The Art of Asking the Right Questions

A lot of the HR advice, mentoring and training tips I give to business owners and managers hinges on ensuring you ask the right questions at the right time and then listen, silently and carefully, so you can then identify how best you should progress proactively to the next steps from there.

The standard you set is the standard you get; keep raising the bar.
Use a team meeting to help set your core values.
Reassess them regularly to ensure everyone is walking the talk.
Set these core values as the requirements of the business.
Talk to employees whose performance does not proactively display and advocate these behaviours.
Encourage everyone to be a member of the culture police – in particular, the managers in your team.
Hero examples where these core values are displayed when staff wow the customer or team.
Recognise effort as much as results.

Keep your records clear, consistent and concise.
Ensure your message is clear when confirming what you agreed, will do etc. – use the SMART model.
If it hasn’t been recorded in a paper trail, it never happened.
Avoid grey areas / ambiguity at all costs.
Don’t record anything on an employee’s file unless you would be happy to give them a copy of it.
Ensure all files are accurate and factually correct.

It is good practice to send a follow-up email to confirm what was agreed to ensure both you and the employee are on the same page going forward.

Ask the question and be silent to listen; don’t be afraid of the silence.
You have two ears and one mouth, so do twice as much listening as talking.
The importance of giving the employee the opportunity to be heard can’t be overstated.
Give the process the time it deserves.
Ask open questions.
Ask clarifying / probing questions as required to ensure you have all the information you need.
Watch for body language – learn to read it.

Be aware of the potential barriers that might prevent you listening effectively. They include:

Lack of preparation and a desire to stay in control.
Lack of objectivity – you have decided what to do next.
Lack of empathy.
Lack of time or concentration.
Lack of patience – you know the answer and want to give it.

What is the right question to get the required information / result based on the goal?
What is the best context, timing and setting?
Use “the business requires ….” as a rationale.
Ask open questions – for example, “What?”, “Why?” and “How?”
Use blue sky thinking and open questions for business development and to maximise your employee’s ideas.

Ask yourself whether you are the best person to ask this question to get the required information / result.
Take time out and ‘press pause’ if you are not prepared or are out of your depth.
Turn down the heat and control emotions.
Nip issues in the bud.
Prepare for the conversation.

I find that a question like “What are the available options?” is great for getting the full information regarding a situation and the possible solutions available to solve the issue. It helps the employee to understand the problem themselves and to come up with the options themselves. This ensures that they are developing their knowledge and problem-solving skills, thus empowering them.

Leading questions, which simply put words into the other person’s mouth – effectively asking them to tell you what you want to hear.
Multiple questions, which generally confuse the person who is required to answer them, so they answer the question that’s easiest for them or shows them in the best light – not very helpful if you need to know the answer for the other question(s).
Closed questions, which generally get a “Yes” or a “No” reply and so are best suited to specific information-gathering situations or to confirm information – for example, “Did you book the meeting room for 1pm?”
Open questions, which require more than a one-word reply and generally result in a broad reply that both gathers information and gives you an insight into the topic from the employee’s perspective