If you understand what bakers know about problem solving, then you can improve employee engagement and focus more on the bottom line. Bakers know being open to change can change the game.
For instance, let’s say you’re making a batch of cookies. You can mix the ingredients with a spoon. But over time, your arm may tire and your mixing becomes less effective.
A better way of doing the same task sees you use an electric mixer. It delivers a level of consistency and can also handle larger batches without a problem.
In your world, do you ever feel like you’re having to quadruple a batch of cookies and only have a spoon to mix everything together?
It can be frustrating if you go to your supervisor to explain that a larger batch is causing problems, only to be told to simply, “Mix harder.”
Sometimes that’s not an option. The employees struggles with the spoon and eventually leaves the business in frustration.
When leaders develop tunnel vision, problems tend to grow or lead to unintended consequences, like top performers leaving.
Take a moment to consider whether your processes need some adjustments with these tips:
What Bakers Know About Problem Solving: Read the Recipe
Bakers will read the recipe in its entirety before they start mixing. They’re able to see the entire process in their minds.
Are you thinking about an entire process or just one step? Multiple employees may be required to work together to produce a successful outcome.
Walk through the different steps and consider if each stage is delivering the desired outcome. That opens the door to potential improvements.
This brainstorming can also improve collaboration, when employees stop thinking of their task ending their involvement in a project.
What Bakers Know About Problem Solving: Preheat the Oven
Bakers make sure their ovens are at the correct temperature at the right time. They’re not wasting time, watching a thermometer rise.
When members of your team need to work together is it a smooth process, with minimal time lost? Or is one person slowing everything down?
It’s easy to think the employee is the problem but it may be the process. See if you can discover the cause of the delay. Often it’s one of these things:
- Outdated equipment or software that slows things down.
- Too many competing demands of their time.
- Not understanding this task needs to be a top priority.
What Bakers Know About Problem Solving: Growth Brings Challenges
You may need creative solutions and not champagne celebrations as your business grows. What worked at one level may not scale to another.
Let’s say several people perform different steps in the cookie baking process. When you have the chance to triple the recipe, you’re excited. But the increased workload creates a challenge for the person mixing the ingredients with a spoon.
As a leader, you may believe buying a mixer is the only way to solve this problem. But a new mixer isn’t in the budget, so you’re stuck with the problem.
Budget limitations are real but they can lead you to a different solution. In this case, can another employee provide some help with the mixing?
While it’s not as good of a solution as an electric mixer, it’s better than having one person struggle with the task.
Keep an open mind, as old solutions may no longer work as well as they once did.
