How to more fully engage your team
“The number one skill set is to learn how to learn.” - Jim Kwik
As leaders, one of the greatest skills we can cultivate is helping our teams learn how to learn.
A few weeks back I shared the power of asking great questions (and I passed along a list of questions to get you started that I often share with clients).
One of the key benefits of asking people questions is that you teach people how to think and learn and then you observe their ability to apply these new skills.
A question like, “What concerns you most about (a specific situation)?” helps them get clarity about the issues.
Where as, “How do you want this to turn out?” gets them thinking about outcomes.
And then, “What are the options to get there” gets them thinking about making a plan.
It’s not quite as simple as just asking a great question though…
The technique of asking questions functions like a learning spiral. One turn around the spiral is:
You ask a questions > employee responds > you provide feedback
Your feedback is an essential element of this interaction completing the learning rotation.
A quick and independent learner may start to incorporate a new question into their thinking process on other issues – and without your prompting. The only response needed from you is encouragement and enthusiasm. They are off and running.
For someone else, you may need to draw them out more and ask follow up questions if they don’t immediately identify certain key issues.
If someone isn’t confident in their skills or is unsure of where they stand with you…they may be hesitant at first.
It’s important to encourage them to participate in the dialogue. In the very beginning, any and all participation should be greeted with enthusiasm. (Yes, even the “wrong” answers.)
This sounds like:
“Great!”
“Thank you for offering an opinion.”
“I’m so glad you took a shot at answering that.”
“Yes, I really appreciate that you shared an idea.”
A great follow up question to any answer is:
“Awesome, tell me why you think that.”
“Share your thought process with me about that.”
Now for some of you the idea of being positive about a “wrong” answer is maddening.
But it’s important to clarify that you aren’t being positive about the wrong answers, you are being positive about taking a chance.
You can’t help someone improve their skills around something unless you see where they get tripped up.
You can’t see where they get tripped up until you see how they are thinking about the issue.
They won’t share how they are thinking about the issue if they are afraid you will directly or indirectly criticize them.
For these reasons, when I begin to use the "ask great questions" technique - I am genuinely DELIGHTED by any participation.
My primary goal is understanding how they are thinking and I'm looking for clues about where they might get stuck.
The right or wrong answer is way down on my list of priorities.
ANY answer gives me valuable information.
Rest assured, after some dialogue about their thought process on the question (and more encouragement for participation) you are welcome to offer some guidance to keep them on course:
“Let me add a few additional ideas to this conversation…”
“What about X, I’ve seen this come up in similar situations?”
“My hunch is that we also need to think about Y – how would you suggest we tackle that?”
Do questions help you teach your team how to learn and lead?
I’d love to hear your story,
Marijke Ocean
P.S. If you want some support applying this technique, message me here, I’d love to help customize this for your unique situation!