Questioning Techniques
Published on 15th May 2006
We will be talking about phrasing questions in a way to improve the communication between individuals and within teams. Communication happens every day in these situations and we all spend lots of time trying to understand things, sometimes less successfully than we need. "A breakdown in communication" is probably the second most used excuse for failure these days (after computer problems, of course).
Effective communication is vital to achieve business and personal objectives and high standards of performance management but team leaders do not have to make all the decisions or provide all the answers. They should help people to identify and clarify problems and find ways of moving forward. They should draw on the strengths and experiences within their teams to help solve problems and achieve targets.
The main tool for the job is questioning. It may be to find out more, but sometimes questioning is a powerful tool in brainstorming and helping team members solve a problem.
Here we look at a few questioning approaches for team leaders:
Open Questions
Useful for exploring new areas, gathering information and encouraging discussion. There is no right or wrong answer and so people are open to speak freely.
“Tell me about the conversation you had with the new client?”
“What ideas do you have about improving our service?”
Open questions are not useful with talkative people or where clarification is required.
Probing Questions
For checking information and getting people to be more specific.
“Exactly what happened next?”
“Why was the customer unhappy?”
“Can you give us an example of what you’re talking about?”
Care is needed when exploring emotionally charged areas.
Closed Questions
Useful for probing single facts, because they restrict how the user can answer. Useful for putting people on the spot, but avoid if you need to be circumspect.
“How old were you then?”
“How long were you talking?”
“How many suppliers have you got quotes from?”
Closed questions are not useful for gaining information in areas not yet fully explored.
Reflective Questions
For establishing empathy and handling emotionally charged situations.
You reflect back an image or feeling that someone is projecting.
“It sounds as if you were angry …….?”
“Winning the contract must have felt good?”
This type of question is not useful for checking details and facts.
Relay Questions
Where a question from one person is passed onto the whole group. You can open it to the whole group or ask each in turn.
Useful if someone is expecting you to come up with the right answer and you want to explore other possibilities, or if someone is being negative.
“What do other people think?”
“Any suggestions?”
You can’t use relay questions in one to one discussions!
Reverse Questioning
This puts the question back to the person who asked it. It enables them to come up with their own answer and encourages them to think for themselves.
“What do you think we should do?”
“What's your best guess?”
This type of question is not useful when you are the only expert with the technical knowledge.
When phrasing your questions think about the information you are trying to gather and what sort of answers you hope to get. An open question (“How are you getting on with writing that report?”) will get a less precise answer than a closed one (“When will that report be finished?”) but may reveal information about the quality of the report. A reflective (“Are you looking forward to presenting that report?”) may tell you something about the person writing the report.
Also think of who you are asking and their point of view. Are they likely to be defensive? Could they be wanting to keep you happy by telling you what you want to hear? How helpful do they want to be?
Asking questions is another way of demonstrating that you are listening and using these two skills effectively will improve your communication skills. How often do we complain of bad communications?