So, there’s a problem, you come in, and you solve it. That’s great, right? Who doesn’t love a problem solved and, even better, a person who can solve it?
Here’s what’s even better: upon solving a problem, setting up a process or system so that it never happens again (or, at least, is less likely to or you’re alerted in case it does.)
Let’s dive into that for a moment.
From a client’s point of view, even when a problem is solved, a bunch of risks and worries remain on his or her mind. Let’s list some.
- What caused this to happen? And why wasn’t that dealt with in the beginning?
- Are the freelancer’s eyes on the ball, or is he distracted?
- Was this a one-time thing or could this happen again?
- If it happens again, how can I be alerted as quickly as possible?
- Who is watching the watchers? (Even if the problem is solved, or there is an alert in place, how do we know those meta-solutions will work?)
In short, solving a problem still leaves open-ended questions and doubt in your client or boss’s mind. And one great way to solve doubts and questions is the following:
First, focus all your energy on solving it. No meta-analyses or high-level reflection until the problem is solved.
Second, once solved, own the problem—even if it is remotely or vaguely your fault. See our other chapters in this series about how to apologize. Of course, if someone in another department that has nothing to do with you makes a huge mistake and you come in to help solve it, then no need to apologize. Apologizing when not your fault implies an insincerity that you probably don’t want to be known for.
Third, and last, and this is the core point of this chapter, once solved and apologized for, help define a process so that this doesn’t happen again. Or a process to alert you quickly in case it threatens to happen again, at least.
Here are a few steps that you may want to do, in defining a process:
1.) Create a Google doc with your proposed process and share it. It’s perfectly fine if this isn’t your responsibility. Everyone appreciates when people go above and beyond the requirements, except for those threatened by it, and you may want to ignore them.
2.) Think through what could have happened to have prevented this from happening in writing and agree to create or implement that system.
3.) Set up the automated components of it, even if it is fully manual. Sounds like a contradiction, right? Here’s what I mean: even if you have to manually check on a task regularly to make sure it works fine, put it into your Google Calendar as a repeated monthly task so you don’t forget! Even when it’s something you have to do, you may forget to do it. This is where the whole universe of calendars, reminders, post-it notes, task tracking software, and to-do lists comes in very handy.
4.) Set up a meta-system to watch the watchers. Whatever your reminder is, every once in a while, check the reminders to make sure it’s still there. As an example, let’s say some links were broken so you set up a link checker. Log in to your link checker occasionally to make sure it’s still working, and of course give yourself a Google Calendar reminder to do so.
Conclusion? Solving problems, good. Owning having caused the problem, even better. Defining and implementing a system to prevent it from happening again? The best.
