Asking questions is essentially the way that we can help
the people we coach to find their own solutions in their
own way. Asking a question honours the other person's
knowledge and experience whereas giving an instruction
ignores them. A probing question is simply one that gets to
the heart of the matter, and with this in mind we are
better off asking 'open' rather than 'closed' questions.
An open question will begin with Who, What, How, When etc.
and encourages the person responding to think carefully and
to give a full reply.
A closed question, on the other hand, will tend to begin
with Did you, Can you, Will you etc. and normally gets a
sharp yes or no response.
Closed questions are less helpful in coaching conversations
as they produce less flow or rhythm and can often mean that
the coach struggles to formulate the next question.
Closed questions also appear when a manager is trying to
use coaching as instruction in disguise and uses questions
like "Don't you think you ought to....", and "Wouldn't it
be better if..."
A short experiment will illustrate the point. In your next
conversation try to find out what the person you're talking
to had for breakfast but use only closed questions. Later
on try to discover what someone else had for breakfast
using only open questions.
In the first instance you'll find yourself asking "Did you
have cornflakes?", "Did you have toast?", "Did you have
coffee?", "Did you have tea?" This is an exhausting way of
finding information.
When you used open questions you probably realist that you
could get to the heart of the matter simply by asking:
"What did you have for breakfast?"
Using open questions we can start a coaching conversation
with a very broad enquiry like "How're things?" and then go
deeper and deeper as the conversation progresses, so that
we end up with questions like "How often each day would you
find yourself being snappy with customers?" or "How much
time exactly would you need to complete the task?"
You might like to experiment with these example questions
which are linked to the principles of Awareness,
Responsibility and Trust I have examined in previous
articles.
The conversation for Awareness:
What's happening? What stands out? What do you notice
about...? How do you feel about...? What are the variables
here? What are the advantages/disadvantages?
The conversation for Responsibility:
What do you want to do? What do you want to achieve? What
is the best way of getting there? What changes would you
like to make? Could this create any conflict? What are the
alternatives?
The conversation for Trust:
If it was up to you, how would you accomplish this task?
When have you succeeded in a similar situation? What are
the best attributes you bring to this situation? What would
it take to feel more comfortable?
----------------------------------------------------
Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years'
experience. He works with a host of clients in North East
England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and
Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their
true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides
a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular
mini-guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE
at http://www.mattsomers.com
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