Part 2 of 5 on the Power of Asking Questions
Bernice Moore-Valdez
Asking questions is an important way to contribute to a meeting. Most people know how to give their point of view without hesitation. It is more difficult to ask good questions. When we do, it enhances teamwork, group understanding, and positive action. To insert a good question, listen carefully to the conversation. Track what is missing or needed as people talk, and add your question in the flow of the conversation.
Here are some overall guidelines for questions:
Make questions open-ended, so the question can’t be answered “yes,” “no,” or “maybe.” A good question requires a thoughtful response, at a minimum a sentence.
Listen to the answer: inside and out. What was said and what did it mean? What was our reaction? Listen with a willingness to be influenced.
Respond. Engage in the conversation.
Ask another question and engage the group in an inquiry that leads to greater understanding
There are several kinds of questions:
Questions that seek information
Questions that clarify
Questions that invite other opinions and points of view
Questions that support collective understanding
Not all questions are useful. Sometimes, questions are phrased in a way to advocate a point of view and not necessarily to invite a response. I like to call these “false questions”, and will talk more about them in the fifth blog of this series. The focus of this particular blog will be on questions that seek information and to clarify.
Here are a couple of examples of questions that seek information. Guess which ones are the open-ended questions:
a. What do we need to do to complete the project on time and under budget?
b. What can get in the way of our completing the project on time?
c. Do we need to complete the project by the 15th of this month?
d. What tasks or deliverables have we overlooked in our project plan?
Pretty simple, isn’t it? Question c just clarifies the date—it’s answered with a yes or no, do we have to complete it by the 15th or not?
Questions a, b, and d are open-ended questions that seek information to help the entire group. The conversation the follows will lead to answers that will help the whole group understand the task at hand and how to avoid potential obstacles. Once you get the hang of it, open-ended questions become second nature and will play a valuable role toward giving your team needed traction.
Now that you’re seeing how important questions really are, how would you respond to the following statement:
A frustrated project manager throws down her pen: “This project is going off track in a hurry.”
The easy way out would be to just button your lip and let someone else take the heat, but that won’t solve anyone’s problems. This would be a perfect opportunity to ask a clarifying question, which helps to gain perspective from another. Again, good questions asked in an open-ended manner will help provide more information and determine what is truly needed. You might ask one or more of these clarifying questions:
What is going on?
What is making you so concerned?
What can we do to get it back on track?
What are the consequences of the project being off track?
The 4 examples are all open-ended, and the project manager can express why she is frustrated. These questions help the project leader and everyone present understand what has happened. Then with additional open-ended questions and ideas about possible actions, people know what to do to get the project back on track or how to mitigate the damage.
Clarifying questions help flesh out the information so that unanswered questions and concerns can be addressed. Clarifying questions are not only used when things are going wrong; they can also help clarify a new idea or potential solution.
Here’s another application of a clarifying questions. George presents a new idea for a process improvement at a group meeting. The following questions will help clarify the nuance of this proposed improvement:
How will your idea impact our bottom line?
What do we need to do to implement this idea?
How would we test this to make sure there are no unintended consequences?
What are the benefits and risks of implementing this?
Clarifying questions are a useful tool to ensure that their are no uncertainties or missing information that leave people guessing about what to do next.
In conclusion, when we ask good questions, we contribute to a group process that spurs conversation and helps us find collective answers. The best approach is to experiment. Try out open-ended questions and see what happens. If you have examples of how you’ve used open-ended questions to seeking information or to clarify, then please feel free to share them as a comment. Your participation in this blog is more than welcome and will enrich our collective engagement.
Please join us for our next blog as we explore questions that invite other perspectives and questions that support group understanding.
