Operations = miscellaneous tasks, solving one problem or a category of problems?

Those who work in operations may all go through a stage of doing miscellaneous operations. So why do we do miscellaneous operations? How to understand and deal with it? This article will discuss this issue with you and hope to inspire you.

Doing miscellaneous tasks is a helpless complaint that many workers have about their jobs, and it is particularly evident in Internet operations positions.

This article will talk to you about the phenomenon of miscellaneous tasks in operational work, how to understand and deal with them. Working is already hard, so try to reduce miscellaneous tasks as much as possible.

1. Why do people do odd jobs?

The feeling of being a chores person at work is mainly because trivial problems take up my working time, the efficiency of problem solving is too low, and I consume too much of my work energy, so I am not able to invest in more valuable work and exploration.

It is not data analysis, but data organization! It is not user operation, but answering customer questions! It is not event planning, but writing SOP documents! It is often said that refined operation, going to users to serve users, but it is always solving trivial problems, busy work but no results are produced, it is reasonable to call it miscellaneous work.

At the same time, problem solving is the essence and value of operations work, and it is also necessary to find problems before solving them. What is important is how to view and solve problems. From solving one problem to solving a category of problems, improving the scale and efficiency of problem solving may be a good way to reduce chores and improve work experience and value.

2. How to reduce “miscellaneous tasks”?

1. Understand work and business from a problem

The operating experience is stronger in two situations:

• The business is in the early stages of development. The business model and workflow are immature, the user scale is not large, and there are many new specific problems that need to be tried and solved one by one.
• I am a novice in the workplace. I have little work experience and lack experience in work methods that can be relied upon and reused. I need to start from basic work to solve simple and specific problems.

In both situations, new problems and challenges constantly arise, and there is no stable and mature experience and mechanism to respond and solve them. It is necessary to keep a calm mind to analyze, diagnose and solve problems, and accumulate a case library of team and personal problems.

In addition, even in mature businesses or for veterans in the workplace, new challenges and trivial problems are inevitable. Some "odd jobs" are inevitable, necessary and valuable, and the ultimate goal is to solve work problems more efficiently, achieve goals and improve work experience.

When solving problems that are big or small, arduous or trivial, do not simply pursue quick solutions to superficial problems. Instead, pay attention to the process of problem analysis and problem solving, and solve problems from the perspective of cause and effect and the entire process. This is the key to continuously accumulating experience, understanding the business, forming mechanisms, and improving efficiency.

Analyze the problem:

• Define the problem: Don’t limit yourself to the problem phenomenon, enrich the background information to understand the needs behind it, and accurately define the problem;
• Disassemble the problem: what factors affect the problem, what assumptions are there, and disassemble the various possible causes of the problem;
• Screening factors: Assuming that the decomposed problem factors have reached the ideal state, the key factors for the degree of problem solving are initially screened and determined;
• Hypothesis analysis: Use a combination of quantitative data analysis and qualitative research analysis to identify the causes of problems for key factors.

Solving the problem:

• Clarify the method: Based on the analyzed cause of the problem, propose specific and executable solutions;
• Assessment priority: If there are multiple solutions, determine the priority of the solution based on the degree of solution, difficulty of implementation, and input-output;
• Execution feedback: Take measures to implement actions to solve problems and pay attention to follow-up feedback on the problems.

For clearer and simpler problems, you don't need to strictly follow the problem-solving process step by step, but you must have a perspective of the entire problem-solving process. After all, recurring simple problems can have a significant negative impact on your work.

Moving forward by solving one problem at a time, the next step is to solve a category of problems.

2. Use a category of questions to improve experience and efficiency

A category of problems is a collection of problems with common characteristics. Common characteristic problems may be problems of the same type of users, problems in the same scenarios, problems for the same reasons, etc. It is necessary to select classification standards based on the business situation. Problem users and occurrence scenarios are common classification methods.

Using a category of questions to improve problem-solving efficiency and work experience is based on the accumulation and summary of practical experience, forming a problem library with methods and tools. In the past, the team solved 100 problems, but now it solves 10 categories of problems. The problem-solving efficiency has been improved, and the miscellaneous work experience has also been reduced.

In identifying and discovering problems, we will form an open mechanism, establish diverse channels, and collect problems efficiently.

After defining and screening the problems, we match them with existing problem types. However, the newly discovered problems may not perfectly match the problem types. We need to correct the cause diagnosis and solution of the problem library based on the differentiated characteristics of the problems, and finally solve the problems, conduct a review and optimize the problem library.

A mature team cannot do without a mature question bank. Whether it is for daily problem solving or training of new members, a mature question bank can meet the needs. Moreover, a broad question bank is not limited to solving negative problems. Daily work methods and creative exploration can also form a team knowledge base using similar methods.

In addition, productization is an indispensable topic for reducing chores. Productization of operation processes is an efficient way to improve operational efficiency and achieve large-scale operations, but the value of productization is more about improving efficiency. The premise is to accumulate and verify problem solving, and think and plan from a business perspective, rather than simply raising requirements.

3. Don’t ignore the value of “doing odd jobs”!

Doing odd jobs will make the work experience worse, so many operations avoid and even sneer at “odd jobs”. They think that as the business matures, there will be fewer odd jobs. They will hire an intern and give him odd jobs. They will ask customer service for all problems because they have a backup plan. I am the leader now, so they will ask my subordinates…

The most difficult things in the world must be done from the easy, and the most important things in the world must be done from the details. Miscellaneous tasks are inevitable in work, and too much meaningless miscellaneous tasks need to be taken seriously. Use the question bank and productization to improve efficiency and enhance work results and experience.

More importantly, pay attention to the problems in miscellaneous work, which may be the problems that are closest to users and most in line with the business. The operation of a business cannot be summarized by a data dashboard or a few data indicators, but is composed of a process in which real problems continue to appear and be solved.

Author: Wu Yijiu, WeChat public account: Growth Pirate Ship