the right question− a k ey c ollaboration s kill

+The Right Question−a Key Collaboration Skill

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education--AASHEOctober 14-16, 2012Phyllis T. H. Grummon, PhDSociety for College and University Planning

What is your vision of success

for this session?

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

+Learning Outcomes

When to ask a questionHow to ask a question

Why ask questions

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

+The Power of Questions

Causes the listener to reflect—cognitively and often affectively/emotionally

Creates a pause in a conversationOpens space for new thinking

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

+What’s in a question?

1. Questions are asked because the answer is important.

2. Questions are asked because the question is important.

3. Questions are asked because the process of asking is important.*

*The Art of Asking: Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers, Terry Fadem, FT Press, 2009

+Ask a question

Think about the last time you asked someone a question.

Please write that question down.

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

Why did you ask that question?

+What’s in a question?

“Effective questions are those that accomplish their purposes, as well as build a positive relationship between the questioner and the questionee.”*

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

*Leading with Questions, Michael Marquardt, Jossey-Bass 2005, p 68

What?Where?

When?Why?

Who?

How?

How much?

What if?

+What Makes a Question Helpful?Know your goals—what do you want

out of the conversationNo clear answer—requires collaborative

thinkingAsked honestly—reduces interpersonal

barriers

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

Share your question and the answer to ‘why’

with a neighbor

+Questions and Answers

Reasons for asking….Answers we expected….Replies, but not answers…Answers we didn’t expect….Cascading questions….

+

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

Type A and Type B Questions*

Type A:“The first thing we want to talk about are inputs. What are the inputs to the scheduling process?”

*The Secrets of Facilitation, Michael Wilkinson, Jossey-Bass, 2004, p 33

+Type A and Type B Questions*

Type B:“If you were about to develop the schedule, what information would you need to have close by?”

*The Secrets of Facilitation, Michael Wilkinson, Jossey-Bass, 2004, p 33

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

+What’s in a question?

Questions that evoke a clear image help start the answering process.

+Getting to the Answer

Active Listening

Appreciative Inquiry

Dialogue

I Say, You Say

Non-verbal Responses

+Samples

• What do you think about…?• How would you approach this? • What if you were in my shoes?• What possibilities come to mind?• How do you see this ‘change’ affecting

you and your area?Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

What would it take to increase the number

of walkers and bikers by five percent in one year?

The most effective sales people

ask three times

as many questions.

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org

+Resources

The Art of Asking: Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers, Terry Fadem, FT Press, 2009

Leading with Questions, Michael Marquardt, Jossey-Bass, 2005

The Secrets of Facilitation, Michael Wilkinson, Jossey-Bass, 200

Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation, Phil Mckinney, Hyperion, 2012

How The Way We Talk Can Change The Way We Work, Robert Kegan & Lisa Lakow, Jossey-Bass, 2001

Thank You!phyllis.grummon@scup.org

Society for College & University Planning www.scup.org