What is the difference between a problem and a case? A case is a problem handled in a different way. A problem is shared with other organisations; it emerges from practice and resists ready solutions. Cases are problems with a history; stories about someone’s failure. For this reason, there is usually a worker at the core of a case. Usually the story is about broken relationships.
Whilst there may be a technical fix, with a case it’s likely the problem is about personalities and relationships. This is why I’ve put cases as fourth in this sequence. If an organisation is having serious relationship problems, it is unlikely they would call on a web consultant to help resolve them!
However, the four models are not static. A consultant called in to help with a situation, project or problem may realise they have a case. They must find out what the case is and respond accordingly.
If there is a case, the web consultant may need to deal with it. It may not initially be clear there is a case that prevents a website from being successful, but once it becomes clear someone has to deal with it. Even if the web consultant can’t cope, they should at least be able to recognise a case and suggest how the consultor might deal with it (presumably by seeking help elsewhere). If the web consultant is able to discuss the case, so much the better.
How to Approach Cases
There are three purposes to tackling a case:
- The main purpose is to discover the action the consultor needs to take to discuss the specific situation.
- It helps to clarify what needs to be considered. This is sometimes called “the authority of the situation”. Whatever the text books say, some situations need to be addressed before you can get on with the work. They demand a response and progress is not possible until there is a response.
- Discover how the consultor can do things better and become a better worker.
Note how none of this is necessarily anything to do with the organisation’s web presence. A web consultant must understand sometimes the issues that need to be addressed are offline.
So, how do you tackle a case? There are 6 stages in any consultation about a case. These conversations can get out of hand because there is often a lot of emotion sloshing around. So, you both, consultant and consultor, need to return to these steps and work out which ones you’ve done and which you still need to discuss.
How to Resolve and Learn from a Case
- Get a clear statement of the case story. The consultor needs to tell the story about what happened in a disciplined and structured way.
- Define the overall change for the worst and for the better. Compare things as they were at the start and end of the consultor’s story. This defines what went wrong.
- Diagnose where the consultor went wrong and the steps the consultor could have taken for the better. Now you need to define how the consultor contributed to what went wrong. This should be specific and explore the things the consultor might have done.
- Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current working situation and the implications for the consultor. This lays the groundwork for the next step. The strengths are important for the consultor’s morale as well as possible foundations for the action steps.
- Work out the action the consultor can take. You need to analyse the pros and cons of possible actions for this consultor in this situation. Each action is not simply doing something; when, where and how the consultor does it is important. You need to consider all the likely outcomes of any action. Don’t assume the proposed action will work – what happens if it doesn’t?
- Learn as much as possible about the case so that the consultor can improve their performance in the future. This can help the consultor in future situations.
I haven’t gone into a lot of detail here but hopefully this overview will help you know when you have a case.
Can you think of instances online where you or someone else would benefit from this type of help?
