Have you ever been ‘talked at’ instead of had someone ‘talk with’ you in a real life conversation? It doesn’t feel good to have someone talk AT you. It’s quite patronizing really. It leaves you feeling like you might as well not have been there at all.
Conventional change management can be like that – create a communication plan to talk at people. Manage resistance when they ignore your conversation.
In this post I explore the power of asking questions and I share 9 types of questions you can ask to increase engagement whether you’re leading change at work or in life.
The 9 questions are:
- What do you think about this change?
- How do you feel about this change?
- What do you see your role as in this change?
- What is your opinion about this change?
- What is your experience with this type of change?
- What are you working on and how will you be impacted by this change?
- What are your ideas about this change?
- Would you change anything about this change?
- Why do you think this change is needed (or not)?
Important note… Ask these questions and listen. No interruptions. No, “yeah, but…” Nothing. Nada. Zip it. Listen authentically. The group or person you are talking WITH will recognize your sincere intent which establishes connection — the foundation of any successful change.
Of course there are plenty of other types of questions – what type do you ask and how do you find people respond?
What question would you ask to round this list out to 10 Questions to Ask When Leading Change to get more Engagement?
Cheers!
~Melissa
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10. If you could tell the CEO one thing about this upcoming change, what would it be?
As always, awesome!
Outstanding post! The power of talking with people is definitely underrated. The questions you provided allows leaders and managers to engage employees in a conversation. The key is to zip it as you suggested when asking the questions. You cannot sell people on change they have to sell themselves.
I might add 2 more questions:
What are you already doing in your day to day work that supports the change?
What areas do you feel will be a challenge for you to adjust?
I also loves Lucie's question, very powerful.
Thanks for sharing your list of questions! I will be using them in my future change endeavors.
Cheers!
Kelly
Thanks Kelley! I appreciate the thoughtful comments and insightful builds. I'm a bit bored with 'conventional' change management courses and tactics. I think we need to bust out and use some savvy acumen, innovation, and intuition.
Cheers!
Melissa
I think Lucie's question is great. I might add:
11. What is your experience with past changes?
…just to get insight into history or preconceived notions. I too am b-o-r-e-d with the standard approach. My mother, who is a counselor, has just introduced me to motivational interviewing, which may have some place here as well.
Intriguing! Keep me posted on what you learn from your mom!
Thanks for the comments!
OOps – late-night typo: the *9th* question was also awesome, Melissa! : )
Thanks for the kudos, folks – backatcha and, of course, to Melissa for the evocative 8 questions and the Listening backdrop – something tells me this thread will evolve into something even richer! Thanks, again, to all! – Lucie
Really interesting post and additional questions. If I were to add another question it would be:
Do you think this change is for good?
I am keen to know whether this change is likely to inspire or demotivate someone…
Mark
Thanks Mark – great build!
Melissa
Hi Melissa
I am lead facilitator of change at a fortune 500 company. My experience has been, most people fear change. It's not that they can't change or even won't change, they can and do every day. The rub lies in the level of trust between our leaders and those who are being asked to change on the shop floor. The attitude of those being asked for change is, "Been there, done that, didn't work then and won't work now." So, I feel more like a S.W.A.T. team negotiator rather than a facilitator of change.
One thing we do as a facilitator team is clear our Friday calendar for some "Care and feeding of the facilitator." This is a two-hour block that allows us to share stories, find new and better ways of approaching a team, or sharing things that were breakthroughs and successes. With the ups and downs of good team and rough teams we need this space for recovery. If our team were asked to facilitate groups of people who were interested in being in the room together and seeking things they truly wanted our job would be a piece of cake. We must be a glutton for punishment, and the change we are after is important so we persist on.
The questions you pose above are interesting. With the environment my team operates under I am not sure they apply completely. First, I think 9 is too many for a team of mechanics who are not interest in the first place of sitting in a room and deciding on improvements or quantum change in the way they are doing business today. Although, I do like your question and they may work better in the office environment.
These are some questions I have used:
What's good about where we are today?
How did we get to this spot of good?
What did you want to do when you were twelve?
That last question may seem odd and it is. It is intended to break a pattern. It is intended to get at the heart of why people are sitting in the room with me and working to make a change. When I can connect at a deeper level beyond the standard why are we here at work question I am able to do two things. First, I am able to make a friend or someone who likes me enough to ask them for involvement in changing something. Second, this question helps those in the room realize we are here for something bigger than the corporation. We are here for those things in life that matter most, like our family, our friends, or our community. When we can unlock that aspect of the human dynamic we can move any mountain. Real sustainable change is about the individual at a deeper level. I call it "bringing your art to work."
Thank you for an awesome and thought provoking article.
Spencer,
Thank you for such a thoughtful response. The questions you added are great! No change is ever black and white, neither are the questions I posed in this article. You're 100% correct when you note, "Real sustainable change is about the individual at a deeper level." Realizing successful change requires us to use our judgment and experience to tailor and tune our efforts in working with people to dig deeper. That does't happen through a checklist or a template. That happens through trust and respect – "bringing art to your work" as you noted. Thanks for the awesome comments!
Melissa
Spencer,
You hit a key note that I think is work mentioning, and that is about trust. Just as our customers need to trust to meet their needs, so do our employees in order to effectively be open to change. I've been in merger situations where many of the employees in the merging company did not trust us, and therefore were totally not open to any kind of change, no matter how much we tried to shove it down their throat. Over time, I realized that, instead of becoming a choking hazard, I needed to develop some trust by opening the lines of communication up a little bit. I started to ask many of the questions that Melissa mentioned, especially about how they felt about the change. Once some trust was established, they started to accept the change and take responsibility.
Thanks for an awesome response!
Jake
Great post – great comments. So glad I joined this group (thanks Jim for recommending it). Digging deeper, being artists of our own lives (including at work), helping people discover the why… I agree. It's the way to get people to embrace and drive change, rather than dragging them along. It's simply inefficient to do otherwise. Boring too, as a few of you have said! Much more inspiring to me to help inspire others to change. I've found we're either open (not fearful), or closed (fearful) – obviously in different degrees and it comes out in a lot of different ways. In my experience, a lot of people are not even aware of this. Awareness is the first step to change (and freedom!)
We have an Accelerated Awareness(TM) program where we take leaders out to the Moab dessert for extreme challenges driving jeeps. It's amazing what they discover, and the change they lead when they return to work!
Laurie,
Thanks for the insightful and enthusiastic comments! Can you post a link on this post to the Accelerated Awareness (TM) program that takes place in Moab? I would love to see it and I think other folks would too.
Thanks again!
Melissa
Thanks Melissa, another great post, and yes loving the new look. I'm with Spencer on his last question (re what did you want to when you were 12). It is a frame breaking question which elicits deep motivational emotions. I'm also a believer of honouring the past through questions like "how will this proposed change be different from past changes in this organisation?" This draws out feedback on process as well as emotional engagement eg cynicism, optimism, fear, hope.
Jen,
Way cool – thanks! I like Spencer's creative question too – must be an insightful fellow. Perhaps we'll all meet some day. That would be cool!
Cheers~
Melissa
Brilliant post.
A few ideas for questions
How can I support you?
What's most important to you about the change?
Duncan Brodie
Hi Duncan,
Glad you found my site! Thanks for the excellent additions for questions to pose! I signed up for your free eCourse on leadership success – thanks! http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/index.php?p...
Melissa
A question I might add…"What might be the impact of not implementing this change?"
Excellent! Welcome to RIVERFORK – glad to have you here!
Cheers~
Melissa
I'd add the following question: "If you were in charge of this change, what are the top 2-3 things you would do to make this change deliver maximum impact within our organization." The more you engage people in the problem solving process, the less resistant they are. In addition to the buy-in you get by getting others actively involved in the change process, you also get some darn good ideas when you ask this question.
Hi Judd!
Welcome to RIVERFORK – glad to have you here! I was really excited when I saw that you visited my site and commented on this post. Thanks for makin' my day. ; ) I signed up for the Ken Blanchard webinar, "Creating a High Performing, Values-Aligned Culture." http://www.kenblanchard.com/News_Events/Conferenc...
Looking forward to hearing Chris Edmonds speak! Cheers to you!
Melissa
I do have the same question that chandni has..
Great post great comments man…