What’s your sequence of questions

When we need to gather information from people, engage with them or elicit details, it makes sense that we ask questions. 

In preparation for that conversation, collaboration, interview, podcast, enquiry, meeting or consultation... what’s your question sequence? 

‘Winging it’ lacks strategy and can miss out on important things. Even though we may like to ‘go with the flow’ of a conversation, you can still prepare a sequence of questions and riff or flow within and around them. 

Consider:
What do you need to find out?
How will you get things started?
How will you open it up?
How will you dive in or probe further?
How will you determine what the real focus/problem/situation is? 
How will you bring things to a close?

Questioning is a learned skill and our mental cupboards that store questions are in need of a tidy up, refresh and renew.

Instead of thinking of ‘a few questions’, consider the sequence that will get you where you need to be ... efficiently and effectively. 

What’s the order, what’s first and where is it going? 

Bringing 3 skills together

A skill on its own is good. Another skill... even better. Three skills? Three times the goodness! 

The skills and capabilities we have work well on their own. But when they’re combined and integrated - even better. 

Working with a group of business analysts recently, we took the three skills of :
- questioning 
- facilitating
and
- visualizing 
and integrated them. 

Beyond just using the skills on their own individually, one then the other, then the other ... we used all three at once. Integrated. 

Engagement was better. 
Elicitation of requirements was easier. 
Progress was faster. 

These three skills can work well with each other, leverage each other and make our roles and challenges easier. 

For the team of business analysts, it was an experience I call a ’skills lift’.

Greater confidence and capability. 

And an exponential return on one, two, three skills, multiplied and amplified when they’re working together.