The Book of Beautiful Questions by Warren Berger

Author:Warren Berger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Can questioning help us connect in the workplace?

If asking the right questions can build trust and rapport with strangers at a party or with family members at home, it can do likewise with coworkers at the office. And yet, our hesitancy to ask questions may be even greater at work than it is in our personal lives. One reason is that business environments have traditionally been hierarchical in structure—and questions, by their nature, can be seen as a challenge to hierarchical authority. This issue seems to come up at almost every company I visit, with managers and employees alike wondering: How can I ask questions of co-workers without overstepping bounds or putting them on the defensive?

Before we get into how to ask questions at work, consider why it’s important to do so. First, it enables you to be better at your job, regardless of what it may be. It can also help you collaborate more effectively with colleagues. And if your work involves dealing with clients, customers, or anyone outside the walls of the company, it can help you to better understand those people, satisfy their needs, and persuade them to do business (or keep doing business) with you.

Starting with the first point, you can’t do your job well unless you are able to ask, continuously and through various expressions, the following two questions: What is my job? and How might I do it better?

One might assume that first question is needed only when first starting a job, and then never again. But in fact, the nature of work is changing so rapidly that we must constantly ask the question again and again: Given all the changes yesterday, what is my job today? Experienced employees and managers may be reluctant to do this because they think they already know how to do their work. They may see little need to question established methods and work habits, even in times of rapid change.

Experienced people may also consider it risky to ask fundamental questions about their work—fearing that it could be perceived by management as a sign of incompetence. While that’s an understandable concern, there are ways to mitigate that risk—and reasons to believe the benefits may outweigh the risks. Having spoken with a number of top executives at various types of companies, I’ve found most of them are keenly aware of the need for change throughout all levels of their organizations—and one of their primary concerns today is that mid-level managers and frontline employees may not be willing or able to change. Within these organizations, management likely would be relieved and enthused to see employees questioning the established ways of doing things. From what I’m seeing, leaders are more apt to appreciate and reward questioning than to punish it.

When “questioning up”—meaning, asking questions of someone at a higher level—you can increase the likelihood that your questions will be well received by managers if you question with a certain level of respect. Don’t use questions to challenge authority or to complain. If

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