ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS Why do we ask questions? In very simple terms, we ask questions when we need answers!!! There is a lot of skill involved in asking the RIGHT questions to get the RIGHT ANSWERS. It’s therefore important to practice this art well so that one gets all the answers that one is looking for. TYPES OF QUESTIONS OPEN QUESTIONS These are good to begin a conversation. It helps the person to open up and get the information sharing process moving. It encourages the person to give any type of answer and these questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Examples: "Tell me about yourself" "What effect do you feel that had?" CLOSED QUESTIONS These are good for obtaining finer detail They can clarify a point being discussed They can help to make the person understand what details are relevant so as to stay on the correct track, thus avoiding any unwanted deviation from the topic These help in closing down long winded responses These are susceptible to yes or no answers Examples: "When did you get to know that this had to be finished before tomorrow evening?" "Which school did you go to?” HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS These help to open up options end explore possibilities, thus reminding someone of a fact they may otherwise have left out, or pointing to someones intentions, feelings or attitudes. Examples: "If your team lead had not given you this requirement two days back, what would you have done?” "If you were given a choice, what platform other than UNIX would you prefer?” LEADING QUESTIONS These usually contain an element of the answer you are "looking for" or expect. Such questions influence the answer that the person is going to give. Examples: "Did your team mate keep you in the dark about this?” - Should be "Were you informed by your teammate about this?" "Are you just tired or is it something more serious like a total disinterest in your job, or do you dislike your team lead so much that you don’t feel like working?” - Should be "Why is it that you don’t feel like working?" MULTIPLE QUESTIONS These should normally be avoided, because they tend to cause confusion. There is no clarity about which information is most important when you ask multiple questions It also puts the other person in a fix Examples: "What time did you get there and leave, and what were the times Raghu, Rakesh and Steve arrived and then left, where did they sit, and what did they say?" "How many login failures have there been, what happened, what were the dates, and who did you inform each time?" PROBING QUESTIONS These are good for following up information which has already been established They allow for greater detail and clarification They focus questioning Examples: After asking "When did the system fail?” probing questions: "What did you do then?" "Did you log in your report about this?” "Who took your call?" Funnel Use this question sequence when the interviewee knows the topic well and feels free to talk about it, or when the person wants to express strong feelings. This is the most common of all question sequences for all types of interviews. In this sequence, the interviewer begins with broad, open-ended questions and moves to more narrow, closed-ended questions. The interviewer may also begin with more general questions and gradually ask more specific questions. In the next post we will discuss ASSERTIVENESS.