What is the Problem Tree for?

The Problem Tree it is a fundamental tool to be able to understand a certain problem that must be solved. It is a scheme with tree shape, which expresses all the negative conditions discovered by the people who are involved in a specific problem.

When all the conditions have been specified, all the main problems must be ordered to develop the project in the form of objectives. Once the problems have been clarified, the project will have a successful design, where a preliminary assumptions will be made during the project execution.

Once the project is finished, a detailed and simple review of the effectiveness of the measures to attack the resolution of the problems is carried out.

What is the Problem Tree for?

This favorable tool allows you to express a problem by means of a diagram. It's a way of represent a problem in a way that can be understood what is happening, the causes of why it occurs and what are the effects it is causing.

This makes it possible for some things to be allowed within the planning of the project with the intention of improve analysis of the same. This type of scheme is used to:

• Allow to break down the problem, causes and effects that help improve your analysis.
• Improve understanding of the problem by separating causes and consequences.
• Engage with other research tools, analysis, and solutions.
• Facilitate the execution of other significant components of a project or research during its planning phase.
• Affirm that a problem identified through the methodology of the logic frame, provide a 90% solution.
• Prepare project objectives, to obtain important data that characterize the problem.

How do you plan a project with the Problem Tree?

According to the Japanese, the problems that are identified already make up 90% of the solution, so Therefore, great importance is attached to the methodology of the logical framework in relation to the analysis of problems.

The planning work that is done with the problem tree outline, forms an important part in the characterization of a problem. This importance allows the problem tree to be used in conjunction with other tools that seek the following:

• Acquire important data to define the problem.
• Establish what are the causes and effect.
• Properly carry out the project objectives.

Advantages of the Problem Tree

This tool helps to outline the project, dividing it into various activities that will be worked on as a team. Within this planning, a great variety of advantages can be highlighted, such as the following:

• It makes it easy to see how complex the problem is, so that the impact of the actions can be easily captured.
• The scheme carried out is a favorable guide to manage the results of the intervention.
• It is an objective reference to carry out and coordinate the actions that are found among the different participants involved.
• It allows you to break down the problem, the causes and its effects, with the intention of helping to improve your analysis.
• It helps to better understand the problem by separating it into causes and effects.
• It can be linked with other favorable research and analysis tools.
• It allows to carry out important investigation mechanisms.

How to make a Problem Tree step by step?

To make a scheme that can analyze and solve a problematic situation, the following steps must be followed:

To analize the situation

If the situation of a problem is analyzed, it must be determined what is happening, why it is happening and what is causing it. Then all these data are gathered, in order to understand the state of the situation.

Identify the main problems of the analyzed situation

Most of the techniques that serve to provide ideas are very useful. A brainstorming As a team, you can determine the main cause of the problem, which is a favorable alternative.

Despite this, if the problem is more technical and requires people with more experience in discussions, the Vester matrix can be applied, since it is something more complex to differentiate the causes and effects.

This matrix can allow by itself, the priorities of the main problem and generate the steps that provide the causes and effects of the same.

Determine the effects and causes of the main problem

With the data obtained, we already have the trunk of the tree that is the central problem and move on to the identification of the causes that would be the roots and the effects will be the branches and sheets. All of this must be done as a team through consensus.

Draw the tree

This can be done graphically in a simple way.

Deepen the causes and effects

By solving the core problem, it will be much easier to determine causes and effects. This means that, by determining each cause, the problem that generates the effect will deepen.