How to Manage People Using Inquiry

Inquiry. It’s how leaders and managers bring out the best in their people. With today’s interdependent work teams, it’s not enough to give instructions about how to do jobs. You need to get good at asking questions.

More is required for leaders who wish to engage in collaborative partnerships for high performance but it’s worth effort. Leaders who learn how to use inquiry cultivate initiative in their staff, increase engagement and ramp up productivity. All by taking an interest in the views and perspectives of their direct reports.

Carpenters have hammers, dentists have picks, and physicians have stethoscopes. It is hard to envision any of these people working in their chosen fields without their basic set of tools. Managers, too, have a basic set of tools: questions. ~ Terry J. Fadem, The Art of Asking: Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers

Good communication is a hallmark of healthy organizations, but it’s often founded on the belief that employees thrive when given clear directions. In today’s increasingly complex organizations, it’s not enough to tell people what to do. I posted a coaching demo by Dr. David Drake in an earlier blog that provides a great example of inquiry in action.

Leaders who ask evocative questions instead of giving instructions set the stage for better communication, employee engagement and high performance, especially when they’re charged with supervising knowledge workers.

Effective communication encourages two-way conversations that traverse hierarchies and power differentials. Without this, leaders create high-risk environments.

After aeroplane crashes, chemical and nuclear accidents, oil spills, hospital errors and cruise-ship disasters, expert reviewers have frequently found that lower-ranking employees had information that could have prevented these events or lessened their consequences. Senior managers were guilty of ignoring their subordinates and being consistently resistant to hearing bad news.

In the work I do in organizations, I’ve learned that employees often worry about upsetting their bosses, so they settle for silence, a decision that exposes their organizations to risks with potentially irreversible outcomes. This dynamic plays out in government offices, hospitals and corporations with divisions in power and status, regardless of how democratic and “fair” they claim to be.

How can you create a climate that encourages people to speak up, especially when safety is on the line? How do you convince your staff to correct you when you’re about to make a mistake??

Learn to ask the right questions instead of telling your staff what to do. Show an interest in their opinions, their ideas, and their lives. Asking genuine questions about a person is a prerequisite to building a relationship on trust.

Skip leading questions, however. That’s just another form of telling. Ask real questions out of curiosity and learn from your people.

How to Manage People Using Inquiry

If you’re a boss, then asking questions of the people you’re in charge of has definite advantages over telling them what to do all the time. However, I’m not referring to using leading questions, to which you already know the answers.

Questions should be genuine, based on curiosity and without an agenda. Effective leaders master the art of humble inquiry, says Edgar H. Schein, PhD, an MIT Sloan School of Management professor emeritus and consultant.

In his book, Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2013), Dr. Schein describes his title’s skill as “the art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not already know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person.”

Unfortunately, asking questions runs counter to traditional businesscultures that value achievement and performance over building relationships. Nonetheless, soliciting others’ input is a fundamental aspect of human relations for leaders who want to foster solid relationships, trust, communication and high performance.

In my work as a coach, I find that many of our conversations lack inquisitiveness, as we’re reluctant to concede that we don’t know everything. Many organizations expect their leaders to be wise, set direction and inspire us.

In truth, leaders are the ones who should be inquiring and listening to others’ responses. Employees cannot excel at complex interdependent tasks until their leaders build positive, trusting relationships and facilitate safe, upward communication.

That doesn’t happen unless managers are willing to open up a dialogue by asking genuine questions. When the boss asks a subordinate for ideas, opinions and perspectives, he/she is communicating respect, care, and trust. In turn, that person is more likely to be engaged in bringing out their best work.

When is the last time your boss asked for your opinion? What effect did it have on your relationship and your motivation? I’d love to hear from you, drop a comment.