Managers Who Coach Ask Questions That Enlighten

Leadership Exec and writer Dan McCarthy prompted today's post.

Dan added to the conversation on Management: The Coaching Way  with this:

"It seems the best coaches may have a toolkit of great open-ended questions. . .Do you have a list of favorites that always seem to produce those "aha" moments, or is it always situational?"

Well, for sure it's situational. At the same time, there are some useful questions to have in your toolkit because each situation has predictable elements.

We're going to post a list as a free resource at steveroesler.com shortly. In the meantime, I hope these will provide some guidance for managers who may feel "stumped" at times.

Note: It's important to take some of the pressure off by remembering that coaching is really about effective conversations; questions are the foundation for bringing about the "Aha!" And, they help focus the responsibility for learning in the right place.

Situations and Questions

Getting Started

• What’s happened since our last meeting ?

• Tell me a little of what’s going on right now.

• What's important for you to focus on today?

Exploring Issues

• How is that related to your key goals?

• What does ______really mean to you?

• Tell me a little more?

• What do you think explains that?

• What is your gut feeling about this?

Identifying What Is Most Important

• What is most significant for you in all of this?

• Exactly why is this a problem?

• Could that (issue) be a symptom rather than a cause?

When You Need to Re-Focus

• Why is that important?

• Is this where you want to invest your energy?

• May I offer an observation?

When You Sense the Readiness for Action

• What, specifically, do you want to have happen?

• How can I help?

• How will you know you've been successful?

There are more situations and more questions, but this will hopefully help managers see the pattern within the questioning nature of coaching. It really can feel genuinely uncomfortable at the outset. After all, managers are lauded for their direction and decisiveness. In this case, your role changes so your behavior will change as well. 

We'll work to get the expanded set of questions up on the site this week. In the meantime, I know we have a number of experienced coaches who take time to add to the discussion here. Check into the comment section; I'm sure you'll see some terrific suggestions.

Thanks again to Dan McCarthy for the nudge.

Comments

[Rodney Johnson]

I came across this one, and I believe it needs to be in your list.

"What is needed?"

[Angie Chaplin]

Here are a couple questions to add:

"What does _______ look like to you?"

This next one gets a chuckle, but also gets people talking... "How's that working for you?"

[Joan Schramm]

Very helpful list, Steve -- I'll be passing it along to colleagues.

In situations where I'm coaching someone about a specific job performance issue, I like to ask, "How could you have handled that differently?"

[Dan Erwin]

Steve: McCarthy couldn't be more spot on. A major piece of my work is teaching people how to ask questions. Take for example, the sterotypical business of managing by wandering around, here are four: What's keeping you up at nights? What's most exciting for you right now? What are you working on? Where do you see we can improve?

One of my posts on questioning gets at an even broader rationale for asking questions: http://bit.ly/S2U3N

[Steve Roesler]

Dan, Rodney, Angie, Joan, and Dan,

Your questions have mushroomed into a concrete idea. Check the new post here for details: http://tinyurl.com/mevndk

I hope you'll be part of it!

[Beth]

Another option to "tell me more" is the question: What else? I find that when coaching to assist with a specific problem, using "what else?" a few times engages the brain to a deeper level and potential options for resolving the problem are uncovered.

[Jason]

I was in a recent interview for an upper management position, I was presented a question I had not pondered yet......
You have 3 workers, worker A is performing above average, worker B is performing at average, and worker C is below average. Who should you devote most of your time to developing, and why?....
I feel the answer is based on the managers methods, and decision making, is there a better answer?

[Steve Roesler]

Beth, I'm with you on that one. "What else?" is simple, natural, and kicks the brain into gear. Thanks!

[Steve Roesler]

Jason

This is a question faced by managers everywhere and the answer is, in part, determined by whether or not the organization has discussed their own philosophy and why they choose to follow it.

Here's my approach: If only presented with that information and unable to do a further diagnosis, think in these terms (Warning: baseball analogy coming):

If a ball player is hitting .300 and improves 10%, you've got a .330 hitter. Headed for the hall of fame.

If a ball player is hitting .250 and improves 10%, you've got a .275 hitter: able to stay in the big leagues and will probably be moved around from team to team as a utility player. Still average.

If a ball player is hitting .180 and improves 10%, you've got a .196 hitter. Should consider other career options.

If you were investing your money, where would you put it?