As Einstein himself once said, “We cannot solve problems using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Not only is this one of my favorite quotes, it's a quote I try to remember and stick to when facing a problem. Day after day we human beings are faced with challenges that need to be approached and addressed. However, how we address these problems ultimately determines how well the problem will be solved. For this assignment, I will discuss the proficiency of "Problem Solving" by summarizing my experience with it and comparing it to the interviewee's experience. By comparing both experiences, I will reflect on what I learned and discuss any insights I gained from both the assignment and the experience as a result. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Last summer I worked as a multi-sport camp coordinator at my local recreation center where we had recently just hired some new counselors to work at summer camps. A few weeks had passed before I started to notice that the team's efficiency and productivity were quite slow, certainly much slower than in previous years. Because there were new people, the staff were less cooperative with each other and the new arrivals were ultimately unaware of their role and the responsibilities they had. As a result, it was beginning to have negative effects on productivity and the overall atmosphere of the camp. As the camp coordinator, I knew I needed to implement some new activities to improve this problem and encourage the team to cooperate and communicate effectively before this problem. it affected the performance of the summer camp at all. I decided to implement some new steps into our daily routine at work. At the end of the day I held daily meetings to allow staff to express their opinions, say how they felt the day had gone and where they thought improvements could be made. It also allowed me to express all the thoughts and ideas I had throughout the day. In addition to this, I have implemented a buddy system in the camp. The buddy system paired a senior camp leader with one of the junior camp leaders. This system helped newbies become more aware of the role of a camp counselor and demonstrated the expected level of commitment. Additionally, I designed the accountability sheets that were distributed daily. The responsibility sheet contained the tasks each person was expected to complete during the day and the time they needed to be completed. These actions have produced great improvements for the camps. I saw huge developments in camp morale and cooperation and as the camp progressed, more and more parents commented on the fun atmosphere they witnessed. Furthermore, the daily meetings and buddy system have really helped improve the productivity of the camps. Camp counselors now worked at a faster pace and with less direction from senior levels. As a result, camps have become a more fun and more functional place for children. By the end of the summer we had received countless praise and positive feedback from both company staff and children's parents and guardians. My father, who is part of the human resources team in a large multinational IT company, is who I decided to interview for this position. I felt that his high position and relationships with many different people from around the world made him a great fitcandidate for an interview. My father recalled a time when he became a team leader of a small group that was working on an IT-based project at work. Since it was a multinational company, much of its team was made up of non-Irish natives who spoke many different languages. As the project progressed, my father quickly remembered noticing the poor level of English spoken by the other team members. Words became confused and conversation was kept to a minimum. If they encountered a problem or customers needed to call, they were unable to resolve the issue and communicate effectively, leading to low productivity and a lot of confusion. Being in charge of the team, my father knew he had to take a stand and solve the problem now rather than later. He didn't want something like this to happen again. He knew he had to implement effective long-term strategies and put systems in place that would help people of all languages in the company. My father took action by taking the issue to his senior manager where they discussed the problem and brainstormed possible solutions. Together, they implemented a workplace translator scheme. This program provided non-Irish workers with an on-call translator who could help them understand situations and clarify any issues they may have. They also decided to implement weekly language training courses for all multilingual workers with limited English speaking skills. The results of these actions have reportedly been exceptional. Using a translator scheme resulted in much less confusion in the workplace and meant that tasks were completed much more efficiently. Managers also noticed that much less time was spent trying to re-explain some tasks. The language training courses sparked huge improvements in workers' confidence when speaking to colleagues and customers, which meant more tasks could now be completed. As a result, more people could work together in groups and more workers could now solve more problems, helping to increase productivity rates by 10%. By comparing both scenarios, I learned that small changes in the workplace can lead to big results. The Hawthorn studies, for example, described how changes in rest times, days off, and collaborations helped increase worker productivity. He emphasized how small changes in how employees are managed can lead to greater results for everyone in the company. This could be seen through both my experience and my father's experience. Productivity and morale improved significantly in the workplace when daily interviews and training programs were introduced for them. Workers now felt that they were more valued and that their well-being was recognized. As I reflected, I gained valuable insights into the common skills and competencies my father and I possess in helping each other solve problems. I think we both took our problems into account and took responsibility for trying to improve them. Llopis (2013) states how “open-minded people see beyond the obvious details in front of them” and that “they face problems head on. We both were very open-minded here and thought of a myriad of solutions that, in my opinion, were quite innovative. We have not avoided the fear of failure. Instead, we saw these problems as opportunities to help us showcase our skills and decision-making capabilities. There are five steps.
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