0THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS
Encouraging feedback and securing understanding enables you to test your assumptions as well as the assumptions of the person you are interacting with. By doing so, you can reduce the chance of distortion and deletions. The following examples illustrate how asking questions can aid in this endeavour.
| SL. NO. | SITUATION | SAMPLE QUESTIONS |
| 1 | UNFAMILIAR PHRASES |
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| The talker has used an unfamiliar phrase | “Can you Brief on what you mean by psychological barriers to listening? |
| 2 | ENCOURAGE WITHOUT BIAS |
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| The talker is getting into sensitive areas and has stopped talking. You want to encourage without biasing. | “You say things started to fall apart when the customer became very angry.” |
| 3 | DIGRESSING |
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| The talker is digressing and is not telling you what you were waiting to hear. | “Perhaps I’m mistaken, but weren’t you going to tell me about what you did that wasn’t taken care of? |
| 4 | GOING IN CIRCLES |
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| The talker has been going in circles, saying the same things over and over. You want to move on. | “Let me summarize what I understood you to say. You said (1)……………… (2)………………. (3)………………. Now, was there anything else affecting the problem? |
| 5 | GENERALIZATION |
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| The talker has not specifically stated what you think is behind the words, so you employ the ‘risk technique’ and state what you think is on his/her mind. | “Is this the situation: You feel that if I don’t take care of this right now, I won’t call you back?” |
| 6 | CLARIFICATION |
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| The talker has just said something that does not seem to agree with a statement made earlier. You want to clarify. | “I thought you told a couple of minutes ago XYZ. Now I hear you saying ABC. These two statements seem to be in conflict. Would you clarify? |
| 7 | CHECKING UNDERSTANDING |
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| The talker has stated an opinion, and you want to check your understanding. | “In your opinion, we have too many people taking their lunch at the same time, so the counter is not covered properly to give the best customer service. Is that right? |
| 8 | CHECKING THE REASON FOR NOT ACCEPTING YOUR MODIFICATION |
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| 9 | OBTAINING IDEAS |
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| You want to obtain the thoughts and ideas of the talker about something you or the talker said. | “I think this is how the flexi-time approach would affect the morale of the office. What are your thoughts about it?
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| 10 | DRAWING OUT RESERVATIONS |
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| The listener has responded nonverbally, as though he/she is bothered by something you said. You want to draw out his/her reservations. | “Something seems to be bothering you about what you just said. Will you tell me what it is?” |
| 11 | OBTAINING FEEDBACK |
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| You have stated some benefits of an idea and want feedback from the listener. | “How do you think these benefits will give us the results we are looking for?” |
| 12 | FOCUSING |
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| Several suggestions have been stated, and you want to focus attention on them. | “We’ve given several suggestions. Which one do you think will most likely provide us with the best solution?” |
| 13 | CLARIFYING RESISTANCE |
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| The listener has disagreed with part of what you have said, and you want to clarify the resistance. | “You think the idea is basically a sound one, yet it seems to have flaws in it. What would you do to reduce these flaws?” |
| 14 | CHECKING FOR SPECIFICS |
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| The listener has made a general statement about an issue you are discussing, and you want to talk in explicit terms. | “What specifically has been done that you think is wrong?” |
