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Children grow up asking questions. The better their questions, the more challenging and important the answers we give them. Questions embody a child's creativity, serve as an aid to learning, cause others to reflect on the meanings of things, irritate those cooped up with them for long periods of time, and embarrass parents in front of friends and strangers. As adults with questions in the workplace, we run into the same concerns, issues, and irritantsfor better or worse. |
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Tip 468: Know your purpose in asking questions. |
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With purpose comes organization. You can go from the broad and general to the narrow and specific. For example, if you're interviewing someone for a job, you may begin with a broad, general question: ''Tell me a little about your last jobwhat you liked or disliked." As the applicant begins talking, you'll follow up with more specific questions generated from the earlier answers: "So why do you think you were so successful at selling the widgets when others couldn't meet quota?" |
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On the other hand, you might decide to go from the narrow and specific, easy-to-answer questions to the broad and general. "How long were you at the last job?" "What was your title there?" "Did other people work with you on those projects?" Then broader: "What are some of the difficulties you think arise in working in teams and being held accountable for others' results?" |
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On other occasions, you may want to ask unrelated questions in a random fashion, such as when surveying customers about price points or asking team members what projects they want to tackle next. |
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Broad, general questions give the asker more latitude to explore and gather information he or she didn't know to ask about. They also give listeners great latitude in leading where they want to go. By contrast, specific, narrow questions give the asker more control, but sometimes less information. Specific, narrow questions can be either easy to answer or difficult to answer if the answer puts the listener on the spot. |
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With questions to a client, a coworker, or a complainer, know your purpose. |
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Tip 469: Decide whether to and when to lead. |
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"Isn't it obvious that the MIS department needs these figures by the end of the week?" clearly says that you expect the listener to agree with you. As a result, the listener may feel pressured or trapped. In other situations, however, you may need to lead a customer or coworker to a decision or a quick response: "You probably want a matte finish, don't you?" |
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