The Art of Asking Better Questions: Unlocking Insights and Driving Results

Asking better questions in business meetings is an essential skill that can help you gain valuable insights and make better decisions. According to Forbes, “Asking good questions is productive, positive, creative, and can get us what we want”.

Asking better questions can help you uncover hidden assumptions, identify new opportunities, and challenge the status quo. It can also help you build stronger relationships with your colleagues and clients by showing that you are genuinely interested in their perspectives and ideas.

Asking better questions is not just about asking more questions. It’s about asking the right questions at the right time. Here are some examples of better questions to ask in business meetings:

• What are the key challenges we are facing?
• What are the opportunities we are missing?
• What assumptions are we making?
• What would happen if we did nothing?
• What are the risks and rewards of this decision?
• What does the other side/our customers want?

A better question is one that is open-ended, thought-provoking, and focused on the future. Open-ended questions encourage discussion and exploration, while closed-ended questions limit the scope of the conversation. Thought-provoking questions challenge assumptions and encourage creative thinking. Focusing on the future helps to identify opportunities and potential solutions.

When formulating questions, it’s important to avoid leading questions that suggest a particular answer. Leading questions can bias the conversation and limit the range of responses. It’s also important to avoid loaded questions that contain assumptions or judgments. Loaded questions can create tension and defensiveness. Finally, it’s important to avoid asking questions that are too broad or too narrow in scope. Broad questions can be overwhelming, while narrow questions can limit the scope of the conversation.

Asking better questions can help you become a more effective leader and decision-maker. As Albert Einstein once said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions”.

Asking better questions in business meetings is an essential skill that can help you gain valuable insights and make better decisions. By asking better questions, you can challenge assumptions, identify new opportunities, and build stronger relationships with your colleagues and clients.