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    The Art of Asking the Right Questions: A People Manager's Toolkit
    The Art of Asking the Right Questions: A People Manager's Toolkit
    The Art of Asking the Right Questions: A People Manager's Toolkit
    Ebook175 pages1 hour

    The Art of Asking the Right Questions: A People Manager's Toolkit

    By Caroline McEnery

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    About this ebook

    THE ART OF ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS: A PEOPLE MANAGER'S TOOLKIT should be on your desk as a ‘go to guide’ that you can dip into as needed to remind you of the key questions you should ask in different situations throughout the employment journey. By asking the right questions, you will enhance your team’s skills to maximise their own talent and you will make your business or department more successful by engaging your team’s knowledge and skills. This book is a summary of Caroline McEnery's top tips to help make your journey of people management run more smoothly so you can maximise your very best resource – your team. And it will help you to be the best you can be yourself!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOak Tree Press
    Release dateJan 9, 2017
    ISBN9781781192733
    The Art of Asking the Right Questions: A People Manager's Toolkit
    Author

    Caroline McEnery

    Caroline McEnery is Managing Director of The HR Suite and an HR & Employment Law Expert.

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      Book preview

      The Art of Asking the Right Questions - Caroline McEnery

      Suite

      1 INTRODUCTION

      The Cloths of Heaven

      Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. WB Yeats

      This wonderful poem by WB Yeats is one of my favourites. It always reminds me that, when working with and managing people, you are dealing with people’s dreams and hopes.

      Since work is completely entangled in all our lives, you must tread softly in your dealings with all employees and colleagues.

      Ask the right questions at the right time

      A lot of the HR advice, mentoring and training tips I give to business owners and managers hinges on ensuring you ask the right questions at the right time and then listen, silently and carefully, so you can then identify how best you should progress proactively to the next steps from there.

      This book should be on your desk as a ‘go to guide’ that you can dip into as needed to remind you of the key questions you should ask in different situations throughout the employment journey. By asking the right questions, you will enhance your team’s skills to maximise their own talent and you will make your business or department more successful by engaging your team’s knowledge and skills. This book is a summary of our top tips to help make your journey of people management run more smoothly so you can maximise your very best resource – your team.

      Your team deserves the best manager you can be

      I have included a personal action plan review at the end of the book to help you self-assess your own skills and current management techniques. Hopefully, you will identify some tips to enhance your skills – I know from the experience of other managers that they really do work! Enjoy the journey!

      2 QUESTIONING

      Questions are the best way to move from what you don’t know to what you need to know.

      There are lots of reasons you might ask a question in the employment context – for example, to help unstick employees, to signpost our team, to mentor and coach, to gather information … the list goes on.

      But, before you ask a question of an employee, you need to ask yourself a few questions to ensure you are on the right track.

      The right question; the right time; the right place; the right context

      First, ask yourself whether you are the right person to ask this question to get the desired information or result. If you are not, then pass the baton to the person who is.

      Second, it is really important to ask the right question. If you ask the wrong question, you risk getting the wrong answer or perhaps you will find that do not have enough information to proactively progress to the next step, whatever that might be.

      Last, it is also important to ask yourself whether you are asking the question at the right time, in the right way. Throughout this book, you will see different scenarios that show the importance of timing and of using emotional intelligence.

      Checking that you are the right person, asking the right question at the right time in the right way will make your job as a people manager so much easier, since you will get the full benefit from every question that you ask.

      Let’s look at an example.

      Megan has just come in late and looks very flustered. It’s not her first time being late so, as her manager, you know you need to discuss her attendance with her.

      Scenario 1

      You walk over to Megan’s desk and say, Why are you late again? You know that’s not acceptable. Megan shouts back at you, You don’t care why I am late. Leave me alone to get on with my job. You are shocked and don’t know what to do.

      Scenario 2

      You acknowledge Megan’s arrival with a simple Good morning. Then, from your desk, you send Megan an email, asking her to pop in to your office after tea break as you would like to have a chat with her.

      When she comes into your office, you make some small talk before asking, Megan, how are things with you?. You listen and wait for her to answer.

      Then you highlight that you are concerned as you have noticed she has been late a few mornings recently, which is not like her, and you ask, Is there anything I can do to help you? Again, you wait and listen carefully to her reply.

      You reiterate that she is a valued member of the team but that the business requires her to be at her desk at 9am to answer the customers’ calls. You remind her that and you are available to help support her in any way you can to ensure she is at work on time and that hopefully she will trust you to tell you what is going on so you can help address the root of the problem and come up with a mutually acceptable solution.

      How you ask your questions is very important. If you ask in a blaming tone or with a raised voice, the employee automatically will be defensive. Instead you need to remain calm and objective. If you do so, the employee is much more likely to mirror your tone and professionalism as you take the heat out of the situation and highlight your purpose clearly and calmly.

      Using the rationale of the requirements of the business depersonalises the situation and helps the employee to see an objective reason for your request.

      When you talk to your team in a non-emotive context and in a private setting, you are much more likely to have a constructive conversation. In contrast, scenario 1 was in public and Megan was flustered, so she was emotional, and as a result the situation spiralled into something more complex to deal with. Remember that your role as manager is always to turn down the heat and to nip issues in the bud.

      The timing of the conversation is important. Nothing is so urgent that you cannot wait until you have thought through the right approach to take. If you rush a conversation and let your emotions get involved, you might regret what you asked, when you asked it, how you asked it or where you asked it.

      If in doubt say, We need to discuss this further. But let’s do it in the afternoon rather than reacting at the time. You can then think through what you need to know, what you need to ask to help you find that out and what outcome you want to achieve – and then plan your approach.

      Always give praise in public but only give constructive feedback in private. Where necessary, ‘press pause’ and reschedule the meeting until later. Park a contentious matter at a team meeting by saying, We will schedule a specific meeting about that later but let’s park it for now. This allows you to turn down the heat and take time to plan your approach.

      Asking the right question will be positive and productive and give you the information you need or the result you desire. Your questions need to be thought-provoking and to encourage the recipient to think about their answer.

      If you ask the wrong question, you will get the wrong information – hence the importance of thinking through your approach.

      Let’s look at an example.

      Scenario 1

      Johnny, do you like working with customers?

      Scenario 2

      Johnny, tell me about a specific time you had to deal with a difficult customer complaint and the steps you took to resolve it?

      In scenario 1, you know that Johnny is going to tell you that he loves customers – he is going

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