5 Powerful Questions to Influence Performance
- How do you think we should approach this?
- What obstacles might prevent you from completing it (at all, or on time)?
- What resources do we have, and what others do you need?
- What’s a reasonable deadline?
- What do you need from me? –OR- How can I support you?
If one of your goals is to increase performance and employee engagement (and it should be) then getting your team members involved in planning how a task or project should be done is a simple and powerful way to do so. These five questions will do just that.
Of course, if they have been used to you simply telling them what to do and how to do it, the initial shock of your new approach might be significant. If this is a new style for you, let them know what you’re doing and why so they can be part of the culture shift versus suspicious about what the heck is going on.
Far from the Command-and-Control model of yesteryear, the questions above are designed to get the person to whom you are delegating immediately engaged. Use them at the very beginning of any new initiative and watch how quickly your team gets involved.
P.S. Once you ask any one of these 5 questions – STOP TALKING! Let them answer, even if it takes a while.
