The BEST Questions for Managers

Your questions are shutting people down. Limiting results.

No, you are.

Our businesses value efficiency. The sentiment is that quicker is better, a fast game is a good game.?

When we move at speed, we ask closed questions that limit explanation or curiosity:

Do you?

Can you?

Did you?

Or sometimes we don’t ask at all. We tell. And having just one way of thinking (yours) is never a good option.

Closed questions shut people down. They create binary responses: yes, no. These questions don’t encourage sharing or expansion. They exclude input. Limit ideas. Reduce engagement. They are tactical and transactional.

Open up.

When we ask open questions we get feelings, emotions, opinions and meaningful conversations. They get qualitative responses. They link more directly to business goals and outcomes. They are more strategic and contextual.

Open questions get expansion, context and value from our employees. They flood the brain with thoughts and ideas.

How can we do this?

Where could we go?

What can we do?

Why are these things important?

Open questions require us to be deliberate in our conversations. We have to practice being open though. It goes against our desire to be quick and efficient. But is more efficient in the long run.

Open questioning doesn’t limit progress or speed. It adds value. It creates connection. It can bypass and save time and money in the long term. In the end, open questions are harder to embed in our ways but better. For us and them.

Try these three things to lift the impact of your questions and conversations.

1.Listen to the questions you ask. See how they are impacting or benefiting your leadership and engagement with the team.

2. Practice replacing closed with open questions. Instead of asking "Are there any questions?" (closed), try asking "What would you like to ask?' See the difference?

3. Use HOW more. HOW is THE most powerful opener for getting engagement with your team. It lights up the brain and gets them moving.

Paul Matthews helps leaders and teams lift impact with powerful conversations. He is a speaker, mentor and coach. He is the author of the Bestseller Powerful Conversations for Managers. His coaching and workshops help managers move further faster on innovation, trust and productivity.

Learn more at paulmatthews.com.au or email [email protected] to arrange a quick call.