How to solve Case Studies III Situation Appraisal

By Christophe Mercier

Review from last session

A. What is going on? B. Why did this happen? C. Which course of action should we take? D. What lies ahead? 1. Potential Problem Analysis (PPA) 2. Decision Analysis (DA) 3. Problem Analysis (PA) 4. Situation Appraisal

Situation Appraisal, an Evaluation Tool

Preceding PA, DA and PPA, it shows:
Where to begin How to recognize situations that require actions How to break apart overlapping and confusing issues How to set priorities How to manage a number of simultaneous activities efficiently

Situation appraisal techniques

Recognizing concerns Separating concerns into manageable components Setting priorities Planning resolution of concerns

The Stages of Situation Appraisal:

RECOGNIZE CONCERNS Current or Future - Deviations - Threats - Opportunities PLAN FOR RESOLUTION: -Select the appropriate process to solve each concern - Plan the Who, What, Where, When and Extent of the solution SEPARATE: -Break broad Concerns into more clearly defined sub-concerns -List additional concerns that must be resolved

Recognizing concerns
List current business situation, deviations, threats and opportunities Review progress against goals Look ahead for surprises within the organization and in the external environment Search for improvement

SET PRIORITIES: -Decide in which order to work on your separated concerns

Sample of specific questions to ask in SA

Where are we not meeting standards? What problems from the last six months remain unsolved What recommendations are we currently working on or be coming up in the near future? What decisions need to be made now? What decisions are being made now and will have to be implemented when a choice is made? What major projects, systems or plans are about to be implemented?

Separating Concerns into Manageable Components

Do we think one action will really resolve this concern? Are we talking about one thing or several things? Are we in agreement as to the reason we are concerned about this? What evidence do we have that says this is a concern?

Separating Concerns into Manageable Components

What is actually happening in this situation? What do we see/ hear/ feel/ smell/ taste that tells us we must take action? What is there about the way we handled this situation that should be improved? What is really troubling about this situation?

Setting Priorities amongst Concerns

How SERIOUS is the current impact of this particular concern on productivity, people and/ resources? How much TIME URGENCY does it have? What is the best estimate of its PROBABLE GROWTH?
Only critical concerns can be addressed.

Planning resolutions of concerns

Does the situation require explanation? Is there a deviation between expected and actual performance? Is the deviation of unknown cause? Would knowing the true cause help us take more effective action? If there is a deviation AND it is of unknown cause, we can use PA

Planning resolutions of concerns

Does a choice have to be made? Or do objectives need to be set in order to undertake some activity? If so, we can use the techniques of DA

Planning resolutions of concerns

Has a decision been made but not yet implemented, and is it necessary to act now to avoid possible future trouble? Does a plan need to be made to safeguard some decision or future activity? If so we can use the techniques of PPA

In Conclusion
The kind of answer we need determines the choice of rational process and tool. How much of an answer we need determines whether we will use all of a process or only part of it. The point is not to divide concerns among 3 boxes for full application, but to use ideas and tools from each that are most suitable and time efficient for solving the case.