Saturday 6 December 2014

[www.keralites.net] Professional: Tactics for Asking Good Follow-Up Questions

 

2014NOV10-1

Whether you are looking to hire someone, decide whether to trust someone, or enter a business partnership, the better you are at judging people, the better off you will be. Unfortunately, most people are just plain bad at reading others. Several decades of research among psychologists has indicated all sorts of blind spots, biases, and judgment errors we make in assessing people. Much of that research has focused on the mental processes we use to interpret what we see or hear. But errors also occur way before that – the problem can begin with the questions we ask to understand people in the first place.

When you want to get a read on someone, what questions do you ask? Most people have go-to questions. The ones I hear most often are open-ended questions like, "What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?" "What do you want to be doing in five years?" and "What motivates you?" Some savvier questioners ask behavior-based questions, like "Tell me about a time when you….". Sounds great, right? Now, ask yourself if you have ever once actually learned the truth about someone by their responses to these questions. How many times have you relied on people's responses to these questions only to see later that those responses meant nothing at all? Most people ask a question like this and then move onto another topic, seemingly satisfied that they heard what they needed to hear. In reality, they learned nothing about the other person.

In my experience conducting interview-based assessments for the last 12 years, I have found that this is because the first answer to one of these questions is only marginally helpful and may even be irrelevant. Yet most askers simply accept what they hear (good or bad) and, without asking any follow-ups, move on to the next topic on their list.

But the key to understanding people lies in the follow-up question. In my experience, there are two major reasons people don't ask good (or any) follow-up questions. First, many interviewers aren't actually paying close enough attention to ask detailed follow-up questions. To ask a good follow-up, you need to pay very close attention to how the interviewee responds to your initial question, and then build on his or her answer. The second reason most people are hesitant to probe is out of fear of offending the other person. But being polite isn't the same thing as letting the other person off the hook.

Ask a follow-up that will help you really uncover what you are seeking to learn. Be curious, and you will be amazed what you uncover. Here are three types of follow-up questions that will enable you to understand more about a person:

1. Ask your original question again, slightly differently. Don't be afraid to ask the same question twice. If I am interviewing someone and the person either deflects my first question or doesn't give a real response, I will often say, "Let me ask you this another way…". It is effective because you communicate that you are not letting the person off the hook, but you're allowing them to save face by at least implying that maybe your initial question just wasn't clear enough. It is a highly effective method of extracting a real response that will actually be predictive of behavior.

Caution: just make sure you change the way you phrase this second question, otherwise it can seem adversarial. The key is to ask the question another way, and declare that you are doing so.

2. Connect their answers to each other. One of my favorite strategies to understand people better is to link their responses to something they said earlier. I'm not talking about an attempt to catch someone in a lie, but instead connecting the dots between their answers. Good judges of character do this naturally – they listen intently, and tie what they hear to something said earlier in the conversation. Ask something like, "Oh, that's like the time you…?" or, "Is that what you meant earlier when you said…?". Beyond allowing you to understand the person better, it communicates that you are really listening, and actually provides meaningful insight to the person by pointing out a connection that he or she may have not even seen. It allows you to synthesize information rather than just hear it.

Caution: Overusing this can make you seem like a police detective seeking a "gotcha" moment. Avoid saying things like, "But that's not what you said earlier…" What I am suggesting is to synthesize rather than interrogate.

3. Ask about the implications of their answer. When people answer a question without being particularly revealing, or by giving a very safe answer, what do you do? For instance, when asked about greatest weakness, someone says, "I'm a perfectionist" or "I work too hard." Rather than accept answers like that at face value, seek to really understand the person by asking about the implications of their answers. With a self-proclaimed perfectionist, you might ask, "How does your perfectionism play out in the workplace?" or "What are the consequences of your detail orientation?" And don't stop there – keep asking implication questions until you are satisfied you know what you need to know about the person.

Caution: When asking about implications, avoid being a litigator and turning them into leading questions. Instead, truly be curious about the behavior and what its effects are.

Coming up with a great list of questions is only the first step in conducting an in-depth interview. It's the follow-up questions that will really tell you who you're dealing with.


Richard Davis, Ph.D., is CEO of Kilberry Leadership Advisors, a firm of management psychologists that provides executive assessment and development services to some of North America's most prominent leaders. He is also author of The Intangibles of Leadershipp.


www.keralites.net

__._,_.___

Posted by: Junaid Tahir <mjunaidtahir@gmail.com>
Reply via web post Reply to sender Reply to group Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1)
KERALITES - A moderated eGroup exclusively for Keralites...

To subscribe send a mail to Keralites-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Send your posts to Keralites@yahoogroups.com.
Send your suggestions to Keralites-owner@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send a mail to Keralites-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Homepage: http://www.keralites.net

.

__,_._,___

[www.keralites.net] Story: The Thirst and the Rusty Well

 


 
There is a legend of a man who was lost in the desert, dying of thirst. He stumbled on until he came to an abandoned house. Outside the dilapidated, windowless, weather–beaten, deserted shack was a pump. He stumbled forward and began pumping furiously, but no water came from the well. Then he noticed a small jug with a cork at the top and a note written on the side: "You have to prime the pump with water, my friend. P.S. And fill the jug again before you leave." He pulled out a cork and saw that the jug was full of water.

Should he pour it down the pump? What if it didn't work? All of the water would be gone. If he drank the water from the jug, he could be sure he would not die of thirst. But to pour it down the rusty pump on the flimsy instruction written on the outside of the jug?

Something from inside told him to follow the advice and choose the risky decision. He proceeded to pour the whole jug of water down the rusty old pump and furiously pumped up and down. Sure enough, the water gushed out! He had all he needed to drink. He filled the jug again, corked it and added his own words beneath the instructions on the jug: "Believe me, it really works. You have to give it all away before you can get anything back."

That's why Giving is important..!!!

 

Junaid Tahir 
www.DailyTenMinutes.com

 Follow me on Twitter  View my profile on LinkedIn  Like my page on Facebook  Read my articles on my personal blog  Subscribe to my Feed  Visit my Google+ Page

www.keralites.net

__._,_.___

Posted by: Junaid Tahir <mjunaidtahir@gmail.com>
Reply via web post Reply to sender Reply to group Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1)
KERALITES - A moderated eGroup exclusively for Keralites...

To subscribe send a mail to Keralites-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Send your posts to Keralites@yahoogroups.com.
Send your suggestions to Keralites-owner@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send a mail to Keralites-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Homepage: http://www.keralites.net

.

__,_._,___

[www.keralites.net] Sunday Morning friends....

 


 
Good morning, Beautiful
I'm just writing to say
That I hope the good Lord
Blesses your day.

 

 

 

Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
 

 Tomorrow Will Come Daily.

But Today Will Come Today Only.

So Finish Your Today's Work Today Itself. 
 

Have A Happy Sunday.

Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
 
Take time and take care
To take it all in
All his wonderful Creations
Are there at your whim.

 
Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
 
So slow down today, Love
Stop and smell the Rose
God made it for you
He loves and he knows.

 
Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
 
Deep inside our consciousness is an oasis of peace. This is the molten core of the soul, but it is not hot, it is cool. Not passive, but a source of inner power to fuel our mind and intellect, so that we can create powerful thoughts and make accurate decisions. If you can learn to go to this centre, peace will be your companion, positivity your partner, and you will be able to chill out in one second, anywhere, anytime
 

 
Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
 

www.keralites.net

__._,_.___

Posted by: Murli dhar Gupta <mdguptabpl@gmail.com>
Reply via web post Reply to sender Reply to group Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1)
KERALITES - A moderated eGroup exclusively for Keralites...

To subscribe send a mail to Keralites-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Send your posts to Keralites@yahoogroups.com.
Send your suggestions to Keralites-owner@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send a mail to Keralites-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Homepage: http://www.keralites.net

.

__,_._,___