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Making Questions Work
A Guide to How and What to Ask for Facilitators, Consultants, Managers, Coaches, and Educators
"This book is an invaluable desk reference for facilitators, leaders, coaches, and anyone who wants to engage in more effective learning and decision-making conversations. It offers over 1700 rich questions that you can borrow or adapt to improve your inquiry skills, and provides clear frameworks that point to when, where, and why particular questions are most useful." "Everyone who facilitates should have this book on their desk!" "There is everything from cultural and contextual sensitivity to effective use of body language in this richly detailed and flexible facilitation text." "An indispensable, time-saving thesaurus of powerful searching questions linked to simple but powerfulframeworks for structuring workshops, meetings, interviews, and surveys." "Provides facilitators and managers with a road map for group processes by building our capacity to ask the right questions in almost any situation." "Strachan's book is a must?read for facilitators who need to organize professionals and professionals who don't think they need to be organized."
—Anne S. Davidson, consultant, Roger Schwarz & Associates, and coauthor, The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook
—Ingrid Bens, consultant and author, Facilitating with Ease!
—Valerie Alia, professor, Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
—Allan Mees, change consultant and facilitator, Standard Life plc, Edinburgh, Scotland
—Felipe B. Alfonso, vice chairman and executive director, Asian Institute of Management Centre for Corporate Responsibility and vice chairman, Manila Electric Company, Philippines
—Dr. Sam D. Shemie, Critical Care, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, and the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation
Dorothy Strachan (Author)
9780787987275, Wiley
Paperback / softback, published 5 December 2006
272 pages, Tables: 10 B&W, 0 Color; Exhibits: 10 B&W, 0 Color
23.1 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm, 0.386 kg
This book is an invaluable desk reference for facilitators, leaders, coaches and anyone who wants to engage in more effective learning and decision-making conversations. It offers over 1700 rich questions that you can borrow or adapt to improve your inquiry skills, and provides clear frameworks that point to when, where, and why particular questions are most useful.
Acknowledgments xv The Author xvii Preface xix Introduction xxi Part One How to Ask Questions 1 Questions That Work 3 Process Frameworks 4 Conscious Questioning 8 Framing Questions 9 Planned Questioning 10 Closed and Open Questions 10 Closed Questions 10 Open Questions 12 Skills for Conscious Questioning 13 Customize for Context 13 Create Inviting Questions 15 Clarify Assumptions 17 Ask with Sensitivity 18 Accommodate Risk and Anxiety 20 Maintain a Participant-Observer Stance 22 Consider “Why?” Carefully 24 When in Doubt, Check It Out 25 Reminders 26 2 Core Facilitation Values 31 Values Into Action 32 Integrity 33 Guidelines for Asking Questions with Integrity 33 Maintain Objectivity 33 Clarify Confidentiality 35 Be Sensitive to Conflicts of Interest 36 Avoid Collusion 39 Ask Questions Fairly 40 Determine Authorship 41 Address Imbalances in Power and Information 41 Operationalizing the Value of Integrity 42 Authenticity 44 Guidelines for Asking Questions with Authenticity 45 Build Group Ownership for Outcomes 45 Minimize Self-Deception About a Process 46 Be Clear About Intentions 46 Acknowledge Problems 47 Be Honest About Your Competencies 47 Be Present; Tune In 48 Hear Your Client’s Perspective 48 Operationalizing the Value of Authenticity 48 Mutual Respect 50 Guidelines for Asking Questions with Mutual Respect 51 Enable Equity 51 Clarify Group Norms 52 Respect Exchange Times 53 Encourage Direct Interaction 53 Be Patient; Whose Silence Is It? 54 Respect the Energy in the Group 54 Operationalizing the Value of Mutual Respect 55 Leaning on Values 55 3 Follow-up Questions 59 Prompt for Clarification 60 Prompt for Perspectives 61 Prompt for Rationale 62 Prompt for Options 63 Prompt for Implications 63 Part Two What to Ask When 4 Questions for Opening a Session 69 Process Framework 69 Guidelines for Questions to Open a Session 71 Question Bank 73 Getting to Know One Another 74 Focus: Sharing Personal Information 74 Focus: Exploring Work Experience 77 Clarifying Expectations 80 Focus: Understanding Hopes and Concerns 80 Focus: Meeting Objectives and Outcomes 83 Building Commitment 84 Focus: Developing Group Norms 85 Focus: Building Ownership 88 Common Challenges 90 When Time Is Short 90 Opening a Workshop on a Specific Topic 91 Opening a Series of Workshops 94 Loosening Up a Tight Group 96 5 Questions for Enabling Action 99 Process Framework 99 Guidelines for Questions to Enable Action 102 Question Bank 104 “What?”: The Notice Questions (Observations) 104 “So What?”: The Meaning Questions (Reflections) 107 Focus: Relevance and Fit 107 Focus: The Organization 110 Focus: The Individual 112 “Now What?”: The Application Questions (Actions) 114 Focus: Personal Change 114 Focus: Organizational Change 116 Focus: Building Ownership 117 Focus: Operational Planning 119 Common Challenges 122 Supporting Action After a Meeting of a Network or Coalition 122 Enabling a Structured Approach to Reflection and Action 123 Discussing and Making Decisions That Affect Organizational Policies 124 Applying Research (Knowledge Translation) 125 Workplace Stress: Personal Change 128 6 Questions for Thinking Critically 131 Process Framework 133 Guidelines for Questions to Enable Critical Thinking 134 Question Bank 136 Making Assumptions and Perspectives Explicit 136 Focus: The Individual 136 Focus: The Team or Organization 138 Focus: The Broader Context 141 Understanding Interests and Power Relationships 144 Focus: The Individual 144 Focus: The Team or Organization 147 Focus: The Broader Context 149 Exploring Alternative Ways of Thinking and Acting 151 Focus: The Individual 151 Focus: The Team or Organization 155 Focus: The Broader Context 156 Making Ethical Choices 158 Focus: The Individual 158 Focus: The Team or Organization 161 Focus: The Broader Context 164 Common Challenges 165 Thinking Critically About the Future 165 Acting Ethically in Low-Resource Countries 166 Thinking Critically About Policy Changes 167 7 Questions for Addressing Issues 171 Process Framework 171 Guidelines for Questions to Address Issues 172 Question Bank 175 Understanding the Situation 176 Focus: Internal Considerations 176 Focus: External Considerations 180 Clarifying the Issues 182 Focus: Issue Description 183 Focus: Why This Is an Issue 185 Focus: Stakeholders 187 Generating Options for Action 189 Focus: A Positive Future 189 Focus: Solutions 190 Focus: Learning from Others 192 Testing Options for Action 193 Focus: Rationale 194 Focus: Potential Impact 194 Focus: Strategic Fit 195 Making a Decision 197 Taking Action 199 Common Challenges 202 Encouraging Candor and Confidentiality 202 Putting Sensitive Issues on the Table 203 Issues Management in a Nongovernmental Organization 204 Issues-Based Planning: A Redundancy Program 205 8 Questions for Closing a Session 209 Process Framework 209 Guidelines for Questions to Close a Session 210 Question Bank 211 Looking Backward 212 Focus: Midway Through a Process 212 Focus: The Experience as a Whole 213 Focus: Learning 216 Focus: Productivity 218 Focus: Management of the Process 221 Looking Forward 222 Focus: Celebrating Success 222 Focus: Building Ownership for Follow-Through 223 Focus: Taking Action—Knowledge Translation 224 Focus: Future Collaboration 227 Common Challenges 228 Bringing a Multisite Project to a Close 228 Closing a National, Issues-Based Workshop 230 Conducting Exit Interviews in Small Groups 231 Reviewing a Pilot Workshop 234 In Closing: About Questions—What I Know for Sure 237 References 241
Subject Areas: Business & management [KJ]
