Problem statements

A good problem statement is co-created, so set up a shared space to work on this with your stakeholders. This could be as simple as a slide in a deck (like our template), or tools like Mural or Miro to gather ideas and collaborate.

Along with your stakeholders, draft a couple of lines that articulate the problem you’re trying to solve. Keep it simple, and make sure it sums up the brief succinctly. Where possible, focus on behaviours.

Example: HR advisors are experiencing a higher-than-usual level of grievances, regularly raised against inexperienced managers. We believe that many of these grievances can be solved well before they reach HR escalation. Managers frequently do not follow policy and refer to HR for conflicts they should be able to solve.

Your target defines what success looks like. Ask yourself, “What will happen in the business for me to be able to say we’ve solved the problem?" Think about if and how it’s currently measured.

Example: Our target is to help managers proactively reduce the number of grievances raised and also to save time for HR advisors, who will be freed up for other tasks. This is measured currently by quarterly grievance reporting figures and resourcing figures for our HR advisors.

Next, we sum up why this is important, what will happen in the business, and the benefits of doing the project.

Example: By doing this, we’ll help managers have better conversations with their staff, increase morale, reduce grievances, and ensure HR staff and managers spend less time in grievance meetings and arbitration.

Everyone who’s involved in the project needs to know the problem you’re solving and the metrics for success. Tidy up the wording as needed and share it with your stakeholder group. You’ll need a broad agreement on the problem statement before you can move on to the discovery phase.

If there are disagreements over strategy or tactics, return to the problem statement and use it to decide on the best course.