Questioning

Using different kinds of questions appropriately can make the difference to whether conversation is successful or not. Check your questioning skills by trying our quick activity.

At each stage of the mentoring process, the way questions are phrased can encourage people to explore ideas, challenge people to look at options for resolving issues more closely, and finally help them move forward into action.

Scenario: In your Diploma consortium or network, communication across partners is not well developed and is causing problems with strategy and common policies.

Imagine that you and a partner are meeting for the first time to try to resolve this issue. Which types of question would you use as you began to explore the issue, then when you had begun to understand the issue and finally, when you were ready to take action?

Explore

You want to explore options for addressing this issue and encourage people to answer at length - what kind of questions are most likely to help people do this - closed questions, open questions, clarifying questions?

Are you looking forward to working on this issue?Why do you think communication with consortium and network partners is not satisfactory?How can we move this idea forward?Describe some of the problems you are having with communication in your consortium/networkCan you give me an example of how you think your suggested strategy would work?Do you find working on this issue challenging?Which options need to be explored further?By what date do we need to have taken action on this aspect?

Are you looking forward to working on this issue?Why do you think communication with consortium and network partners is not satisfactory?How can we move this idea forward?Describe some of the problems you are having with communication in your consortium/networkCan you give me an example of how you think your suggested strategy would work?Do you find working on this issue challenging?Which options need to be explored further?By what date do we need to have taken action on this aspect?

Now that you have selected two appropriate questions to help your colleague explore an issue, continue to choose questions to help them understand. Remember questions for the next stage should aim to clarify, summarise and challenge assumptions.

One or more of these questions might not be the most appropriate one at this stage. Remember, you are encouraging people to explore issues so it’s best to use open questions which help people to do this.

Understand

Now that the issues have been explored and some options have emerged, what kinds of questions will help people establish priorities, test out some of their options and summarise and clarify them?

Are you looking forward to working on this issue?Why do you think communication with consortium and network partners is not satisfactory?How can we move this idea forward?Describe some of the problems you are having with communication in your consortium/networkCan you give me an example of how you think your suggested strategy would work?Do you find working on this issue challenging?Which options need to be explored further?By what date do we need to have taken action on this aspect?

Are you looking forward to working on this issue?Why do you think communication with consortium and network partners is not satisfactory?How can we move this idea forward?Describe some of the problems you are having with communication in your consortium/networkCan you give me an example of how you think your suggested strategy would work?Do you find working on this issue challenging?Which options need to be explored further?By what date do we need to have taken action on this aspect?

Now that you have selected two appropriate questions to help your colleague understand an issue, continue to choose questions to help them with their action planning. Remember questions for the next stage should aim to move people forward, look at consequences and negotiate timescales.

One or more of these questions might not be the most appropriate one at this stage. Remember, questions for the next stage should aim to clarify, summarise and challenge assumptions.

Action

Now you have refined your options you are aiming to examine the consequences of each one, map out the way forward and negotiate an action plan.

Are you looking forward to working on this issue?Why do you think communication with consortium and network partners is not satisfactory?How can we move this idea forward?Describe some of the problems you are having with communication in your consortium/networkCan you give me an example of how you think your suggested strategy would work?Do you find working on this issue challenging?Which options need to be explored further?By what date do we need to have taken action on this aspect?

Are you looking forward to working on this issue?Why do you think communication with consortium and network partners is not satisfactory?How can we move this idea forward?Describe some of the problems you are having with communication in your consortium/networkCan you give me an example of how you think your suggested strategy would work?Do you find working on this issue challenging?Which options need to be explored further?By what date do we need to have taken action on this aspect?

One or more of these questions might not be the most appropriate one at this stage. Remember, questions for this stage should aim to move people forward, look at consequences and negotiate timescales.

You have selected an effective sequence of questions to help your mentoring partner address this issue.

Use the links below to learn more about different question types and the job they do.

Use the links below to learn more about questioning

Learn Higher - University of Leeds
Question types

Diploma-support.org
Face-to-face support
Coaching skills and techniques