Solution focused encouraging versus problem focused confronting

The SFE-coaching style is positive and goal oriented. Derived from the therapeutic field, it is currently used in a wide variety of settings such as in coaching, in management and in organisational change. In a SFE-change process the solutions to the problem have to fit with the unique and specific circumstances of the client. When using this change approach problems are not analysed or diagnosed. Instead the desired future of the client is explored. A SFE-coach will explore the client’s desired future in concrete and positive terms, encouraging the client to use vivid language. By analysing previous successes and positive exceptions to the problem in the past, solutions are built that suit the specific context and situation of the client. This analysis of what works is then used to reach the desired future step by step (Schlundt Bodien, Visser, 2008). The SFE-change approach is encouraging, positive, goal and succes oriented and focuses on small steps. The opposite can be described as confronting, problem focused, negative and focusing on big steps. The PFC-approach is based on the assumption that change only happens when the client is confronted with what he is doing wrong and that the coach needs to give the client expert advice on how to deal with his problem. The difference between the two coaching styles is summarised below.





If a coach uses SFE-interventions, these will be mainly positive, encouraging, focused on positive goals, focused on what works for the student, focused on successes and on positive competencies and expectations. If a coach uses PFC-interventions, these will be mainly negative, problem focused, focused on confronting the student with what he is doing wrong and with his lack of competence, in the hope that this will “ wake him up” to get his act together.

Quote: Insoo Kim Berg on sincerity

As you are saying this make sure that you sound sincere; the best way to do this is t0 really believe what you are saying.

Family Based Services, page 25

What is the solution focused approach?

The solution focused approach is a respectful change approach. It works with the perspective of the client and acknowledges that the solutions to the problem have to fit with the unique and specific circumstances of the client. The approach acknowledges the perception that a problem exists, without analysing its causes or history. Instead, the approach explores what the desired future looks like for the client. The approach defines this desired future in concrete and positive terms, using vivid language. By analysing previous successes and positive exceptions to the problem in the past, solutions are build that suit the specific context and situation. This analysis of what works is then used to reach the desired future step by step.

In comparison to change methods which use problem solving techniques, the solution focused approach is somewhat different. In traditional problem solving, problems are being analysed by looking at the causes of the problem and the history of the problem. When did the problem start? Why did the problem evolve? Who did what to contribute to the current problem? Who is to blame? Quite often this analysis of the problem causes the problem to grow into a bigger problem. More and more causes of the problem are being found and problematic side-effects of the problem are being triggered. Lots of time and attention goes to what is wrong and broken, leading to feelings of fear and despair.

The solution focused approach is subtly different, with great effect. A lot of the things that define the problem solving methods are being discarded in the solution focused approach. There is no problem analysis, no problem diagnoses, and no overview of the causes of the problem, no overview of the history of the problem or of the problematic side-effects of the problem and there is no labelling of the sort of problem the problem is.

So, if all of this has no place in the solution focused approach, how does the solution focused approach handle problems? Is it allowed to talk about problems in this approach? Yes, the solution focused approach regards problems as good starting points for positive change. When there is a problem, the solution focused approach asks WHAT the problem is and HOW the problem bothers the client. By doing this, the client experiences that the problem is within his own circle of influence and this often helps to reduce the problem to manageable proportions.

Even though problems can be a good starting point for positive change, problems are not necessary to start achieving a desired future. Sometimes the solution focused approach is used in problem-free circumstances. The approach then directly asks about the desired future. What does the desired future look like? How would the client like things to become? A tangible, positive image of the desired future is being build, using vivid, result oriented language. Instead of analysing the gap between the desired future and the current situation, the solution focused approach analyses what works well and what has been achieved already. By doing so, the client becomes aware of everything that works well and how this helps to achieve the desired future.

This positive path is being strengthened by analysing when the desired future has already occurred, even a little bit. What was happening then? How was that achieved? What worked well then? The positive path is also being deepened by asking when the problem didn’t occur and what happened differently then. By exploring these positive paths, the client obtains information as to how success in the past happened and this raises the hope that positive change is possible.

Since the client has summarised what has been achieved already and what worked well in the past, he gets more and more ideas regarding what he can do to make the desired future happen. A bridge is being build between success in the past and success in the future. The positive and hopeful mood that the client has now obtained, helps to take small steps to improvement. These small steps have a motivating effect and give instant feedback whether or not they are the right steps for the client.

Focus on micro progression in solution focused mediation

New article by Gwenda Schlundt Bodien

Attending to micro progression is an important intervention in solution focused conflict resolution. Micro progression is the progression towards achieving positive goals, which participants show in a very small and subtle manner. By noticing micro progression and by acknowledging it, further progression is stimulated.

Can you detect the micro progression in the following dialogue?

Peter and Lee are in conflict with each other and are having a session with a solution focused coach to overcome their issues.

Peter: I have heard that Lee has said to another colleague of us that I am not to be trusted! If that is his view, then what he actually says is that I am a liar. I am not having it! These sorts of accusations is what makes him impossible to work with! This session is useless and doomed, because he just doesn’t want things to improve. I won’t stay if he doesn’t apologize!

Coach (looking at Peter): Ah…so you have heard that Lee has said that you are not to be trusted. And since you really want this session to be useful for improvements between the two of you, you find it important to address this issue first?

Peter: Yes, of course I don’t want to waste my time. If this issue is not resolved, this session is a complete waste of time. It can only be useful if Lee believes me when I say something! And I don’t want him to say to other people that I am not trustworthy!

Lee stumbles and says a few words, ending his sentence like this: I can’t remember what I said…I know I was upset when I spoke with our other colleague….

Coach (looking at Peter): How would you notice that addressing this topic today has not been a waste of time…that is been beneficial to further improvements between the two of you?

Peter (looking at Lee): Well..uh…if you are upset about something, why don’t you come to me…tell me…don’t gossip behind my back…

Lee: Yeah well…, when you hear something like that, from another colleague…why don’t you come to me? Instead of starting a session like this one in such a negative way… As if this helps us any…

Coach: So you both want this session to be worth while…leading to real improvements….That’s why you both are prepared to address difficult topics. Openly and honestly. You both prefer it when your colleague just sits down with you for a chat to ask questions and discuss topics…Is that correct?

Peter: Yes, without honesty we’ll never get where we want to be. I just want to be absolutely convinced you will address topics directly with me.. Now he just talks to every body but me…

Lee: Yeah…sure. But you have a tendency to get very angry very quickly…A week ago you said something I didn’t understand, and when I started to ask you about it you just got angry with me. That’s what upset me…that’s when I had to talk to my other colleague…I just don’t understand why you got so angry..

Coach: You would like to understand what Peter meant when he said what he said last week..and you want to discuss this in an open and constructive way…What would you like to ask him regarding this topic…?

Did you detect the micro progression? The first example of micro progression is where Peter says he is prepared to leave. His reason for this threat to leave is because he wants this session to be useful. The second example of micro progression is where both Lee and Peter agree that honesty is important to them. They both have a yes-set regarding honesty and talking about issues with each other instead of with other colleagues.

Because the progression is so small, we call it micro progression. Noticing micro progression and using it has a positive impact. A good way to use micro progression is to summarize what has been said, using slightly more positive words. This is called reframing. Re-framing means summarizing what has been said using just slightly more constructive words. These sorts of summaries have a mutualising effect. Mutualising means summarizing in such a way that all parties can agree with the summary. A solution focused coach adressess a common interest or a common good intention to which all parties say “yes”. These interventions help to make small progress in a conflict. Micro progression is a subtle and small platform to success.

An example of a solution focused intervention in a conflict resolution is the following. Suppose a solution focused coach works with a team of 8 people and one manager. The team members are in conflict with the team manager. The coach has been asked to talk to the team members first, then with the team manager and then with the team members and the team manager together. A solution focused intervention can be structured as follows:

Session with the team members

The coach starts with the team members, asking them the following questions:

1. Who are you, what work do you do?
2. What do you like most about your work?
3. How would you notice tomorrow that this day has been useful to you and the team?

The second question aims at giving team members the opportunity to talk about positive aspects of work. Within 5 minutes all team members talk about things that are important to them, things they enjoy and they are proud of. This provides a good platform to talk about their answers to question three, which often is a difficult question when people are problem focused.

In response to question three, at first people have a tendency to talk about things they do not want, things that go wrong. For example, team members start talking about everything their team manager does wrong. Listening to micro progression a is very important skill. A team member will something like this:”everybody is fed up, nobody wants this”. This comment is an example of micro progression. It is a negative comment, which has a positive opposite to it. Because; if nobody wants it like it is now, how does everybody want it to become?

A solution focused intervention to this micro progression is:

Yes, I certainly understand nobody wants the situation to stay like this. Suppose this day has helped to change things for the better, how would you notice that?

In a team of 8 the likelihood of one member to come up with an useful answer is quite high. When 6 team members say they don’t know, but one says he some ideas about a better future, this changes the focus of the conversation and helps everybody to start to expect a positive change is possible.

Often, when people start talking about how they would like things to be, small examples of previous successes are mentioned. For example, if one team member says:”the last couple of weeks the team manager tried a bit harder…”, then this is enough to build on. The solution focused coach might respond like this:

What did you notice that went better the last couple of weeks?

Some team members will have examples, others might stay silent and just listen to what their colleagues see that they don’t see (yet). The solution focused coach writes down the positive examples on a flip chart and responds modestly enthusiastic to positive examples. It is important not to be too enthusiastic in response to small examples of improvements, because of the solution focused coach is more positive than the team member, they will feel that the coach is trying to convince them. When people feel someone is trying to convince them, a reactance response will occur (Jack Brehm’s, theory of reactance). This means that people will try and regain their freedom by not agreeing with the coach.

After a patient and lengthy inquiry regarding what went a bit better the last couple of weeks, the solution focused coach can ask the following question:

Ah, I understand small things are a bit better the last couple of weeks. You will not want to loose those small improvements, I assume. So, can you tell me what doesn’t have to change? What is going well enough?

This intervention leads to more and more examples of what works well. People describe the desired future and start to prepare themselves for this desired future. The solution focused coach can ask:”what would be the benefit of this desired future for the team?”

A team session like this will take about an hour. The solution focused coach may well ask the team members, at the end of the team session: Will you please think about what you can do to help making the session with the team manager useful?

This intervention is called the interval intervention. This means that people are not pressed to give a constructive answer straight away, but instead they get time to let the question sink in and form their answers in their minds.


Session with the team manager

The session with the team manager follows a similar structure to the one with the team members. This session is a preparation for the team manager to reach a mindset in which he is expecting to and willing to achieve positive outcomes with the team. To help him reach this mindset it is important to acknowledge his perspective, to normalize his situation, to explore how he has been coping and to let him describe which positive changes he wants to achieve and when things were already a bit better in the past. All these interventions are aimed at helping him to create a positive expectation.

The following interventions can be used to achieve this:

Short acknowledging interventions
 I understand….
 That must be hard… .
 Sounds logical….can you tell me a bit more about this please..?
 I understand that that must be hard…!

Normalising
 Yes, I guess lots of people would find that hard
 Yes, that is completely understandable
 Yes, that makes sense/is logical
 Of course this is not what you want…..
 I can understand you want to change that…../I can imagine you would like that to be different…..

Leap frogging/jumping over a problem
 Suppose the problem is solved, what will be better then?
 Suppose the problem is solved, how would you notice that?
 What is the first thing that would tell you the problem has gone?

Focus on what the client wants to change
 What is it that you would like to change?
 What do you appreciate about the team? What works well? What would you like to keep how it is now?
 What do you want to be different? / What would you like to be different?

Exploring the desired success for the client
 What would you like to achieve?
 What would you want instead (of the problem)?
 How would you like things to be different?
 How do you like the situation to become?
 What would you want the future situation to look like?
 What could you do when the problem was solved?



Session with team manager and team members together

The next step is to facilitate a session with both the team members and the team manager. It is important to help both the team members and the team managers to stay focussed on the positive outcomes they are looking for. The solution focused coach helps to achieve this by letting the team members and the team manager talk about the desired future and the positive changes, however small, that have already been achieved. Very often arguing parties want to achieve the same positive future. Nobody likes to work in a negative environment and everybody wants to have a good time at work. The solution focused coach can help them see all the things they all want to happen. The solution focused coach summarizes what everybody wants to achieve (consensus intervention) like this:

You all want to leave the past behind and to move forward to become a better team…How would you notice you are becoming a better team?

The solution focused coach constantly explores what the desired future looks like, what works to achieve that desired future and what would be the benefit of achieving the desired future for everybody. Interventions that are useful are summarized below.

Exploring the desired success from a different perspective
 How would others notice that the problem is solved?
 How would others notice things are better?

Clarifying the positive results/the benefits of the desired future
 What will be the benefit of that?
 What will be better when you have achieved that?
 Ah, I can imagine that’s what you all want to achieve!

Clarifying the positive results/the benefits of the desired future from a different perspective
 What would it bring others?
 How would it help others?

Exploring previous successes and positive exceptions
 When were things ( a bit) better?
 When was the problem a bit less bad?
 When did the team manage a bit better to…?
 What was different then? What was better then?
 What did you all do to make that happen?
 Interesting… how did that help?

Exploring previous successes and positive exceptions from another perspective
 What would xxx say if I asked him when things were already a bit better?
 How would xxx have been able to notice things were a bit better then?
 Which situations would xxx mention that went better?
 What would xxx have noticed when things went better?
 How would xxx say that success happened?
 On which point of the scale would xxx say you were when things were better?

Defining one step forward
 Is this useful?
 How is it useful to you?
 How can you use this?
 What ideas do you come up with which will take you one step forward?
 What would be the first sign that would tell you that you are moving in the right direction?
 Which small step could you take tomorrow?

One step forward from another perspective
 Who would notice your step first?
 Who would notice your success first?
 What would xxx say one step forward would look like?


Conclusion

Focusing on micro progression in conflict resolution is a key intervention, because it acknowledges the small and subtle changes towards a more constructive mindset in people. This acknowledgment encourages people to move forward and to shift from problem focused talk to talking about which positive outcomes they want to achieve.

Solution focused HR management

Article by Gwenda L. Schlundt Bodien

Is it possible for HR professionals to achieve goals positively and quickly? For HR professionals this can be a real challenge. HR professionals are often in a position in which they have to manage managers - and that can be a difficult job! The solution focused approach can be of assistance and can help the HR professional to switch quickly between the different roles (coach, advisor, manager) that he plays. How? That’s the subject of this article.

The solution focused approach is a respectful change approach, which acknowledges problems, turns those problems into positive goals, finds internal solutions that fit the specific circumstances by analyzing previous successes and positive exceptions to the problem and reaches those positive goals step by step.

The approach works well, research indicates. This is reasonably easy to understand in circumstances where some one wants to help some one else with a problem, for example in coaching and therapy. But HR professionals are not only helping others. Sometimes helping others doesn’t get the job done. If the rule applies that all managers should hand in their performance appraisal by the first of November, so that the HR department is able to estimate the total cost of bonuses and pay raises, and a manager doesn’t comply because he doesn’t feel it is a problem to be late, then maybe helping this manager with a problem he doesn’t perceive he has is not the best way forward. Nobody can be helped against his own wish. The HR professional has his own goals, e.g. the goals of the organization to achieve.

How to use the solution focused approach in circumstances where it is not so much about helping someone to define his own goals but about directing someone to achieve organizational goals?

When the goals of the organization or the goals of the HR professional prevail, solution focused directing (as we call it) is in order. The HR professional clarifies the positive results he expects of the manager. The organizational goals are the central point of focus of the conversation. The leading from behind posture only partly applies now. The HR professional is leading as far as the goals are concerned. The HR professional doesn’t ask the manager what his goals are, but tells him what is expected. However, the not knowing posture does apply with regard to the solutions that fit the manager best. The HR professional asks how the manager is going to reach the goals and doesn’t instruct him how to achieve the goals. The focus is on finding internal solutions.

As with solution focused coaching, the basic attitude is inviting, encouraging, goal orientated, future focussed and activating. A solution focused directing conversation combines friendliness with clarity and understanding with determination. This can be hard, especially when the HR professional gets annoyed with the delaying behaviour of the manager. Preparation helps to keep the conversation goal orientated and to prevent side tracks or escalations and arguments.

Preparing for a solution focused directing conversation

Solution focused directing requires that the ‘director’ is mandated by the organization to act in this role. What does he expect of the manager and what is his good reason to expect this?
The HR professional prepares by answering the following questions:
1. what is the goal of the conversation?
2. what do I expect and what is my good reason to expect this of the manager?
3. when do I expect my goals to be achieved by the manager and what is my good reason to keep this time scale?
4. what do I appreciate with regard to this manager? (And when has he already shown the desired behaviour?)

The answers to these questions provide the HR professional with a solid basis for his directing sentences. These directing sentences are built on two pillars:
WHAT does the HR professional expect?
WHICH positive results will be achieved if the manager fulfils the expectations?

And because the goal is a given, but the solutions are found by the manager himself, the directing sentences are being phrased as a question:

How can you ensure that…so that…..?

Of course there are many different ways in which the directing questions can be formulated. The pillars stay the same; the WHAT you expect and the TO WHICH END you expect this.

Visitor typical, complainer typical and client typical responses

However well prepared the HR professional is, he can’t control the way the manager will respond. The manager can respond in three different ways. A visitor typical response would be when the manager tells the HR professional that he doesn’t want to talk about the planning of the performance appraisals because he is too busy and doesn’t find that topic very interesting. A complainer typical response would be when the manager says that he knows that he is late, but he can’t help it because of various reasons. A client typical response would be when the manager says that he understands he has to be on time and he wants to be on time, and he comes up with solutions to meet the deadlines or he asks the HR professional to help him with his planning problem.

The HR professional responds differently to each type of interaction. To a visitor typical response of the manager he responds with understanding and with a friendly determination to stick the goal of the conversation. At a certain point the manager will start to understand the topic is not going to go away. He may become a bit more agitated, since he now understands he will have to deal with it. He becomes complainer typical. To a complainer typical response the HR professional responds with acknowledgment and by understanding the complaints without letting the complaints be a reason not to achieve the goal. “Given that your business unit is under a lot of strain, which makes it even harder for you to meet the deadline, what are your ideas to make sure you will meet the performance appraisal deadline, so that our management team is provided with the necessary financial reports on time?” The manager is likely to keep complaining for awhile, but he will soon understand that his problems are being acknowledged yet the goal keeps on being stressed. At this point a client typical interaction develops. The manager agrees with the goal. He might ask the HR professional for his support, in which case the HR professional can switch from directing to coaching.

Below you find a format of a solution focused directing conversation.



In a solution focused directing conversation the manager notices:
1. that the goal of the HR professional/the organization are stressed constantly
2. that the complaints of the manager are being acknowledged and understood and listened to
3. that the contribution of the manager is being appreciated and valued
4. that the manager himself is expected to take the next step to achieve the goals of the HR professional/the organisation
5. that the manager has the freedom and chance to find the solutions that fit him and which are his own to achieve the goal

The solution focused approach is no answer to all problems and doesn’t make challenging situations in organisations pieces of cake. But the approach does very often help to know what you want to achieve vividly and to actually achieve those vivid goals.

Literature

Oplossingsgericht aan de Slag, Toon en Techniek maakt de Muziek, Gwenda Schlundt Bodien en Coert Visser, Crystallise Books, 2008
Coert Visser en Gwenda Schlundt Bodien, Paden naar Oplossingen, uitgeverij JustinTime Books, 2008

Creating a positive expectation

Yesterday Coert Visser and I did a workshop on creating a positive expectation. Interested? Below you find the presentation:

Solution Focused Work

Case: how would you like to do to work on Monday?

A few weeks ago, I worked for two days with four Human Resource Consultants in London, who hadn’t exchanged more than a few bitchy words over the last couple of years. The first day I spoke with each of the Human Resource Advisors individually. The purpose of these meetings was to acknowledge the problems and to create a platform for a useful meeting with all four of them the next day.

Individual meetings: focus on what’s useful and creating a platform for change

The first Human Resource Advisor I spoke with told me that two of her HR-colleagues were aggressive and had shown intimidating behaviour for many years, which had literally made her sick. Every day she went to work fearing the day, and being afraid of what her colleagues would do to her that day to make her life a misery. In the nine months that she had been on sick leave, she had put in a complaint and there had been an investigation. The investigation concluded there was no proof for bullying, and recommended a meeting with a solution focused facilitator to improve the work relationships. In the next meeting the second HR-advisor also stressed an image of two intimidating and aggressive colleagues. In the two first meetings the two other colleagues were being referred to as Devilish. The second HR advisor feared being in the same room with all her colleagues and didn’t know if she would have the courage to show up.

In the mean time I had become more and more curious as to how the two remaining HR advisors would present themselves. In turned out that they had their own problems and pain. They both started the meeting with me very defensive. They had been labelled “bullies” so many times lately, that they were expecting yet another judge to convict them. As soon as they felt this judgement was not being made, and instead they were treated with friendliness and acknowledgement for their perspective and problems, they started to relax. This made it possible for them to
· Express their own problems
· Acknowledge that they understood that their jokes and behaviour could be experienced as aggressive and intimidating
· To acknowledge they were shocked that their behaviour had caused their colleague so much stress

The solution focused interventions in those individual meetings were:
Building a relationship of co-operation: what do you do at work, what do you like doing, what goes well
Acknowledgement of the individual perspective: how do you perceive the current working situation? What bothers you? How does it bother you?
Focus on what is useful and what the individual would like to achieve: how would you notice tomorrow’s meeting would have been useful? How would you notice that the time spend together has been worthwhile? What would be better then? What will have changed then?

That first day it became clear to me that all four of them were going to work these days feeling depressed and fearful as to what the day might hold. All four of them also had little hope for things to improve, and were not looking forward to the following day. They predicted that there would be dead silence all the time, and no one would feel free to speak.

Team meeting: acknowledging problems and describing the desired future for all four

The following morning, only three of the four HR advisors were present. The fourth was stuck in a traffic jam. We agreed to wait until she arrived. And then there was silence….dead silence. One could cut the air with a knife. Every now and then a little bit of communication was going on, via me. Once we were complete, I started with a brief solution focused feedback:
I expressed my appreciation for all of them turning up, because I knew that took courage of all of them and wasn’t easy
I addressed the topics which were important to all four of them. E.g.: all four of them mentioned that the current atmosphere at work bothered them. All four of them shared that work was very important to them, and they were committed to deliver high quality. All four of them said that they wanted to give good service to their customers and that if was crucial for their work to have access to the right information at the right time. And all four of them acknowledged that the poor communication between them had a negative effect on the quality of their work. All four of them said that an improved work atmosphere would help them delivering better service and all four expressed the wish to come to work with a little more ease.

During this brief feedback all four were nodding and mumbled it was correct. The feedback resulted in a yes-set. Also, all four received information about the goals of the other three, without violating the confidentiality of personal information. Because of this yes-set all four answered the first question: what would you like to ask your colleague or say to your colleague now that we are here together?

The first hour was used to acknowledge the problems of all four. Questions were being asked and sometimes people started getting hot and bothered. The solution focused interventions were aimed at helping people to understand each other and asking and summarising in such a way that the communication was as positive as possible and helpful to building solutions. In the course of the first hour the “bullies” apologized, and even though this was just a plaster on a wound, it was still an important acknowledgement of the pain which was very helpful.

I asked them whether enough had been asked and said to be able to look at the future. And people said that that was the case. I announced that after a short break I would to ask them the following question: “how would you like to come to work on Monday? What would be better then?”

This is a “future projection”-question and is a short version of the miracle question (Insoo Kim Berg, Steve de Shazer).

After the break it became clear that they had already thought about their answers during the break. They started sharing their image of a good work day on Monday. It turned out they were very able to build this image together. Vague words like trust and respect were being made tangible by asking questions like:” how would you notice you could trust each other? How would you notice you were being treated with respect?” A clear picture of tangible, positive goals developed, and these were goals they all wanted to achieve. A side effect of this future projection questions was that existing confusion about each others opinions and goals was being clarified. It struck them that they agreed on much more than they had thought possible. The negative jigsaw they had created about each other, turned out to be a bit more positive. They came to the conclusion that they had created a very negative image of each other, mainly because they hadn’t said much to each other for a long time ànd had heard bad stories of one another. They agreed that instead of this, they wanted to ask each other more and stop negative gossips about each other. In the midst of this half hour, one of the advisors said:”I didn’t know we all wanted this and all think about this the same way…I had never thought we could have this sort of conversation together….”

There were smiles, laughs, people looked at each other, were enthusiastic and let each other speak. They agreed how to give each other information, how to share work together, how to come to each others rooms feeling at ease. They started agreeing on next steps.

Then lunch came and during lunch they started talking about the changes in the organisation and what they wanted to ask the management about these changes. It was a lively conversation. After lunch every one went back to the office.

In a couple of weeks time there will be a follow up session. I will start with asking “what went well lately”. Case to be continued…