Fifty percent of good communications is good listening. Asking the right
questions must precede good listening. Good questions pave the way for good
communications.
But what makes for good questions? Is it really that hard to ask a question that
will open up discussions, create learning and sharing, and result in productive
communications?
The truth is, most of us don’t know how to ask good questions, or when we do ask
a really great question, it is by accident. There are several ways to ask
questions. Some people seem really good at it, others use a random,
what-ever-pops-into-head approach.
Some of us have encountered problems at work, with bosses, and with colleagues
and especially with spouses from asking the wrong question at the wrong time. We
scratch our heads and wonder what went wrong? After all, we were just asking,
right?
The problem is that we were all raised by parents and teachers who asked the
wrong questions for most of our lives. Parents ask their children questions
designed to teach them something. Teachers also often use questions that are
rhetorical or Socratic, designed to make us think, and then come up with the
right answer, as predetermined by them. There was usually only one right
answer….
The full article contains the following concepts:
What Real Questions Are Supposed to Do
Different Kinds of Questions-
Empowering Questions
Disempowering Questions
Judging Questions
Single, Double & Triple Loop Questions
Asking Coaching Questions
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