Pair Problem Solving in the Workplace

Today cooperation is replacing competition in more and more work situations. We are even seeing a rise in co-creating products with customers. Yet few of us have any training in cooperative thinking or group problem solving. Our typical introduction to teamwork is being picked to be part of a team.

In Agile software development the use of pair programing has been used for many years. They consider that the defects are significantly reduced when there is another developer looking over ones shoulder. Because of this the overall rate of development is increased even though you may consider that efficiency has been decreased.

There have been other gains that have been attributed to pair programming. One is substitution as programming is tiresome, so that the developers together can program for longer hours than a single person. The other gain is knowledge or skill transfer. But maybe the most important, working as a pair or even in a larger setting as a team, assists in taking tactical knowledge and making it explicit.

From the book, Problem Solving & Comprehension, the authors state:

Pair problem solving is also an excellent system for building skills for team thinking, creativity, trouble shooting, and design. Often when a group of people meet to discuss an issue, each individual strives to show off his or her own competence or cut down other people's ideas. To counter these tendencies a technique known as Brainstorming forbids criticism. But this does not really solve the problem, because criticism is essential to building an effective solution. Pair problem solving encourages constant criticism without degenerating into personal bickering.

Most people, including highly talented people, have very little conscious awareness of how they produce creative new Ideas or how they reach decisions. When you have little understanding of how you think yourself, the conclusions reached by others can be completely baffling In the highly charged, competitive environment of the corporate rat race it is easy to see other people's ideas In a bad light. Pair problem solving develops both an understanding of your own reasoning processes and an appreciation of those of other people. Furthermore it shows you how working with other people, you can refine ideas and problem solutions so that the end result is better than any single contribution This experience and the experiences of sharing your thought processes create a feeling of intimacy and trust. It establishes the base for a group to move from bickering to brilliance.

We have a significant amount of team building exercises but I believe it can be boiled down to one thing: Respect for people. If your organization has that built into its culture and externalized to its customers and vendors, you may have mastered the most powerful ingredient for success.

As my Friday Video counterpart, Dr. Balle suggests, “As an individual are you taking the time to see how easy you are making someone else’s job.”

A simple exercise that can be interesting is for the rest of the day do not solve a problem without asking someone for an opinion. Knowledge is not created in a vacuum.

Five Dysfunctions of a Team Workshop Deluxe Facilitator’s Guide Package is outstanding and can be a great start for not only sales and marketing but your entire organization.

Related Information:
There is no Team in Kaizen
Improve Communication – Have more meetings?
Quality and Collaboration eBook

Creating Opportunities with Lean Six Sigma

Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) will manage global print operations at Ingersoll Rand, saving the diversified industrial firm millions by better managing company-wide print spend.

Using a Lean Six Sigma-based approach, Xerox will design a print environment with the appropriate number of output devices, like printers, fax machines, copiers and scanners, to help employees work more efficiently. Ingersoll Rand employees will have help adapting to more efficient technology and work processes through Xerox’s change management training and support programs.

Result: The nine-year Enterprise Print Services (EPS) contract brings multiple output devices, print budgets and vendor support systems under Xerox management.

Taking Managed Print Services to the Bank: Xerox to Manage Print Operations for Huntington

Using Lean Six Sigma-based methodology, Huntington and Xerox evaluated bank employees’ daily work habits and designed a print environment that helps them work more efficiently. Xerox’s pre-emptive servicing of equipment will help employees stay productive throughout the day.

Result: The five-year Enterprise Print Services (EPS) contract will bring multiple print budgets and output devices, like printers, copiers and fax machines under Xerox management.

Xerox Lean Document Production Service Puts Print Providers in Control; Reduces Production Costs by 20-40 Percent

What is Xerox doing? They are extending their services to win major contracts through the use of Lean Six Sigma. They have taken what most consider “inside practices” and extended it to their customer. I think many times we forget to maximize all of our opportunities. After reading these press releases, I thought what am I doing in my own business that might have value for others? Actually, my first thought went to an old product development practice that is still pinned up on my wall, SCAMPER:

What can you Substitute?
What can you Combine?
What can you Adapt?
What can you Modify or Magnify?
Can you Put to other uses?
What can you Eliminate or reduce?
What can you Reverse/Rearrange?

I always added one more…Leave it sit for a day. Sleeping on it has value! Using a concept like SCAMPER can really open your eyes to a few different practices.

Consider things that you do well internally and how they may provide additional value to your customer. I think we forget sometimes how embedded the culture of our company is. It starts at our front door and does not stop at shipping or as the product leaves the building. You will find that culture is identified in your product and as a result extended into your customer’s place of business. Your internally practices may not be as internal as you may think. Getting your engineers and operational people into your customers place of business or in Lean terms going to Gemba could provide some very interesting conversations and as a result opportunities.

Xerox has made a major commitment to using Lean Six Sigma tools and methodology - both to drive improvements in their own business and to deliver measurable results for customers. What internal practices do you have in place that may apply to your customer? The funny thing is that you won’t find which internal practices will work unless you go external. Go visit a customer today!

For more information on Xerox, visit http://www.xerox.com or http://www.xerox.com/news.

My Xerox Collection:
Agile Product Development at Xerox
Design for Lean Six Sigma, The Xerox Way
The Kaizen Event, A Critical Component of Xerox’s Customer Experience
Learn more about the Xerox Design for Lean Six Sigma
E-book on Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox
Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Related Posts:
Learning to talk their talk helps you walk your walk!
Does your customer know why you do it?

Getting your Drip Marketing to flow the other direction!

So what would you reverse? This is only a subtle difference to most, but it really is a different mindset. How about sending information based on the customers actions? Let’s say that they attend a certain trade show, win a particular bid, follow a certain group of people or buy a certain product. There are so many ways, especially if we are monitoring their actions on the web that would enable us to get leading indicators about our own product.

What are those triggering points that would cause you to react? Go back to the SAMPER formula for a few ideas? What is combined with your product? What is eliminated by your product? I encourage you to take a close look at your DMP and figure out how you SCAMPER your DMP and get that drip going a different direction!