How Question Asking Develops Teams

I saw a great tweet on Twitter the other day that suggested one key of great leadership is asking questions. In this post, I would like to flesh out this idea in more detail and try to uncover what about question asking can help you as a manager.

Why Ask Questions?

Asking questions is a great way to build any relationship, and it can be particularly compelling for building teams. As managers, we believe that we need to give direction and solve problems, but our job is to help our team to develop their skills and grow both professionally and personally. To do this, you need to help them learn how to solve problems on their own.

Consider, do you want a team that always comes to you with all their problems or do you want a team that can think out problems and comes up with solutions without you?

A strong leader and manager will build a team that can manage itself. Think about a football team. What are the signs of a great football coach and a great team? For me, it would be a team where assistant coaches are promoted internally and hired away by other teams. Another sign would be seeing players who have strong leadership skills and are trusted to lead on the field.

A manager who builds other leaders and helps them to grow in their profession will have far more success than one that doesn’t develop and advance their people.

By guiding your team through challenging them to come up with their answers, you are developing their skills and helping them advance. If you want to be a successful manager, then it means growing your people not holding them back.

Questions guide and engage your team to think on their own and get them to seek knowledge that will help them become problem solvers.

Other Benefits of Asking Questions

Another benefit of questions is that it builds trust. Consider a manager who when a problem is presented barks out orders and tells everybody what to do. In this example, does command and control build relationships?

Now, think about if the manager asks questions to help the employee come up with their solution. In this example, the employee will feel empowered. They will believe that they can make their own decisions and that the manager has confidence in the intelligence and decision making of the employee. It will also give the employee a sense of independence which helps to build morale.

Finally, through engaging employees in questions, rather than answers, the manager opens a dialogue that can lead to better solutions. Through this dialogue, all parties can explore their thoughts and ideas, bouncing them off others, and asking their questions that open yet more possibilities.

Conclusion

It may be easier to give somebody an answer, but it will yield less fruit. Instead, ask questions that get employees thinking and talking. Use probing questions that challenge your employees to explore new lines of thought. Encourage them as they go through the process and allow them to find solutions on their own.

If you do more listening and engaging rather than talking and commanding over time, you will find that your employees solve more of their problems. You will also discover that there is more trust in the team. All of this will lead to happier more productive employees.