Pfizer Problem Analysis                August 8, 1995                                               Page 10

CAUSES: DISCUSSION OF THE PREVIOUS EXERCISE

TIME FOR THIS PAGE: 8 MINUTES

ASK THE PARTICIPANTS TO NAME SOME OF THE CAUSES THEY'VE WRITTEN DOWN.

ENCOURAGE DISCUSSION.

•      This example was chosen on purpose. All your participants are team leaders,
        and in addition to introducing them to problem solving, you want to remind them
        of specific ways to make their teams more effective.
 
DISPLAY OVERHEAD #7 (shown opposite). •      All the causes in the fishbone in overhead #7 could contribute to poor meeting
       attendance, although some are more likely than others.  
ASK FOR DISCUSSION. •      Participants may disagree with the causes on the overhead, or they may have
       more precise ones, and they will probably have good ones that don't appear on
       the overhead.

•      Examples which we didn't have room for:
 

-- The meetings were held in Groton, and the team members were mostly based
    in New York.

-- The meetings were scheduled twice a week.

-- The team is dealing with important issues and team members fear that there
    will be penalties for failure;

-- But there aren't any incentives for success.

  -- One of the team members is so abrasive and disruptive that team meetings are
    fruitless and stressful.
 
 Facing page:       Back to résumé: