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chapter 7 | Dealing With Problems and Conflicts 95 CikguOnline
Generate Possible Solutions Choose the Best Solution
Here, creativity is especially important. Try to dis- Which of the suggested solutions is most likely to
courage people from using old solutions for new work? A combination of suggestions is often the
problems. It is natural for people to try to repeat best solution.
something that has already worked well, but previ- Implement the Solution Chosen
ously successful solutions may not work in the
future (Walsh, 1996). Instead, encourage searching The true test of any suggested solution is how well
for innovative solutions (Smialek, 2001). it actually works. Once a solution has been imple-
When an innovative solution is needed, sug- mented, it is important to give it time to work.
gest that the group take some time to brainstorm. Impatience sometimes leads to premature aban-
Ask everyone to write down (or call out as you donment of a good solution.
write on a flip chart) as many solutions as he or Is the Problem Resolved?
she can come up with (Rees, 2005). Then give
Not every problem is resolved successfully on the
everyone a chance to consider each suggestion on
first attempt. If the problem has not been resolved,
its own merits.
then the process needs to be resumed with even
Evaluate Suggested Solutions greater attention to what the real problem is and
how it can be resolved successfully.
An open-minded evaluation of each suggestion is
Consider the following situation in which prob-
needed, but accomplishing this is not always easy.
lem solving was helpful (Case 2)
Some groups are “stuck in a rut,” unable to “think
The nurse manager asked Ms. Deloitte to meet
outside the box.” Other times, groups find it diffi-
with her to discuss the problem. The following is a
cult to separate the suggestion from its source.
summary of their problem solving:
On an interdisciplinary team, for example, the sta-
tus of the person who made the suggestion may ■ The Issue. Ms. Deloitte wanted to take her
influence whether the suggestion is judged to be vacation from the end of December through
useful. Whose solution is most likely to be the best early January. Making the assumption that she
one: the physician’s or the unlicensed assistant’s? was going to be permitted to go, she had pur-
That depends. Judge the suggestion on its merits, chased nonrefundable tickets. The policy forbids
not its source. vacations from December 20 to January 5. The

Case 2

The Vacation
Francine Deloitte has been a unit secretary for 10 years. She is prompt, efficient, accurate, courteous,
flexible, and productive—everything a nurse manager could ask for in a unit secretary. When nursing staff
members are very busy, she distributes afternoon snacks or sits with a family for a few minutes until a
nurse is available. There is only one issue on which Ms. Deloitte is insistent and stubborn: taking her
2-week vacation over the Christmas and New Year holidays. This is forbidden by hospital policy, but every
nurse manager has allowed her to do this because it is the only special request she ever makes and
because it is the only time she visits her family during the year.
A recent reorganization of the administrative structure had eliminated several layers of nursing manag-
ers and supervisors. Each remaining nurse manager was given responsibility for two or three units. The
new nurse manager for Ms. Deloitte’s unit refused to grant her request for vacation time at the end of
December. “I can’t show favoritism,” she explained. “No one else is allowed to take vacation time at the end
of December.” Assuming that she could have the time off as usual, Francine had already purchased a
nonrefundable ticket for her visit home. When her request was denied, she threatened to quit. On hearing
this, one of the nurses on Francine’s unit confronted the new nurse manager saying, “You can’t do this. We
are going to lose the best unit secretary we’ve ever had if you do.”