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A problem statement is a concise description of the issue a process improvement project aims to address, outlining the current state, desired future state, and gaps between them. It is crucial for guiding project activities, ensuring clear communication among team members, and gaining support for the project. Key elements of a problem statement include the ideal situation, current reality, consequences of the problem, and a proposal for addressing it.

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Devendra Kuril
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2 views

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A problem statement is a concise description of the issue a process improvement project aims to address, outlining the current state, desired future state, and gaps between them. It is crucial for guiding project activities, ensuring clear communication among team members, and gaining support for the project. Key elements of a problem statement include the ideal situation, current reality, consequences of the problem, and a proposal for addressing it.

Uploaded by

Devendra Kuril
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What Is a Problem Statement: Definition, How-To and Example

Process improvement projects are used by many businesses and organizations to make improvements in
the way they operate. There are many things important to a successful process improvement project,
but every project begins with identifying the problem that needs to be resolved. These problems can be
documented using a problem statement. Understanding what a problem statement is and how to write
one can help you become more successful when working on process improvement projects.

What is a problem statement?

A problem statement is a concise description of the problem or issues a project seeks to address. The
problem statement identifies the current state, the desired future state and any gaps between the two.
A problem statement is an important communication tool that can help ensure everyone working on a
project knows what the problem they need to address is and why the project is important.

Importance of a problem statement

A problem statement is important to a process improvement project because it helps clearly identify the
goals of the project and outline the scope of a project. It also helps guide the activities and decisions of
the people who are working on the project. The problem statement can help a business or organization
gain support and buy-in for a process improvement project.

What are the key elements of a problem statement?

There are four key elements you can include when writing a problem statement:

1. Ideal situation
Problem statements often begin by describing what the ideal situation would be if there wasn't a
problem you needed to address. This section can identify the goals and scope of the project, and create
a clear understanding of what the ideal environment will be once the issue has been resolved.

2. Reality
The next section of your problem statement can describe what the current reality is for your company or
organization. This section will identify what the problem is, state why it is a problem, and identify who
the problem is impacting. It will also describe when and where the problem was identified.
3. Consequences
After describing the current reality, your problem statement can focus on the consequences of the
problem. This section describes the effects of the problem by describing how the people affected by the
problem are being impacted and quantifying how much the problem is impacting them. Common
consequences can include the loss of time, money, resources, competitive advantage and productivity.

4. Proposal
The proposal section of a problem statement may contain various possible solutions to the problem, but
it is important to remember that it does not need to identify a specific solution. The purpose of the
proposal section should be to guide the project team on how they can research, investigate and resolve
the problem.

How to write a problem statement?


A good problem statement can be created by identifying and answering several questions related to the
problem. The process used to write a problem statement can involve answering questions using a
method commonly known as 5W2H.This process involves identifying what the problem is, why it is a
problem, when and where the problem was identified, who the problem impacts, how they are
impacted by the problem and how much of an impact the problem has. You can use the following
process to craft a problem statement that addresses the following:

1. Identify the problem


Before you can begin writing your problem statement, it is important to identify what the problem is.

2. Begin your statement with your ideal situation


Next, you can begin writing your problem statement by describing what the ideal environment would
look like if your problem didn't exist. This section can be used to describe what your company hopes to
accomplish as a result of the process improvement project.

3. Describe current gaps


This step involves writing the reality section of your problem statement. Your goal in this section is to
clearly identify what the current environment looks like. It is advisable to identify what the problem is,
what is causing the problem, and why it is an issue. Also consider describing when, where, and how you
were able to identify the problem.
4. State the consequences of the problem
Next, write the consequences section of your problem statement. This section is used to quantify and
support the claim of what the problem is. You can use this section to identify specific numbers such as
the amount of time or revenue being lost or the number of resources being wasted. It is important to
include concrete numbers that support your claims in this section.

5. Propose addressing the problem


You can end your statement with a proposal section. In this section, consider identifying how your
company will make progress toward reaching your goals and accomplishing your ideal environment.
While you may choose to identify several possible solutions in this section, it is more important to focus
on identifying how your company will find those solutions than it is to identify the specific solution that
will be used.

Problem statement example


Here is an example of a problem statement for a sales call center:

Ideal situation:
Ideally, our sales associates would be able to maximize their production by being able to make more
contacts with leads each day.

Reality:
Currently, our sales associates are unable to maximize the number of leads they are contacting each day
because they are spending too much time finding qualified leads to call and inserting lead information
into the system before making calls. This is a problem because the time our sales associates are
spending finding leads and entering lead information into our system could be used to contact more
qualified leads and generate more sales. We identified this problem in our sales call center while
surveying to gather feedback from our sales associates about what limits their ability to maximize their
sales numbers.

Consequences:
Our sales associates currently spend about two hours per day finding qualified leads and another two
hours per day entering lead information into our system before they begin making calls. This means our
sales associates are only spending half of their workday actually making calls to qualified leads.

Because our sales associates are unable to use their entire shift to make contact with leads, their overall
sales numbers are being impacted. Our company estimates that our sales associates would be able to
make at least double the number of sales if they were able to spend their entire shift contacting
qualified leads.

Proposal:
Our company seeks to resolve this issue by creating a process improvement team to identify several
potential solutions for how we can reduce the time our sales associates spend not making contact with
qualified leads.

1. Passport automation system.


2. Book bank
3. Exam Registration
4. Stock maintenance system.
5. Online course reservation system
6. E-ticketing
7. Software personnel management system
8. Credit card processing
9. e-book management system
10. Recruitment system
11. Foreign trading system
12. Conference Management System
13. BPO Management System

1. Advertisement management system


2. Attendance management system
3. Billing and inventory system
4. Blood bank management system
5. Pizza ordering system
6. Tourism management system.
7. An online parking booking system
8. Swiggy clone system
9. Online toll payment system.
10. Online property management system
Aim7: To study and implement the Activity Diagram.

 What is an Activity Diagram?


 When to use Activity Diagram?
 Activity Diagram Notations.
 How to Draw an Activity Diagram of considered system in UML?
 Also, create Flowchart of considered system.
 What are the Differences between an Activity diagram and a Flowchart?

Aim 8: To study and implement the Data flow diagram.

 What is Data Flow Diagram (DFD)?


 Characteristics of Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
 Physical and Logical data flow diagrams (DFDs)
 Components of Data Flow Diagrams (DFD)
 Levels of Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
 Rules for Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
 Advantages of Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
 Disadvantages of Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
 How to Draw Data Flow Diagram?

Aim 9: To study and implement the Structure charts.

 What is a Structure Chart?


 Symbols in Structured Chart.
 Types of Structure Chart.
 Draw structure charts of considered system.

Aim 10: To study and implement the deployment diagram.


 What is a deployment diagram?
 Deployment diagram applications
 Deployment diagram guidelines
 Deployment diagram elements
 Deployment diagram symbols and notation
 Deployment diagram of considered system.

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