ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Effective Communication in the Workplace: Good and Bad Questions to Ask at Work

Updated on August 6, 2013
jpcmc profile image

I'm a Catholic dad and husband. That's the most important part of me.

The right questions matter to business success
The right questions matter to business success | Source

Employee feedback is crucial in business innovation. However, many managers and supervisors simply sap out the creativity of their employees by asking the wrong questions. Phil McKinley, the author of Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions that Spark Game-Changing innovations explicitly says that there are good and bad questions. Questions that are considered good allow people to think and express themselves. On the other hand, poor questions limit and shut down people.

Effective communication is the fundamental source of useful information. Moreover, the right questions will elicit productive feedback. Unfortunately, many questions actually sap the creativity from the employees.

Are you consious about the type of questions you ask people in your office?

See results

Questions that hamper productive and effective communication

Yes or no questions

There is none like the yes or no question when it comes to draining the creative juice in people. Obviously, these questions limit the response of the employees. Fundamentally, when information and suggestions are needed, YES or NO is just not enough. How can you get meaningful feedback with a yes or no?

  • Can you complete the project on time?
  • Do you like the new customer service software?

Pseudo questions

This is another deplorable way to ask questions to employees. Furthermore, these are merely statements in the guise of questions. Unmistakably, rhetorical questions comfortably rest in this category. Other pseudo questions simple seek agreement or validation from employees rather than actually asking for their feedbacks and inputs. McKinley called these “tag questions”.

  • This is a good marketing plan right?
  • So you won’t have a problem working with this new guy?
  • Everything is in place who would think of cancelling now?

How often have you had the chance to ask a question but failed to ask the right one? Whether you are a manager or a staff, avoiding these two types of questions can improve your workplace communication.

With a few practice you can turn questions into productive tools at work.

Source

Questions that empower and encourage employee creativity

Obviously open ended questions are more productive than mere yes and no questions. Here are some ways you can ask open-ended questions:

Opinion questions

Every individual may have different points of view on a single topic. By allowing the employees to share their opinions, the company can create a larger collection of information.

  • How would the new policy affect your performance?
  • How else can the company improve its customer service?

"What if" questions

These types of questions allow the employees to create scenarios in their heads and offer numerous outcomes. Moreover, different points of views can be explored giving a broader perspective on the topic.

  • How would you react to the new store policy if you were the client?
  • What reactions can we expect if we extended mall hours?
  • What would you do questions?

"What else" questions

Similar to what if questions, these types of questions prompts employees to search of alternatives. This is crucial when the company wants to study its options.

  • How else can we improve service time?
  • What alternative to our current CRM program can suggest?

Synthesis questions

Synthesis question is high up Bloom’s taxonomy. This can be a powerful tool for employers to find useful applications, inferences and evaluations from employees.

  • What have you learned from latest customer complaint reports?
  • How can we apply the latest market research findings in our marketing drives?

Make no mistake about it creative employees can help innovate the business. However, poor questions limit their opportunity to provide meaningful feedback. With the right questions, you can involve them and reap the benefits of maximizing their potential.

Every person in the company can contribute to this productive change only if everyone understands the benefits of asking the right questions. Effective workplace communication can definitely improve your organization's productivity.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)