I have often encouraged leaders with the following wisdom:
If you listen to your people, they will hand you leadership success on a silver platter!
If you are willing to listen to their input, your team members will surprise you with the simple things they need from you, in order to succeed. It all begins with a simple conversation.
This is why I have concluded that one of your most valuable management techniques is a simple conversation with each of your team members—5 to 10 minutes, once a month. Just make sure you talk about the right things!
So…I am concluding the current series of Five Questions with this special posting of More Great Questions for Bosses to Ask as an added bonus. I am sharing this extra content to give you a host of practical “conversation starters” designed to help you build better communication with your team members and talk about the right things!
Why are these questions so important????
Having helped thousands of leaders over the years… I have learned that many people in management or supervisorial positions are not natural “communicators.” This is why I have taught so many leaders how to use open-ended questions to guide productive conversations with their team members (and with people on other teams in their organization). I now offer YOU the same helpful questions, to guide YOUR conversations with YOUR people!
BTW…These questions come from thousands of experienced leaders—from every conceivable industry, shape, and size of organizations. They are “keepers” that come from the school of hard knock, down-and-dirty, day-to-day, rubber-meets-the-road management and supervision REALITY.
Use these questions to engage your people in constructive conversations that will enable you AND YOUR TEAM to work together more effectively.
Here they are…
- Are things around here as you expected them to be?
- Are you getting what you need to succeed in your job?
- Are you feeling overwhelmed or over tasked?
- Do you feel like you are still on a learning curve?
- Are you gaining a sense of mastery?
- Are you getting enough training?
- Are you getting bored yet? Are you ready for a challenge?
- Are you doing work that you are good at… work you enjoy?
- What would make your work more satisfying…challenging…easier…fun?
- Are there any skills or talents you aren’t using now that would benefit the team?
- What new skills would you like to explore or acquire?
- Where do you want to be in 3 to 5 years?
- Are you getting enough feedback on your work?
- Are you getting enough recognition for what you have been accomplishing?
- How would you like me to recognize your good work?
- What about your job makes you want to stay home some days?
- What is it that makes you stay?
- What might tempt you to leave?
- What could I do differently, to help you become more effective?
- Do you have any ideas about how you might be able to do your job easier, better, faster, cheaper, smarter, or safer?
- What could WE AS A TEAM do differently, to become more effective?
- Are you getting what you need from other departments and colleagues, or do you need help with this?
And this Universal Prompter, to keep the communication flowing:
That’s interesting…Tell me more!
And as a special bonus… these additional gems from Bill Maynard, writing in Teleprofessional (209 W. 5th Street, Waterloo, Iowa).
- What made you mad today?
- What took too long?
- What caused complaints today?
- What was misunderstood today?
- What cost too much?
- What was wasted?
- What was too complicated?
- What is just plain silly?
- What job involved too many people?
- What job involved too many actions?
And finally… My favorite Universal Follow-up to any work-related conversation:
What else???
So…what happens if your team identifies a problem that you have no authority to solve?? How do you respond to THAT??? Stay tuned to this blog, because I promise to show you how to deal positively and constructively with this type of frustration…and turn morale-killing exasperation into high-energy creativity! And in the next posts… I’m going to show you more reasons WHY it’s important for you to “promote” your people AND I’m going to give you practical tips about HOW to do it effectively!
If you need help getting your team into “high-productivity” gear with better communication, collaboration, and cooperation, call us! We have the experience and tools to get your team on track for top-quality production and high impact!
Until next time… Yours for better leaders and better organizations,
Dr. Jim Dyke – “The Boss Doctor” ™ helping you to BE a better boss and to HAVE a better boss!
