1. Provide each participant with paper and a pen or pencil for writing and the DIG UP Methodology handout Explain that DIG UP is a five-step problem-solving technique. State that the acronym represents a problem-solving method in which the steps are followed in sequence to ensure that you define the problem accurately and brainstorm all possible solutions.

2. Ask the participants to read through the five steps on their handouts. Allow about 5 minutes for this. State that they will have an opportunity to work on a problem. Note: You may ask participants for a problem or use one that you have identified prior to the session.

3. With the problem clarified, ask the participants to select partners to work with to specifically Define and write down the problem. Tell them that the “D” step in their handout may be the most challenging because sometimes the problem defined is not the actual or real problem.

4. Post the following questions on the flip chart and tell the participants they have about 5 minutes to discuss them as they work with their partners to define the problem:

• What exactly is the problem?
• Is everyone experiencing the problem?
• What words help to clarify the problem?

5. At the end of 5 minutes, ask participants for their suggestions for defining the problem. Agree on a definition and post it on a flip-chart page. Tape this page to the wall.

6. Announce that the next step, “I,” is to Identify all the causes of the problem. Say that it is important to identify all the possibilities. For this step ask the participants to brainstorm all the possible causes. Be sure that you accept all ideas, the wilder the better at this point. Allow about 10 minutes and post these pages on the wall.

7. After the participants have completed the “I” step, explain that the “G” noted in their handout requires that they Gather every possible fact about the situation. Ask what facts the participants know about the problem. After they have stated a few facts, say that the next step is to identify all the possible solutions.

8. Have the pairs join with another pair to create groups of four.

9. Give each group a sheet of flip-chart paper and a marker and tell them to take about 10 minutes to list all the possible solutions to the problem they have identified.

10. After 10 minutes give groups masking tape to hang their charts on the wall. Tell the participants to walk around and review the solutions from all the other groups. Give them a few minutes for this review, then ask them to return to their own solutions and cross off any they do not think are possible.

11. State that the “U” stands for Umpire. Tell the participants that they will now put on their umpires’ caps and review all the possible solutions that have been posted. They are to use markers and put a check mark in front of the ONE solution they think will work the best. Each participant may select only one answer. Allow a few minutes for this part of the activity.

12. When the participants have put check marks beside their preferred solutions, spend some time discussing the results. You may find more than one solution was selected. If so, make the point that in real life, they would need to review the facts again or use another tool such as an advantages/disadvantages listing to help decide on a final solution. Put all solutions that have been selected on one flip-chart sheet and help them decide which to implement, if necessary.

13. State that the “P” stands for Put into Effect. Their task for this step is to make sure the solution is implementable and measurable. Lead a large group discussion to identify a set of metrics. Ask the participants how they will know whether the solution chosen has been successful. Remind them that they must also monitor the outcomes. Ask what they think a logical monitoring plan might be for this solution. Who should monitor it? How often? To whom should the solutions be reported?

14. Summarize by asking questions such as:

• What did you learn about problem solving?
• What will be the easiest step for you to use? The most difficult?
• In what situations do you think you will use this tool?
• What is the most important lesson you have learned from this activity?

1. Break participants into small groups (same number of groups as flip charts) and have each group gather at one of the flip charts.

2. Provide directions by saying, “We are going to gather the wisdom of our world. Each flip chart contains a different problem our organization is facing. We need your ideas to solve them. Each person should write one possible solution for the posted problem. Each idea must be unique; avoid ‘agree’ or ‘ditto’ comments. Building on previous ideas is encouraged. Once you have finished with one chart, move to another as a group and provide your individual ideas again. Continue until you have visited each flip chart. When complete, we will have (number of participants) ideas for solving each problem that was posted.”

3. Debrief by having a volunteer for each flip chart read the problem statement and the ideas that were listed. Ask whether people have any ideas to add. Encourage them to apply the suggestions to solve the problems or to develop action plans when they return to the job.

4. Following the session, take all ideas from the flip-chart pages, type them, and send them to all participants so everyone gains from the wisdom of the group.

1. Begin by explaining that this activity is about building problem-solving skills. Tell the participants that they will look at some common, real-life situations and identify practical ways to apply various solutions.

2. Ask a volunteer to select one of the Scenario Cards and read the card out loud. Ask the volunteer to share one idea of how he or she might approach the situation. Then ask the rest of the group to add their ideas. Capture ideas on a whiteboard or flip chart.

3. When you’ve posted a few key ideas for solving the first scenario, ask for a different volunteer to read another card and follow the same procedure as before.

4. Continue working through all the Scenario Cards in the same manner.

5. After the last Scenario Card has been read and discussed, ask the group to identify the themes they’ve heard from the discussion. List these themes on the flip chart.

6. Ask the group to discuss common skills required to solve problems. List them on the flip chart.

7. Point out that many of the ideas that have been suggested could work in many situations. Make the point that participants should become adept at using their problem-solving skills back on the job.

Project Management

• Suppose you are leading a project, and the due date has moved up a month. How would you alter your project plan? How would you communicate with your project sponsor and team members? What risks and opportunities would you focus on?
• Imagine you are a team member on a large strategic project. Your direct manager has described your role and expects you to spend 25 percent of your time on the project. When you attend the kickoff, you learn that the project manager has a much larger role in mind and expects 75 percent of your time. What do you do? Who do you work with? What solution do you propose, and why? What are the possible risks and rewards of your solution?

Leadership

• Imagine the CEO of your company has just announced major strategic changes. Your direct reports received an all-employee email and attended a meeting announcing the new “Future Forward!” initiative. How do you help them link this broad corporate initiative with their day-to-day work? What kind of communication plan might you put in place? How will you act as a champion for this change?
• Some days you feel as if you are leading a soap opera cast rather than a production team. A half-dozen people have recently come to you with private complaints about their co-workers, ranging from quality and production concerns, to slights over lunch invitations, to truly inappropriate behavior. How do you approach this situation? What are your goals? Who will you work with, and what will be your approach? What are the risks and possible rewards of what you’re suggesting?

Customer Service

• Three team members have called in sick, and the phone queues are overloaded. After some customers have been on hold for many minutes, several are upset before you even greet them. How do you maintain your composure? What are some ways you can continue to deliver excellent service?
• A customer comes to your service counter who is clearly confused and frustrated about the product he recently purchased. It has features he doesn’t understand, and he isn’t even sure how to ask the right questions. How could you put such a customer at ease? What phrases, body language, and tone would be most effective?

1. Greet participants upon arrival and ask them to select tent cards and print their names on both sides. Tell them they are free to sit wherever they like.

2. Open the session by reviewing the purpose of the activity. Explain that participants will be working together based on the color of their tent cards. Point out the different color Post-it Note pads on the tables. Tell the participants to find a table with a Post-it pad that matches the color of their selected tent card and move to that table.

3. After all the participants have relocated to the appropriate tables, ask each formed group to identify a recorder. This person will use the marker to capture ideas on the Post-it pad. Ask the recorders to write only one word, short phrase, or idea per sticky note.

4. Explain that the task of the groups is to determine how stakeholders (pick a stakeholder group, if you wish) would describe their organization (or their business unit or team). Allow 2 minutes for this step. Remind the recorders again to write only one or two words per sticky note.

5. Bring the large group back together and select one group and a volunteer to report out their ideas and suggestions.

6. After the group shares its ideas about how the organization is seen, take the notes from the group’s reporter and place them on the whiteboard. Begin by roughly grouping the notes into categories based on the area of the business addressed. For example, you might have clusters of notes for topics such as customer service, efficiency, cost structure, culture, or others. If an idea applies to more than one topic, ask the group recorder to create another sticky note with that word or idea and post the idea in both clusters.

7. Repeat Step 6 for each group of participants. As you proceed, encourage participants to share “aha!” moments or make note of the similarities and differences among their ideas. You will end up with a multi-colored patchwork of sticky notes clustered loosely into common topic groupings.

8. Summarize the information that can be gleaned from this patchwork. Encourage observations and comments from the group.

9. Now tell the participants that they will examine this information from a different perspective.

10. Ask the participants to identify the top stakeholders whose views are critical for their organization’s success. For example, the stakeholder might be customers, vendors, the board of directors, staff, or even competitors. List each stakeholder group at the top of its own flip-chart page and post the pages so they are visible to all participants and within easy access for you. At this point you may be working with four or more stakeholder flip-chart pages.

11. Select a cluster of sticky notes and peel one note at a time from the whiteboard. Ask the large group which of their stakeholders would describe the organization (or unit or team) in this way. Paste the sticky note on the flip-chart page with that stakeholder group heading. If more than one stakeholder group would describe the organization in that way, ask the recorder with the note pad color matching that sticky note to make another note with the same word. Attach that note to the flip-chart page for the second stakeholder group.

12. Continue through the sticky note clusters, allowing for questions and discussion as participants explore their views and the views of others in the room.

13. Ask each small group to go to one of the stakeholder group flip-chart pages and make a “T” to divide the sheet into two columns. Label the left column “current” and the right column “desired.” Tell them to place the sticky notes in the appropriate columns based on how they think that stakeholder views the group/organization now and how they hope they view in the future. List the additional words/descriptions in each of the columns using additional sticky notes: current in the left column and the desired or “how we want this stakeholder group to describe the organization” in the right column.

14. After 10 minutes have the small groups move to different charts. Repeat this process until each small group has worked with each stakeholder chart.

15. Have the small groups return to their tables. Address one stakeholder flip-chart page at a time, identifying the gaps of each.

16. Summarize the gaps for each stakeholder on another flip-chart page. You may wish to have participants rank each entry based on criticality. This may take an additional 20 minutes.

17. Identify action items to address the most critical gaps. This step may take as long as an hour or more.

18. Prioritize the action items and list next steps for participants to take back to the job.