Posted By: Daniela Tancau, August 31, 2026
How to Get Better at Defining Workplace Problems
The way you define a problem determines how you will try to solve it. If your understanding of what is happening is incomplete or incorrect, the decisions you make may address the wrong causes, leaving the real problem unresolved. In some situations, this can also lead to unfair decisions that affect employees who were not actually responsible for the problem.
We See the Symptoms, but What Causes Them May be Unclear
To make an analogy, sometimes we see the symptoms of an illness, but we might not know what the illness is. We need to run some tests to find out.
The same situation can happen in the workplace. We see that something is not right, but we might not know what is causing that situation.
Let’s look at some examples to illustrate this.
Poor Quality of Work
This can be the result of:
- A lack of internal requirements and rules that ensure the work is checked from different perspectives before it is summited to the client or direct manager.
- Hiring systems that allow people who are not qualified for their jobs to be hired.
- Not consistently addressing quality issues.
- Employees not knowing what the quality expectations are.
- Employee disengagement.
Disengagement
Disengagement is a symptom of something that happens in the company or with the employee that affects his or her willingness to give their best effort to do their job well.
It can be caused by:
- Difficult work relationships.
- A direct manager who is not accepted or is disliked.
- Internal rules or procedures that are considered wrong.
- Decisions that the employee considers unfair to him or her, etc.
Lack of Accountability
Employees not taking responsibility for their actions or work results could be a result of:
- Leaders who don’t hold employees accountable. For example, not addressing poor performance or inappropriate behaviours, or not being consistent in this regards.
- Failure to recognise employees’ merits, which can lower their willingness to work hard.
- A lack of equity or fairness in assessing work results. If some employees’ mistakes or merits are treated differently from those of others, people see that different standards apply. This will weaken the power of standards and undermine their trust and respect for their leader and the company.
- Tasks that are outside the employee’s role. Employees may not feel responsible for completing tasks that are not part of their role.
- An employee who simply follows the direct manager’s instructions without agreeing with them, etc.
Using the same analogy of an illness, it might be difficult for a person who doesn’t have medical knowledge or who doesn’t know what needs to be done to identify the illness, as doctors do, to recognize where the problem is.
One approach that I would adopt is to think about the possible causes and then check to see which one or ones apply in that particular case.
Direct discussions with employees who have poor quality work, low engagement, or who don’t take responsibility will help with these checks and even lead to discovering causes that you hadn’t thought of .
However, similar to the medical tests or check-ups that a person needs to undergo to find out what disease they have, if they don’t take the right tests or some critical checks are not done, the illness may not be identified or may be diagnosed incorrectly.
It might be difficult for a team leader without the proper knowledge and skills in managing people to identify the right causes of different issues within their team.
That’s why developing team leadership skills is critical. Also, getting support from specialists can make a real difference in team results, the work environment, and employee engagement. It also makes the team leader’s role easier.
Let’s discuss some steps you can take when trying to define a problem correctly and the biases that can distort your understanding of the problem.
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If you have any questions or want to discuss this topic further, feel free to reach out to me directly in the comments or via email: daniela.tancau@improvework.ro
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Posted By: Daniela Tancau
Daniela Tancau is an HR consultant, trainer, coach, and founder of Improve Work company. She has over seventeen years of experience in the human resources field. Her expertise lies primarily in online programs and courses aimed to increase employee motivation, develop team leadership skills, employee communication, and much more.
