How to: Write a Problem Statement
What?
Aproblemstatementisusuallyoneortwosentencestoexplaintheproblemyourprocessimprovement
[Link],aproblemstatementwilloutlinethenegativepointsofthecurrentsituation
[Link],helpingtogetbuyinand
supportfromothers.
Why?
Oneofthemostimportantgoalsofanyproblemstatementistodefinetheproblembeingaddressedina
waythat'[Link]
oftheproject.
How?
Creationofaproblemstatementisanactivitythatisbestcompletedinasmallgroup(46people).Itis
helpfultohaveacoupleofpeoplewhoareinvolvedintheprocessandaprocessownerinvolvedinthe
activity.
[Link]
thesentences/lookingforcommonthemesandwording.
[Link].
[Link]
[Link].
[Link].
[Link],deferwritingthefinalproblem
statementuntilyouhavebeenabletoquantifytheproblem.
Youshouldbeabletoapplythe5'W's(Who,What,Where,WhenandWhy)totheproblemstatement.
Aproblemstatementcanberefinedasyoustarttofurtherinvestigaterootcause.
Finally,reviewyournewproblemstatementagainstthefollowingcriteria:
Itshouldfocusononlyoneproblem.
Itshouldbeoneortwosentenceslong.
Itshouldnotsuggestasolution.
Anexampleproblemstatement:
ThestaffingmodelintheProcessImprovementUnit(PIU)haschanged(wehavemorestaff,and
someofthestaffhavedifferentworkingpatterns)weneedtohaveaclearwayofrecordingstatus
andstageofourbusinessactivities(projects,workshopsandtraining)thatwillbeusedbyallPIU
staff,[Link]
isduetogoonannualleaveintwoweekstimeandwehavenovisibilityorwayofeasilysharing
informationabouttheirwork,thiswillmakeithardfortherestoftheteamtocovertheworkduring
staffabsence.
(Emailusat
piu@[Link]
ifyoudliketoseethevisualmanagementboardweimplementedtodeal
withthisproblem).