A3 Problem Solving
One owner works a problem through on a single A3 sheet: background, current situation, goal, root-cause analysis, countermeasures, an implementation plan, and follow-up. The left side describes the problem; the right side the countermeasures and plan. A mentor coaches by asking questions rather than giving answers, and the sheet becomes the basis for conversations with everyone affected.
Use when a real problem needs disciplined, fact-based thinking and agreement across people who see it differently.
Solves: Problems get 'solved' in a meeting with a quick fix, and come back because nobody looked at the cause.
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Step 1: Name the owner and write the background: why this problem matters now (10 min).
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Step 2: Draw the current situation, with facts and data from where the work happens (30 min).
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Step 3: Set a specific goal or target (10 min).
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Step 4: Analyse root causes with the people involved (30 min).
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Step 5: List possible countermeasures and choose the best ones (20 min).
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Step 6: Write the implementation plan: who, what, when (15 min).
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Step 7: Agree how and when results will be checked, and review the A3 with the mentor and those affected (15 min, then later).
- As mentor, ask questions. The owner's thinking is what is being developed.
- Use the A3 to shift the conversation from who owns what to what is right.
- Draw the current state; pictures beat paragraphs.
- Proposal A3 for decisions, and status A3 for reporting progress.