If you were running a race and passed the person in second place, what place would you be in now? It is so obvious, isn’t it? Isn’t it?
Ask a question, get the answer, simple? Not really, as sometimes the wrong question can
get us badly ‘bitten.’ A case in point. In the film, ‘Pink Panther Strikes Again’ Clouseau asks the hotelier, “Does your dog bite?” “No,” says the man, Clouseau strokes the dog, gets badly bitten and says, “You said your dog doesn’t bite!” Of course the guy says, “That’s not my dog!” Ouch, a super example of the wrong question!
So, in business, and in life we may not get physically ‘bitten,’ but metaphorically we often do, and guess what, we often don’t even know. The questions we ask are often rooted in cognitive bias, we take a mental shortcut and that means we make an assumption, and you know what they say about “assume?” We all know there are closed questions and open questions, closed questions elicit a definitive response, “Are you OK now?” Open questions elicit a more complete response, “How are you feeling now?” But if we really want to get to the heart of an issue, it’s best to consider the right question for that particular person in this specific situation. And sometimes that is tough.
With MyTeamBuilder, people are realising the better thought through the question, the higher quality and more relevant the answer. And often they just don’t know that trigger question that will give them the advice they need. So let’s look at some examples.
Jess, a young manager struggling to manage one of her team, she asked her AI coach:
“Why is Geoff so lazy and what can I do about it?”
On the face of it a good question, but drill in and we find an assumption, “lazy,” then it takes the coaching conversation down a particular rabbit hole, about Geoff’s “laziness.” So our system suggested a better, more rounded question:
“Geoff appears to only work on the tasks he enjoys and leaves the others in the rest of the team to pick up, which is negatively impacting the others. How do I speak to him about this?”
This is much more specific on the impact, no assumptions outlining the issue and asking for specific advice about how to speak with Geoff. Our AI coach of course knows Jess and Geoff at a really deep level and so can provide absolutely spot on advice for Jess to make this work. The AI coach will even offer to role-play the conversation so that Jess can build some muscle-tone and practice before the conversation.
Another example is a member of the team, Steve, who is really struggling to connect with his colleague, Tom and is becoming so unhappy he is considering resigning. So, Steve asked his AI coach:
“I really dislike working with Tom, how can you help?”
Once again we can see the fact that Steve is struggling seeps into the question he is asking and will not really address the issue. So MyTeamBuilder suggested:
“I feel intimidated by Tom, he already has the answer before I can think, it’s making me feel stupid, why is that and how can I improve and address it with him?”
This is far more comprehensive and helps his AI coach as in reality there are two questions, ‘how can Steve improve, and ‘how can he address the issue with Tom in a productive way?’ His AI coach firstly looked at Steve’s own development, based on his personality and the knowledge the coach had built up on Steve over time, and created a behavioural-based development plan tailored specifically for him. Next, his AI coach spent some time explaining the differences between Steve and Tom, and provided a comprehensive plan of action, with lots of hand-holding and practical advice on how Steve can speak with Tom about how their relationship can improve and work more harmoniously and productively together, leveraging the strengths and differences in each of them. And it worked perfectly!
Claire, an HR Manager saw from her MyTeamBuilder organisation dashboard in a ‘red score’ that there were clashes in the production department that were undermining the manager, Susan, and affecting productivity. So, she asked her AI coach for help:
“I can see there are clashes in the production department how can I help address them?”
This is quite an economic, limiting question, well-intentioned and with a clear intent to help, but one-dimensional.
MyTeamBuilder suggested a more comprehensive question:
“There are clashes in the production department and I will would like to help address them, and to support Susan, how can I best approach this?”
Claire’s AI coach was then able, through a comprehensive understanding of Claire, Susan and all the personalities within the team, the right approach to bolster, coach and support Susan, and also planned intervention with the team, the coach providing a specific series of activities and resources that helped Claire address and resolve the issues within the team, explaining that we all have strengths and the key to teamwork is to leverage these for the good of the whole team.
So, the right question is key, and sometimes that is not always obvious. Log on to MyTeamBuilder, set a team up and see how it helps not just with spot on advice, but right up front making sure you maximise the impact by asking the right questions and, by so doing, get comprehensive answers and advice that will resolve absolutely any issue within the teams.