Here is a framework for asking the right questions at the right time to create clarity and agreement around issues and to empower your direct reports.
Ask the right kind of questions
The word "empower" gets bandied about so much that one could be forgiven for overlooking what it actually means: to imbue someone with power, to instil in the individual a sense of his own strength and efficacy.
"When the boss asks for a subordinate's ideas, he sends the message that they are good — perhaps better than his. The individual gains confidence and becomes more competent," says Michael J. Marquardt, author of Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).
The most effective and empowering questions create value in one or more of the following ways:
1. They create clarity: "Can you explain more about this situation?"
2. They construct better working relations: Instead of "Did you make your sales goal?" ask, "How have sales been going?"
3. They help people think analytically and critically: "What are the consequences of going this route?"
4. They inspire people to reflect and see things in fresh, unpredictable ways: "Why did this work?"
5. They encourage breakthrough thinking: "Can that be done in any other way?"
6. They challenge assumptions: "What do you think you will lose if you start sharing responsibility for the implementation process?"
7. They create ownership of solutions: "Based on your experience, what do you suggest we do here?"
Just as important, it is up to you as the leader to model the question-asking approach so that your team, in turn, will employ it with their own reports. For example, you can track how well the team is working together by asking questions like:
· We've been working together for three hours today; what did we do best as a team?
· What enabled us to be successful in coming up with an innovative strategy?
· How can we ask better questions?
· How can we apply what we are learning to other parts of our work?
· What leadership skills helped us succeed today?
What not to ask
Marquardt points out that, contrary to the business truism "There are no bad questions," several types of questions can have a negative effect on subordinates.
Questions focused on why a person did not or cannot succeed force subordinates to take a defensive or reactive stance and strip them of their power. Such questions shut down opportunities for success and do not allow people to clarify misunderstandings or achieve goals. These questions include:
· Why are you behind schedule?
· What's the problem with this project?
· Who isn't keeping up?
· Don't you know any better than that?
Leading questions seek a specific answer, one that puts the person being asked the question in a negative light, pushes through the questioner's agenda, or exerts social pressure to force agreement. Among their many downsides, leading questions such as the following inhibit direct reports from answering candidly and stifle honest discussion:
· You wanted to do it by yourself, didn't you?
· Don't you agree that John is the problem here?
· Everyone else on the team thinks John is the problem. What about you?
While closed questions, which require specific answers, can be a good way to open and close a conversation, a whole string of them in a row, such as the following, will make subordinates feel they are being interrogated:
· Is this a good time to talk?
· What time is the meeting?
· How many people are coming?
· Who else will be there?
· When will the report be ready?
Source : http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org./
No comments:
Post a Comment