IBSA

(Issue, Background, Solution, Action)

Helps you quickly lay out a problem, give the needed info, suggest a fix, and say exactly what to do next.

How to implement

Issue
Clearly define the problem or opportunity you are addressing.

Background
Provide the necessary context and relevant information to understand the issue.

Solution
Propose a specific solution, recommendation, or approach to address the issue.

Action
Outline the immediate and specific steps that need to be taken to implement the solution.

Example

”Okay team, so the Issue is that we’ve seen a 15% drop in lead generation from our website over the last quarter.

The Background is that our competitor just launched a major content marketing campaign, and our website content hasn’t been updated in a while.

The Solution I propose is that we allocate budget to refresh our key landing pages and create three new blog posts per month focusing on relevant industry topics.

The immediate Action is for Jane to research high-performing keywords and for John to start outlining the new blog post topics by the end of the week.”