There are hundreds of questions that are more engaging than analytical questions, just asking for information. Here are some more.
Questions to Stimulate Thinking
- What are your aims, goals or vision for your area/function/business?
- Who do you see as your main internal customers?
- What are your customers trying to achieve and how do your objectives serve their needs?
- How are you going about achieving your goals?
- What are the main challenges that you are currently facing?
- What obstacles do you see blocking your path?
- What options are there for dealing with these obstacles?
- What untapped opportunities can you see that you would like to exploit?
- Who are your customers/strategic partners?
- How does your success add value to their efforts?
- How do you measure your success?
- What are your main deliverables?
- What are the key factors in your operation that contribute to the bottom line?
- Following the 80-20 rule, what are the 20% of activities that contribute 80% of your output?
- If you could improve any aspect of your operation by waving a magic wand, what would it be?
- What options do you see for achieving that improvement?
- What are the pros and cons of option A, B, C...?
- What obstacles are there in the way of taking this action?
- What steps might be taken to tackle those obstacles?
Active Listening: Follow-on Questions and Encouraging Statements
- That's interesting, please tell me more about that.
- I like the sound of that, what are the risks, costs or downsides?
- What happened next? And then what did you do?
- I see (then wait for the other person to continue).
- You seem to have put a lot of thought into this (wait for reply).
- How did you arrive at that strategy or approach?
- What prompted you to pursue that path?
- What are the next steps?
- Who else needs to be involved?
- You have clearly highlighted the negatives. What are the benefits or opportunities?
Solution Generating and Influencing Questions
- If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change?
- What would be your ideal solution?
- How would your ideal solution meet your needs?
- What have you tried to do thus far?
- What seems to be working and what isn't?
- What other options can you envisage?
- Have you thought about trying X?
- What do you see as the potential benefits of X?
- How would doing X help you achieve your goals?
- What would you see as the risks, costs or downsides of X?
- How might you avoid these negative outcomes?
- Who else is doing X? What can you learn from their experience?
- How would X add value for your customers?
- How would this enhance your value in their eyes?
- What are the next steps?
- What support could you use in implementing this idea?
- How might I support you in taking these steps?
Career Development Questions
- What do you see as the next stage of your career?
- Longer term, do you see yourself as an individual contributor/professional or manager?
- In relation to where you want to go, what do you see as your 2 or 3 key strengths for such a role?
- What 2 or 3 skills do you think you need to develop for that role?
- If you don't know, how can you find out? (talk to current incumbents)
- What kind of developmental actions would address your needs effectively?
- What developmental courses of action most appeal to you?
- What aspects of your job (or past jobs) have you enjoyed most?
- What aspects do you not enjoy so much?
- What would you like to do more of or less of?
- What support do you need for your development?
- What can you start doing differently immediately?
- How could you raise your profile?
- How could you find some really developmental challenges?