8000-258 Using Information to Solve Problems

8000-258 Using Information to Solve Problems is a unit offered within the ILM level 2 module to build the skills and knowledge of leaders within teams and ensure that they are able to fulfil the expected duties and responsibilities to the organisation. The unit provides the learners, who are practising or potential leaders, with an understanding of the role that information plays in supporting leadership activities and procedures within the organisation.

Leaders should be able to understand critical aspects surrounding their team as well as the external environment that may influence the problem of completing different tasks, such as solving problems that the team may face. The unit guides the learners into developing this understanding hence improving their leadership skills and abilities, which are essential in influencing the team’s performance.

The main purpose and aim of the unit is to develop an understanding of the use of information to solve problems within a team or organisation as required by the team leader. The unit, therefore, provides both theoretical frameworks as well as skills for building effective approaches that maximise the information available to the team to put up sustainable practices. The unit is covered in 5 learning hours and translates to 1 credit value which is important in the completion of the ILM level 2 module successfully.

Suitability of the Unit

The course is designed mainly with a target of team leaders. The team leaders are required to be able to effectively analyse the information available to them to help develop effective strategies and approaches that can be implemented within their teams. This unit provides them with the theory and practice that helps them to make information-based decisions on such practices.

While the unit is designed to meet the learning needs of team/ cell leaders within organisations, it is versatile and can improve the ability of various professionals in their duties and responsibilities. Other leaders within the organisation, including top management, department heads and line managers, can use the information within this course to ensure they develop evidence-based approaches to solving problems that are backed by the presence of information.

General employees can also pursue this course as a strategy to improve their professional skills and practice and prepare them for future leadership duties within the organisation or teams. This makes the unit suitable for different stakeholders in the organisation apart from the team leaders, who are the main target of the module.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learner should be able to:

• Show the ability to diagnose problems within the organisation.

• Conduct effective research in relation to the problem within the organisation or team

• Analyse and interpret the information into meaningful data that contributes to addressing the problem

• Identify different methods that can be used to gather information on the problem to support the team in the process of solving the problem

• Use systems that are backed by existing theories and information to develop solutions to problems,

• Using information available to the leader, select the best alternative for solving the problem

• Determine the success of the solution implemented against expectations

• Conduct an evaluation of the implemented problem-solving strategies

Key Learning Areas

Leaders are required to exhibit high standards of problem-solving skills. this involves being able to ensure that they scan the internal and external environment of the business as well as collect information from different sources, such as theoretical frameworks and similar cases in the past, to develop sustainable and viable solutions to identified organisational problems.

Team leaders face challenges in different areas. They are responsible for handling different projects assigned to them by the organisation. As such, being able to collect, analyse, interpret and use the information to solve problems is a critical process in leader training that contributes to problem-solving abilities. Some of the learning areas within 8000-258 Using Information to Solve Problems include:

Evidence-Based Practice

Evidence-based practice is a form of practice within an organisation that is backed by data and information. 8000-258 Using Information to solve Problems is a unit that is aligned to such practices within a team as it contributes to building the ability of the leaders to collect and utilise information to achieve organisational goals and responsibilities. This area of learning lays the fundamental information, including introducing theoretical frameworks related to the use of information to solve team or organisational problems.

Methods of Collecting Information

This area of learning within the unit focuses on equipping the practising or potential leaders with strategies that they can use to collect and analyse information that is required for solving problems within the team or organisation. There are different techniques that can be applied, but the leader has selected the most convenient and effective measure that contributes to meeting the identified goals and objectives.

Choice of Best Alternative

Choosing the best alternative is important for team leaders. They are tasked with the duty of making daily operational decisions for their teams, such as the most effective and convenient method of accomplishing assigned tasks. This area of learning provides the learners with relevant theoretical frameworks that they can use to assign priority to the process of deciding on the best choice to handle the identified problem.

Evaluation

The evaluation process is important in ensuring that the solution is working within the context of the team. Evaluation is guided by existing frameworks, such as Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluation, which determines the efficiency and sustainability of a solution. This area of learning provides both the techniques to use for evaluation and the principles that are developed using existing theoretical frameworks that can guide in determining whether the solution is effective and working for the specific problem.

Wrap Up

At the end of the unit, the learners are evaluated. The evaluation tests both the understanding of the theories and the ability to apply the theories in a practical context. It is done using a written assessment where the learners are required to complete a written assessment with questions on the unit and a supervised practice where the learners are required to apply the learned concepts within a practical context, and an assessor makes a determination for their performance.