Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

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Whether you’re deciding who to hire, who to trust, or who to partner with, the better you are at judging people, the better off you will be.

Stop relying on go-to questions like “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” “What do you want to be doing in five years?” and “What motivates you?” The answers won’t tell you much. The key to understanding people lies in the follow-up question.

Pay attention to how the interviewee responds to your initial question, and then build on his or her answer.

Instead of accepting a vague answer at face value, ask your original question again, but slightly differently. This shows that you are not letting the person off the hook, that you’re trying to make the first question clearer.

Ask about the implications of that answer: “How does your perfectionism play out in the workplace?” “What are the consequences of your detail orientation?” And don’t stop there – keep asking implication questions until you are satisfied you know what you need to know about the person.

Adapted from “Tactics for Asking Good Follow-Up Questions” by Richard Davis.

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Also, you may wish to check out an anthology, Management Tips from Harvard Business Review, by clicking here.