ARE YOU ASKING THE RIGHT KIND OF QUESTIONS? – See the real person behind the role
Given the crisis management many organisations have been facing in these extraordinary times, it’s understandable if many leaders and managers have been largely focused on achieving specific tasks and goals in order to keep the ‘show on the road’. But without a focus on your people and the strength and quality of your relationships, this can be a limited short-term strategy. This is even more of a pronounced issue in these virtual times we now all operate within, as there is less opportunity for those more informal conversations.
When I talk to clients about their teams and seeing the real person behind the role, the most common response I get is for them to comment on knowing what football team they support, how many children they have, or what they like to do at the weekend. This is all good stuff, but in order to really begin to understand someone it can be useful to ask questions that go beneath the surface of comfortable debate.
So how well do you really know your people?
· What motivates them?
· What do they value?
· How do they like to learn?
· Who are their personal champions both in and out of work?
· Who do they champion in return?
· Who do they most admire and why?
· How else could they contribute to the organisation and what difference would this make to their levels of engagement?
· What do they find most challenging in the workplace?
· What life challenges have they faced?
· What do they know to be true about themselves?
· How content are they with the status quo of their role and their current performance?
· What positive beliefs do they hold about themselves?
· What self-limiting assumptions do they hold?
· What feedback do they have for YOU in YOUR role?
It is so important for colleagues to find connection with one another, as well as with the organisation they work for. This doesn’t happen through osmosis, but through a concerted effort to see the person behind the role and to understand who they really are.
Don’t be afraid to go there as the benefits will outweigh the costs.
Suzanna Prout
MD Xenonex Ltd
Suzanna.prout@xenonex.co.uk