What if asking better questions could improve your work and home life?

You're in staff meeting, or at a family gathering, or having dinner with friends, and you're discussing something important. Sometime afterwards, you find yourself thinking: "Okay, I know where Joe stands, but Mark and Marcia didn't say anything. I wonder what they think?" The problem can be without even knowing it we create conditions in which some people don't feel 'psychologically safe' to speak up. That's according to Harvard professor Amy Edmondson, author of the book "Teaming." 

As caregivers, we know how important this is. Few things are more heartbreaking than realizing we might possibly have saved a life if we'd just created a safer space for people to speak up or listened better when they did. That's an example where the consequences of silence are truly dire — and in healthcare it's fair to make speaking up an expectation of the job. But even if there's no life at stake — the costs of unwittingly limiting the range of perspectives, concerns, and ideas we hear are high — personally, socially, and organizationally. 

What if we challenged ourselves to speak up, and to make it safe for others to speak freely as well? Recently we had the opportunity for Amy to speak to our leadership team, one solution she offered for creating psychologically safe places was pretty simple. Her advice: Ask better questions. Do it intentionally. Set the stage for inviting people in by being the first one to acknowledge: "I don't know everything about this — I'd really like to hear from you. From everyone."

HERE ARE 10 QUESTIONS AMY SAYS GIVE PEOPLE ROOM TO RESPOND:

To broaden discussions where not everyone is talking, you might ask:

1) What do others here think?

2) I'm new to this (role, topic, etc.), what are you seeing out there?

3) What are we missing?

4) What options could we consider?

5) Who has a different perspective?

To deepen discussions and keep people talking, try asking:

6) What leads you to think so?

7) What's the concern that you have about that?

8) Can you give us an example?

9) Would you explain that a little further?

10) What do you think might happen if we did X?

It struck me when Amy shared these questions how they could lead to better conversations with colleagues and our teams, but also with my wife, my kids, my neighbors, and my friends. Her insights also made me appreciate even more deeply how often these questions mirror what caregivers are asking me on our podcast "Thanks for Asking." (You can hear some of your colleagues' great questions at intermountainhealthcare.org/podcasts ). I'm so proud of our Intermountain caregivers and their courage and insight. I'll be using these questions and I hope you will to.