Empower Employees with Problem-Solving Skills

Welcome Back😊

Picture this…🖼️

You are sitting down at your desk getting some of your computer tasks done when you have an employee walk in and start asking “when my break is today?” and another employee calls over the walkie-talkie saying, “I am out of blue paint”, or “the bathroom is out of paper towels.”

These have all happened to me, which has extended my workday by several hours. Those little moments really add up over the day.

What would you do with the time you save by empowering your employees to problem-solve? Let’s talk about encouraging and empowering employees to problem-solve to make your day run smoother.

As Leaders, we feel it is our responsibility to always make things better. In reality, we should be using these opportunities to coach and mentor our employees to grow their own problem-solving skills.

What is Problem-solving?

It is the ability to identify if there is a problem and then implement a solution to solve this problem. Many times, employees don’t feel that they are empowered to find the answers, so they go to their supervisors for the answers.

Here are 3 skills that can help you coach & mentor employees to strengthen them to become successful and empowered problem-solvers:

As a leader in Early Childhood, there are always problems that need to be addressed!

I use my staff meetings to teach how to solve a problem. I will bring a problem to the group and then have them break into small groups to discuss and create possible solutions. They then return to a large group with their ideas. When together, we decide on the best solution, then someone will own the problem and solution. This is a wonderful way to start creating a culture of collaborative problem-solving.

Problem-solving is extremely important because it helps our employees identify a problem and then implement a solution which opens new opportunities for growth. They then feel like valued contributor within their organization and will be willing to continue to solve problems on their own.

Here are 5 strategies I use to empower, grow, and elevate my employees to give me time to engage in more meaningful work:

• Be an active listener👂🏻

• Ask how🙋🏻‍♀️my employees can solve the problem before giving them the answers

• Promote innovation by allowing them to have different problem-solving ideas💡

• Recognize their contribution and celebrate the wins🏆of problem-solving

• Let employees own💪 the problem and solution

So instead of calls for more blue paint, you see the classes “going on a bear hunt” to the supply closet, and you hear the teachers asking another to get more paper towels for the bathroom on their way back from the playground.

Let’s grow and empower SOLUTINISTS (a solver of problems) within our child care programs!

Till next time,

Jen🖍️

P.S. Here is a fun way to engage staff and work on building problem-solving skills as a team.