Collaborative Problem Solving: What It Is and How to Do It
What is collaborative problem solving, how to solve problems as a team, celebrating success as a team.
Problems arise. That's a well-known fact of life and business. When they do, it may seem more straightforward to take individual ownership of the problem and immediately run with trying to solve it. However, the most effective problem-solving solutions often come through collaborative problem solving.
As defined by Webster's Dictionary , the word collaborate is to work jointly with others or together, especially in an intellectual endeavor. Therefore, collaborative problem solving (CPS) is essentially solving problems by working together as a team. While problems can and are solved individually, CPS often brings about the best resolution to a problem while also developing a team atmosphere and encouraging creative thinking.
Because collaborative problem solving involves multiple people and ideas, there are some techniques that can help you stay on track, engage efficiently, and communicate effectively during collaboration.
- Set Expectations. From the very beginning, expectations for openness and respect must be established for CPS to be effective. Everyone participating should feel that their ideas will be heard and valued.
- Provide Variety. Another way of providing variety can be by eliciting individuals outside the organization but affected by the problem. This may mean involving various levels of leadership from the ground floor to the top of the organization. It may be that you involve someone from bookkeeping in a marketing problem-solving session. A perspective from someone not involved in the day-to-day of the problem can often provide valuable insight.
- Communicate Clearly. If the problem is not well-defined, the solution can't be. By clearly defining the problem, the framework for collaborative problem solving is narrowed and more effective.
- Expand the Possibilities. Think beyond what is offered. Take a discarded idea and expand upon it. Turn it upside down and inside out. What is good about it? What needs improvement? Sometimes the best ideas are those that have been discarded rather than reworked.
- Encourage Creativity. Out-of-the-box thinking is one of the great benefits of collaborative problem-solving. This may mean that solutions are proposed that have no way of working, but a small nugget makes its way from that creative thought to evolution into the perfect solution.
- Provide Positive Feedback. There are many reasons participants may hold back in a collaborative problem-solving meeting. Fear of performance evaluation, lack of confidence, lack of clarity, and hierarchy concerns are just a few of the reasons people may not initially participate in a meeting. Positive public feedback early on in the meeting will eliminate some of these concerns and create more participation and more possible solutions.
- Consider Solutions. Once several possible ideas have been identified, discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each one until a consensus is made.
- Assign Tasks. A problem identified and a solution selected is not a problem solved. Once a solution is determined, assign tasks to work towards a resolution. A team that has been invested in the creation of the solution will be invested in its resolution. The best time to act is now.
- Evaluate the Solution. Reconnect as a team once the solution is implemented and the problem is solved. What went well? What didn't? Why? Collaboration doesn't necessarily end when the problem is solved. The solution to the problem is often the next step towards a new collaboration.
The burden that is lifted when a problem is solved is enough victory for some. However, a team that plays together should celebrate together. It's not only collaboration that brings unity to a team. It's also the combined celebration of a unified victory—the moment you look around and realize the collectiveness of your success.
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How to ace collaborative problem solving
April 30, 2023 They say two heads are better than one, but is that true when it comes to solving problems in the workplace? To solve any problem—whether personal (eg, deciding where to live), business-related (eg, raising product prices), or societal (eg, reversing the obesity epidemic)—it’s crucial to first define the problem. In a team setting, that translates to establishing a collective understanding of the problem, awareness of context, and alignment of stakeholders. “Both good strategy and good problem solving involve getting clarity about the problem at hand, being able to disaggregate it in some way, and setting priorities,” Rob McLean, McKinsey director emeritus, told McKinsey senior partner Chris Bradley in an Inside the Strategy Room podcast episode . Check out these insights to uncover how your team can come up with the best solutions for the most complex challenges by adopting a methodical and collaborative approach.
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PISA 2015 Results (Volume V)
What is collaborative problem solving, collaborative problem solving.
The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines not just what students know in science, reading and mathematics, but what they can do with what they know. Results from PISA show educators and policy makers the quality and equity of learning outcomes achieved elsewhere, and allow them to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries. PISA 2015 Results (Volume V): Collaborative Problem Solving , is one of five volumes that present the results of the PISA 2015 survey, the sixth round of the triennial assessment. It examines students’ ability to work with two or more people to try to solve a problem. The volume provides the rationale for assessing this particular skill and describes performance within and across countries. In addition, it highlights the relative strengths and weaknesses of each school system and examines how they are related to individual student characteristics, such as gender, immigrant background and socio-economic status. The volume also explores the role of education in building young people’s skills in solving problems collaboratively.
English Also available in: French
- https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264285521-en
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This chapter introduces the PISA 2015 assessment of collaborative problem solving. It provides the rationale for assessing collaborative problemsolving competence in PISA and introduces the innovative features of the 2015 assessment, particularly in contrast to the individual problem-solving assessment of PISA 2012. The framework for the assessment is discussed and sample items are presented.
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Author(s) OECD
21 Nov 2017
Pages: 45 - 64
COMMENTS
Generally, collaborative problem solving has two main areas: the collaborative (e.g., communication or social aspects) and the knowledge or cognitive aspects (e.g., domain-specific problem-solving strategies).
PISA 2015 defines collaborative problem-solving competency as: the capacity of an individual to effectively engage in a process whereby two or more agents attempt to solve a problem by sharing the understanding and effort required to come to a solution and pooling their knowledge, skills and efforts
What is collaborative problem solving? Collaborative problem solving can be defined as, “the capacity of an individual to effectively engage in a process whereby two or more agents attempt to solve a problem by sharing the understanding and effort required to come to a solution and pooling their knowledge, skills, and efforts to reach that ...
This section features a step-by-step description of six different approaches to problem solving and includes tools, vignettes, and checklists useful to practicing facilitators.
What is collaborative problem solving? As defined by Webster's Dictionary, the word collaborate is to work jointly with others or together, especially in an intellectual endeavor. Therefore, collaborative problem solving (CPS) is essentially solving problems by working together as a team.
In collaborative problem solving, parties work side by side to solve the problem together. Rather than negotiating from opposing positions, the parties, through a number of different techniques which we will describe, identify problems in terms of INTERESTS. Working with interests is a key concept in collaborative problem solving. An interest ...
Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is a manualized intervention based on cognitive-behavioral techniques, that was designed to reduce aggression in children and adolescents and thereby reduce restrictive practices (Greene, Ablon, & Martin, 2006).
To solve any problem—whether personal (eg, deciding where to live), business-related (eg, raising product prices), or societal (eg, reversing the obesity epidemic)—it’s crucial to first define the problem. In a team setting, that translates to establishing a collective understanding of the problem, awareness of context, and alignment of ...
Overview. In this stage, the objective is to identify the hopes and expectations of conveners and potential group leaders, and come up with a preliminary roadmap of the process that reflects their combined intentions in a realistic way.
It examines students’ ability to work with two or more people to try to solve a problem. The volume provides the rationale for assessing this particular skill and describes performance within and across countries.