Writing a Problem Statement: Tips and Samples

Problem statements are clear, concise, and objective explanations of the specific issues that you or your team face in the workplace. These may be problems that occur regularly in your business, or they may result from unique conditions. The statement defines and outlines problems, identifies how they impact your ongoing projects, proposes the right solutions for fixing them, and provides information about the possible outcomes you want. Company management uses problem statements to understand the existing issues, to make necessary improvements in work conditions and work processes, and to implement strategies for the smooth functioning of future projects.

The purpose of the statement is to highlight problems and find resolutions for them. To do so, it helps to consider the following five Ws:

• Who: Find out who has the problem. Does it affect an individual, a few people, or many people?
• What: Identify what the problem is. Is it short-term or long-running? Find out what the outcome will be if you decide to ignore it.
• Where: Discover where the problem occurs. Find out if it is specific to that place or if the location is irrelevant.
• When: Learn when the problem happens. Check if it happens only under specific circumstances or all the time.
• Why: Explain why the problem takes place and why it is essential to fix it in terms of user convenience and financial cost to the company.

You can use the following steps to write strong problem statements:

1. Describe how things should be, ideally. Give some background context to make it easier for the reader to understand the nature of the problem. Explain what the situation would be like if the problem did not exist at all.
2. Outline and explain the existing problems. Without giving the small details, let the reader know what the issue is, why it matters, and why they shouldn’t overlook it.
3. Explain the cost to the company from these problems. Is the problem damaging the company’s brand image? Is it directly or indirectly costing it money? Provide a cost estimate based on your research.
4. Provide relevant data and research evidence to back your claims. The company management could give your statement due consideration if you can back it up with credible evidence from your research, third-party research, or public domain information.
5. Propose viable solutions for the problems. Explain what steps you would take to deal with the issues and why you think they would be effective.
6. Estimate the success rate of the solutions. Consider what specific steps you can take to increase success.
7. Give the cost to the company for these solutions. Explain how much the company will need to spend to implement the solutions. You can consider them viable if the expense is lower than what the problems are costing the company.
8. Describe the benefits to the company. Summarize the statement and mention what the company will gain from addressing the issues.

You can break down problem statements into what the problem is, why it matters, and what you can do about it. Here are some examples of problem statements that you can use for reference:

Example 1

As a growing number of companies now offer work from home options, speedy communication has become crucial for remote workers. Many of them, however, have to deal with poor connectivity issues. Their inability to send and receive messages quickly is resulting in miscommunication and affecting the overall productivity. I suggest that the company should provide all the employees with better data packs and train them in using reliable communication applications.

Example 2

Thomsonville Railway Station operates round the clock throughout the year and requires a professional maintenance crew to keep the place in good order. Currently, the station authorities have contracted the work to a firm that spends a total of five hours per day on regular maintenance. That, however, is not sufficient to maintain the desired level of cleanliness that this type of public place should have, and it could put commuters at risk. My suggestion is that the maintenance firm should provide another crew for an overnight shift.

Example 3

Hardin Motors has an efficient and streamlined manufacturing process in place at their assembly plant for their light commercial vehicles. At present, it is necessary to install some of the components manually. That has been causing a time lag in the production schedule due to differences in the workers’ abilities. While the time differences are in the range of two to four minutes, they add up and lead to a significant loss in work efficiency. To overcome this issue, I propose we do away with the need for manual work by automating the entire process.

Example 4

The young athletes from Rebeiro College have been performing excellently in the state-level 100 meter and 200 meter sprints. Currently, to increase their attentiveness during practice, they consume energy drinks, but the caffeine content in these drinks is a source of concern.

Consuming large amounts of caffeine is not the best long-term solution for the athlete’s lack of energy. I propose that the coaches should stop recommending these types of drinks and instead allow the athletes more time for rest between practices so they can have more energy naturally.