increase critical thinking.

3. Define the solution

After you brainstorm with team members to get their unique perspectives on a scenario, it's time to look at the different strategies and decide which option is the best solution for the problem at hand. When defining the solution, consider these main two questions: What is the desired outcome of this solution and who stands to benefit from this solution? 

Set a deadline for when this decision needs to be made and update stakeholders accordingly. Sometimes there's too many people who need to make a decision. Use your best judgement based on the limitations provided to do great things fast.

4. Implement the solution

To implement your solution, start by working with the individuals who are as closest to the problem. This can help those most affected by the problem get unblocked. Then move farther out to those who are less affected, and so on and so forth. Some solutions are simple enough that you don’t need to work through multiple teams.

After you prioritize implementation with the right teams, assign out the ongoing work that needs to be completed by the rest of the team. This can prevent people from becoming overburdened during the implementation plan . Once your solution is in place, schedule check-ins to see how the solution is working and course-correct if necessary.

Implement common problem-solving strategies

There are a few ways to go about identifying problems (and solutions). Here are some strategies you can try, as well as common ways to apply them:

Trial and error

Trial and error problem solving doesn't usually require a whole team of people to solve. To use trial and error problem solving, identify the cause of the problem, and then rapidly test possible solutions to see if anything changes. 

This problem-solving method is often used in tech support teams through troubleshooting.

The 5 whys problem-solving method helps get to the root cause of an issue. You start by asking once, “Why did this issue happen?” After answering the first why, ask again, “Why did that happen?” You'll do this five times until you can attribute the problem to a root cause. 

This technique can help you dig in and find the human error that caused something to go wrong. More importantly, it also helps you and your team develop an actionable plan so that you can prevent the issue from happening again.

Here’s an example:

Problem: The email marketing campaign was accidentally sent to the wrong audience.

“Why did this happen?” Because the audience name was not updated in our email platform.

“Why were the audience names not changed?” Because the audience segment was not renamed after editing. 

“Why was the audience segment not renamed?” Because everybody has an individual way of creating an audience segment.

“Why does everybody have an individual way of creating an audience segment?” Because there is no standardized process for creating audience segments. 

“Why is there no standardized process for creating audience segments?” Because the team hasn't decided on a way to standardize the process as the team introduced new members. 

In this example, we can see a few areas that could be optimized to prevent this mistake from happening again. When working through these questions, make sure that everyone who was involved in the situation is present so that you can co-create next steps to avoid the same problem. 

A SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis can help you highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a specific solution. SWOT stands for:

Strength: Why is this specific solution a good fit for this problem? 

Weaknesses: What are the weak points of this solution? Is there anything that you can do to strengthen those weaknesses?

Opportunities: What other benefits could arise from implementing this solution?

Threats: Is there anything about this decision that can detrimentally impact your team?

As you identify specific solutions, you can highlight the different strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each solution. 

This particular problem-solving strategy is good to use when you're narrowing down the answers and need to compare and contrast the differences between different solutions. 

Even more successful problem solving

After you’ve worked through a tough problem, don't forget to celebrate how far you've come. Not only is this important for your team of problem solvers to see their work in action, but this can also help you become a more efficient, effective , and flexible team. The more problems you tackle together, the more you’ll achieve. 

Looking for a tool to help solve problems on your team? Track project implementation with a work management tool like Asana .

Related resources

How to streamline compliance management software with Asana

How to build your critical thinking skills in 7 steps (with examples)

10 tips to improve nonverbal communication

Scaling clinical trial management software with PM solutions

40 problem-solving techniques and processes

All teams and organizations encounter challenges. Approaching those challenges without a structured problem solving process can end up making things worse.

Proven problem solving techniques such as those outlined below can guide your group through a process of identifying problems and challenges , ideating on possible solutions , and then evaluating and implementing the most suitable .

In this post, you'll find problem-solving tools you can use to develop effective solutions. You'll also find some tips for facilitating the problem solving process and solving complex problems.

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What is problem solving?

Problem solving is a process of finding and implementing a solution to a challenge or obstacle. In most contexts, this means going through a problem solving process that begins with identifying the issue, exploring its root causes, ideating and refining possible solutions before implementing and measuring the impact of that solution.

For simple or small problems, it can be tempting to skip straight to implementing what you believe is the right solution. The danger with this approach is that without exploring the true causes of the issue, it might just occur again or your chosen solution may cause other issues.

Particularly in the world of work, good problem solving means using data to back up each step of the process, bringing in new perspectives and effectively measuring the impact of your solution.

Effective problem solving can help ensure that your team or organization is well positioned to overcome challenges, be resilient to change and create innovation. In my experience, problem solving is a combination of skillset, mindset and process, and it’s especially vital for leaders to cultivate this skill.

What is the seven step problem solving process?

A problem solving process is a step-by-step framework from going from discovering a problem all the way through to implementing a solution.

With practice, this framework can become intuitive, and innovative companies tend to have a consistent and ongoing ability to discover and tackle challenges when they come up.

You might see everything from a four step problem solving process through to seven steps. While all these processes cover roughly the same ground, I’ve found a seven step problem solving process is helpful for making all key steps legible.

We’ll outline that process here and then follow with techniques you can use to explore and work on that step of the problem solving process with a group.

The seven-step problem solving process is:

1. Problem identification 

The first stage of any problem solving process is to identify the problem(s) you need to solve. This often looks like using group discussions and activities to help a group surface and effectively articulate the challenges they’re facing and wish to resolve.

Be sure to align with your team on the exact definition and nature of the problem you’re solving. An effective process is one where everyone is pulling in the same direction – ensure clarity and alignment now to help avoid misunderstandings later.

2. Problem analysis and refinement

The process of problem analysis means ensuring that the problem you are seeking to solve is  the   right problem . Choosing the right problem to solve means you are on the right path to creating the right solution.

At this stage, you may look deeper at the problem you identified to try and discover the root cause at the level of people or process. You may also spend some time sourcing data, consulting relevant parties and creating and refining a problem statement.

Problem refinement means adjusting scope or focus of the problem you will be aiming to solve based on what comes up during your analysis. As you analyze data sources, you might discover that the root cause means you need to adjust your problem statement. Alternatively, you might find that your original problem statement is too big to be meaningful approached within your current project.

Remember that the goal of any problem refinement is to help set the stage for effective solution development and deployment. Set the right focus and get buy-in from your team here and you’ll be well positioned to move forward with confidence.

3. Solution generation

Once your group has nailed down the particulars of the problem you wish to solve, you want to encourage a free flow of ideas connecting to solving that problem. This can take the form of problem solving games that encourage creative thinking or techniquess designed to produce working prototypes of possible solutions. 

The key to ensuring the success of this stage of the problem solving process is to encourage quick, creative thinking and create an open space where all ideas are considered. The best solutions can often come from unlikely places and by using problem solving techniques that celebrate invention, you might come up with solution gold. 

4. Solution development

No solution is perfect right out of the gate. It’s important to discuss and develop the solutions your group has come up with over the course of following the previous problem solving steps in order to arrive at the best possible solution. Problem solving games used in this stage involve lots of critical thinking, measuring potential effort and impact, and looking at possible solutions analytically. 

During this stage, you will often ask your team to iterate and improve upon your front-running solutions and develop them further. Remember that problem solving strategies always benefit from a multitude of voices and opinions, and not to let ego get involved when it comes to choosing which solutions to develop and take further.

Finding the best solution is the goal of all problem solving workshops and here is the place to ensure that your solution is well thought out, sufficiently robust and fit for purpose. 

5. Decision making and planning

Nearly there! Once you’ve got a set of possible, you’ll need to make a decision on which to implement. This can be a consensus-based group decision or it might be for a leader or major stakeholder to decide. You’ll find a set of effective decision making methods below.

Once your group has reached consensus and selected a solution, there are some additional actions that also need to be decided upon. You’ll want to work on allocating ownership of the project, figure out who will do what, how the success of the solution will be measured and decide the next course of action.

Set clear accountabilities, actions, timeframes, and follow-ups for your chosen solution. Make these decisions and set clear next-steps in the problem solving workshop so that everyone is aligned and you can move forward effectively as a group. 

Ensuring that you plan for the roll-out of a solution is one of the most important problem solving steps. Without adequate planning or oversight, it can prove impossible to measure success or iterate further if the problem was not solved. 

6. Solution implementation 

This is what we were waiting for! All problem solving processes have the end goal of implementing an effective and impactful solution that your group has confidence in.

Project management and communication skills are key here – your solution may need to adjust when out in the wild or you might discover new challenges along the way. For some solutions, you might also implement a test with a small group and monitor results before rolling it out to an entire company.

You should have a clear owner for your solution who will oversee the plans you made together and help ensure they’re put into place. This person will often coordinate the implementation team and set-up processes to measure the efficacy of your solution too.

7. Solution evaluation 

So you and your team developed a great solution to a problem and have a gut feeling it’s been solved. Work done, right? Wrong. All problem solving strategies benefit from evaluation, consideration, and feedback.

You might find that the solution does not work for everyone, might create new problems, or is potentially so successful that you will want to roll it out to larger teams or as part of other initiatives. 

None of that is possible without taking the time to evaluate the success of the solution you developed in your problem solving model and adjust if necessary.

Remember that the problem solving process is often iterative and it can be common to not solve complex issues on the first try. Even when this is the case, you and your team will have generated learning that will be important for future problem solving workshops or in other parts of the organization. 

It’s also worth underlining how important record keeping is throughout the problem solving process. If a solution didn’t work, you need to have the data and records to see why that was the case. If you go back to the drawing board, notes from the previous workshop can help save time.

What does an effective problem solving process look like?

Every effective problem solving process begins with an agenda . In our experience, a well-structured problem solving workshop is one of the best methods for successfully guiding a group from exploring a problem to implementing a solution.

The format of a workshop ensures that you can get buy-in from your group, encourage free-thinking and solution exploration before making a decision on what to implement following the session.

This Design Sprint 2.0 template is an effective problem solving process from top agency AJ&Smart. It’s a great format for the entire problem solving process, with four-days of workshops designed to surface issues, explore solutions and even test a solution.

Check it for an example of how you might structure and run a problem solving process and feel free to copy and adjust it your needs!

For a shorter process you can run in a single afternoon, this remote problem solving agenda will guide you effectively in just a couple of hours.

Whatever the length of your workshop, by using SessionLab, it’s easy to go from an idea to a complete agenda . Start by dragging and dropping your core problem solving activities into place . Add timings, breaks and necessary materials before sharing your agenda with your colleagues.

The resulting agenda will be your guide to an effective and productive problem solving session that will also help you stay organized on the day!

Complete problem-solving methods

In this section, we’ll look at in-depth problem-solving methods that provide a complete end-to-end process for developing effective solutions. These will help guide your team from the discovery and definition of a problem through to delivering the right solution.

If you’re looking for an all-encompassing method or problem-solving model, these processes are a great place to start. They’ll ask your team to challenge preconceived ideas and adopt a mindset for solving problems more effectively.

Six Thinking Hats

Individual approaches to solving a problem can be very different based on what team or role an individual holds. It can be easy for existing biases or perspectives to find their way into the mix, or for internal politics to direct a conversation.

Six Thinking Hats is a classic method for identifying the problems that need to be solved and enables your team to consider them from different angles, whether that is by focusing on facts and data, creative solutions, or by considering why a particular solution might not work.

Like all problem-solving frameworks, Six Thinking Hats is effective at helping teams remove roadblocks from a conversation or discussion and come to terms with all the aspects necessary to solve complex problems.

The Six Thinking Hats   #creative thinking   #meeting facilitation   #problem solving   #issue resolution   #idea generation   #conflict resolution   The Six Thinking Hats are used by individuals and groups to separate out conflicting styles of thinking. They enable and encourage a group of people to think constructively together in exploring and implementing change, rather than using argument to fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Lightning Decision Jam

Featured courtesy of Jonathan Courtney of AJ&Smart Berlin, Lightning Decision Jam is one of those strategies that should be in every facilitation toolbox. Exploring problems and finding solutions is often creative in nature, though as with any creative process, there is the potential to lose focus and get lost.

Unstructured discussions might get you there in the end, but it’s much more effective to use a method that creates a clear process and team focus.

In Lightning Decision Jam, participants are invited to begin by writing challenges, concerns, or mistakes on post-its without discussing them before then being invited by the moderator to present them to the group.

From there, the team vote on which problems to solve and are guided through steps that will allow them to reframe those problems, create solutions and then decide what to execute on. 

By deciding the problems that need to be solved as a team before moving on, this group process is great for ensuring the whole team is aligned and can take ownership over the next stages. 

Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ)   #action   #decision making   #problem solving   #issue analysis   #innovation   #design   #remote-friendly   It doesn’t matter where you work and what your job role is, if you work with other people together as a team, you will always encounter the same challenges: Unclear goals and miscommunication that cause busy work and overtime Unstructured meetings that leave attendants tired, confused and without clear outcomes. Frustration builds up because internal challenges to productivity are not addressed Sudden changes in priorities lead to a loss of focus and momentum Muddled compromise takes the place of clear decision- making, leaving everybody to come up with their own interpretation. In short, a lack of structure leads to a waste of time and effort, projects that drag on for too long and frustrated, burnt out teams. AJ&Smart has worked with some of the most innovative, productive companies in the world. What sets their teams apart from others is not better tools, bigger talent or more beautiful offices. The secret sauce to becoming a more productive, more creative and happier team is simple: Replace all open discussion or brainstorming with a structured process that leads to more ideas, clearer decisions and better outcomes. When a good process provides guardrails and a clear path to follow, it becomes easier to come up with ideas, make decisions and solve problems. This is why AJ&Smart created Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ). It’s a simple and short, but powerful group exercise that can be run either in-person, in the same room, or remotely with distributed teams.

Problem Definition Process

While problems can be complex, the problem-solving methods you use to identify and solve those problems can often be simple in design. 

By taking the time to truly identify and define a problem before asking the group to reframe the challenge as an opportunity, this method is a great way to enable change.

Begin by identifying a focus question and exploring the ways in which it manifests before splitting into five teams who will each consider the problem using a different method: escape, reversal, exaggeration, distortion or wishful. Teams develop a problem objective and create ideas in line with their method before then feeding them back to the group.

This method is great for enabling in-depth discussions while also creating space for finding creative solutions too!

Problem Definition   #problem solving   #idea generation   #creativity   #online   #remote-friendly   A problem solving technique to define a problem, challenge or opportunity and to generate ideas.

The 5 Whys 

Sometimes, a group needs to go further with their strategies and analyze the root cause at the heart of organizational issues. An RCA or root cause analysis is the process of identifying what is at the heart of business problems or recurring challenges. 

The 5 Whys is a simple and effective method of helping a group go find the root cause of any problem or challenge and conduct analysis that will deliver results. 

By beginning with the creation of a problem statement and going through five stages to refine it, The 5 Whys provides everything you need to truly discover the cause of an issue.

The 5 Whys   #hyperisland   #innovation   This simple and powerful method is useful for getting to the core of a problem or challenge. As the title suggests, the group defines a problems, then asks the question “why” five times, often using the resulting explanation as a starting point for creative problem solving.

World Cafe is a simple but powerful facilitation technique to help bigger groups to focus their energy and attention on solving complex problems.

World Cafe enables this approach by creating a relaxed atmosphere where participants are able to self-organize and explore topics relevant and important to them which are themed around a central problem-solving purpose. Create the right atmosphere by modeling your space after a cafe and after guiding the group through the method, let them take the lead!

Making problem-solving a part of your organization’s culture in the long term can be a difficult undertaking. More approachable formats like World Cafe can be especially effective in bringing people unfamiliar with workshops into the fold. 

World Cafe   #hyperisland   #innovation   #issue analysis   World Café is a simple yet powerful method, originated by Juanita Brown, for enabling meaningful conversations driven completely by participants and the topics that are relevant and important to them. Facilitators create a cafe-style space and provide simple guidelines. Participants then self-organize and explore a set of relevant topics or questions for conversation.

Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD)

One of the best approaches is to create a safe space for a group to share and discover practices and behaviors that can help them find their own solutions.

With DAD, you can help a group choose which problems they wish to solve and which approaches they will take to do so. It’s great at helping remove resistance to change and can help get buy-in at every level too!

This process of enabling frontline ownership is great in ensuring follow-through and is one of the methods you will want in your toolbox as a facilitator.

Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD)   #idea generation   #liberating structures   #action   #issue analysis   #remote-friendly   DADs make it easy for a group or community to discover practices and behaviors that enable some individuals (without access to special resources and facing the same constraints) to find better solutions than their peers to common problems. These are called positive deviant (PD) behaviors and practices. DADs make it possible for people in the group, unit, or community to discover by themselves these PD practices. DADs also create favorable conditions for stimulating participants’ creativity in spaces where they can feel safe to invent new and more effective practices. Resistance to change evaporates as participants are unleashed to choose freely which practices they will adopt or try and which problems they will tackle. DADs make it possible to achieve frontline ownership of solutions.

Design Sprint 2.0

Want to see how a team can solve big problems and move forward with prototyping and testing solutions in a few days? The Design Sprint 2.0 template from Jake Knapp, author of Sprint, is a complete agenda for a with proven results.

Developing the right agenda can involve difficult but necessary planning. Ensuring all the correct steps are followed can also be stressful or time-consuming depending on your level of experience.

Use this complete 4-day workshop template if you are finding there is no obvious solution to your challenge and want to focus your team around a specific problem that might require a shortcut to launching a minimum viable product or waiting for the organization-wide implementation of a solution.

Open space technology

Open space technology- developed by Harrison Owen – creates a space where large groups are invited to take ownership of their problem solving and lead individual sessions. Open space technology is a great format when you have a great deal of expertise and insight in the room and want to allow for different takes and approaches on a particular theme or problem you need to be solved.

Start by bringing your participants together to align around a central theme and focus their efforts. Explain the ground rules to help guide the problem-solving process and then invite members to identify any issue connecting to the central theme that they are interested in and are prepared to take responsibility for.

Once participants have decided on their approach to the core theme, they write their issue on a piece of paper, announce it to the group, pick a session time and place, and post the paper on the wall. As the wall fills up with sessions, the group is then invited to join the sessions that interest them the most and which they can contribute to, then you’re ready to begin!

Everyone joins the problem-solving group they’ve signed up to, record the discussion and if appropriate, findings can then be shared with the rest of the group afterward.

Open Space Technology   #action plan   #idea generation   #problem solving   #issue analysis   #large group   #online   #remote-friendly   Open Space is a methodology for large groups to create their agenda discerning important topics for discussion, suitable for conferences, community gatherings and whole system facilitation

Techniques to identify and analyze problems

Using a problem-solving method to help a team identify and analyze a problem can be a quick and effective addition to any workshop or meeting.

While further actions are always necessary, you can generate momentum and alignment easily, and these activities are a great place to get started.

We’ve put together this list of techniques to help you and your team with problem identification, analysis, and discussion that sets the foundation for developing effective solutions.

Let’s take a look!

Fishbone Analysis

Organizational or team challenges are rarely simple, and it’s important to remember that one problem can be an indication of something that goes deeper and may require further consideration to be solved.

Fishbone Analysis helps groups to dig deeper and understand the origins of a problem. It’s a great example of a root cause analysis method that is simple for everyone on a team to get their head around. 

Participants in this activity are asked to annotate a diagram of a fish, first adding the problem or issue to be worked on at the head of a fish before then brainstorming the root causes of the problem and adding them as bones on the fish. 

Using abstractions such as a diagram of a fish can really help a team break out of their regular thinking and develop a creative approach.

Fishbone Analysis   #problem solving   ##root cause analysis   #decision making   #online facilitation   A process to help identify and understand the origins of problems, issues or observations.

Problem Tree 

Encouraging visual thinking can be an essential part of many strategies. By simply reframing and clarifying problems, a group can move towards developing a problem solving model that works for them. 

In Problem Tree, groups are asked to first brainstorm a list of problems – these can be design problems, team problems or larger business problems – and then organize them into a hierarchy. The hierarchy could be from most important to least important or abstract to practical, though the key thing with problem solving games that involve this aspect is that your group has some way of managing and sorting all the issues that are raised.

Once you have a list of problems that need to be solved and have organized them accordingly, you’re then well-positioned for the next problem solving steps.

Problem tree   #define intentions   #create   #design   #issue analysis   A problem tree is a tool to clarify the hierarchy of problems addressed by the team within a design project; it represents high level problems or related sublevel problems.

SWOT Analysis

Chances are you’ve heard of the SWOT Analysis before. This problem-solving method focuses on identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is a tried and tested method for both individuals and teams.

Start by creating a desired end state or outcome and bare this in mind – any process solving model is made more effective by knowing what you are moving towards. Create a quadrant made up of the four categories of a SWOT analysis and ask participants to generate ideas based on each of those quadrants.

Once you have those ideas assembled in their quadrants, cluster them together based on their affinity with other ideas. These clusters are then used to facilitate group conversations and move things forward. 

SWOT analysis   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   #meeting facilitation   The SWOT Analysis is a long-standing technique of looking at what we have, with respect to the desired end state, as well as what we could improve on. It gives us an opportunity to gauge approaching opportunities and dangers, and assess the seriousness of the conditions that affect our future. When we understand those conditions, we can influence what comes next.

Agreement-Certainty Matrix

Not every problem-solving approach is right for every challenge, and deciding on the right method for the challenge at hand is a key part of being an effective team.

The Agreement Certainty matrix helps teams align on the nature of the challenges facing them. By sorting problems from simple to chaotic, your team can understand what methods are suitable for each problem and what they can do to ensure effective results. 

If you are already using Liberating Structures techniques as part of your problem-solving strategy, the Agreement-Certainty Matrix can be an invaluable addition to your process. We’ve found it particularly if you are having issues with recurring problems in your organization and want to go deeper in understanding the root cause. 

Agreement-Certainty Matrix   #issue analysis   #liberating structures   #problem solving   You can help individuals or groups avoid the frequent mistake of trying to solve a problem with methods that are not adapted to the nature of their challenge. The combination of two questions makes it possible to easily sort challenges into four categories: simple, complicated, complex , and chaotic .  A problem is simple when it can be solved reliably with practices that are easy to duplicate.  It is complicated when experts are required to devise a sophisticated solution that will yield the desired results predictably.  A problem is complex when there are several valid ways to proceed but outcomes are not predictable in detail.  Chaotic is when the context is too turbulent to identify a path forward.  A loose analogy may be used to describe these differences: simple is like following a recipe, complicated like sending a rocket to the moon, complex like raising a child, and chaotic is like the game “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”  The Liberating Structures Matching Matrix in Chapter 5 can be used as the first step to clarify the nature of a challenge and avoid the mismatches between problems and solutions that are frequently at the root of chronic, recurring problems.

Organizing and charting a team’s progress can be important in ensuring its success. SQUID (Sequential Question and Insight Diagram) is a great model that allows a team to effectively switch between giving questions and answers and develop the skills they need to stay on track throughout the process. 

Begin with two different colored sticky notes – one for questions and one for answers – and with your central topic (the head of the squid) on the board. Ask the group to first come up with a series of questions connected to their best guess of how to approach the topic. Ask the group to come up with answers to those questions, fix them to the board and connect them with a line. After some discussion, go back to question mode by responding to the generated answers or other points on the board.

It’s rewarding to see a diagram grow throughout the exercise, and a completed SQUID can provide a visual resource for future effort and as an example for other teams.

SQUID   #gamestorming   #project planning   #issue analysis   #problem solving   When exploring an information space, it’s important for a group to know where they are at any given time. By using SQUID, a group charts out the territory as they go and can navigate accordingly. SQUID stands for Sequential Question and Insight Diagram.

To continue with our nautical theme, Speed Boat is a short and sweet activity that can help a team quickly identify what employees, clients or service users might have a problem with and analyze what might be standing in the way of achieving a solution.

Methods that allow for a group to make observations, have insights and obtain those eureka moments quickly are invaluable when trying to solve complex problems.

In Speed Boat, the approach is to first consider what anchors and challenges might be holding an organization (or boat) back. Bonus points if you are able to identify any sharks in the water and develop ideas that can also deal with competitors!   

Speed Boat   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   Speedboat is a short and sweet way to identify what your employees or clients don’t like about your product/service or what’s standing in the way of a desired goal.

The Journalistic Six

Some of the most effective ways of solving problems is by encouraging teams to be more inclusive and diverse in their thinking.

Based on the six key questions journalism students are taught to answer in articles and news stories, The Journalistic Six helps create teams to see the whole picture. By using who, what, when, where, why, and how to facilitate the conversation and encourage creative thinking, your team can make sure that the problem identification and problem analysis stages of the are covered exhaustively and thoughtfully. Reporter’s notebook and dictaphone optional.

The Journalistic Six – Who What When Where Why How   #idea generation   #issue analysis   #problem solving   #online   #creative thinking   #remote-friendly   A questioning method for generating, explaining, investigating ideas.

Individual and group perspectives are incredibly important, but what happens if people are set in their minds and need a change of perspective in order to approach a problem more effectively?

Flip It is a method we love because it is both simple to understand and run, and allows groups to understand how their perspectives and biases are formed. 

Participants in Flip It are first invited to consider concerns, issues, or problems from a perspective of fear and write them on a flip chart. Then, the group is asked to consider those same issues from a perspective of hope and flip their understanding.  

No problem and solution is free from existing bias and by changing perspectives with Flip It, you can then develop a problem solving model quickly and effectively.

Flip It!   #gamestorming   #problem solving   #action   Often, a change in a problem or situation comes simply from a change in our perspectives. Flip It! is a quick game designed to show players that perspectives are made, not born.

LEGO Challenge

Now for an activity that is a little out of the (toy) box. LEGO Serious Play is a facilitation methodology that can be used to improve creative thinking and problem-solving skills. 

The LEGO Challenge includes giving each member of the team an assignment that is hidden from the rest of the group while they create a structure without speaking.

What the LEGO challenge brings to the table is a fun working example of working with stakeholders who might not be on the same page to solve problems. Also, it’s LEGO! Who doesn’t love LEGO! 

LEGO Challenge   #hyperisland   #team   A team-building activity in which groups must work together to build a structure out of LEGO, but each individual has a secret “assignment” which makes the collaborative process more challenging. It emphasizes group communication, leadership dynamics, conflict, cooperation, patience and problem solving strategy.

What, So What, Now What?

If not carefully managed, the problem identification and problem analysis stages of the problem-solving process can actually create more problems and misunderstandings.

The What, So What, Now What? problem-solving activity is designed to help collect insights and move forward while also eliminating the possibility of disagreement when it comes to identifying, clarifying, and analyzing organizational or work problems. 

Facilitation is all about bringing groups together so that might work on a shared goal and the best problem-solving strategies ensure that teams are aligned in purpose, if not initially in opinion or insight.

Throughout the three steps of this game, you give everyone on a team to reflect on a problem by asking what happened, why it is important, and what actions should then be taken. 

This can be a great activity for bringing our individual perceptions about a problem or challenge and contextualizing it in a larger group setting. This is one of the most important problem-solving skills you can bring to your organization.

W³ – What, So What, Now What?   #issue analysis   #innovation   #liberating structures   You can help groups reflect on a shared experience in a way that builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict. It is possible for every voice to be heard while simultaneously sifting for insights and shaping new direction. Progressing in stages makes this practical—from collecting facts about What Happened to making sense of these facts with So What and finally to what actions logically follow with Now What . The shared progression eliminates most of the misunderstandings that otherwise fuel disagreements about what to do. Voila!

Journalists  

Problem analysis can be one of the most important and decisive stages of all problem-solving tools. Sometimes, a team can become bogged down in the details and are unable to move forward.

Journalists is an activity that can avoid a group from getting stuck in the problem identification or problem analysis stages of the process.

In Journalists, the group is invited to draft the front page of a fictional newspaper and figure out what stories deserve to be on the cover and what headlines those stories will have. By reframing how your problems and challenges are approached, you can help a team move productively through the process and be better prepared for the steps to follow.

Journalists   #vision   #big picture   #issue analysis   #remote-friendly   This is an exercise to use when the group gets stuck in details and struggles to see the big picture. Also good for defining a vision.

Problem-solving techniques for brainstorming solutions

Now you have the context and background of the problem you are trying to solving, now comes the time to start ideating and thinking about how you’ll solve the issue.

Here, you’ll want to encourage creative, free thinking and speed. Get as many ideas out as possible and explore different perspectives so you have the raw material for the next step.

Looking at a problem from a new angle can be one of the most effective ways of creating an effective solution. TRIZ is a problem-solving tool that asks the group to consider what they must not do in order to solve a challenge.

By reversing the discussion, new topics and taboo subjects often emerge, allowing the group to think more deeply and create ideas that confront the status quo in a safe and meaningful way. If you’re working on a problem that you’ve tried to solve before, TRIZ is a great problem-solving method to help your team get unblocked.

Making Space with TRIZ   #issue analysis   #liberating structures   #issue resolution   You can clear space for innovation by helping a group let go of what it knows (but rarely admits) limits its success and by inviting creative destruction. TRIZ makes it possible to challenge sacred cows safely and encourages heretical thinking. The question “What must we stop doing to make progress on our deepest purpose?” induces seriously fun yet very courageous conversations. Since laughter often erupts, issues that are otherwise taboo get a chance to be aired and confronted. With creative destruction come opportunities for renewal as local action and innovation rush in to fill the vacuum. Whoosh!

Mindspin  

Brainstorming is part of the bread and butter of the problem-solving process and all problem-solving strategies benefit from getting ideas out and challenging a team to generate solutions quickly. 

With Mindspin, participants are encouraged not only to generate ideas but to do so under time constraints and by slamming down cards and passing them on. By doing multiple rounds, your team can begin with a free generation of possible solutions before moving on to developing those solutions and encouraging further ideation. 

This is one of our favorite problem-solving activities and can be great for keeping the energy up throughout the workshop. Remember the importance of helping people become engaged in the process – energizing problem-solving techniques like Mindspin can help ensure your team stays engaged and happy, even when the problems they’re coming together to solve are complex. 

MindSpin   #teampedia   #idea generation   #problem solving   #action   A fast and loud method to enhance brainstorming within a team. Since this activity has more than round ideas that are repetitive can be ruled out leaving more creative and innovative answers to the challenge.

The Creativity Dice

One of the most useful problem solving skills you can teach your team is of approaching challenges with creativity, flexibility, and openness. Games like The Creativity Dice allow teams to overcome the potential hurdle of too much linear thinking and approach the process with a sense of fun and speed. 

In The Creativity Dice, participants are organized around a topic and roll a dice to determine what they will work on for a period of 3 minutes at a time. They might roll a 3 and work on investigating factual information on the chosen topic. They might roll a 1 and work on identifying the specific goals, standards, or criteria for the session.

Encouraging rapid work and iteration while asking participants to be flexible are great skills to cultivate. Having a stage for idea incubation in this game is also important. Moments of pause can help ensure the ideas that are put forward are the most suitable. 

The Creativity Dice   #creativity   #problem solving   #thiagi   #issue analysis   Too much linear thinking is hazardous to creative problem solving. To be creative, you should approach the problem (or the opportunity) from different points of view. You should leave a thought hanging in mid-air and move to another. This skipping around prevents premature closure and lets your brain incubate one line of thought while you consciously pursue another.

Idea and Concept Development

Brainstorming without structure can quickly become chaotic or frustrating. In a problem-solving context, having an ideation framework to follow can help ensure your team is both creative and disciplined.

In this method, you’ll find an idea generation process that encourages your group to brainstorm effectively before developing their ideas and begin clustering them together. By using concepts such as Yes and…, more is more and postponing judgement, you can create the ideal conditions for brainstorming with ease.

Idea & Concept Development   #hyperisland   #innovation   #idea generation   Ideation and Concept Development is a process for groups to work creatively and collaboratively to generate creative ideas. It’s a general approach that can be adapted and customized to suit many different scenarios. It includes basic principles for idea generation and several steps for groups to work with. It also includes steps for idea selection and development.

Problem-solving techniques for developing and refining solutions 

The success of any problem-solving process can be measured by the solutions it produces. After you’ve defined the issue, explored existing ideas, and ideated, it’s time to develop and refine your ideas in order to bring them closer to a solution that actually solves the problem.

Use these problem-solving techniques when you want to help your team think through their ideas and refine them as part of your problem solving process.

Improved Solutions

After a team has successfully identified a problem and come up with a few solutions, it can be tempting to call the work of the problem-solving process complete. That said, the first solution is not necessarily the best, and by including a further review and reflection activity into your problem-solving model, you can ensure your group reaches the best possible result. 

One of a number of problem-solving games from Thiagi Group, Improved Solutions helps you go the extra mile and develop suggested solutions with close consideration and peer review. By supporting the discussion of several problems at once and by shifting team roles throughout, this problem-solving technique is a dynamic way of finding the best solution. 

Improved Solutions   #creativity   #thiagi   #problem solving   #action   #team   You can improve any solution by objectively reviewing its strengths and weaknesses and making suitable adjustments. In this creativity framegame, you improve the solutions to several problems. To maintain objective detachment, you deal with a different problem during each of six rounds and assume different roles (problem owner, consultant, basher, booster, enhancer, and evaluator) during each round. At the conclusion of the activity, each player ends up with two solutions to her problem.

Four Step Sketch

Creative thinking and visual ideation does not need to be confined to the opening stages of your problem-solving strategies. Exercises that include sketching and prototyping on paper can be effective at the solution finding and development stage of the process, and can be great for keeping a team engaged. 

By going from simple notes to a crazy 8s round that involves rapidly sketching 8 variations on their ideas before then producing a final solution sketch, the group is able to iterate quickly and visually. Problem-solving techniques like Four-Step Sketch are great if you have a group of different thinkers and want to change things up from a more textual or discussion-based approach.

Four-Step Sketch   #design sprint   #innovation   #idea generation   #remote-friendly   The four-step sketch is an exercise that helps people to create well-formed concepts through a structured process that includes: Review key information Start design work on paper,  Consider multiple variations , Create a detailed solution . This exercise is preceded by a set of other activities allowing the group to clarify the challenge they want to solve. See how the Four Step Sketch exercise fits into a Design Sprint

Ensuring that everyone in a group is able to contribute to a discussion is vital during any problem solving process. Not only does this ensure all bases are covered, but its then easier to get buy-in and accountability when people have been able to contribute to the process.

1-2-4-All is a tried and tested facilitation technique where participants are asked to first brainstorm on a topic on their own. Next, they discuss and share ideas in a pair before moving into a small group. Those groups are then asked to present the best idea from their discussion to the rest of the team.

This method can be used in many different contexts effectively, though I find it particularly shines in the idea development stage of the process. Giving each participant time to concretize their ideas and develop them in progressively larger groups can create a great space for both innovation and psychological safety.

1-2-4-All   #idea generation   #liberating structures   #issue analysis   With this facilitation technique you can immediately include everyone regardless of how large the group is. You can generate better ideas and more of them faster than ever before. You can tap the know-how and imagination that is distributed widely in places not known in advance. Open, generative conversation unfolds. Ideas and solutions are sifted in rapid fashion. Most importantly, participants own the ideas, so follow-up and implementation is simplified. No buy-in strategies needed! Simple and elegant!

15% Solutions

Some problems are simpler than others and with the right problem-solving activities, you can empower people to take immediate actions that can help create organizational change. 

Part of the liberating structures toolkit, 15% solutions is a problem-solving technique that focuses on finding and implementing solutions quickly. A process of iterating and making small changes quickly can help generate momentum and an appetite for solving complex problems.

Problem-solving strategies can live and die on whether people are onboard. Getting some quick wins is a great way of getting people behind the process.   

It can be extremely empowering for a team to realize that problem-solving techniques can be deployed quickly and easily and delineate between things they can positively impact and those things they cannot change. 

15% Solutions   #action   #liberating structures   #remote-friendly   You can reveal the actions, however small, that everyone can do immediately. At a minimum, these will create momentum, and that may make a BIG difference.  15% Solutions show that there is no reason to wait around, feel powerless, or fearful. They help people pick it up a level. They get individuals and the group to focus on what is within their discretion instead of what they cannot change.  With a very simple question, you can flip the conversation to what can be done and find solutions to big problems that are often distributed widely in places not known in advance. Shifting a few grains of sand may trigger a landslide and change the whole landscape.

Problem-solving techniques for making decisions and planning

After your group is happy with the possible solutions you’ve developed, now comes the time to choose which to implement. There’s more than one way to make a decision and the best option is often dependant on the needs and set-up of your group.

Sometimes, it’s the case that you’ll want to vote as a group on what is likely to be the most impactful solution. Other times, it might be down to a decision maker or major stakeholder to make the final decision. Whatever your process, here’s some techniques you can use to help you make a decision during your problem solving process.

How-Now-Wow Matrix

The problem-solving process is often creative, as complex problems usually require a change of thinking and creative response in order to find the best solutions. While it’s common for the first stages to encourage creative thinking, groups can often gravitate to familiar solutions when it comes to the end of the process. 

When selecting solutions, you don’t want to lose your creative energy! The How-Now-Wow Matrix from Gamestorming is a great problem-solving activity that enables a group to stay creative and think out of the box when it comes to selecting the right solution for a given problem.

Problem-solving techniques that encourage creative thinking and the ideation and selection of new solutions can be the most effective in organisational change. Give the How-Now-Wow Matrix a go, and not just for how pleasant it is to say out loud. 

How-Now-Wow Matrix   #gamestorming   #idea generation   #remote-friendly   When people want to develop new ideas, they most often think out of the box in the brainstorming or divergent phase. However, when it comes to convergence, people often end up picking ideas that are most familiar to them. This is called a ‘creative paradox’ or a ‘creadox’. The How-Now-Wow matrix is an idea selection tool that breaks the creadox by forcing people to weigh each idea on 2 parameters.

Impact and Effort Matrix

All problem-solving techniques hope to not only find solutions to a given problem or challenge but to find the best solution. When it comes to finding a solution, groups are invited to put on their decision-making hats and really think about how a proposed idea would work in practice. 

The Impact and Effort Matrix is one of the problem-solving techniques that fall into this camp, empowering participants to first generate ideas and then categorize them into a 2×2 matrix based on impact and effort.

Activities that invite critical thinking while remaining simple are invaluable. Use the Impact and Effort Matrix to move from ideation and towards evaluating potential solutions before then committing to them. 

Impact and Effort Matrix   #gamestorming   #decision making   #action   #remote-friendly   In this decision-making exercise, possible actions are mapped based on two factors: effort required to implement and potential impact. Categorizing ideas along these lines is a useful technique in decision making, as it obliges contributors to balance and evaluate suggested actions before committing to them.

If you’ve followed each of the problem-solving steps with your group successfully, you should move towards the end of your process with heaps of possible solutions developed with a specific problem in mind. But how do you help a group go from ideation to putting a solution into action? 

Dotmocracy – or Dot Voting -is a tried and tested method of helping a team in the problem-solving process make decisions and put actions in place with a degree of oversight and consensus. 

One of the problem-solving techniques that should be in every facilitator’s toolbox, Dot Voting is fast and effective and can help identify the most popular and best solutions and help bring a group to a decision effectively. 

Dotmocracy   #action   #decision making   #group prioritization   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   Dotmocracy is a simple method for group prioritization or decision-making. It is not an activity on its own, but a method to use in processes where prioritization or decision-making is the aim. The method supports a group to quickly see which options are most popular or relevant. The options or ideas are written on post-its and stuck up on a wall for the whole group to see. Each person votes for the options they think are the strongest, and that information is used to inform a decision.

Straddling the gap between decision making and planning, MoSCoW is a simple and effective method that allows a group team to easily prioritize a set of possible options.

Use this method in a problem solving process by collecting and summarizing all your possible solutions and then categorize them into 4 sections: “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, or “Would like but won‘t get”.

This method is particularly useful when its less about choosing one possible solution and more about prioritorizing which to do first and which may not fit in the scope of your project. In my experience, complex challenges often require multiple small fixes, and this method can be a great way to move from a pile of things you’d all like to do to a structured plan.

MoSCoW   #define intentions   #create   #design   #action   #remote-friendly   MoSCoW is a method that allows the team to prioritize the different features that they will work on. Features are then categorized into “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, or “Would like but won‘t get”. To be used at the beginning of a timeslot (for example during Sprint planning) and when planning is needed.

When it comes to managing the rollout of a solution, clarity and accountability are key factors in ensuring the success of the project. The RAACI chart is a simple but effective model for setting roles and responsibilities as part of a planning session.

Start by listing each person involved in the project and put them into the following groups in order to make it clear who is responsible for what during the rollout of your solution.

• Responsibility  (Which person and/or team will be taking action?)
• Authority  (At what “point” must the responsible person check in before going further?)
• Accountability  (Who must the responsible person check in with?)
• Consultation  (Who must be consulted by the responsible person before decisions are made?)
• Information  (Who must be informed of decisions, once made?)

Ensure this information is easily accessible and use it to inform who does what and who is looped into discussions and kept up to date.

RAACI   #roles and responsibility   #teamwork   #project management   Clarifying roles and responsibilities, levels of autonomy/latitude in decision making, and levels of engagement among diverse stakeholders.

Problem-solving warm-up activities

All facilitators know that warm-ups and icebreakers are useful for any workshop or group process. Problem-solving workshops are no different.

Use these problem-solving techniques to warm up a group and prepare them for the rest of the process. Activating your group by tapping into some of the top problem-solving skills can be one of the best ways to see great outcomes from your session.

Check-in / Check-out

Solid processes are planned from beginning to end, and the best facilitators know that setting the tone and establishing a safe, open environment can be integral to a successful problem-solving process. Check-in / Check-out is a great way to begin and/or bookend a problem-solving workshop. Checking in to a session emphasizes that everyone will be seen, heard, and expected to contribute. 

If you are running a series of meetings, setting a consistent pattern of checking in and checking out can really help your team get into a groove. We recommend this opening-closing activity for small to medium-sized groups though it can work with large groups if they’re disciplined!

Check-in / Check-out   #team   #opening   #closing   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   Either checking-in or checking-out is a simple way for a team to open or close a process, symbolically and in a collaborative way. Checking-in/out invites each member in a group to be present, seen and heard, and to express a reflection or a feeling. Checking-in emphasizes presence, focus and group commitment; checking-out emphasizes reflection and symbolic closure.

Doodling Together  

Thinking creatively and not being afraid to make suggestions are important problem-solving skills for any group or team, and warming up by encouraging these behaviors is a great way to start. 

Doodling Together is one of our favorite creative ice breaker games – it’s quick, effective, and fun and can make all following problem-solving steps easier by encouraging a group to collaborate visually. By passing cards and adding additional items as they go, the workshop group gets into a groove of co-creation and idea development that is crucial to finding solutions to problems. 

Doodling Together   #collaboration   #creativity   #teamwork   #fun   #team   #visual methods   #energiser   #icebreaker   #remote-friendly   Create wild, weird and often funny postcards together & establish a group’s creative confidence.

Show and Tell

You might remember some version of Show and Tell from being a kid in school and it’s a great problem-solving activity to kick off a session.

Asking participants to prepare a little something before a workshop by bringing an object for show and tell can help them warm up before the session has even begun! Games that include a physical object can also help encourage early engagement before moving onto more big-picture thinking.

By asking your participants to tell stories about why they chose to bring a particular item to the group, you can help teams see things from new perspectives and see both differences and similarities in the way they approach a topic. Great groundwork for approaching a problem-solving process as a team! 

Show and Tell   #gamestorming   #action   #opening   #meeting facilitation   Show and Tell taps into the power of metaphors to reveal players’ underlying assumptions and associations around a topic The aim of the game is to get a deeper understanding of stakeholders’ perspectives on anything—a new project, an organizational restructuring, a shift in the company’s vision or team dynamic.

Constellations

Who doesn’t love stars? Constellations is a great warm-up activity for any workshop as it gets people up off their feet, energized, and ready to engage in new ways with established topics. It’s also great for showing existing beliefs, biases, and patterns that can come into play as part of your session.

Using warm-up games that help build trust and connection while also allowing for non-verbal responses can be great for easing people into the problem-solving process and encouraging engagement from everyone in the group. Constellations is great in large spaces that allow for movement and is definitely a practical exercise to allow the group to see patterns that are otherwise invisible. 

Constellations   #trust   #connection   #opening   #coaching   #patterns   #system   Individuals express their response to a statement or idea by standing closer or further from a central object. Used with teams to reveal system, hidden patterns, perspectives.

Draw a Tree

Problem-solving games that help raise group awareness through a central, unifying metaphor can be effective ways to warm-up a group in any problem-solving model.

Draw a Tree is a simple warm-up activity you can use in any group and which can provide a quick jolt of energy. Start by asking your participants to draw a tree in just 45 seconds – they can choose whether it will be abstract or realistic. 

Once the timer is up, ask the group how many people included the roots of the tree and use this as a means to discuss how we can ignore important parts of any system simply because they are not visible.

All problem-solving strategies are made more effective by thinking of problems critically and by exposing things that may not normally come to light. Warm-up games like Draw a Tree are great in that they quickly demonstrate some key problem-solving skills in an accessible and effective way.

Draw a Tree   #thiagi   #opening   #perspectives   #remote-friendly   With this game you can raise awarness about being more mindful, and aware of the environment we live in.

Closing activities for a problem-solving process

Each step of the problem-solving workshop benefits from an intelligent deployment of activities, games, and techniques. Bringing your session to an effective close helps ensure that solutions are followed through on and that you also celebrate what has been achieved.

Here are some problem-solving activities you can use to effectively close a workshop or meeting and ensure the great work you’ve done can continue afterward.

One Breath Feedback

Maintaining attention and focus during the closing stages of a problem-solving workshop can be tricky and so being concise when giving feedback can be important. It’s easy to incur “death by feedback” should some team members go on for too long sharing their perspectives in a quick feedback round. 

One Breath Feedback is a great closing activity for workshops. You give everyone an opportunity to provide feedback on what they’ve done but only in the space of a single breath. This keeps feedback short and to the point and means that everyone is encouraged to provide the most important piece of feedback to them. 

One breath feedback   #closing   #feedback   #action   This is a feedback round in just one breath that excels in maintaining attention: each participants is able to speak during just one breath … for most people that’s around 20 to 25 seconds … unless of course you’ve been a deep sea diver in which case you’ll be able to do it for longer.

Who What When Matrix 

Matrices feature as part of many effective problem-solving strategies and with good reason. They are easily recognizable, simple to use, and generate results.

The Who What When Matrix is a great tool to use when closing your problem-solving session by attributing a who, what and when to the actions and solutions you have decided upon. The resulting matrix is a simple, easy-to-follow way of ensuring your team can move forward. 

Great solutions can’t be enacted without action and ownership. Your problem-solving process should include a stage for allocating tasks to individuals or teams and creating a realistic timeframe for those solutions to be implemented or checked out. Use this method to keep the solution implementation process clear and simple for all involved. 

Who/What/When Matrix   #gamestorming   #action   #project planning   With Who/What/When matrix, you can connect people with clear actions they have defined and have committed to.

Response cards

Group discussion can comprise the bulk of most problem-solving activities and by the end of the process, you might find that your team is talked out! 

Providing a means for your team to give feedback with short written notes can ensure everyone is head and can contribute without the need to stand up and talk. Depending on the needs of the group, giving an alternative can help ensure everyone can contribute to your problem-solving model in the way that makes the most sense for them.

Response Cards is a great way to close a workshop if you are looking for a gentle warm-down and want to get some swift discussion around some of the feedback that is raised. 

Response Cards   #debriefing   #closing   #structured sharing   #questions and answers   #thiagi   #action   It can be hard to involve everyone during a closing of a session. Some might stay in the background or get unheard because of louder participants. However, with the use of Response Cards, everyone will be involved in providing feedback or clarify questions at the end of a session.

Tips for effective problem solving

Problem-solving activities are only one part of the puzzle. While a great method can help unlock your team’s ability to solve problems, without a thoughtful approach and strong facilitation the solutions may not be fit for purpose.

Let’s take a look at some problem-solving tips you can apply to any process to help it be a success!

Clearly define the problem

Jumping straight to solutions can be tempting, though without first clearly articulating a problem, the solution might not be the right one. Many of the problem-solving activities below include sections where the problem is explored and clearly defined before moving on.

This is a vital part of the problem-solving process and taking the time to fully define an issue can save time and effort later. A clear definition helps identify irrelevant information and it also ensures that your team sets off on the right track.

Don’t jump to conclusions

It’s easy for groups to exhibit cognitive bias or have preconceived ideas about both problems and potential solutions. Be sure to back up any problem statements or potential solutions with facts, research, and adequate forethought.

The best techniques ask participants to be methodical and challenge preconceived notions. Make sure you give the group enough time and space to collect relevant information and consider the problem in a new way. By approaching the process with a clear, rational mindset, you’ll often find that better solutions are more forthcoming.  

Try different approaches  

Problems come in all shapes and sizes and so too should the methods you use to solve them. If you find that one approach isn’t yielding results and your team isn’t finding different solutions, try mixing it up. You’ll be surprised at how using a new creative activity can unblock your team and generate great solutions.

Don’t take it personally 

Depending on the nature of your team or organizational problems, it’s easy for conversations to get heated. While it’s good for participants to be engaged in the discussions, ensure that emotions don’t run too high and that blame isn’t thrown around while finding solutions.

You’re all in it together, and even if your team or area is seeing problems, that isn’t necessarily a disparagement of you personally. Using facilitation skills to manage group dynamics is one effective method of helping conversations be more constructive.

Get the right people in the room

Your problem-solving method is often only as effective as the group using it. Getting the right people on the job and managing the number of people present is important too!

If the group is too small, you may not get enough different perspectives to effectively solve a problem. If the group is too large, you can go round and round during the ideation stages.

Creating the right group makeup is also important in ensuring you have the necessary expertise and skillset to both identify and follow up on potential solutions. Carefully consider who to include at each stage to help ensure your problem-solving method is followed and positioned for success.

Create psychologically safe spaces for discussion

Identifying a problem accurately also requires that all members of a group are able to contribute their views in an open and safe manner.

It can be tough for people to stand up and contribute if the problems or challenges are emotive or personal in nature. Try and create a psychologically safe space for these kinds of discussions and where possible, create regular opportunities for challenges to be brought up organically.

Document everything

The best solutions can take refinement, iteration, and reflection to come out. Get into a habit of documenting your process in order to keep all the learnings from the session and to allow ideas to mature and develop. Many of the methods below involve the creation of documents or shared resources. Be sure to keep and share these so everyone can benefit from the work done!

Bring a facilitator 

Facilitation is all about making group processes easier. With a subject as potentially emotive and important as problem-solving, having an impartial third party in the form of a facilitator can make all the difference in finding great solutions and keeping the process moving. Consider bringing a facilitator to your problem-solving session to get better results and generate meaningful solutions!

Develop your problem-solving skills

It takes time and practice to be an effective problem solver. While some roles or participants might more naturally gravitate towards problem-solving, it can take development and planning to help everyone create better solutions.

You might develop a training program, run a problem-solving workshop or simply ask your team to practice using the techniques below. Check out our post on problem-solving skills to see how you and your group can develop the right mental process and be more resilient to issues too!

Design a great agenda

Workshops are a great format for solving problems. With the right approach, you can focus a group and help them find the solutions to their own problems. But designing a process can be time-consuming and finding the right activities can be difficult.

Check out our workshop planning guide to level-up your agenda design and start running more effective workshops. Need inspiration? Check out templates designed by expert facilitators to help you kickstart your process!

Save time and effort creating an effective problem solving process

A structured problem solving process is a surefire way of solving tough problems, discovering creative solutions and driving organizational change. But how can you design for successful outcomes?

With SessionLab, it’s easy to design engaging workshops that deliver results. Drag, drop and reorder blocks  to build your agenda. When you make changes or update your agenda, your session  timing   adjusts automatically , saving you time on manual adjustments.

Collaborating with stakeholders or clients? Share your agenda with a single click and collaborate in real-time. No more sending documents back and forth over email.

Explore  how to use SessionLab  to design effective problem solving workshops or  watch this five minute video  to see the planner in action!

Over to you

The problem-solving process can often be as complicated and multifaceted as the problems they are set-up to solve. With the right problem-solving techniques and a mix of exercises designed to guide discussion and generate purposeful ideas, we hope we’ve given you the tools to find the best solutions as simply and easily as possible.

Is there a problem-solving technique that you are missing here? Do you have a favorite activity or method you use when facilitating? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you! 

James Smart is Head of Content at SessionLab. He’s also a creative facilitator who has run workshops and designed courses for establishments like the National Centre for Writing, UK. He especially enjoys working with young people and empowering others in their creative practice.

thank you very much for these excellent techniques

Certainly wonderful article, very detailed. Shared!

Your list of techniques for problem solving can be helpfully extended by adding TRIZ to the list of techniques. TRIZ has 40 problem solving techniques derived from methods inventros and patent holders used to get new patents. About 10-12 are general approaches. many organization sponsor classes in TRIZ that are used to solve business problems or general organiztational problems. You can take a look at TRIZ and dwonload a free internet booklet to see if you feel it shound be included per your selection process.

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• Published: 15 September 2024

Who benefits from virtual collaboration? The interplay of team member expertness and Big Five personality traits

• Mengxiao Zhu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3596-5585 1 , 2 ,
• Chunke Su   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7841-9042 3 ,
• Jiangang Hao 4 ,
• Lei Liu 4 ,
• Patrick Kyllonen 4 &
• Alina von Davier 5  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1212 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Science, technology and society

This research applies and integrates transactive memory systems (TMS) theory and the Big Five personality traits model to investigate the performance dynamics of dyadic teams engaged in virtual collaborative problem-solving (CPS). Specifically, this study examines how the personal attributes of team members, including their expertness and Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism), as well as the resultant diversity in expertness and Big Five personality traits within teams, influence both team-level and individual-level performance gain from virtual collaboration. Studying 377 dyadic teams composed of 754 individuals working on an online collaborative intellective task, this research found that dyads with high expertness diversity had greater performance gain from virtual collaboration than dyads with low expertness diversity. Further, dyads, where both members scored low on agreeableness, showed the most significant improvement in team performance. At the individual level, a team member who had a low expertness level but was paired with a high-expertness teammate demonstrated the greatest performance gain from virtual collaboration. The integration of TMS theory and the Big Five personality traits model provides a richer and more nuanced understanding of how individual attributes and team dynamics contribute to successful virtual CPS outcomes.

Who benefits from virtual collaboration?

The interplay of team member expertness and big five personality traits.

Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) is widely recognized as a critical 21st-century skill and is essential for team success in today’s workplace (Fiore et al., 2017 ). CPS teams can collaborate in person (Xu et al., 2023 ), virtually (Yang et al., 2022 ), or in hybrid formats (Pramila-Savukoski et al., 2023 ). Notably, the prominence of virtual and hybrid CPS modes has surged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (Karl et al., 2022 ). Compared to face-to-face communication and collaboration, virtual CPS generally entails decreased levels of information richness (Aritz et al., 2018 ) and social presence (Fonner and Roloff, 2012 ), which may affect how knowledge can be accurately recognized (Su, 2012 ), effectively coordinated (Kanawattanachai and Yoo, 2007 ), and efficiently retrieved (Yuan, Carboni, et al., 2010 ) within the team. Although there has been a growing research emphasis on virtual collaboration and team dynamics, much of the focus has been on virtual communication processes such as verbal communication patterns (O’Bryan et al., 2022 ), nonverbal exchange of expertise cues (Yoon and Hollingshead, 2010 ), task-oriented communication and knowledge coordination (Kanawattanachai and Yoo, 2007 ), and modes of computer-mediated communication (Tang et al., 2014 ). Therefore, there remains a pressing need for further investigation into how personal attributes and the resultant diversity of these attributes impact virtual collaboration outcomes in CPS teams.

A personal attribute pivotal to CPS outcomes is individual expertise, which refers to the type and level of knowledge a person possesses (Di Gangi et al., 2012 ). In order to achieve optimal CPS outcomes, today’s work teams are typically assembled to include individual members who possess different types of expertise across multiple knowledge domains (conceptualized as expertise diversity ) and who hold different levels of expertise within the same knowledge domain (conceptualized as expertness diversity ) (Lee et al., 2022 ; Martins et al., 2013 ; Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ). While the effects of expertise diversity (i.e., inter-domain expertise difference) on team performance are well-documented (Lee et al., 2022 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ), especially through the lens of Transactive Memory Systems (TMS) theory (Lewis and Herndon, 2011 ; Wegner, 1986 , 1995 ), the impact of expertness diversity (i.e., intra-domain expertise difference) on team performance remains largely understudied.

In a comprehensive review of 64 TMS-related empirical studies, Yan et al .( 2021 ) asserted that existing research on TMS overly emphasizes expertise-related factors while neglecting other individual attributes that also play a critical role in affecting TMS development and team collaboration. Among these attributes, individuals’ personality traits stand out as crucial factors that significantly influence team performance and collaboration outcomes (Stadler et al., 2019 ; Zhong et al., 2019 ). Despite extensive research on personality traits across various contexts (see Huang et al., 2014 ), little attention has been given to investigating their impact on team performance through the operation of TMS development (Pearsall and Ellis, 2006 ). To address this gap, this study proposes an integrated theoretical framework that leverages both TMS theory and the Big Five personality traits model to explore the performance dynamics of virtual CPS teams. Specifically, the goal of this research is to conceptually analyze and empirically test how team members’ expertness and Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism), as well as the resultant diversity in expertness and Big Five personality traits within teams, could influence CPS performance changes through their impact on TMS mechanisms. The integration of TMS theory and the Big Five personality traits model provides a richer and more nuanced understanding of how individual attributes and team dynamics contribute to successful virtual CPS outcomes.

Theories and research questions

Transactive memory systems (tms) theory.

Transactive memory systems theory originated to examine the processes and effects of expertise recognition and knowledge coordination in dyads and small groups (Wegner, 1986 , 1995 ). A transactive memory system (TMS) is developed through team members’ perceptions of others’ credibility (who is a trustworthy source of expertise), each member’s knowledge specialization (who is an expert in what knowledge domains), and knowledge coordination within the team (with whom to process and exchange knowledge) (Lewis and Herndon, 2011 ). In essence, a TMS is composed of the distributed knowledge possessed by each individual member and a shared understanding of “who knows what” in the team (Yan et al., 2021 ).

A TMS can develop into two different types of structures: differentiated and integrated (Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ; Wegner, 1986 ). When a team TMS is highly differentiated, individual members hold specialized expertise in different knowledge domains (Wegner, 1986 ). In other words, knowledge in a particular domain is possessed by only one or very few individuals rather than being widely distributed among all team members (Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ; Wegner, 1986 ). This allows team members to focus on their areas of expertise, reducing their workload and avoiding expertise overlap within the team (Hollingshead, 2000 ). While each member focuses on one’s expertise domains, the team collectively gains access to a broader range of expertise, leading to improved team performance (Liang et al., 1995 ; Moreland and Myaskovsky, 2000 ).

An integrated TMS, in contrast, forms “when the same items of information are held in different individual memory stores, and the individuals are aware of the overlap because they share label and location information as well” (Wegner, 1986 , p. 204). This means in a team with an integrated TMS structure, team members possess expertise in the same knowledge domains and information is broadly distributed among team members (Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ; Wegner, 1986 ). While the integrated TMS structure leads to overlapped knowledge within the team, it can be beneficial to those teams in which each individual member is required to carry out every function of the job activity without relying on teammates’ expertise (Wegner, 1986 ) and those teams aiming to solve intellective problems with clear, uncontroversial answers or solutions (Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ).

Existing TMS research has delved into the mechanisms that foster the development of differentiated and integrated TMS structures, respectively. Hollingshead ( 2001 ) found that a TMS became most differentiated when individuals had incentives to remember different information and most integrated when individuals had incentives to remember the same information. A later study showed that teams with mixed-gender friendships were more likely to develop a differentiated TMS, while teams with strong feelings of closeness tended to create an integrated TMS (Iannone et al., 2017 ). Further, it was found that teams with role-specific preparation developed more differentiated TMS, which led to better performance compared to teams whose members received cross-role preparation (Linton et al., 2018 ).

An abundance of TMS scholarship has also shed light on how differentiated and integrated TMS structures affect team performance in various contexts. While both differentiated and integrated TMS structures yield similar results on memory-based tasks (e.g., recall tasks), an integrated TMS leads to faster and more accurate performance on intellective tasks (e.g., tasks requiring critical thinking and reasoning) compared to a differentiated TMS (Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ). In addition, an integrated TMS fosters collaboration and mutual support among team members, while a differentiated TMS provides a clear division of responsibilities (Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ). Additionally, Gupta ( 2012 ) found that team members in an integrated TMS tended to cover work tasks for the noncontributors, whereas those in a differentiated TMS were likely to facilitate other team members in performing their jobs. Moreover, a differentiated TMS was found to exacerbate the negative effects of polychronicity diversity (wherein some team members prefer single-tasking while others prefer multitasking) on team performance (Mohammed and Nadkarni, 2014 ). Lastly, a differentiated TMS enhances centralized information seeking when specialized expertise is needed, but an integrated TMS promotes team cohesion and social interactions within the team (Yan et al., 2021 ).

Expertise vs. expertness diversity

The classification of differentiated and integrated TMS structures in TMS scholarship has provided a theoretical foundation for the conceptualization of two forms of task-related cognitive diversity in team research: expertise and expertness diversity (Martins et al., 2013 ; Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ). While expertise diversity refers to the variation of individuals’ expertise in different knowledge domains (i.e., inter-domain expertise difference), expertness diversity represents team members’ differences in the level of expertise within the same knowledge domain (i.e., intra-domain expertise difference) (Lee et al., 2022 ; Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ). Both expertise and expertness diversity are common and desirable for teamwork because today’s work teams need the breadth of knowledge to handle wide-ranging tasks and the depth of expertise to tackle complex problems effectively. For example, a website development team may be composed of members who are specialized in different web-design knowledge domains such as front-end HTML and CSS coding, graphic design, search engine optimization, and server-side scripting skills, which reflect the expertise diversity within the team. Meanwhile, within the specific domain of graphic design, there may exist some degrees of expertness diversity such that one member is a very skillful and experienced graphic designer whereas another member may only have entry-level knowledge about graphic design.

Both expertise and expertness diversity are closely related to the development of differentiated and integrated TMS structures (Lewis, 2003 ). On the one hand, without the distribution of expertise across multiple knowledge domains (i.e., expertise diversity), the differentiated TMS structure would not have become feasible and sustainable within the team (Littlepage and Mueller, 1997 ). On the other hand, expertness diversity reflects how an integrated TMS structure can function within a particular knowledge domain (Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ). Consider a team with a well-developed integrated TMS structure; while team members possess similar expertise in shared knowledge domains, it is unlikely for all team members to have exactly the same level of expertise in one knowledge domain. Thus, expertness diversity delineates how team members differ in their level of expertness in a single knowledge domain within the context of an integrated TMS structure (Martins et al., 2013 ). This perspective offers deeper insights into how an integrated TMS structure can manifest at the domain level, supplementing and extending traditional TMS research that primarily focuses on cross-domain knowledge distribution (Lewis and Herndon, 2011 ).

Prior research suggests that expertise and expertness diversity may influence team performance through different mechanisms (Martins et al., 2013 ; Mathieu et al., 2008 ). While expertise diversity can foster team learning by exposing members to new knowledge and perspectives, expertness diversity may stimulate individual learning when less experienced members seek guidance from more skilled teammates (Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ). However, it is worth noting that high-expertness members may not always be willing and committed to helping low-expertness members (Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ). The influence of these factors can be further affected by team dynamics. For example, when team members’ psychological safety was low, expertise diversity could hinder team performance, while expertness diversity could improve team performance (Martins et al., 2013 ). Further, team members’ expertness diversity could moderate the relationship between expertise diversity and team performance such that the positive effect of expertise diversity on team performance diminished when team members’ expertness diversity was high (Zheng et al., 2016 ).

Despite a considerable body of research that has documented the effects of expertise diversity on team performance (e.g., Lee et al., 2022 ; Shi and Weber, 2018 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ), the exploration of expertness diversity’s impact on team performance, particularly virtual CPS outcomes, has been extremely limited. Therefore, a primary goal of this study is to address such a research gap by examining how team members’ expertness level, as well as the expertness diversity within the team, could affect their performance in virtual CPS settings. To this end, we will begin by elucidating the key characteristics of virtual CPS and examining their potential impact on the development and operation of TMS within virtual CPS teams. Subsequently, we will explore how the expertness diversity within the team may affect TMS dynamics and ultimately influence virtual CPS outcomes.

Virtual collaborative problem-solving

Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) is the process of two or more individuals working together to understand, analyze, and resolve problems, typically through interpersonal communication, cooperation, and collective decision-making (Xu et al., 2023 ). CPS entails two critical dimensions: collaboration and problem-solving (Fiore et al., 2017 ). Collaboration encompasses the communicative, social, and interactive elements of CPS, while problem-solving pertains to the task-oriented, cognitive reasoning, intellective, and decision-making aspects of CPS (Fiore et al., 2017 ). These two dimensions necessitate the application of TMS theory to better understand the processes and outcomes of CPS because the success of CPS is, by and large, influenced by effective responsibility allocation, expertise recognition, knowledge retrieval, and information coordination, all of which are fundamental mechanisms of TMS development (Austin, 2003 ).

Previous research on CPS and TMS has studied a wide array of CPS teams, investigating how factors like team size, task characteristics, participant backgrounds, and communication modalities impact TMS development and team performance. Many of these studies, particularly early TMS research, focused on dyadic teams (i.e., teams composed of two members only). It was found that in dyadic teams aiming to complete memory recall tasks, intimate relationships and access to nonverbal or paralinguistic cues supported TMS development and improved team performance (Hollingshead, 1998a , 1998b ). Moreover, in dyadic teams engaged in collaborative quiz questions regarding job-related knowledge, team performance improved when team members had highly diverse expertise levels and allocated more work to the higher-expertness member (Littlepage et al., 2008 ). In educational settings where students collaborated on team projects, knowledge-based learning, and social communication facilitated TMS development and enhanced team performance (Jackson and Moreland, 2009 ; Zhang et al., 2016 ). For more formal, non-ad hoc teams such as those in project development for new products (Akgün et al., 2005 ) or information systems (Hsu et al., 2012 ), frequent formal team communication emerged as a crucial factor for TMS development and team success. The nature of CPS tasks also plays a significant role, as research has shown that for exploratory tasks (i.e., searching for new knowledge to resolve problems), informal and face-to-face communication positively correlates with TMS development, while tasks driven by exploitation (i.e., using existing knowledge for problem-solving) benefit from formal and computer-mediated communication (Tang et al., 2014 ).

Given the ubiquitous implementation of remote and online collaborative work escalated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Maurer et al., 2022 ), this study focuses on the context of virtual CPS. Virtual CPS involves two or more geographically dispersed individuals working together to solve problems by using ICTs (information and communication technologies) (Jiang et al., 2023 ; Xu et al., 2023 ). Virtual CPS teams commonly utilize online tools such as video conferencing platforms (Karl et al., 2022 ), collaborative document editing software (Breuer et al., 2016 ), and project management platforms (Soboleva et al., 2021 ) to facilitate their communication, collaboration, and coordination. Team members can be situated anywhere locally and globally, and the affordances of virtual technologies can facilitate their boundary management by overcoming temporal and geographical constraints (Navick and Gibbs, 2023 ; Sivunen et al., 2023 ). While virtual CPS often adheres to a structured problem-solving framework, its execution allows for flexibility, allowing asynchronous participation and adapting to different work styles and time zones (Yang et al., 2022 ).

The virtual CPS’ unique characteristics can create challenges that hinder the positive effects of TMS development and expertness diversity on team performance for the following reasons. First, due to the absence or decreased levels of information richness (Aritz et al., 2018 ) and social presence (Fonner and Roloff, 2012 ) in virtual CPS, communication and coordination may be more difficult and time-consuming between high-expertness and low-expertness members, especially when they need to transfer complex knowledge to tackle equivocal problems. Second, when team members lack face-to-face interactions, there may be limited social opportunities for them to observe and process communication cues that are essential in shaping accurate assessments of other members’ expertness level (Su, 2012 ) and fostering efficient knowledge retrieval from the high-expertness members (Yuan, Carboni, et al., 2010 ). Thirdly, in large virtual teams characterized by expertness diversity, there is an elevated risk of social loafing (Price et al., 2006 ), wherein certain members withhold their contribution by freeriding other members’ contributions, resulting in further reluctance among high-expertness members to assist their less knowledgeable counterparts (Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ), consequently impeding overall team performance.

Despite these challenges, existing research suggests that TMS can be developed within virtual teams (Kanawattanachai and Yoo, 2002 ), which bolsters the potential for expertness diversity to enhance team performance in virtual CPS settings. While virtuality may complicate the accurate identification of team members’ expertise, past research found that leveraging digital knowledge repositories within work teams can mitigate the negative impact of virtual work on accurate perception of team members’ expertness levels (Su, 2012 ). Furthermore, research indicates that in geographically dispersed virtual teams, the use of ICTs facilitates knowledge exchange between team members with varying levels of expertness, promoting learning and growth within the team (Shi and Weber, 2018 ). Additionally, various features available on virtual collaboration platforms have been found to positively influence multiple dimensions of TMS development (Yoon and Zhu, 2022 ). Notably, the virtual technologies’ visibility and searchability functions can enhance TMS accuracy, while the awareness and pervasiveness features promote TMS sharedness, and the editability and self-presentation capabilities contribute to TMS validation (Yoon and Zhu, 2022 ). These findings resonate with social information processing theory (Walther, 1992 , 2011 ), which asserts that in virtual communication settings, individuals have the motivation and capabilities in compensating for the absence of nonverbal cues by harnessing remaining information cues (e.g., texts, emojis, punctuation, and timing of responses) to help them better process and interpret information messages. In addition, these studies support the theory of communication visibility (Treem et al., 2020 , 2024 ), which suggests the affordance of digital communication tools can enhance the visibility of team member communication and interaction, thereby promoting knowledge sharing and coordination within the team.

Drawing upon these research findings, this study posits that virtual CPS teams with varying degrees of expertness diversity might experience different performance outcomes. In teams characterized by high expertness diversity (i.e., comprising both high-expertness and low-expertness members), a reciprocal learning dynamic may occur. On the one hand, high-expertness members can validate and refine their existing expertise through coaching and clarifying knowledge to low-expertness members. On the other hand, low-expertness members can learn and acquire knowledge from high-expertness members, fostering their intellectual growth and problem-solving skills. The knowledge transfer and exchange between high- and low-expertness members not only mitigates the risks of groupthink (Janis, 1971 ; McCauley, 1998 ), where uniformity of knowledge stifles innovation and critical inquiry but also enhances the entire team’s problem-solving capabilities. Further, while the affordances of virtual technologies can make high-expertness members’ knowledge more visible and accessible (Treem et al., 2020 ), the transfer of deeply embedded or complex knowledge (Haas and Hansen, 2007 ) from high-expertness members to low-expertness members may be time-consuming and ineffective. Additionally, the absence of face-to-face communication may exacerbate the difficulty of managing conflicting viewpoints stemming from expertness diversity. These challenges may ultimately hinder overall team performance in virtual CPS settings.

Virtual CPS teams with low expertness diversity can embody two possible team compositions: homogeneous high-expertness and homogeneous low-expertness. In teams comprised of homogeneous high-expertness members, experts can utilize their collective knowledge to identify and resolve problems efficiently. However, the uniformity of expertness can create a culture of overconfidence, which might blind these experts to potential errors. Such culture may also exacerbate confirmation bias (Tschan et al., 2009 ), leading team members to favor information that confirms existing beliefs and hindering knowledge sharing within the team. Moreover, in virtual CPS teams where social interactions and rapport-building opportunities are limited, high-expertness members may be more likely to engage in competitive and ego-centric behaviors such as knowledge hiding (Connelly et al., 2019 ), ultimately undermining the team’s overall performance.

Teams composed solely of low-expertness members face significant challenges with complex problem-solving and decision-making due to their limited knowledge base. The absence of high-expertness members within the team can result in prolonged searches for optimal solutions that may require higher levels of expertness. In addition, low-expertness members may face protracted debates over the validity and merits of existing ideas, as they lack sufficient levels of expertness to make informed judgment calls. However, these teams often exhibit openness to novel ideas and a strong desire to acquire new knowledge, making them more adaptable and resilient in dynamic environments where conventional expertise may prove inadequate to address ever-changing problems. Further, while virtual collaboration platforms offer opportunities to tap into external expertise to compensate for internal deficiencies, the lack of face-to-face communication in virtual CPS environments can make it more difficult to build trust (Choi and Cho, 2019 ), which is essential for collective learning and error correction among low-expertness members.

Therefore, considering the potential positive and negative effects of varying degrees of expertness diversity on team performance in virtual CPS, this study proposes the following research question:

RQ1 : At the team level, how is the team’s performance gain from virtual collaboration influenced by the team’s expertness diversity?

While prior TMS and cognitive diversity research has primarily focused on team-level performance outcomes, it is evident that each individual team member performs and benefits from CPS differently (Lee et al., 2022 ). Specifically, an individual member’s performance gain from virtual collaboration may depend on not only this member’s own expertness level but also the expertness level of the teammates. In a virtual CPS setting, pairing teammates with varying degrees of expertness may influence individual performance through two key mechanisms of TMS development: knowledge storage and information retrieval. First, individuals with higher expertise in a specific domain can contribute deeper and more accurate knowledge to the TMS in that area, enabling the establishment of a high-quality knowledge repository to be utilized by the low-expertness members. However, in face-to-face settings, these experts may face challenges managing overwhelming knowledge requests from low-expertness members, leading to stress and distractions that hinder their productivity (Su et al., 2010 ). Conversely, in virtual CPS settings, high-expertness members can leverage knowledge management systems such as cloud storage and databases to disseminate their expertise efficiently, thereby saving time on direct communication with low-expertness members and enhancing their productivity (Yuan et al., 2007 ).

Second, when it comes to information retrieval, virtual CPS presents both opportunities and challenges for low-expertness members. On the one hand, virtual collaboration platforms offer specialized repositories and designated channels for low-expertness members to retrieve knowledge from experts without being constrained by geographical or temporal barriers (Di Gangi et al., 2012 ). Enhanced search functionalities and clear metadata tags streamline the process for lower-expertness members to identify expertise locations and access knowledge efficiently. On the other hand, low-expertness members may encounter difficulties in obtaining timely feedback and clarification from high-expertness members, particularly when retrieving and applying complex knowledge for problem-solving (Haas and Hansen, 2007 ). Moreover, excessive reliance on virtual communication tools for information retrieval can induce fatigue and stress (Luebstorf et al., 2023 ), potentially impeding the productivity and efficiency of low-expertness members.

Therefore, an individual’s expertness level, together with the expertness level of the teammate, is expected to intricately impact one’s performance outcomes in CPS settings. Given the limited research on the impact of these dynamic environments on individual performance in virtual CPS, this research proposes the following research question:

RQ2 : At the individual level, how is a team member’s performance gain from virtual collaboration influenced by one’s own expertness level and that of the teammate?

Big five personality traits

While the above research questions delve into how team members’ expertness levels, as well as their expertness diversity, could affect virtual CPS performance through the operation of TMS, other personal attributes, such as personality traits, can also influence TMS development and consequently lead to different team collaboration outcomes (Pearsall and Ellis, 2006 ). However, the scholarship on the relationship between personality traits and TMS development is extremely scarce. Thus, it is unclear how team members’ personality traits, as well as their personality traits diversity, could influence their virtual CPS performance from the TMS perspective. Therefore, to further enrich the theoretical framework, this study integrates the investigation into how each of the Big Five personality traits, a well-established personality traits model, can affect individual and team CPS performance through their effects on TMS development in virtual settings.

The Big Five personality traits model (Goldberg, 1990 ; McCrae and Costa, 2008 ) provides a multidimensional theoretical framework and assessment instrument to characterize individual personality traits into five categories: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (i.e., the lack of emotional stability). The first trait, openness to experience , reflects an individual’s tendency to be curious, imaginative, and open to new ideas and experiences (Judge et al., 2002 ). Previous research found that individuals high in openness to experience were more likely to learn and explore diverse information sources and engage in knowledge sharing (Yin et al., 2023 ). Thus, in teams whose members share the openness trait, TMS may be developed more quickly and effectively. Further, openness to experience may enhance an individual’s adaptability in virtual environments, because individuals high in this trait readily embrace new collaboration tools and processes, navigating the inherent ambiguity and uncertainty with greater comfort in unfamiliar settings (Huang et al., 2014 ). These factors collectively contribute to a potential positive impact of the openness personality trait on virtual CPS performance by promoting intra-team knowledge sharing and learning, as well as team members’ ability to explore uncharted territories and tackle challenging tasks. However, a team with diverse openness levels, where some members are highly open and others less so, can also encounter challenges. As individuals with lower openness may be less inclined to explore new information or collaborate closely on innovative tasks (McCrae and Costa, 2008 ), teams with greater diversity in openness levels may face hurdles in virtual collaboration compared to teams where members are uniformly high in openness.

The conscientiousness trait represents a person’s level of organization, self-discipline, and reliability. Individuals high in conscientiousness tend to be detail-oriented, dependable, and meticulous in task performance (Sackett and Walmsley, 2014 ). Previous studies found that highly conscientious individuals were effective learners, which helped them develop a higher level of expertise (Poropat, 2009 ). From a TMS perspective, highly conscientious team members excel at organizing and storing information, making it easier for others to retrieve and utilize such information for task completion. They also contribute to establishing clear communication and documentation practices that facilitate team members’ expertise recognition and directory updating, two crucial components of TMS development (Yuan, Fulk et al., 2010 ). Further, in a virtual collaboration setting, the conscientiousness trait may be instrumental in creating precise structures for information sharing and knowledge retrieval through technology-mediated platforms, boosting the effectiveness of virtual TMS development. Conscientiousness may also urge an individual member to meet deadlines and follow through on tasks in a virtual setting where direct supervision may be less present. However, overly conscientious individuals may become fixated on flawless execution, hindering collaboration and innovation (Robert and Cheung, 2010 ). Research also suggests that team performance may be impeded in teams of highly diverse conscientiousness because highly conscientious members may be frustrated and irritated by working with those with lower conscientiousness (Shoss et al., 2015 ).

The next dimension, extraversion , maybe the most researched personality trait among all Big Five personality traits. This trait reflects a person’s level of sociability, talkativeness, and assertiveness. Extraverted individuals are more likely to ask questions, share information, and initiate conversations (Wilmot et al., 2019 ), fostering knowledge exchange that is crucial for TMS development. Indeed, it was found that extraversion had the greatest impact on knowledge sharing among all Big Five personality traits (Yin et al., 2023 ). Previous research has also revealed that critical team members’ assertiveness, a subdimension of the extraversion trait, facilitated TMS development and consequently improved team performance because assertive members could effectively stimulate the development of specialization, credibility, and coordination within the team (Pearsall and Ellis, 2006 ). However, overly extroverted team members may dominate discussions, hindering contributions from introverted colleagues (McCord et al., 2014 ). Further, extraverts may find it more challenging to build rapport and maintain engagement in a virtual environment where nonverbal cues are limited. In sum, when completing tasks that require frequent and extensive interpersonal interactions, such as CPS, teams composed of mostly extraverts are likely to excel (Sackett and Walmsley, 2014 ). However, the advantages of extraversion may be less pronounced in teams with highly diverse extraversion levels or those composed mainly of introverts (Wilmot et al., 2019 ).

The agreeableness trait signals an individual’s tendency to be cooperative, trusting, and helpful (Judge et al., 2002 ). Highly agreeable individuals are inclined to foster collaboration, maintain positive dynamics, and promote trust (Huang et al., 2014 ), all of which facilitate TMS development within the team. Specifically, agreeable members embrace group harmony and readily share information and expertise, creating a foundation for TMS development. Their cooperative nature and conflict-resolution skills contribute to open communication, essential for the effective operation of TMS (Neff et al., 2014 ). Further, agreeableness fosters trust, lowering the barriers to seeking and retrieving information from others within the team’s knowledge base. However, agreeableness can also present challenges. For example, overly agreeable individuals may prioritize maintaining positive relationships over task completion (Fang et al., 2015 ), which may impede the team’s ability to tackle urgent issues in a timely manner. They are more likely to shy away from difficult conversations that are sometimes crucial for finding solutions to complex problems. This limitation may be particularly salient in virtual CPS as nonverbal cues and immediate reactions are diminished, making it even harder to gauge teammates’ sentiments and even longer to achieve team cohesion. Similar to the conscientiousness trait, teams with high agreeableness diversity might experience decreased productivity. Highly agreeable members may find it challenging to navigate interactions with less agreeable teammates, potentially leading to greater agitation and more struggles.

Neuroticism , the last Big Five personality trait, indicates an individual’s susceptibility to negative emotions like anxiety, fear, and sadness. Individuals high in neuroticism are more prone to communication difficulties, as anxiety and negativity can hinder clear and effective communication, impacting team collaboration (Silvester et al., 2014 ). A tendency towards negativity can make it challenging to build trust, a crucial foundation for information sharing within a team. Further, fear of judgment or criticism might lead them to withhold valuable knowledge (Hernaus et al., 2019 ), hindering the development of TMS. The negative impact of neuroticism on TMS development and team performance may be amplified in virtual environments. The physical disconnection and limited social cues inherent in virtual work can exacerbate anxiety for those high in neuroticism (Huang et al., 2014 ). In addition, the absence of nonverbal cues can increase the risk of misinterpretations and misunderstandings, further straining communication. Finally, managing stress effectively can be harder in a virtual setting, potentially leading to decreased performance for highly neurotic individuals (Judge et al., 2002 ).

In sum, the diversity of Big Five personality traits within a team may exert potential positive and negative impacts on TMS development, thereby affecting overall team performance. In addition, an individual’s personality traits, together with the personality traits of the paired teammate, are expected to influence one’s performance outcomes in CPS settings. These dynamics are further complicated by virtual CPS as the virtual environment may hinder the full expression and perception of personality traits during communication and collaboration processes. Considering this interplay between individual personality traits and team personality diversity, this study proposes the following research questions:

RQ3 : At the team level, how is the team’s performance gain from virtual collaboration influenced by the team’s Big Five personality traits diversity?

RQ4 : At the individual level, how is a team member’s performance gain from virtual collaboration influenced by one’s own Big Five personality traits and those of the teammate?

Participants and procedures

To address these questions, this research conducted an experimental study of 377 ad hoc dyadic teams. We chose to focus on dyads instead of larger teams (i.e., teams comprised of 3 or more members) because a dyad represents the smallest team size suitable for studying expertise recognition (Littlepage and Silbiger, 1992 ), knowledge coordination (Littlepage and Silbiger, 1992 ), CPS (Xu et al., 2023 ), and TMS development (Wegner, 1986 ). Dyadic teams facilitate more focused and intimate interactions between two members, making communication dynamics easier to observe and analyze within a shorter timeframe. In contrast, larger teams introduce greater complexity with increased interpersonal dynamics, varied communication patterns, and potential role overlaps. Studying dyads allows researchers to isolate and examine specific collaboration aspects effectively, without the complexities of larger teams (Hollingshead and Poole, 2011 ). Insights gained from studying dyads can then inform understanding of collaboration mechanisms in more complex settings such as multi-person teams and organizations (Wegner et al., 1985 ).

Participants to form the dyadic teams were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. One thousand individuals were originally invited to participate in this study. Each participant was asked to complete a general science knowledge test, the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) survey, and a short survey on the participant’s basic demographic background. Then, the participants were randomly divided into 500 dyadic teams to complete an online simulation-based collaborative task. After removing those teams and individuals with incomplete responses to the general science knowledge test, personality survey, or the online collaborative task, we obtained a final dataset of 377 dyadic teams consisting of 754 individuals. Each of these individuals participated in one and only one team. Among them, 366 (49%) identified themselves as male, and the rest 388 (51%) identified themselves as female. The majority (77%) of the participants were white, 8% were black, 7% were Hispanic, 6% were Asian, and the rest 2% were American Indian or Pacific Islander. Regarding the language background, 98% of the participants were native English speakers, and 2% were non-native English speakers. The self-reported age of the participants ranged from 18 to 68, with 70% between 18 and 35, 29% between 35 and 60, and 1% older than 60. All participants indicated that they had at least 2 years of college education per our recruitment requirement.

The virtual CPS task assigned to each team involved an online simulation-based task in the domain of general science (a sample screenshot is shown in Fig. 1 ). Similar to the study by Littlepage et al. ( 2008 ), this research designed a eureka-type intellective task, where dyadic teams were instructed to provide uncontroversial, correct answers to thought-provoking questions. However, unlike previous studies, this task was conducted entirely virtually in our study. In this simulation, virtual collaboration between dyadic team members was exclusively conducted through online synchronous text chat. Team members chatted with each other to complete a general science knowledge quiz focused on volcanoes, answering a series of seven questions. This method of online, text-based collaboration has been utilized in prior research involving simulated problem-solving (Kanawattanachai and Yoo, 2007 ). Compared to communication modes with greater media richness and social presence, such as videoconferencing, text-based communication can reduce the pressure and distractions stemming from social and non-verbal cues, enabling participants to concentrate more on task-related content and discussions (Oviedo and Fox Tree, 2021 ). Moreover, text chat provides a detailed record of conversations, allowing teams to easily revisit prior discussions, track decisions and actions, and monitor progress. This enhances accountability and facilitates knowledge sharing within the team. Additionally, text-based communication requires less bandwidth and technical expertise compared to videoconferencing, making it more accessible and easier to implement for research purposes, especially in laboratory settings (Hollingshead and Poole, 2011 ). Instead of using pre-existing teams, this study recruited participants, who may be strangers to each other, to form ad hoc teams for the CPS task, which is a common practice, especially in experiments and assessments on CPS skills (Xu et al., 2023 ). In our task, participants were assigned screen names for the collaborative task and were not encouraged to disclose their real identities to each other. Randomly assembled teams minimize the effects of potential confounding factors and the impacts of differences in previous collaboration experiences on the new task.

Screenshot of virtual CPS task.

Individual expertness

Before beginning the CPS task, each team member underwent a preliminary knowledge assessment by completing a general science knowledge test comprising a composite inventory of 37 multiple-choice questions. These questions were adapted from the Scientific Literacy Measurement (SLiM) instrument (Hao et al., 2017 ). This method of using a composite inventory to measure team members’ expertness level is a similar approach to how domain-specific expertise was measured in past research (Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ). Each team member’s test score in this test indicates the level of expertness of this member in the general domain of science. All participants’ test scores ranged from 0 to 36 (mean = 27.40 and median = 29). The reliability of this test measured by Cronbach α was 0.89, which indicated an acceptable level of internal consistency among all question items. The distribution of all participants’ expertness levels, measured by their general science knowledge test scores, is shown in Fig. 2 .

Distribution of individual expertness levels (general science knowledge test scores) ( N  = 754).

To classify a team member’s expertness level, we divided each participant’s general science knowledge test score into two categories: High-expertness (H) and Low-expertness (L), based on the median value of all participants’ scores. If a team member’s test score exceeded the sample median of 29, s/he was classified as High-expertness (H); if a team member’s test score equaled or fell below 29, s/he was classified as Low-expertness (L). This dichotomization process resulted in 446 individuals labeled as L and 308 individuals labeled as H in terms of their expertness levels within the general domain of science. Next, for each individual embedded in a dyadic team, s/he can be assigned into one of four possible categories in reference to her/his teammate’s expertness levels: H collaborating with H (labeled as HwH), H collaborating with L (labeled as HwL), L collaborating with H (LwH), and L collaborating with L (labeled as LwL).

Expertness diversity

Previous research has measured expertness diversity by computing the standard deviation (Martins et al., 2013 ) or variation (Lee et al., 2022 ) of participants’ expertness scores in a given knowledge domain. However, we contend that this approach might only capture the absolute degree of expertness diversity while overlooking the nuanced distinction between two possible scenarios in teams exhibiting low degrees of expertness diversity: where all team members possess either high or low levels of expertness. Therefore, we decided to treat expertness diversity as a categorical variable rather than a continuous variable. In this way, we are able to discern whether teams with low expertness diversity consist of members with predominantly high or low expertness levels.

In our study, when a dyadic team was composed of a member with H level of expertness and a member with L level of expertness, this team was coded to have a high degree of expertness diversity. When a team consisted of two members who both had H levels of expertness or L levels of expertness, this team was coded to have a low degree of expertness diversity. Among the 377 teams, 134 teams had low degrees of expertness diversity with both members being low-expertness (labeled as LL), 65 teams had low degrees of expertness diversity with both members being high-expertness (labeled as HH), and 178 teams had high degrees of expertness diversity (labeled as LH) comprising a high-expertness and a low-expertness member. The distribution of team members’ expertness levels and their expertness diversity within the team are summarized in Table 1 .

Big Five personality traits and personality traits diversity

To measure each participant’s Big Five personality traits, we used the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) test (Gosling et al., 2003 ). This test included 10 question items on a 5-point Likert scale (ranging from 0—Extremely disagree to 5—Extremely agree ). The TIPI test assessed each category of the Big Five personality traits using two opposite items: one standard item and one reverse-scored item. The final measurement of each personality trait was the mean of the standard item and the reverse-scored item after recoding.

The distribution of all participants’ Big Five personality traits scores is shown in Fig. 3 . The highest frequencies of the responses for four of the Big Five personality traits (except for “extraversion”) were around 4 (“ Agree ”), which was also the median of these four traits. For extraversion, the median was 2.5 (between “ Disagree ” and “ Neither agree nor disagree ”). Similar to the measurement of individual expertness, for each of the five personality traits, we used the median of all participants’ test scores to classify each team member as either High (H) or Low (L) in that particular personality trait category. Next, each individual was categorized into one of four possible compositions based on the individual’s and her/his teammate’s personality traits: High collaborating with High (labeled as HwH), High collaborating with Low (labeled as HwL), Low collaborating with High (LwH), and Low collaborating with Low (labeled as LwL).

Distribution of Big Five personality traits ( N  = 754).

Within each Big Five personality trait (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism), dyadic teams with one member scoring H and the other L were coded as having high personality diversity for that specific trait. Conversely, teams, where both members scored either H or L were coded as having low personality diversity for that trait. The distribution of individual participants’ Big Five personality traits and the diversity of teams’ Big Five personality traits are summarized in Table 1 .

Individual and team performance gain from virtual collaboration

We implemented a computerized system to measure the performance change resulting from virtual collaboration (i.e. the difference between task performance before and after virtual collaboration). First, the system asked each team member to answer the seven science task questions individually and graded their individual responses against correct answers. These graded individual responses were denoted as the initial score by the system but were not made available to the participants. Then, the system instructed team members to collaborate with each other by sharing and discussing their answers through the online text chat. Each team was asked to decide on a final response after their virtual collaboration. Subsequently, each team member was asked to submit a revised response individually if s/he wanted to change her/his initial response (graded and denoted as the revised score by the system). Finally, one of the team members was randomly chosen by the system to submit the team answer upon which both members agreed (graded and denoted as the team representative score by the system). In this study, we focused on the initial and revised scores because we observed that most of the team representative scores were identical to the team members’ revised scores. Based on the initial and revised scores for each question, we developed the following variables to measure individual- and team-level performance gain from virtual collaboration, which were used as dependent variables in the subsequent data analysis.

At the team level, we first computed the team's initial score by summing up the initial scores of all question items responded to by both team members in a team prior to virtual collaboration. Then, we computed the team score change by subtracting the sum of the team's initial scores from the sum of the revised scores of all question items. A positive value of the team score change indicated the team level performance gain from virtual collaboration, whereas a negative value of the team score change indicated the team level performance loss as a result of virtual collaboration.

At the individual level, we first computed the individual initial score by summing up a team member’s initial scores of all question items prior to virtual collaboration. Then we computed the individual score change by subtracting an individual member’s initial scores of all questions from this member’s revised scores. A positive value of the individual score change indicated the individual performance gain from virtual collaboration, whereas a negative value of the individual score change indicated the individual performance loss as a result of virtual collaboration.

Both RQ1 and RQ3 inquire how team-level characteristics, namely the team’s expertness diversity (RQ1) and Big Five personality traits diversity (RQ2), could influence team performance gain from virtual collaboration. To address these two questions concurrently, we ran ANCOVAs with the team score change as the dependent variable. The independent variables were the team expertness diversity and Big Five personality traits diversity. We also added the team's initial score as a covariate variable to control for the effect of each team’s initial performance. For the variable that was found to be statically significant in the ANCOVA results, we ran the post-hoc Tukey’s Test to assess the statistical differences among the three subgroups (i.e. HH, LH, and LL) regarding the team performance gain from virtual collaboration.

RQ2 investigates how a team member’s performance gain from virtual collaboration can be influenced by one’s own expertness level and that of the teammate. Likewise, RQ4 explores how a team member’s performance gain from virtual collaboration can be affected by one’s own Big Five personality traits and those of the teammate. To answer these two questions concurrently, we ran ANCOVAs with the individual score change as the dependent variable. The independent variables included an individual member’s expertness and Big Five personality traits. We also added the individual initial score as a covariate variable to control for the effect of an individual member’s initial performance. For the variable that was found to be statistically significant in the ANCOVA results, we ran the post-hoc Tukey’s test to further test the differences among four different subgroups (i.e. HwH, HwL, LwH, and LwL) regarding the individual’s performance gain from virtual collaboration.

Team performance gain from virtual collaboration

Table 2 summarizes the ANCOVA results to address RQ1 and RQ3. After controlling for the effect of the team's initial score ( p  < 0.05), the team expertness diversity and the agreeableness personality trait diversity remained significant predictors of the team score change . Further, the post-hoc Tukey’s test results (presented in Fig. 4 ) showed that teams with a high degree of expertness diversity (labeled as LH) had significantly greater score changes than teams with low degrees of expertness diversity (both HH and LL teams). In addition, teams composed of two members who both had low agreeableness traits (LL in agreeableness) had the greatest score changes compared with the other two types of teams (HH and LH in agreeableness).

a Expertness diversity and score changes; ( b ) Agreeableness diversity and score changes.

Individual performance gain from virtual collaboration

Table 3 summarizes the ANCOVA results to address RQ2 and RQ4. After controlling for the effect of the individual initial score , the individual team member’s expertness level remained the significant predictor of the individual score change . Further, the post-hoc Tukey’s test results (presented in Fig. 5 ) showed that low-expertness individuals had the greatest score changes when collaborating with a high-expertness teammate (labeled as Lw/H). However, the pairwise differences in individual score changes among the other three groups (Hw/L, Lw/L, and Hw/H) were not significant. The agreeableness personality trait was significant in the full model, but all subgroup comparisons were not significant in the post-hoc Tukey’s test and thus were not reported nor included for further discussion.

Individual-level comparison based on post-hoc Tukey’s test results.

This study applies and integrates TMS theory and the Big Five personality traits model to uncover the potential benefits of virtual collaboration within dyadic teams. At the team level, it investigates the impact of a team’s expertness diversity and diversity in Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) on the team’s performance gained from virtual collaboration. At the individual level, the study examines how a team member’s performance gain from virtual collaboration is affected by one’s own expertness level and Big Five personality traits as well as those of the teammate. This research conducted an experimental study, analyzing 377 dyadic teams comprising 754 individuals engaged in a virtual CPS activity, namely an online simulation-based collaborative task. The results revealed that dyadic teams characterized by high expertness diversity, encompassing members with high and low levels of expertness, exhibit greater performance gains from virtual collaboration compared to teams with low expertness diversity, where both members had either low or high levels of expertness. Moreover, teams with low diversity in agreeableness, consisting of members who both had low levels of agreeableness, experienced the most substantial performance improvement from virtual collaboration, surpassing teams whose members both had high levels of agreeableness and teams with high diversity in agreeableness. Finally, at the individual level, a team member with a lower level of expertness who collaborated with a high-expertness partner demonstrated the most significant performance enhancement in virtual collaboration.

Theoretical implications

Through the lens of differentiated and integrated TMS structures, traditional TMS scholarship primarily examines how team expertise is dispersed across different knowledge domains and how such inter-domain expertise diversity affects team performance (Gupta, 2012 ; Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ; Iannone et al., 2017 ). However, the distribution of expertise within the same knowledge domain and the impact of intra-domain expertise diversity on team performance remain largely unexplored. Adopting the expertness diversity perspective (Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ), this study extends TMS research by examining how varying degrees of expertness diversity in a given knowledge domain could influence team performance change in virtual CPS settings. Contrary to previous research suggesting a negative correlation between expertness diversity and team performance (Lee et al., 2022 ), our findings reveal the positive effects of expertness diversity on team performance enhancement in virtual CPS environments. Moreover, addressing previous concerns that high-expertness team members might be unwilling to assist those with lower expertness levels (Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ), our study finds that pairing low-expertness members with high-expertness counterparts results in significant performance improvements in virtual collaboration. This finding suggests that high-expertness members may indeed be inclined to offer their expertise to help those with lower levels of knowledge when collaborating with each other to solve intellective tasks. Our study also extends prior work, which predominantly involved student participants who had existing collaborative relationships (Martins et al., 2013 ; Van der Vegt et al., 2006 ), by demonstrating that expertness diversity can enhance team performance in ad hoc CPS teams where members have not previously collaborated.

Although our research did not focus on the direct effects of differentiated and integrated TMS structures on virtual CPS performance improvement, prior studies on related topics provide valuable insights to support our findings. Previous TMS research has emphasized that both differentiated and integrated TMS structures can enhance team collaboration, albeit through distinct mechanisms and in varying task settings. For instance, teams operating with an integrated TMS structure tend to outperform those with a differentiated TMS when engaging in intellective tasks, whereas teams with a differentiated TMS structure tend to leverage the unique information possessed by individual members more effectively (Gupta and Hollingshead, 2010 ). Additionally, a differentiated TMS may facilitate centralized information-seeking, particularly when specialized expertise is required (Yan et al., 2021 ). These studies provide a relevant rationale for understanding the findings observed in our research. Indeed, all teams participating in the current study were required to complete an intellective CPS task, specifically to identify a single, correct answer to a series of quiz questions focused on a particular domain of science. Consequently, the differentiation in expertness levels between team members necessitated the low-expertness member’s active pursuit and utilization of the expertise held by the high-expertness member. In turn, the high-expertness member has the opportunity to solidify and refine her/his own understanding of the problem by explaining concepts and correcting misconceptions during the discussion and decision-making process. This reciprocal learning dynamic (Jokisch et al., 2020 ) likely contributed to the overall significant performance gains observed in their virtual collaboration.

As evidenced in our experimental design and analysis results, when team members collaborated with each other on a virtual platform without in-person, face-to-face interactions, they still engaged in expertise coordination and information exchange to achieve collaborative outcomes. This finding resonates with social information processing theory (Walther, 1992 ) that suggests individuals are able and motivated to compensate for the loss or reduction of non-verbal cues in virtual CPS settings by exchanging and processing remaining information cues such as language content and style characteristics. As shown in this study, although team members were deprived of rich communication channels such as face-to-face and audio/video-based communication (Fonner and Roloff, 2012 ), team members exhibited adeptness in adjusting their relational behaviors to effectively utilize textual cues to accomplish their collaborative tasks.

Finally, this research contributes to the Big Five personality scholarship by offering empirical evidence of the linkage between the diverse composition (or lack thereof) of the Big Five personality traits of team members and their performance gains from virtual collaboration. Echoing prior research findings that the agreeableness personality trait (Barrick and Mount, 1993 ) and the diversity of team agreeableness (Mohammed and Angell, 2003 ) could hinder team performance, our study revealed that teams whose members were both low in agreeableness benefited the most from virtual collaboration compared with teams whose members were both highly agreeable and teams whose members had diverse agreeableness levels. This finding may be explained by the prediction that low agreeableness can be associated with assertiveness and a strong desire to achieve goals (Fang et al., 2015 ). In a virtual CPS setting where social cues are limited, low agreeableness may lead to a more focused and efficient work style, with less time spent on pleasantries or social niceties. In addition, lower agreeableness can lead to more direct communication, which can be crucial in virtual settings to avoid misunderstandings or delays due to unclear communication (Huang et al., 2014 ). Moreover, when team members are uniformly and highly agreeable, they are less likely to confront and challenge each other. Also, in teams where members have diverse levels of agreeableness, although the less agreeable ones may take aggressive or argumentative actions, the more agreeable ones would strive for harmony by staying silent or compliant. Both situations can foster groupthink (McCauley, 1998 ), a phenomenon characterized by the suppression of critical inquiries and dissenting viewpoints. Consequently, there are limited opportunities for the exchange of creative ideas and critical thinking, which are essential for collaborative problem-solving (Hao et al., 2017 ).

Practical implications

Besides demonstrating the value of using both TMS theory and Big Five personality traits models to understand virtual team dynamics, this study also offers practical guidance for improving team performance and informing managerial practices. One of the primary implications of this research is that expertness diversity (i.e., intra-domain expertise differentiation) is equally advantageous for team performance improvement as expertise diversity (i.e., inter-domain expertise differentiation). Hence, for those organizations and teams that rely on a single or limited knowledge domain for CPS, they can and should harness the benefits of expertness diversity. When forming virtual teams to complete intellective collaborative tasks, the management should strategically compose teams by pairing individuals with high and low levels of expertness. For example, in a project team developing an AI application, a Senior AI Engineer leads the design of complex algorithms and system architecture while mentoring a Junior AI Developer. The Junior Developer assists with coding and testing, freeing the Senior Engineer to tackle more advanced problems. This dynamic benefits both: the Junior Developer gains experience, and the Senior Engineer reinforces her/his knowledge through mentorship. This mix of high and low expertness ensures efficient resource use, innovation, and project success.

Aligned with recommendations from Van der Vegt et al. ( 2006 ), we encourage organizations to establish structured mentorship programs in which high-expertness members are assigned as formal mentors to less-expertness members. Organizations should provide incentives for high-expertness mentors to actively share their expertise and offer guidance to mentees. This could involve recognition programs, training opportunities, or other forms of appreciation for their contribution to team development. Furthermore, this research suggests that teams with low agreeableness may benefit more from virtual collaboration. This highlights the potential advantages of strategically assigning less agreeable members to work in the virtual team, especially where groupthink is present and critical thinking is desired. However, the management should be mindful that individuals scoring low in agreeableness may be more prone to conflicts or disagreements. Thus, organization and team leaders should proactively implement conflict resolution strategies and foster an environment that encourages open communication and constructive feedback among team members. This approach can help alleviate potential conflicts among less agreeable members and bridge potential divides between highly agreeable and less agreeable colleagues.

Limitations and future directions

This research has several limitations that should be addressed in future research. First, the experimental design took place in a highly constrained context (i.e., ad hoc teams with two randomly assigned team members who communicated through text chat for a duration of ~50 min to complete an online simulation-based task). The dyadic composition of the team, text-only communication, short duration of the collaboration process, and simulation of the collaborative task are all very likely to limit the generalizability of this study to understanding how real-world teams work. For example, the effects of TMS development (such as expertise recognition and knowledge retrieval) and the Big Five personality traits might not have had sufficient time to unfold during the short span of virtual collaboration. Future research should examine more natural and mature collaboration settings for an extensive period of time to fully uncover the short- and long-term impacts of TMS development and personality traits on collaborative performance. Additionally, further studies are needed to go beyond dyadic teams and explore how these dynamics play out and influence CPS outcomes in larger, multi-person teams.

Second, this research measured task performance by grading participants’ responses to seven multiple-choice questions only. The small number and limited type of questions rendered less room for performance improvement among the teams participating in our study. Therefore, future research should develop more sophisticated and multidimensional instruments to assess individual and team performance with greater accuracy and the ability to capture subtle variations.

Third, this study focuses on the effects of two prominent individual attributes, namely expertness and personality traits, on virtual CPS outcomes. However, we excluded other personal attributes, such as demographic data, from our analysis. While prior research showed that TMS processes (particularly intra-team coordination) had a greater impact on team effectiveness than demographics such as gender and social-economic status (Michinov et al., 2008 ), other studies highlighted the importance of team members’ demographic properties, such as gender composition (Iannone et al., 2017 ), cultural backgrounds (Yoon and Hollingshead, 2010 ), and demographic similarity (e.g., racial and gender homophily) (Keith et al., 2017 ), on TMS development and team performance. Therefore, future research should continue to explore the influence of a wider range of personal attributes, including demographic, personality, psychological, and behavioral factors, on TMS development and work performance in virtual CPS settings.

Finally, the current study does not include the communication content (text-chat) data in the analysis. Though discourse analysis has been previously deployed to provide substantive insights into team members’ collaborative behaviors (Andrews et al., 2017 ), more research is needed to fully delineate how TMS development, expertness diversity, and personality traits influence collaborative outcomes by examining the content generated and shared throughout the collaboration processes.

The landscape of collaboration among team members has undergone significant transformation in recent years, driven largely by the global pandemic. This shift has prompted scholars to emphasize the importance of investigating the factors that influence virtual collaboration, spanning from its antecedents to its outcomes, across both experimental and real-world work environments (Jiang et al., 2023 ; O’Bryan et al., 2022 ). As evidenced in the present study, the interplay of team members’ expertness and Big Five personality traits plays a crucial role in shaping collaborative outcomes. Moving forward, enhancing our understanding of individual and team performance in CPS settings will require the integration of diverse theoretical frameworks and the adoption of innovative methodological approaches.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available because when participants signed the informed consent, they specifically agreed to the term that their responses will not be made publicly available.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFF0901600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62177044), and the USTC Research Funds of the Double First-Class Initiative (FSSF-A-240110).

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Zhu, M., Su, C., Hao, J. et al. Who benefits from virtual collaboration? The interplay of team member expertness and Big Five personality traits. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1212 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03678-y

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Best 20 Problem-Solving Activities to Challenge Your Team

Problem-solving activities are a great way to get to know how people in your team work individually and together.

They are also great for team building, as they help people understand the way in which others think and behave, which provides strategies to apply to the workplace.

In this article, we explore 20 problem-solving activities designed to enhance collaboration and creativity, and to challenge your team.

If you want access to 30+ different problem solving games , sign up for the Loumee platform. 

Table of contents

Why problem-solving is important in the workplace, team problem-solving activities, creative problem-solving activities, quick and easy problem-solving activities.

Virtual problem solving activities

Additional resources on problem-solving activities

According to a 2021 report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) , soft skills have become increasingly crucial in today's world, with problem-solving identified as a top skill in high demand (WEF, 2021). The success of a company or team greatly depends on managers' willingness to support employees in developing their problem-solving abilities. Research suggests that team-building activities focused on enhancing communication, collaboration, adaptability, and decision-making techniques are effective in addressing this skill gap (Anderson et al., 2022).

Problem-solving processes typically begin with problem identification, followed by the evaluation of potential courses of action and the selection of the optimal approach to solving the problem (Johnson & Smith, 2020). To facilitate effective problem-solving, a deep understanding of the team and its core strengths is necessary. Engaging in problem-solving exercises or games helps identify these strengths, fosters the development of problem-solving skills and strategies, and promotes an enjoyable team environment (Thomas et al., 2019).

Another vital aspect to consider during problem-solving games and activities is that they are not designed to have winners or losers. While certain games may have a winning team, the primary objective of these exercises is to foster collaboration and teamwork (Williams et al., 2022). At the conclusion of each game, the winning team should share their strategies and thought processes with the entire group, facilitating learning and knowledge-sharing among all participants (Brown et al., 2020).

Here’s a list of fun problem-solving activity examples to try with your team with labels if they are more suitable for virtual, hybrid or in-person. From collaborative and competitive team problem solving games to complex and collaborative lego building, these diverse mix of problem-solving and team-building activities will ensure your team’s problem solving skills stay razor sharp.

The Game of Life (Virtual, hybrid, in-person)

Activity focus areas: Teamwork, Reasoning, Time management, Strategy, Communication.

Why Teamwork is important for Problem-Solving: Teamwork is essential for problem-solving as it brings together diverse perspectives, expertise, and skills, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the problem and the generation of innovative solutions.

What you need:

Digital space (e.g. Teams, Zoom, Meet video call etc) or a physical room with enough space for team discussions

A computer or device per team (or print outs if playing in the office)

Access to the facilitator slides and platform

Instructions:  

Split the teams up into approximately 3-5 per team

Go through the game instructions and rules using the facilitator slide deck provided on the facilitator page- this can be in person or in the main session of the video call

Ask each team to create a team name and let them know they will have a maximum of 30 minutes to complete the game

Each team must solve the individual puzzles and the master puzzle as quickly as possible - i.e. to figure out which of the teams in the game won (finished furthest on the board) in the “Game of Life”

2. LEGO Challenge (In-person)

Activity focus areas: Communication, Leadership Dynamics, Conflict, Co-operation, Patience and Strategy.

Why Communication is important for Problem-Solving:   Effective communication is crucial for problem-solving as it facilitates the exchange of ideas, information, and perspectives among team members, leading to a comprehensive understanding of the problem at hand. 

Lego pieces

To print and cut out the tasks below for the participants

Participant tasks (print)

You are only one allowed to build (put bricks together) in the first 3 layers of the building. 

You must make sure that layers 3 and 4 only consist of yellow bricks. You have to make sure that layers 2 and 6 consist of exactly eight bricks.

You are the only one allowed to build (put bricks together) in rows 5 and 6 of the building.

You have to make sure that a maximum of eight bricks are used in the 3rd and 5th layers of the building.

You are the leader of the group.

You have to make sure that the building is no higher than a maximum of eight layers. If people stop building when they have reached the eighth layer, you have to make sure they continue building in the layers below.

You have to make sure that the bricks that are next to each other in layers 1, 6 and 8 do not have the same color.

You have to make sure that there are, together with you, two others and only two others who build in layers 4 and 8.

You have to make sure that only a maximum of 3 participants build (put bricks together) in layers 4 and 7.

You have to make sure that there are only red bricks in the 2nd and 5th layers of the building.

You have to make sure that the first layer (layer 1) of the building consists of exactly 10 bricks.

Instructions:

Put the group into teams of 5-7 people. Each group sits around a table with a box of LEGO. Ask participants not to touch the LEGO until the activity begins.

Give the instructions: Your task, as a group, is to build a structure with these LEGO bricks. In a moment, each of you will get a piece of paper, where your individual assignment is written. You may not show or tell your assignment to the rest of the team. You will have 20 minutes to build your structure. You may not speak during the building process. You must continue building until the time is up.

Hand out the “assignments,” one per participant. Remind participants that they must not show their assignment to anyone else.

Once everyone has an assignment, begin the time and let participants start. 

After 20 minutes, tell participants to stop building. Invite them to guess the “assignments” of the other members of their group. Explain that they may now share their secret assignments with each other.

3. Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower (In-person)

Activity focus areas: Collaboration, Teamwork, Critical Thinking, and Creativity.

Why Collaboration is important for Problem-Solving:   Collaboration is important for problem-solving because it brings together diverse perspectives, knowledge, and expertise, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand. By working together, individuals can pool their strengths and resources, leading to innovative solutions that may not have been achievable by individuals working in isolation.

What you need (per team):

20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti

1 roll of masking tape

1 yard of string

1 marshmallow

The goal of this team-building game is for each team to construct the tallest freestanding tower using the provided resources: 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 roll of masking tape, 1 yard of string, and 1 marshmallow. The tower must support the marshmallow on its top.

Divide participants into teams of 3 to 5 members each. Ensure that each team has an equal distribution of skills, knowledge, and experience to encourage effective collaboration.

Provide each team with the designated resources: 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 roll of masking tape, 1 yard of string, and 1 marshmallow.

a. Teams have a set time limit (e.g., 20 to 30 minutes) to complete the task.

b. Teams can only use the provided materials; no additional items are allowed.

c. The marshmallow must be placed on top of the tower and should remain there until the end of the building phase.

d. The tower must be freestanding, meaning it should not be attached to any other objects or structures for support.

Building Process

Teams can strategize, plan, and discuss their ideas before they start building. Encourage open communication and active collaboration among team members.

Teams should work together to experiment with different designs and constructions that can support the marshmallow on top.

Teams can cut, break, or combine the spaghetti sticks and use tape and string as connectors to build the tower.

Marshmallow Placement: The marshmallow must be placed on top of the tower at the end of the building phase without any additional support or attachment.

Measuring Height: At the end of the time limit, use a measuring tape to determine and record the height of each team's tower, measuring from the base to the highest point of the marshmallow.

Debriefing and Learning

Gather all the teams together and discuss the results, focusing on the strategies that worked well and those that didn't.

Facilitate a debriefing session where participants can share their experiences, challenges, and lessons learned during the activity.

Highlight the importance of teamwork, communication, creativity, and adaptability in problem-solving.

4. Egg Drop (In-person)

Activity focus areas: Decision-making, Collaboration, Problem Solving Under Pressure.

Why decision-making is important for problem-solving: Decision-making is essential for problem-solving as it determines the course of action to address the issue at hand. Effective decision-making ensures that the chosen solution is well-informed, logical, and aligned with the overall objectives, increasing the likelihood of successful problem resolution.

A carton of eggs

Basic construction materials- e.g. newspapers, straws, tape, plastic wrap, balloons, rubber bands, sticks, cloth

An outdoor space - i.e. somewhere to drop the eggs from

The goal of this team-building game is for each team to design and build a protective contraption using the provided materials to prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from a designated height.

Divide the participants into teams, ensuring an even distribution of skills and expertise among each group. Aim for 4 to 6 members per team to encourage effective collaboration and problem-solving.

Resource Allocation: Provide each team with the following resources: - A couple of eggs - Basic construction materials such as newspapers, straws, tape, plastic wrap, balloons, rubber bands, popsicle sticks, etc. - Tarp or drop cloth to catch the dropped eggs.

Explanation of the Challenge: Each team must design and build a protective contraption for an egg that will prevent it from breaking when dropped from a designated height. Emphasize the importance of creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking in designing the contraption.

Design and Planning Phase: Allow teams a set amount of time (e.g., 15-20 minutes) to brainstorm ideas and plan their egg protection design. Encourage teams to sketch their designs on paper before starting construction.

Building the Egg Protection Contraption: Once the planning phase is over, let the teams start building their contraptions using the provided materials. Remind participants to use their resources wisely and efficiently.

Testing Phase: Set up a designated drop zone, which could be an elevated platform or a staircase. Each team will take turns dropping their egg protection contraption from the same height to ensure fairness. If there is a draw, increase the height of the drop until you find a winner.

Egg Drop: Teams will carefully place their egg inside the protection contraption before the drop. Participants should stand clear of the drop zone during the egg drop.

Inspection and Evaluation: After each drop, inspect the egg to check whether it remains intact or breaks. Record the results for each team's contraption.

Debrief and Team Discussion: Conduct a debriefing session to facilitate discussion on the importance of teamwork, communication, and problem-solving in completing the challenge successfully.

Encourage participants to share their experiences and insights gained from the activity.

5. Desert island (in-person)

Activity focus areas: Prioritization, Communication, Decision-making, Leadership, Negotiation.

Why Prioritization is important for Problem-Solving: Prioritization is crucial for problem-solving as it helps individuals and teams focus their efforts on addressing the most critical aspects of a problem first. By identifying and tackling the most impactful issues early on, resources and time can be utilized more efficiently, leading to more effective and timely solutions. 

A physical space

The goal of this team-building game is for each team to collaborate and decide on a list of 5 essential items they would bring to support their survival on a desert island. The team's decisions should be based on effective communication, critical thinking, and consensus-building.

Divide the participants into teams, preferably with 4 to 6 members in each group. Ensure a mix of skills and backgrounds within each team for a diverse range of perspectives.

Explain the scenario: Each team is stranded on a deserted island and must collectively decide on the 5 most crucial items they will bring to ensure their survival. Emphasize that teamwork, negotiation, and rational decision-making are key components of the game.

Resource Constraints: Inform the teams that they have limited resources and can only choose 5 items to take with them to the desert island.

Specify that these items must be practical and directly related to survival needs.

Brainstorming: Give teams a few minutes to brainstorm and individually write down their ideas for the essential items.

Sharing and Discussion: Allow each team member to present their ideas to the group, explaining their reasoning behind each item.

Foster open and respectful discussion, ensuring that everyone's opinions are heard and considered.

Building Consensus: Facilitate the teams in reaching a consensus on the final list of 5 items.

Encourage compromise and negotiation to ensure that each team member feels heard and included in the decision.

Presenting the Final List: Once each team has agreed on their 5 items, have a representative from each group present their final list to the other teams and ask them to explain the rationale behind their choices.

Group Reflection: After all teams have presented their lists, facilitate a group discussion on the decision-making process.

Encourage participants to share their thoughts on how they reached a consensus and any challenges they faced during the activity.

Highlight the importance of effective communication, critical thinking, and collaboration in problem-solving scenarios.

Real-Life Applications: Discuss how the skills practiced in this game can be applied in real-life situations, such as decision-making in the workplace or group projects.

6. The Hunt

Activity focus areas: Creativity, Team Decision-Making, Reasoning, Communication.

Why creativity is important for problem-solving: Creativity is crucial for problem-solving because it allows individuals to think beyond conventional solutions and explore innovative approaches to challenges. By fostering creative thinking, problem-solvers can discover unique perspectives and novel ideas that lead to more effective and efficient resolutions.

Objective: The Hunt is a team-building game designed to challenge participants' problem-solving skills and teamwork. The goal is for each team to solve 10 individual puzzles and a final master puzzle question in the fastest time possible.

Divide the participants into teams, with an ideal team size of 4 to 6 members - aim to create diverse teams with a mix of skills and expertise.

Brief the participants on the rules of the game and provide access to the game page via the Loumee platform . 

Explain the importance of effective communication, time management, and teamwork during the game.

Start the Game: When all teams are ready, tell the teams to enter their team name and the platform will automatically track their completion time (the timer will begin once the team starts working on the individual puzzles).

Team Collaboration: Encourage teams to work together, leveraging each member's strengths to solve the puzzles efficiently.Remind participants to communicate openly and respectfully, sharing ideas and insights.If a team is stuck on a puzzle - they can ask you for an answer in exchange for a 10 minute time penalty.

Time Management: Remind teams of the importance of managing their time effectively to complete all puzzles and the master question within the given timeframe.

Solving the Master Puzzle Question: Once a team has completed all 10 individual puzzles (or the majority), they can attempt to answer the master puzzle question. The team must use insights and information gathered from the individual puzzles to answer the master question accurately.

Scoring and Winner Declaration: Check the final scores of all teams and present the answers of the individual puzzles and the master puzzle using the slide deck provided on the platform. Declare the team with the shortest completion time as the winner of The Hunt team-building game.

Debrief and Reflection: Conduct a debrief session to discuss the experience and challenges faced by each team.

Encourage participants to share insights on effective problem-solving strategies and teamwork.

7. Legoman Structure Replication Challenge (in-person)

Activity focus areas: Communication, Creativity, Collaboration.

Objective: The objective is for each team to replicate a randomly built Lego structure, created by an overseer, with limited time and restricted access to the original design.

Lego building blocks (ensure enough blocks for each team to replicate the structure)

Divide all participants into small teams of two or more members.

Appoint the Overseer: Designate one participant who is not a part of any team as the "Overseer." The Overseer's role is to build a unique Lego structure within the given time frame.

Overseer's Structure Building: Provide the Overseer with a set of Lego building blocks. Announce a time limit of ten minutes for the Overseer to create a random structure using the Lego blocks.

Replication Challenge: After ten minutes, present the built structure to all the teams. Explain that the teams' task is to replicate the original structure precisely within 15 minutes.

Restricted Access: Inform the teams that only one member from each group will have direct access to observe the original structure.

This "Observer" is the only team member allowed to look at the original design during the replication process.

Communication and Replication: Instruct the Observers to memorize the size, color, and shape of the original structure thoroughly.

The Observers must then return to their teams and communicate the design details to their teammates without showing them the original structure.

Monitoring and Assistance: As the facilitator, monitor each team's progress and offer guidance or clarifications if needed. Avoid directly assisting the teams, but provide hints or tips to help them overcome any challenges.

Conclusion: After 15 minutes, stop the replication process and gather all teams together. Compare each team's replicated structure with the original design to evaluate accuracy.

Reflective Debrief: Conduct a debrief session to discuss the challenges faced during the game and the strategies used by each team.

Key Takeaways: Highlight the importance of effective communication and teamwork in achieving successful outcomes.

Emphasize how creative thinking and resourcefulness play vital roles in solving challenges and completing tasks.

8. Escape room (in-person, virtual)

Activity focus areas: Reasoning, Collaboration.

Objective: The Escape Room Team-Building Game aims to challenge participants' problem-solving abilities and promote effective teamwork. The goal is for the team to work together to decipher puzzles, find the hidden key, and escape from a locked room within the designated time.

A lockable room

5-10 puzzles or clues (depending on how much time you want to spend on the game)

Preparations: Set up the lockable room, ensuring it is safe and secure, and test the locking mechanism beforehand.

Place the hidden key and a list of clues strategically around the room to challenge participants' problem-solving skills.

Introduction: Gather the team outside the locked room and explain the objective of the game. Emphasize the importance of teamwork, communication, and creative thinking throughout the activity.

Team Allocation:Divide participants into teams of suitable sizes, ideally 4 to 6 members, to encourage effective collaboration.

Start of the Game: Guide each team to their designated room and "lock" the door behind them.

Set a time limit for the game, such as 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the complexity of the puzzles and the desired level of challenge.

Puzzle Solving: Encourage teams to explore the room thoroughly and work together to uncover hidden clues and solve the puzzles.

Each puzzle should lead them closer to the location of the key, promoting a sense of accomplishment as they progress.

Facilitator Assistance: Assign facilitators to monitor the teams' progress discreetly.

Offer subtle hints or nudges if a team seems stuck or is struggling to make progress.

Limit the number of hints to maintain the challenge and allow teams to develop problem-solving skills.

Escaping the Room: If a team successfully solves all the puzzles and finds the hidden key within the designated time, they can use the key to unlock the door and "escape" the room.

Congratulate the successful team and acknowledge their problem-solving skills and teamwork.

Debriefing and Reflection:

Gather all teams together after the game for a debriefing session.

Discuss the challenges faced during the activity, the strategies employed, and the effectiveness of communication and collaboration.

Learning Outcomes:

Highlight the relevance of reasoning, critical thinking, and creativity in problem-solving scenarios.

Reinforce the importance of effective teamwork and how it contributes to achieving shared goals.

9. Frostbite (in-person)

Activity focus areas: Decision-making, Adaptability

Objective: The Frostbite Room is a team-building game that challenges participants' decision-making and adaptability skills while fostering teamwork and creative problem-solving. The goal is for each team of Arctic explorers to construct a shelter using provided materials before the storm hits, while facing unique challenges with a blindfolded leader and snow-blinded team members.

A blindfold (1 per team)

1 packet of construction materials (such as card stock, toothpicks, rubber bands, and sticky notes) for each team

An electric fan

Introduction and Setup:Gather your employees and introduce them to the Arctic adventure in the Frostbite Room.

Form teams of four or five members, ensuring diversity in skills and expertise within each group.

Instruct each team to choose a leader who will guide their exploration and decision-making.

The Arctic Expedition: Explain that each team is an Arctic explorer group embarking on an icy tundra adventure.

Their mission is to build a shelter from the provided materials before the storm hits in 30 minutes.

Emphasize that the shelter should be sturdy enough to withstand the high winds of the impending storm.

Leader's Frostbite Challenge: Inform the teams that both the team leader's hands have frostbite, rendering them unable to physically assist in constructing the shelter.

The leader's role is to provide verbal guidance, instructions, and decision-making direction to the rest of the team.

Team's Snow Blindness Challenge: Explain that the rest of the team members are afflicted with snow blindness, meaning they cannot see during the building process.

The team members must rely solely on the guidance of their blindfolded leader to construct the shelter effectively.

Distributing Construction Materials: Provide each team with a packet of construction materials, including card stock, toothpicks, rubber bands, and sticky notes.

Encourage teams to plan their shelter designs during the 30-minute preparation period.

The Storm Test: When the 30 minutes are up, announce the commencement of the storm test.

Turn on the electric fan to simulate the high winds, and observe how well each shelter withstands the challenge.

Assessing Results: After the storm test, evaluate the stability and functionality of each team's shelter.

Recognize teams that demonstrate excellent decision-making, adaptability, and effective use of provided materials.

Debrief and Reflection: Conduct a debrief session with all participants to discuss the challenges faced and lessons learned during the Frostbite Room activity.

Encourage teams to share their decision-making processes, strategies for communication, and innovative solutions.

10. Minefield room (in-person)

Activity focus areas: Communication, teamwork

Objective: The Minefield Room Team-Building Game aims to enhance communication skills and teamwork within your group by navigating blindfolded partners through a room filled with strategically placed office items, avoiding "mines."

An empty room or hallway large enough to accommodate your group.

Blindfolds for each participant.

A collection of common office items (boxes, chairs, water bottles, bags, etc.) to create the "minefield."

Set Up the Minefield: Arrange the office items randomly throughout the room, ensuring there is no clear path from one end to the other.

Space the objects out enough to create a challenging and dynamic maze.

Form Teams and Assign Roles: Divide your participants into pairs, ensuring an even distribution of skills and expertise among the teams.

Designate one person in each pair as the "Navigator" and the other as the "Blindfolded Partner."

Blindfold the "Blindfolded Partner":

Provide blindfolds to the "Blindfolded Partners" and ensure they cannot see anything.

Navigate through the Minefield: The objective for each pair is for the "Navigator" to verbally guide the blindfolded partner from one end of the room to the other, avoiding the "mines" (office items).

The "Navigator" must use clear and precise instructions to direct their partner safely through the minefield.

No Physical Contact: Emphasize that the "Navigator" is not allowed to touch or physically guide the blindfolded partner in any way. This rule encourages the "Navigator" to rely solely on effective communication to guide their partner.

Enhancing the Challenge: To make the activity more challenging, have all pairs navigate the minefield simultaneously. This increases the complexity of the game and requires teams to strategize their communication more effectively.

Debrief and Team Reflection: After the game, gather all participants for a debrief session. Encourage teams to reflect on their experiences, communication dynamics, and challenges faced during the activity.

Facilitate a discussion on successful communication strategies observed during the game. Encourage participants to share what worked well and what could be improved upon.

Discuss ways participants can apply the lessons learned from the Minefield Room Team-Building Game in their everyday work environment.

11. Blind Formations (in-person)

Activity focus areas: Teamwork, problem-solving, communication.

Objective: The Blind Formations team-building game aims to enhance communication and collaboration skills within a group. Participants will work together while blindfolded to create specific shapes using a rope, fostering effective teamwork and problem-solving.

Blindfolds (one for each participant)

A long rope (ensure it is long enough to form the desired shapes)

Optional: Stopwatch or timer for competitive variations

Preparation: Gather all participants and explain the objective and rules of the Blind Formations game.

Ensure each participant receives a blindfold and familiarize them with how to put it on and adjust it comfortably.

Formation of Groups: Form a single large circle with all participants standing close together.

If the group is too large, consider dividing them into smaller teams of manageable sizes for enhanced engagement and interaction.

Positioning the Rope: Tie two ends of the rope together to form a complete circle and place it in the center of the group, within reach of every participant.

If the group is divided into teams, provide a separate rope for each team.

Explanation of the Task: Inform the participants that their task is to communicate and work collaboratively to create specific shapes using the rope while being blindfolded.

Suggest various shapes, such as a square, triangle, rectangle, or any other geometric figure suitable for the group's size and complexity level.

Blindfolding: Instruct all participants to put on their blindfolds before beginning the activity.

Ensure that each blindfold is secure but comfortable to avoid any discomfort during the game.

Commencing the Activity: Once all participants are blindfolded, initiate the game by asking them to start working on forming the designated shape.

Emphasize the importance of clear verbal communication and active listening throughout the task.

Facilitating Competitive Variation (Optional): If there are multiple teams, you can introduce a competitive element by timing each team to see who completes the shape the quickest.

Use a stopwatch or timer to measure the completion time for added excitement.

Shape Completion and Debrief: Once a group or team successfully forms the specified shape, stop the activity and remove the blindfolds.

Gather all participants for a debrief session, discussing the challenges faced, successful communication strategies, and teamwork experiences.

Reflection and Learning: Encourage participants to reflect on the importance of effective communication, trust, and collaboration in problem-solving scenarios.

Highlight the lessons learned from the Blind Formations game and how these skills can be applied in their personal and professional lives.

12. Unpuzzled (in-person, virtual, hybrid)

Activity Focus Areas: Communication, reasoning, collaboration under time pressure.

Objective: Unpuzzled is an engaging team-building game that combines problem-solving and trivia elements. The goal is for each team to work collaboratively to solve a series of puzzles and then unscramble them to uncover a meta answer. The game can be played as a competition between teams and is flexible to be completed virtually, in-person, or in a hybrid setting, with a time limit of 20 minutes. Teams have the option to ask for the answer to a puzzle if needed, but it comes with a time penalty.

Formation of Teams: Divide participants into teams with an ideal size of 4 members per team.

Game setup: Explain the game concept and rules to all teams via the Loumee platform .

Ensure that each team has access to the necessary materials and the puzzles, either in printed form for in-person play or digitally for virtual and hybrid settings.

Puzzle Solving: Provide the teams with their series of puzzles that involve both problem-solving and trivia elements. Instruct teams to work together to solve each puzzle as efficiently as possible. 

Time Limit: Set a timer for 20 minutes to add a sense of urgency and encourage teams to manage their time wisely. Inform participants about the time limit and emphasize the importance of staying on track.

Unscrambling to find the Meta Answer: Once all puzzles are solved, teams must collaborate to unscramble the puzzle answers and derive a meta answer from them. The meta answer should reveal the overarching solution to the game - it might be a quote, a fact, for example.

Virtual, In-Person, or Hybrid Play: Facilitate the game in the chosen setting (virtual, in-person, or hybrid) to accommodate participants' preferences and logistical constraints.

Time Penalty for Hints: Teams have the option to ask for the answer to a specific puzzle if they encounter difficulties. Inform teams that seeking hints comes with a time penalty, which may affect their final completion time.

Completion and Winner Declaration: Stop the game after the time is up or when all teams have completed the game, depending on the play setting. Gather all teams together and review their answers to ensure accuracy.

Determine the Winning Team: Declare the team that correctly answers the most puzzles in the shortest time as the winner of the Unpuzzled team-building game.

Debrief and Reflection: Conduct a debrief session to discuss the experience and challenges faced by each team during the game using the LEAD reflection questions . Encourage participants to share insights on effective problem-solving strategies and team dynamics.

13. Same Same But Different

Activity focus areas: Adaptability, communication, teamwork.

Objective: The Same Same But Different team building game is an icebreaker activity that can be played in teams in 5 to 10 minutes. It is a team problem solving activity to challenge your team while also getting them warmed up for a meeting or event.

Divide participants into teams - 3-5 people per team.

Game setup: Explain the game concept and rules to all teams via the instructions on the Loumee platform .

14. Sinking Vessel (In-person)

Activity focus areas: Adaptability, Teamwork.

Objective: The Sinking Vessel team-building game aims to challenge participants' adaptability and collaborative problem-solving skills. The goal is for the entire team to work together and stay within a shrinking boundary created using a rope or string.

Why adaptability is important for problem-solving: Adaptability is crucial for problem-solving as it enables individuals to adjust their approaches and strategies when faced with new or changing circumstances. Being adaptable allows problem-solvers to effectively navigate unforeseen challenges, explore alternative solutions, and optimize their responses to achieve successful outcomes.

A rope or string

Set-Up: Choose a spacious area where participants can move freely and safely.

Lay the rope on the ground to create a large shape that can accommodate all team members standing inside it. The shape could be a circle, square, or any other figure that allows everyone to fit comfortably.

Forming the Initial Boundary: Ask all participants to stand within the shape created by the rope.

Ensure that everyone is positioned entirely inside the boundary.

Shrinking the Space:

Announce that the objective of the game is to keep everyone within the boundary as it shrinks over time.

Gradually and steadily reduce the size of the shape by pulling the rope inward.

Aim to shrink the space progressively over a period of 10-15 minutes.

Collaboration and Adaptability:

As the space shrinks, participants must collaborate to find creative solutions to stay within the boundaries.

Encourage open communication and idea-sharing among team members.

Problem-Solving Strategies: Participants can utilize various problem-solving strategies to adapt to the shrinking space. These may include:

Adjusting their positions within the boundary to optimize space utilization.

Forming smaller sub-groups and coordinating movements to accommodate everyone.

Thinking creatively to find innovative ways to fit within the shrinking area.

Facilitator Guidance: As the facilitator, observe the teams' interactions and provide support or guidance as needed. Avoid directly giving solutions but offer subtle nudges to encourage critical thinking.

Reflecting and Debriefing: After the activity, gather all participants for a debriefing session.

Encourage teams to share their experiences, challenges faced, and the strategies they employed to address the shrinking space.

Discuss how adaptability and teamwork played crucial roles in successfully completing the task.

15. Line Up Blind

Activity Focus Areas: Communication, teamwork.

Objective: The objective of the Line Up Blind team building game is to promote effective communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills within a group of participants. This game is typically used as an icebreaker or team-building exercise and is often part of corporate training sessions, workshops, or group activities.

Blindfolds: Participants are divided into small teams, and each team member is blindfolded.

Scattered Formation: The participants are initially scattered randomly in a designated area.

Objective: The teams are given a specific objective, such as lining up in order of height, birthday, or any other criterion, without being able to see or communicate directly with each other.

Communication: Team members must rely on verbal communication and teamwork to accomplish the objective. They can guide each other using spoken instructions, but physical contact is often restricted.

Time Limit: There is usually a time limit for completing the task.

Debrief: After the activity is completed or when the time limit is up, participants gather to discuss their experiences, the challenges they faced, and the strategies they used to achieve the objective.

16. Reverse Pyramid (in-person)

Activity Focus Areas: Adaptability, collaboration.

Objective:  To use some reasoning and collaboration to form a pyramid using human bodies.

1. Have everyone stand in a pyramid shape, horizontally.

2. Ask them to flip the base and the apex of the pyramid moving only three people.

3. This quick exercise works best when smaller groups compete to see who can reverse the pyramid the fastest.

17. Move It! (In-person)

Objective: The objective of Move It! is to have two teams face each other in two rows within a marked square space for each player. The goal is to switch the positions of the two lines of players following certain movement restrictions.

Chalk, rope, tape, or paper (something to mark a space)

1. Divide your group into two teams and line them up front to back, facing each other.

2. Using the chalk, tape, rope, or paper (depending on the playing surface), mark a square space for each person to stand on. Leave one extra empty space between the two facing rows.

3. The goal is for the two facing lines of players to switch places.

4. Place these restrictions on movement:

Only one person may move at a time.

A person may not move around anyone facing the same direction.

No one may not move backward.

A person may not move around more than one person on the other team at a time.

18. Human Knot (in-person)

Activity Focus Areas: Adaptability, collaboration

Objective: Create a human knot using team members.

1. Have everyone stand in a circle, and ask each person to hold hands with two people who aren’t directly next to them.

2. When everyone is tangled together, ask them to untangle the knot and form a perfect circle — without letting go of anyone's hand.

Virtual Problem Solving Activities

19. the trip (virtual, hybrid, in-person).

Activity Focus Areas: Team Collaboration, Communication, Reasoning, Problem-Solving Under Pressure.

Objective: Solve 10 different individual puzzles and then put them all together to solve the meta puzzle and figure out the destination - played as a game of speed with the fastest team to complete the game being the winner.

Access to the game materials via the platform

A conference call with breakout room functionality- e.g. Teams, Zoom, Meet, etc.

Split the group up into teams of 3-5 people

Present the activity introduction and rules of the game using the slide presentation provided (or you can book a facilitator to do it for you)

Put the teams into their breakout rooms and give them access to the online game page

Start the clock and give all teams a maximum of 40 minutes to complete the game

Check the answers after the time is up and make any corrections and adjustments to the total time score

Present the answers to the game and the winning team(s)

Ask teams to reflect on what worked well and what didn’t work so well in their team play - they can reflect on their individual contribution and behavior in the game

20. What Would X Do (in-person, virtual or hybrid)

Activity Focus Area: Instant problem-solving.

Objective: To try and find a creative solution to a real problem using some out-of-the-box thinking and ideas.

1. Have everyone pretend they're someone famous.

2. Each person must approach the problem as if they were their chosen famous person. What options would they consider? How would they handle it?

3. This allows everyone to consider solutions they might not have thought of originally.

3 types of problem solving models and how to use them

The best books on problem solving

Fun Problem-Solving Activities and Games : Looking for more ideas? Check out this list of interesting and creative problem-solving activities 

How to solve problems: This article provides a framework for problem solving and some tips on how the best teams do it

Looking for more team problem solving games ?

Check out the Loumee platform for 30+ problem-solving activities to challenge your team - there are different themes, lengths and difficulty levels from “lite” to challenging.

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7 Strategies to Build a More Resilient Team

• Keith Ferrazzi,
• Mary-Clare Race,
• Alex Vincent

You need a foundation of trust, transparency, and self-awareness.

The coronavirus pandemic revealed the necessity of resilient teams — as well as which teams didn’t have the necessary skills. Resilience requires a level of self-awareness and empathy that may not come naturally to all team members. Leaders must assess the state of their teams, identify weak spots and then deliver strategies that will help team members break down barriers and build foundations of trust, transparency and self-awareness. The article offers seven practices to help foster team resiliency.

Announcing Q4 results that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, Apple CEO Tim Cook identified resilient, high-functioning teams as a key element that fortified the company in the midst of the pandemic’s unprecedented challenges.

“Even though we’re apart, it’s been obvious this year that around the company, teams and colleagues have been leaning on and counting on each other more than in normal times,” Cook said. “I think that instinct, that resilience has been an essential part of how we have navigated this year.”

The pressure for teams to be resilient is more urgent than ever as we’re entering a new year with new quarterly targets and milestones.   Unfortunately, for every Apple there are just as many — if not more — examples of organizations that discovered, after the pandemic struck, that their teams did not have the necessary skills. That has left many business leaders wondering what they can do now to build resilience.

To start, leaders need to ask some tough questions to determine whether their teams have what it takes to qualify as truly resilient.

Through our research and experience coaching leading executive teams, LHH and Ferrazzi Greenlight have identified four critical characteristics of resilient teams: candor, resourcefulness, compassion, and humility.

• Candor: Is your team able to have open, honest dialogue and feedback with each other?  Resilient teams are able to speak truth to each other in order to collectively identify and solve for the challenges they face.
• Resourcefulness: When faced with challenges or problems, can your team pull together to build creative and effective solutions?  Resilient teams rebound from setbacks and welcome new challenges. They devote their energy to solutions and remain focused on outcomes regardless of external conditions.
• Compassion and Empathy: Do your team members truly care for each other and share both success and failure?  Resilient teams consist of individuals who deeply and genuinely care about each other. Resilience is often expressed in deep commitment to “co-elevating” the team rather than seeking individual recognition or success.
• Humility: Can your team ask for and accept help from other team members?  Resilient teams are willing to admit when a problem has become intractable and ask for help, either from someone else on the team or someone else in the organization. They do not hide their struggles but lean into the group responsibility for facing challenges and finding solutions.

If these are some of the core qualities and values of a resilient team, that still leaves open the question about what to do if your team is suffering from a resilience deficit.

Resilience requires a level of self-awareness and empathy that may not come naturally to all team members. Leaders must assess the state of their teams, identify weak spots and then deliver strategies that will help team members break down barriers and build foundations of trust, transparency and self-awareness.

Our GoForwardToWork.com initiative, for which we spoke to hundreds of executives, identified a set of interventions leaders can use to build resilient teams that we call High-Return Practices™.

While there are many practices that may foster your team’s resilience, here are some that we recommend:

Candor Breaks : Psychological safety — the belief that any team member can speak out without consequences — is crucial to creating resilient teams. When it feels like there’s an elephant in the room, leaders of high-performing teams create what we call “candor breaks” to encourage team members to share their thoughts and feelings.

At Ferrazzi Greenlight, we also refer to these as “Yoda in the room” moments. Any team member can call one and if necessary, we break into smaller groups (using breakout rooms if the meeting is virtual) to further encourage frank and honest discussion.

Independent Observers : To help team members embrace frank assessments of their work, resilient leaders invite outside experts to offer an objective perspective on issues/team dynamics.

Story Sharing : To foster participation, trust, and engagement, leaders of resilient teams often encourage team members to map out their life’s journey, including highs and lows, and share highlights with the rest of the team. In being vulnerable, the team creates an environment where compassion and humility are welcomed.

Owning Challenges : Resilient teams express their fears and concerns with each other. To build trust and honesty, leaders must facilitate this process and encourage people to admit fears or relationship challenges and canvass the team for solutions.

For example, a facilitator can ask each team member to express their feelings about the state of the team, and what problems exist. The facilitator should encourage team members to “own” their part in any existing problems and not resort to blaming other teammates.

Show That You Care : Leaders have to regularly demonstrate that they are genuinely interested in the progress the team is making, asking probing questions to understand underlying issues.

But asking is only half the equation: Resilient leaders must also listen carefully to the answers they get from team members. This is where a resilience deficit will be revealed.

Temperature Checks : At the beginning of every meeting, ask everyone to state their energy levels on a scale of one (low) to five (high). This simple and fast exercise that will quickly determine whether there is someone who needs attention or is outside their normal range of fatigue and frustration.

Commit to Building Each Other’s Resilience : We call this “co-elevation.” It’s essential to establish clear and unambiguous expectations around team unity and peer-to-peer support. Any hesitation or reluctance to help a struggling colleague is a sign that deeper interventions may be needed.

Ultimately, team resilience is similar to a battery. It needs to be restored and recharged regularly. Teams that put in place measures to do that will find that they are better equipped and – more importantly – willing to undertake any challenge throughout the pandemic and beyond.

• KF Keith Ferrazzi is the chair and founder of Ferrazzi Greenlight, a Los Angeles–based global teams consulting and coaching firm, and a coauthor of Competing in the New World of Work: How Radical Adaptability Separates the Best from the Rest (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022).
• MR Mary-Clare Race is chief innovation and product officer at LHH, a global leadership training firm.
• AV Alex Vincent is senior vice president for global leadership solutions at LHH, a global leadership training firm.

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Developing a Successful MTSS/RTI Team

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The MTSS/RTI team is a school-based, problem-solving team; it is the engine that drives the MTSS/RTI practice. The MTSS/RTI team exists to proactively address system needs by reviewing school-wide data (within grade levels and classrooms) and support individual student growth by helping to monitor progress and make decisions for students at Tier 3. The site administrator should play an active role in recruiting and ultimately designating the composition of the MTSS/RTI team. The most successful teams consist of volunteers, so it is important that site administrators make an effort to designate members who truly want to be involved. MTSS/RTI team membership is made up of both standing members who contribute expertise from their respective disciplines and those who may be invited to address a specific concern. Examples of standing members on the MTSS/RTI team include: administrator, general education teacher, school psychologist/counselor, dean, content area specialist, ELL teacher, special education teacher, and grade-level or department representatives. 
 

How to Develop a Successful School Level MTSS/RTI Team?

Whether developing a team for the first time, filling open “positions,” or refining your current team dynamics, it is important to spend time reflecting on individual and group qualities that make for a success team. In order to do this, we must have a good understanding of what the team does, what individual characteristics help make the team successful, what skills the team members need to bring to the group, and what expectations can be established to help the team be successful, which we will cover below.

What Are the Responsibilities of the MTSS/RTI Team?

In a typical school, the MTSS/RTI team meets regularly with a structured agenda that varies throughout the month to: 

• Review universal screening data;
• Review school-wide data, consider feedback and concerns from PLCs/grade or content teams, and make data-based decisions;
• Provide input on professional development as it relates to the school’s MTSS/RTI practice and Tier 1 needs; 

• Provide input regarding school site intervention/enrichment schedule, curriculum, and/or course offerings; 

• Support grade levels/departments in serving students during intervention blocks in collaboration with general education teachers; 

• Discuss and communicate with the site administrator on issues relevant to the MTSS/RTI process; 

• Consult and collaborate with administrators, counselors, teachers and parents about MTSS/RTI
, problem-solving practice, and procedural integrity; 

• Hold problem-solving meetings (that include parents) for individual students; 

• Refer students for comprehensive special education evaluations when data indicate this step is warranted.

What Are the Characteristics of Effective MTSS/RTI Team Members?

MTSS is a system level practice, therefore, an MTSS team should consist of educators capable of leading system level change and management. According to the work of Chenoweth and Everhart (2002), effective leadership teams consists of individuals possessing the following characteristics:

• they are committed to school-wide change;
• they are respected by colleagues;
• they possess leadership potential;
• they demonstrate effective interpersonal skills; and
• they are self-starters with perseverance to see projects through

To promote a healthy school climate, the MTSS/RTI team, like any leadership team, should reflect the diversity of the staff, students, and broader community. In addition, the team members should bring a diversity of skills and expertise to best fill out the responsibilities of different roles. 

What Roles & Responsibilities Do MTSS/RTI Team Members Hold?

Successful teams clearly articulate everyone’s roles and responsibilities so people are adequately able to prepare for what is expected of them and bring their best to the team. The following are typical roles and responsibilities that should be explicitly assigned to members of the MTSS/RTI team, given individual strengths and abilities:

• Provides leadership at MTSS/RTI team meetings
• Facilitates monitoring of instructional integrity within grade levels/departments
• 
Ensures progress monitoring for all students in Tiers 2 and 3 (both for students with IEPs and those without IEPs) 
 
• Ensures school schedule and resource allocation enables a successful MTSS practice
• Celebrates and communicates success
• Coordinates and sets agenda for MTSS/RTI team meetings
• Provides expertise to MTSS/RTI team regarding problem-solving protocol 
• Provides expertise in data analysis 
• Identifies trends in student/staff need across school
• Serves as a liaison between PLC/grade-level/department team and MTSS/RTI team 

• Attends grade level PLC/MTSS/RTI meetings on a regular basis
• Identifies trends in student/staff need across grade-level or content area
• Presents data/background information on student being discussed (in absence of classroom teacher)

• Provides expertise to MTSS/RTI team regarding interventions and skill remediation
• Supports MTSS/RTI team with data interpretation and ensures linkage of data to selected interventions 
• Gathers progress monitoring data from PLCs and Tier 3 interventionists for review during MTSS/RTI meetings
• Consults/collaborates with classroom teachers regarding differentiated instruction 
• Provides experience with and knowledge of student being discussed
• Presents data/background information on student
• Ensures next steps are documented and communicated with student and/or family

How Can a Team Be Set up for Success?

According to the Center for Collaborative Education , the following areas and questions should be considered:

• How often do we need to meet in order to do our work?
• Where and when will we meet?
• What equipment/tools do we use to facilitate our meetings?
• How long should our meetings be?
• Will we start on time or wait for any late team members?
• What is our plan for addressing tardiness and attendance of team members?
• How will we show respect for each other?
• How will we encourage active listening?
• How will we encourage everyone’s participation?
• What is our decision-making process?
• Is consensus needed for decision-making?
• How do we document and communicate our decisions?
• How can we ensure workload is distributed?
• How do we help each other balance our MTSS team work with other school responsibilities?
• How do we prioritize our workload?
• How will we make sure that tasks are completed on time?
• Enforcement of norms
• How do we hold ourselves accountable to these norms?
• What is our plan if norms are not followed?

In addition to clearly communicating individual roles and responsibilities, healthy and successful teams have a shared understanding of how they are expected to function as a group. While some groups develop these expectations or understandings organically, it should not be assumed that everyone is aligned. Clearly articulating expectations, or operational norms, will help promote a healthier team dynamic.

References:

Chenoweth, T. G., & Everhart, R. B. (2002). Navigating comprehensive school change: A guide for the perplexed. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Dr. Eva Dundas

Dr. Dundas is the Chief Learning Officer of Branching Minds, where she pursues her mission to bridge the gap between the science of learning and education practice. Dr. Dundas has a Ph.D. in Developmental and Cognitive Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University where she conducted research on how the brain develops when children acquire visual expertise for words and faces. Her research also explores how the relationship between neural systems (specifically language and visual processing) unfolds over development, and how those dynamics differ with neurodevelopmental disorders like dyslexia and autism. She has published articles on that subject in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuropsychologia, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Dr. Dundas also has a M.Ed. in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard University; and a B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Tagged: Instituting MTSS , Leadership in MTSS

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