en.question techniques [compatibility mode]

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Question Techniques

Asking questions effectively

Refs: Mind ToolsLam Quang Vu


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Key points

If you put the wrong information in, you'llget the wrong information out.

The same principle applies to

commun ca ons n genera : If you ask the wrong questions, you'll probably

get the wrong answer, or at least not quite

what you're hoping for.

11/10/2010 Creativity Tools 2


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Advantage

Asking the right question is at the heart of

effective communications and informationexchange.

situation, you can improve a whole range ofcommunications skills:

you can gather better information

you can build stronger relationships, managepeople more effectively and help others to learn

too.



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Closed Questions

A closed question usually receives a singleword or very short, factual answer. Forexample:

" " " " " " "Where do you live?" The answer is generally

the name of your town or your address



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Open questions

Open questions elicit longer answers.

They usually begin with what, why, how.

An open question asks the respondent for

his or her knowledge, opinion or feelings."Tell me" and "describe" can also beused in the same way as open questions.



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Open questions

Here are some examples:

What happened at the meeting?

Why did he react that way?

ow was e par y Tell me what happened next.

Describe the circumstances in more detail.



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Advantage

Open questions are good for:

Developing an open conversation: "What didyou get up to on vacation?"

"need to do to make this a success?"

Finding out the other person's opinion orissues: "What do you think about those

changes?"



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Advantage

Closed questions are good for:

Testing your understanding, or the otherperson's: "So, if I get this qualification, I will get

Concluding a discussion or making a decision:"Now we know the facts, are we all agreed thisis the right course of action?

Frame setting: "Are you happy with the servicefrom your bank?



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Disadvantage

A misplaced closed question, on the otherhand, can kill the conversation and lead toawkward silences, so are best avoided



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Funnel Questions

This technique involves starting withgeneral questions, and then homing in on apoint in each answer, and asking more and

.

It's often used by detectives taking astatement from a witness



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Funnel Questions - Examples

"How many people were involved in the fight?"

"About ten.""Were they kids or adults?""Mostly kids."

" ""About fourteen or fifteen.""Were any of them wearing anything distinctive?""Yes, several of them had red baseball caps on."

"Can you remember if there was a logo on any of thecaps?""Now you come to mention it, yes, I remember seeinga big letter N."



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Advantage

Finding out more detail about a specificpoint: "Tell me more about Option 2."

Gaining the interest or increasing the

con ence o e person you re spea ngwith: "Have you used the IT Helpdesk?","Did they solve your problem?", "What was

the attitude of the person who took yourcall?"



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Probing Questions (thm d)

Asking probing questions is another strategy for

finding out more detail. Sometimes it's as simple asasking your respondent for an example, to help youunderstand a statement they have made.

t ot er t mes, you nee a t ona n ormat on orclarification, "When do you need this report by, and do

you want to see a draft before I give you my finalversion?", or to investigate whether there is proof for

what has been said, "How do you know that the newdatabase can't be used by the sales force?"



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How to use

An effective way of probing is to use the 5 Whys method, which can helpyou quickly get to the root of a problem:

Why is our client, Hinson Corp., unhappy? Because we did notdeliver our services when we said we would.

Why were we unable to meet the agreed-upon timeline or

it would. Why did it take so much longer? Because we underestimated the

complexity of the job.

Why did we underestimate the complexity of the job? Because

we made a quick estimate of the time needed to complete it, and didnot list the individual stages needed to complete the project.

Why didn't we do this? Because we were running behind on otherprojects. We clearly need to review our time estimation andspecification procedures.



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Advantage

Gaining clarification to ensure you have the

whole story and that you understand itthoroughly

raw ng n orma on ou o peop e w o aretrying to avoid telling you something



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Leading Questions

Leading questions try to lead the

respondent to your way of thinking



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How to use

With an assumption: "How late do you think

that the project will deliver?". This assumesthat the project will certainly not be

.

By adding a personal appeal to agree atthe end: "Lori's very efficient, don't you

think?" or "Option 2 is better, isn't it?"



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How to use

Phrasing the question so that the "easiest" response

is "yes" (our natural tendency to prefer to say "yes"than "no" plays an important part in the phrasing ofreferendum questions):

a we a approve p on s more e y o ge apositive response than "Do you want to approve option 2 ornot?".

A good way of doing this is to make it personal. For example,"Would you like me to go ahead with Option 2?" rather than

"Shall I choose Option 2?".



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How to use

Giving people a choice between two options, both of

which you would be happy with, rather than the choiceof one option or not doing anything at all.

Strictly speaking, the choice of "neither" is still

ava a e w en you as c wou you pre er oor B", but most people will be caught up in deciding

between your two preferences



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Advantage

Getting the answer you want but leaving

the other person feeling that they have hada choice.

os ng a sa e: a answers a o yourquestions, shall we agree a price?"

Note:

The leading questions tend to be closed.



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Using Questioning Techniques

Learning: Ask open and closed questions,

and use probing questioning.

Relationship building: People generally

respon pos ve y you as a ou w athey do or enquire about their opinions. Ifyou do this in an affirmative way "Tell me

what you like best about working here", youwill help to build and maintain an opendialogue.



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Diffusing a heated situation: You can calm

an angry customer or colleague by usingfunnel questions to get them to go into more

detail about their rievance. This will not onl

distract them from their emotions, but willoften help you to identify a small practicalthing that you can do, which is often enough to

make them feel that they have "won"something, and no longer need to be angry.



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Persuading people: No one likes to belectured, but asking a series of openquestions will help others to embrace

e reasons e n your po n o v ew."What do you think about bringing thesales force in for half a day to have their

laptops upgraded?"


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