 Hello and welcome to the lecture for Chapter 7, Group Problem Solving Procedures. In the following slide, we're going to look at the process of problem solving and specifically dive into some of the systematic techniques that you can use to more effectively solve problems that face your group. Alright, so one of the first things that we should discuss here at the outset is the importance of using a systematic procedure as the basis for problem solving. A couple of reminders all the way back in Chapter 2 is that there are a wide variety of paths that can lead us to a solution. And the paths that are systematically reached tend to lead to solutions that are better for the outcome of the group. With that in mind, let's look at some of the characteristics of the problem and some of the ways that we can systematically reach solutions. So, first off, what is a problem? When we talk about a problem, what we're talking about is a difference between what exists presently for a group and what you would expect or want. That said, what problem solving is, is everything that you need to do to move yourself from your present undesirable situation to the situation that you want. This includes creating solutions and choosing among them. Decision making is the process by which you do that, right? The process by which you actually choose from the decisions that are available for you. So every problem has three major components. An undesirable existing situation, a desired situation or goal, and obstacles to change, right? Things that get in the way from you reaching that desired situation or goal. Problem solving is how you approach these. So, a couple characteristics of problems that are worth briefly discussing. First, task difficulty. Task difficulty is the complexity of the problem, right? How many facets and difficulties go along with understanding that problem. Solution multiplicity, second, is all of the possible ways to solve that problem. Intrinsic interests are the group member's interest in solving the problem. And then member familiarity is the group member's knowledge of the problem. Acceptance level, then, is the degree to which the solution must be accepted by the people affected by the problem. Keep in mind that doesn't necessarily mean acceptance in the group, right? Your group members might be all for the solution, but you have to think about the acceptance level that your solution impacts. So, if there was a community center that was destroyed in a storm and you were trying to find a new location for it, it's not just what's an acceptable relocation by your group standards. It would be the acceptable relocation by the community standards inside of that. And last but not least is the area of freedom. And this has to do with the amount of authority or limitations on authority that your group has in terms of being able to act and solve problems. All right, so let's look at a couple effective problem-solving and decision-making strategies. All right, at the off-site, let's briefly talk about functional theory. So, what functional theory is, is a theory based on communication and how communication can actually help or hinder the group's ability to solve problems and make decisions, right? And so, what this deals with is the results of the outcomes of group behavior and structures. Operating from this perspective, we kind of see communication as the tool that group members can then use to solve problems and make decisions with communication being the central focus inside of this. All right, so three factors that kind of impact the conditions needed for effective problem-solving. First are the task requirements, right? This is what the group needs to do in order to reach goals. The second one here is effective communication, and these are the communicative skills that your group has to discuss and go through that communicative process to move towards decisions. And finally is the amount of willingness that group members have to reconsider group processes and ultimately overcome resistance to change and being able to reconsider and look at new opportunities. Ultimately, the changes and diversity in these things will impact how effective your group is at being able to solve problems. This leads us to the procedural model of problem-solving, which is a flexible framework to guide each phase of the problem-solving process. So the first aspect of PMOPs is to ask group members to come together and address the nature of the problem facing them. And this means that they want to stop and take time to focus on the problem before thinking about how to solve it. Typically, this should begin with the creation of a single problem statement. This problem statement should be unambiguous and clear inside there and really kind of summarize what might be done to gain insight and understanding the problem. So problems questions tend to focus on the problem, that undesirable state, and then imply that many solutions are possible. Solution questions then focus on what to do, suggesting a solution in the question itself. Alright, so that leads to fact-finding. This involves mapping the problem carefully, understanding, like, who, what, why, where, how long, and how serious. Just be careful inside here. You want to be sure that while you're doing this, that group members agree on the criteria. So understanding, like, what has to go inside of that and what specifically should be looked at inside of there. Just make sure that each group, that the group understands that it is interdependent and its authority, autonomy, and resources ultimately impact their ability to do this. The second phase of PMOPs is trying to understand what might be done to solve the problems, right? So again, just like in a brainstorming process, you want to defer judgment when seeking solutions. The focus should be the quantity of the solutions and later we'll return to fact-finding and getting new insights before we move on and sort of evaluating these. So once you have a wide variety of paths and solutions that could tentatively be taken, then you move on to phase three where you evaluate the relative merits and the merits of the possible solutions. So go through each solution, analyze and evaluate the potential solutions against the criteria that you and your group members has established earlier at what you're trying to accomplish with this solution to the problem. You should try to promote norms in your group that stress critical examination of all the issues. So don't just pick the best three and go with them. Work through this process on all of those solutions. Again, it does take time, but it leads you to better solutions in the end. At that point, once you've done this in-depth evaluation, you then want to look at what the best solution is that everyone can support, right? So look at which solution seems to be the most likely to be accepted and supported by all persons affected by this. Again, you're looking at acceptance level here. You might want to look to see if there's a compromise that everyone can accept that is likely to still solve the problem and then maybe see if there is any way that you can combine ideas or parts of them into a more affective solution. Finally, you want to kind of look at how this solution can be put into effect, figure out who will do what, when they will do it in what way. It's important to be specific about this and have understanding. You should identify any and all resources that are needed to put the plan into effect and then develop an implementation plan that will allow you to complete as possible inside of this. Last but not least, it's important and good systematic problem-solving to document this process, right? It should be put together of what you did and why you did it and then kind of put this together in an effective report that can be identified to other people, particularly if you find yourself having to sell your solution, right? You went through this problem-solving process and now you're going to try to persuade others that this is the way to go. You need to make sure that you have got the resources and the description that explains your plan in an effective oral presentation. All right. Well, that wraps up our discussion on problem-solving. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at one of the many means available to you.