Quality Questions Improve EVERYTHING!

Questions are the lifeblood of solving problems, learning new skills and knowledge and effective communication. If you don’t ask the right question, you are unlikely to get the best answer. But despite this, the importance of asking quality questions is often underappreciated, undertaught and underutilized by organisations. At Synaptic Potential we believe that questions are critical to improving the quality of communication and the flow of information within your organisation. They create enquiring minds that are more effective at solving problems, coping with uncertainty and generating new ideas. They help to resolve conflicts and challenge assumptions. They help to promote self evaluation and support coaching initiatives. With questions being such an integral part of the workday, improving their quality can result in a macro-shift in performance unlocking possibilities across your entire organisation. 

So how can you help your people ask better questions? Here are four suggestions:

Questioning requires a psychologically safe environment. Asking a question requires trust, resilience and respect to overcome the fear and uncertainty that often comes with revealing what you don’t know. Creating a culture where people feel safe to question and reveal gaps in their understanding is critical to making sure that everyone can speak up and grow their potential. 

It is sometimes those who know the least that ask the best questions. One common trap that experts can fall into is to become rigid and inflexible in the question that they ask – only asking those which fit within their expertise domain. This is why it sometimes falls to those with less expertise to ask the most inventive questions. Ensuring that everyone has a voice, not just those who on the surface seem to know the most is key to asking the best questions.  

Why, What if and How. Although both open and closed questions have their place within an organisation, open questions that begin with Why, What if and How are often those which generate a depth of answering that supports creative inquiry and problem solving. Encouraging you people to ask these kinds of questions will help to stimulate their mind when trying to generate solutions or ideas.

Positive framing. Questions can be framed in the negative, or in the positive. However, it is generally accepted that questions which are more optimistically framed will underpin the whole culture of information flow through an organisation.

Finally, remember that ignorance can actually drive progress and questioning lies at the heart of this.  The more you question, the more you realise what you don’t know and the more you realise the opportunities that are out there for you to explore and capitalize on.