Assignment Task for Unit: Problem Solving and Decision Making
Centre Number R82027
Centre Name University of Cambridge
Candidate Registration No
Candidate Name
TASK Identify a workplace problem facing you or your team. Investigate the problem and identify ways to resolve it. Plan how you will implement the
chosen resolution. For the purposes of this assignment, ‘problem’ may be interpreted as: something that is not working as expected (a deviation from the
norm) OR an opportunity to make an improvement OR a potential or anticipated problem.
NOTES
 Select a topic in your own organisation and/or area of work. You are advised to discuss your task with your tutor and/or your line manager before doing
too much work on it. They should be able to advise you on the suitability of the topic as a means of meeting the assessment criteria.
 The 'nominal' word count for this assignment is 1200 words: the suggested range is between 1000 and 2000 words.
Use these headings to structure your
assignment
Assessment Criteria
Introduction to your organisation
This aspect is not
assessed, it is to help the
assessor understand the
context of the information
you provide throughout this
assignment.
Briefly describing your organisation, what it
does, and your role within it. You could
include an organisation chart and show
your role within it.
Section 1: Describe the problem, it’s
nature, scope and impact
Describe:
 What the problem is and what may
have caused it
 Its scope (e.g. how widespread, how
often, how much, etc.)
 Who, how and what it affects in the
workplace/team (its impact)
 What you are trying to achieve by
solving this problem
 What the result would be if no action is
taken.
ILM Level 3 Award in L&M
AC 1.1
Describe the problem, its
nature, scope and impact
(12 marks)
Sufficiency descriptors The assessor will use these to decide if you need to
do further work (a Referral) or if you gain a Pass or Good Pass for each
Assessment criteria.
Referral [5 or less]
 The problem or improvement
opportunity is ill-defined and
so is vague or unclear
 There is limited or no
consideration of the
problem’s scope or impact
Problem Solving and Decision Making Assignment
Pass [6 to 8]
The problem or improvement
opportunity is described,
including both scope (how
widespread, how often, etc.) and
impact (who, how and/or what it
affects) although the description
may be limited
Good Pass [9 or more]
The problem or improvement
opportunity is well defined and
described in detail and both
scope and impact are thoroughly
described and, if appropriate,
quantified
January 2014
Section 2: Gather and interpret
information to identify possible
solutions to the problem
Gather and interpret information about the
problem to help identify possible solutions.
The information you gather should be fact
supported by evidence and not just your
opinion.
Describe all the possible options for solving
the problem.
AC 2.1
Gather and interpret
information to identify
possible solutions to a
problem (24 marks)
AC 2.2.
Prepare a summary of the
options providing facts and
evidence (16 marks)
Section 3: Evaluate the possible options
to make a decision
Evaluate the possible solutions using a
simple decision-making technique to arrive
at the best solution. Your evaluation
should include human, material and
financial resources.
When you have evaluated the options,
state your chosen solution clearly and
concisely with your reasons.
ILM Level 3 Award in L&M
AC 3.1
Apply a simple decision
making technique to
evaluate options to arrive at
the best solution (24 marks)
Referral [11 or less]
 Little or no evidence of oral
or written information having
been gathered
 Reference is made to
gathering information but
that information is not given
in the submission
 Information has been
gathered and is provided but
is not relevant to identifying
possible solutions; or merely
further describes the
problem instead of helping to
identify possible solutions; or
there is no interpretation to
identify possible solutions
Pass [12 to 17]
Evidence is provided in the
submission that oral and/or
written information has been
gathered to identify possible
solutions, and, although the
interpretation may be limited, the
information is effectively
interpreted to identify at least
two possible solutions (not
including ‘doing nothing”)
Good Pass [18 or more]
 Evidence is provided that
substantial oral and/or
written information has been
collected from a variety of
sources in order to
effectively identify possible
solutions
 The gathered information is
presented in detail and
thoroughly interpreted to
clearly identify several
possible solutions
Referral [7 or less]
 No options are given
 Options are merely listed as
opposed to summarised
 Option summaries are
minimal and/or too subjective
and not based on facts
and/or evidence
Pass [8 to 11]
At least two options (not
including the option of ‘doing
nothing’) are summarised, and
not merely listed, with the
options based on facts and
evidence
Good Pass [12 or more]
 A range of varied options are
thoroughly summarised or
described
 The options are clearly
based on facts and evidence
explicitly arising out of the
interpretation of the problem
Referral [11 or less]
 The best solution is isolated
but is not one of the options
or a combination of them
 A solution is given but is
merely stated with no
evidence of evaluation by
using a decision-making
technique; and/or no
consideration of resource
implications in either the
option summaries or the
decision-making technique
Pass [12 to 17]
 A simple decision-making
technique has been used to
evaluate options individually
or together; and
 the decision-making criteria
are identified although they
may be limited; and
 the simple decision-making
technique is correctly used to
isolate the best solution with
some reference to facts to
support the decision; and
 although it may be limited,
resource implications are
briefly considered in either
the option summaries or the
decision-making technique
Good Pass [18 or more]
 A decision-making technique
has been used to thoroughly
evaluate options, individually
or together, with the
decision-making criteria
described
 Options are weighted and
ranked to arrive at the best
solution with facts to fully
support the decision-making,
the weightings and rankings
 Resource implications are
detailed in both the option
summaries and the decisionmaking technique
Problem Solving and Decision Making Assignment
January 2014
Section 4: Plan, monitor and review the
implementation and communication of
decision
Provide an action plan for the
implementation and communication of the
solution. Your action plan should include
actions, time-scales and required
resources including people and finance.
Explain how you will communicate the plan
to all who need to know about it.
Briefly describe the monitoring and review
processes/techniques you could use to
evaluate the effectiveness of your chosen
solution. Describe how these will work and
how they will be able to show that the plans
are working effectively.
AC 4.1
Plan the implementation
and communication of the
decision (16 marks)
AC 4.2
Describe which monitoring
and review techniques
which could be used to
evaluate outcomes (8
marks)
Referral [7 or less]
 Little or no planning is
provided
 The implementation and
communication of the
decision are merely
described as opposed to
actually planned
 A plan is given but contains
no timescales and/or no
resources required to
implement
 Implementation is planned or
communication is planned
but not both
Pass [8 to 11]
 An action plan is provided
that plans both the
implementation and
communication of the
decision, although one or
other may be limited; and
 the plan includes time scales
and responsibilities and
some consideration of the
resources required (including
people and finance) although
this may be limited
Good Pass [12 or more]
A detailed and SMART action
plan(s) is provided that fully
plans both the implementation
and communication of the
decision, thoroughly describes
responsibilities and details
resource requirements (including
people and finance)
Referral [3 or less]
 Less than two monitoring
and review techniques are
provided
 At least two monitoring and
review techniques are given
but are merely identified, as
opposed to described,
and/or are inappropriate or
minimal
Pass [4 to 5]
A description, as opposed to a
mere identification, is given of at
least two monitoring and review
techniques that could be used to
evaluate outcome, although the
description may be limited
Good Pass [6 or more]
 Several appropriate
monitoring and review
techniques are thoroughly
described
 Clear measures of the
effectiveness of the outcome
are provided, such as
milestones
By submitting I confirm that this assignment is my own work
ILM Level 3 Award in L&M
Problem Solving and Decision Making Assignment
January 2014