Listening is the medium of receiving information. Not all received information is perfect and usable. Often, the message needs further uncovering, to be looked at from various perspectives, and to be deciphered. This set of information can be obtained, more often than not, by the power of questioning.
During and after the process of listening, for communication to be effective, you need to pepper it with relevant questions; questions that are not aimed at proving your smartness, but rather with the sole intent of getting useful information that can be used constructively.
In a number of ways, the type of questions that can be asked will vary. Asking questions is a subjective matter. It will be decided on a case-to-case basis. I cannot possibly point out what questions to ask but rather orient you towards asking relevant questions and highlighting the benefits that can be directly derived out of asking good quality questions.
- Getting confirmation of what the speaker is saying. You can rephrase in your own way and check if you understood the matter rightly.
- You can obtain more information than originally offered by asking open-ended questions—why is it beneficial for us to study yoga?
- By asking questions, good discussions usually emerge. The speaker and other group members might indulge in brain picking, which will further help in obtaining various perspectives.
- Managers can ask leading questions to subordinates to obtain the favored response, and simultaneously make it look like a group decision. Two birds with a single arrow—don't you think we should opt for supplier A over the rest in the race?
- One way you can build rapport is by asking the right questions, questions that can tell the speaker that you are curious about learning more.
- Probe further in getting to a piece of information that the communicator is not voluntarily ready to divulge—can you tell me why the poles of the sun switch every eleven years?
- At times, you can alleviate destructive emotions by asking questions such as "what kind of service would have pleased you?"
Action Point
Exercise (for students to attempt at the end of this topic followed by a group discussion):
- Share your experience when you have asked the right question and have obtained the answers you were seeking.
There are some ill effects of questioning if the process is misused. Smart Alecs like to ask questions that they have an answer to only to demonstrate their knowledge if the speaker fails to answer. This is quite common in the IT world, where the constant rat race prompts people to outdo one another. Furthermore, questions can also be used to mock the communicator—don't you know the abbreviation of this term? You are not becoming an effective communicator using questions in a derogatory manner, but rather breaking the relationship. Through questions, do not degrade anybody. Use it as a powerful tool that can give you tangible benefits rather than brownie points.
Not all questions are the same. In some questions, you warrant a single word answer, and in some, you pick the brain of the speaker. So, the questioning technique is about asking the right type of question in a given scenario. You don't want to arm yourself with a knife in a gun fight!
In the probing technique, the speaker is not eager to give out information. You need to ask the right question, support your questions with logic, and put the speaker on the spot to give you the answer that you require. Detectives commonly use this technique on suspects, victims, and witnesses.
In this technique, the skill is to start asking non-pointed question, and based on the answer you receive ask pointy questions, which helps you delve further.
There is a probing technique in IT called the 5 why analysis which is popularly used by teams that work on risk and security management areas. The technique is a series of why questions that you pose to dig deeper into the dirt. The idea is that by the time you are done with the fifth why, you would have obtained the root cause, which is the desired information. Here's a small illustration.
A computer is infected with a virus. The technical team that is responsible for managing computers is not providing a whole lot of information on this issue. You are an IT information security officer and it is your job to find the root cause for this issue. You begin asking the questions this way:
1st Why: Why was the computer infected with a virus?
Answer: The user was not using an anti-virus protection application
2nd Why: Why was the user not using an anti-virus protection application?
Answer: It was not installed on the computer
3rd Why: Why was it not installed on the computer?
Answer: Due to human error
In this example, we got the answer we were looking for in the third why. In reality, you can go with as many whys as possible.
Action Point
Exercise (for students to attempt at the end of this topic followed by a group discussion):
- Pick up any breakdown that you have faced in your organization. Apply the 5-why technique to get down to the root of the issue.
- Do you think asking probing questions to those who are close to you would strain the relationship that you enjoy? Reason out. There are pros and cons with probing questions. The downside is that the person who you are posing it to might take offense due to lack of trust. So, the idea is to use it wisely.
If the intention of asking questions is to engage the recipient into opening up by sharing thoughts and perspectives, you must ask open-ended questions. The answers to open ended questions can never be a single word. What is your opinion on the world's economy? For this question, the answer will be as detailed as possible, thereby giving way for conversation to continue. Suppose if the same question was to be phrased something like—Do you think the world's economy is sinking? The answer could be yes or a no and that can also play spoilsport in killing the conversation.
You need to engage open-ended questions when you need details. They are designed to extract information. As a classic example, on romantic dates, couples generally ask open-ended questions. Share your experience on the rafting trip you undertook last year. What are your color preferences? If they were to start asking each other closed questions, they will end up playing the game of twenty questions.
Closed questions have its place in communication. The conversation killer is not a villain in the world of communication. Closed questions are employed when confirmation is needed, where a yes or a no would suffice. In IT organizations, customer satisfaction is generally built on closed ended questions. Did you enjoy the level of service you obtained today?
Closed questions play a major part in surveys and business analytics. These mediums employ closed questions in getting standardized answers from respondents—Do you prefer a smartphone or a smart watch? Options: a. Smartphone b. Smart watch c. Both in combination d. Don't know. Based on the standardized answer from the available options, business analysts can derive valuable business intelligence that aids improvements in the IT industry.
Action Point
Exercise (for students to attempt at the end of this topic followed by a group discussion):
- Provide a few more circumstances when you would ask open ended and closed questions.
If the speaker intends to build consensus on a point and get everybody to agree on their thinking, they should ask leading questions in a way that doesn't make it look obvious (and devious). Many successful managers and leaders have used this technique successfully to get what they want, and have made it look like their subordinates and followers came up with the decision. When teams agree on an approach to follow, rather than being dictated by a manager, the decision taken by the team is sufficient to motivate them in the right direction. The manager need not put in any extra efforts in motivating their team into getting things done.
When you ask leading questions, make sure that they are closed questions. The listeners must not have multiple choices to choose from. If you give an open platform to them, they will rule the roost. When you are dealing with customers, if you want them to buy into your ideas, provide them with the benefits of your product, and lead them into asking—Don't you think this product is perfect for your organization?
Action Point
Exercise (for students to attempt at the end of this topic followed by a group discussion):
- It is widely believed that leading questions is an act of deception and judicial courts across the world disallow lawyers from asking leading questions. What are your thoughts?