Good Managers Listen. Great Managers Ask Questions.

Corporate culture borrows a lot from the military. It is structured hierarchically like the military, not laterally like a sport team or an orchestra, for example. So, it’s no wonder that most corporations adopt a rigid top-down style of communications.

However, a key skill of managers is actually the ability to talk less and listen more. Leaders who seek advice from underlings, even very junior staff, make better, more informed decisions. Colonels and Generals, whether in the military or marketing, are often so far removed from the line of engagement that, withoutlistening to front line personnel, their decisions are made in a vacuum.

Most managers, though, are not natural born listeners . It’s an acquired skill that is enabled by another critical managerial behavior – asking questions.

In fact, that’s almost entirely how great leaders manage meetings, by asking questions, gathering information and helping subordinates to refine their thinking, and to arrive at the best solutions themselves.

Managers who master the art of  questioning act as coaches to their team. They challenge the status-quo and reframe problems, liberating an organization to think freely and out of the box. Great managers often have a questions-only conversation with their staff. They learn to phrase statements as questions, and to avoid projecting a biased view into an interchange.

How can you change your behavior and develop questioning skills? Here are four quick ideas:

1. Preparation. Ask for the presentation a day or two ahead of time. Determine which areas interest you the most and prepare your probe strategy. Write down a list of questions that you intend to ask, and the order by which you plan to ask them.  Preparing a list will remind you to stick to a questioning strategy.

2. Build on responses. Note any points of confusion or topics you want to hear more about during the course of the conversation. You might ask questions comparing this situation to another, such as, what is different this time versus last time? Or, you might ask questions about impact, such as, what is the risk if a certain course of action is not taken? If it is taken? And note body language. It is often more revealing than verbal answers.

3. Get A Spotter. Record your meeting behavior. Just like an athlete in training, keep tabs on your performance. At your next meeting ask a “spotter”, a colleague, to track the number of questions you ask versus how many statements you make. Look at the ratio of questions to statements from meeting to meeting. And work on increasing the number of questions you ask. 

4. Practice. Practice. Practice. Conversations by questions are not natural for most people.  They are an “acquired taste.” To build the habit, practice daily. Pick a random subject – sports, the movies, a celebrity, and write down 20 questions about that object in five minutes. At first you won’t be able to come up with 20 questions in 5 minutes. Over time, as you get acclimated to think this way, you’ll improve your questioning muscles.

Anyone can learn to ask more questions. The best managers practice and learn which questions make the biggest impact, and when and how to apply them.

Avi Dan is the founder of Avidan Strategies, a marketing consulting firm that specializes in business and marketing advice, agency search, compensation, and advertising strategy. He spent 30 years in senior account management and business development positions with leading global agencies.

source

please give me comments thanks