Solving SharePoint Issues – Problem Solving Methodologies - Generalization

Overview

I am starting up a new section “Solving SharePoint Issues” because I run into so many different SharePoint issues and understanding the process of solving them is more important than the simple fix itself. When analyzing an error message I use a variety of problem solving processes but the most commonly I start with Generalization. Generalization can be used as a deductive proof for cause and effect relationship.

Let me spinout a few words to explain the concept.

Suppose that SharePoint is experiencing an error on a client computer. The user reports that the error message is on one SharePoint Site. Your first response should be to generalize the problem, consider that the browser cannot display any SharePoint Sites. Have the User test other SharePoint Sites. If other SharePoint sites will not display Generalize: Test other Internet Sites that use Active X controls, test shared drives, and test network connectivity. You take a specific error and generalize a condition that could cause a larger set of criteria.

Steps:

• Examine error
• Hypothesize a more general cause
• Test the Hypothesis by looking for additional errors
• Identify and resolve the root cause