Questioning Skills
If listening is the foundation stone of coaching then the skill of asking appropriate questions is the powerhouse for creating awareness and understanding.
The coach must be aware of how powerful a question can be so that he uses each one appropriately with sensitivity yet incisiveness. Without awareness of this type the coach is no better than an untrained surgeon with a set of finely tuned instruments that he uses inappropriately. The likely outcomes are that the patients problems remain “undiagnosed” (no awareness/understanding) or worse, the treatment is ineffective or damaging (no learning or progression).
Questions can be defined as:
A. Closed or Open
Closed questions can be appropriate for tying down an action point or getting clarification. In general, they are unhelpful for most of the coaching process because they close down the conversation and do not, unlike open questions, stimulate the client to search within for new / buried answers, ideas and wisdom.
B. Questions Defined by the Type of Thinking they Promote
1) Questions for Directing Attention
This is well covered by Myles Downey in “Effective Coaching.” It is the basis of non-directional coaching, following the techniques described by Timothy Gallway in his “Inner Sense” series of books. It is based on the philosophy that learning tends to follow interest. The questions are concerned with getting the client more and more interested in that which they are currently noticing.2) Questions for Clarification
The “W” questions, which are open, are really helpful here. These are: What? Who? Where? When? Which? The questions How? and How much? are also helpful (especially if the latter is defined on a 1 to 10 scale.)3) Questions that Tie Things Down
These are essential in that they ask the client to move things forward. Even if it does not achieve the final goal, it must represent movement towards it.4) Questions that Challenge Current Thinking
These are sometimes called powerful questions in that they will disturb the client’s current pattern of thinking and put an end to evasion and confusion. They encourage lateral thinking by looking at an issue/problem from a new perspective. They are open and encourage exploration.5) Questions that Change Minds
The questions help clients to look at alternative interpretations of certain facts or incidents. Humans “make meaning” out of everything and as a result one’s subconscious mind becomes stuck on one particular meaning/interpretation which can result in a negative belief or self-belief about something or someone. These questions encourage the client to look for an alternative interpretation that is more wholesome that may be equally valid, for example: “You say that your line manager doesn’t like or value you because he didn’t call into your office last Christmas, when he did call into John’s? What other interpretation could you put on that?”6) Incisive Questions
These are another way of handling limiting beliefs. They ask the client to pretend that the limiting factor is absent. For example, “and if you knew you had the self-confidence to make the presentations what would you dare to do? / What new position could you apply for?”
One can use presupposition or slidepast in these questions. This is a really powerful technique. For example, by asking the client “what options do you have?” invites them to accept that they have options, not just one stuck state. “How” and “When” questions are powerful in this regard as they both bypass “Whether” and allow the client to focus on action planning and time frames, respectively.
