Here is an excerpt from an article written by Tijs Besieux for Harvard Business Review and the HBR Blog Network. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, obtain subscription information, and receive HBR email alerts, please click here.
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I’ve worked as a consultant for a decade now, and it’s been a fulfilling journey. In this role, your core objective is to understand a client’s problems — not just what they’re struggling with today but what’s happened in the past and what their vision for the future is. Only then can you offer advice that will work for them.
Listening is a crucial skill in this respect, but asking great questions is equally, if not more, important. How else do you expect to unearth the information you need to craft solutions?
The art of asking great questions isn’t just restricted to consulting. In any industry, people with this skill are seen as more empathetic. They also lower the threshold for others to speak up, increase the quality of decisions, and foster collective intelligence. Whether you’re a marketing associate, a project manager, a freelance illustrator, or something else — a great question can help you learn more about your task, unlock hidden opportunities, deliver better results, and mitigate unforeseen risks.
To figure out what it takes to successfully hone this skill, I interviewed 12 fellow consultants who hold senior positions at prestigious firms including McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Deloitte.
“In your view, what’s a great question?” I asked.
Among all their answers, three consistent characteristics emerged.
[Here’s the first.]
1) A great question should demonstrate that you’re thoroughly prepared for the conversation.
Instead of: “How’s business doing?”
Try: “I’ve read that one of your main competitors announced an aggressive expansion in Latin America. I’m curious to better understand how that influences your firm’s strategy to increase market share in Brazil, as depicted in your annual report?”
Instead of: “What kind of a look and feel would you like the new website to have?”
Try: “I invested time to catch up on the news about your firm and I was fascinated to read that you will start selling e-bikes in Paris as well. That’s amazing! How would you like to highlight this expansion on the new website that I will design?”
Annual reports, news outlets, LinkedIn all provide contextual information that you need to ask a well-informed question. Whatever you are asking about, you want to convey to your client, colleague, or manager that you did your homework and are aware of the broader situation. As a consequence, they will feel respected and be more inclined to share information that drives the relationship forward and makes it easier for you to do your job well.
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Here is a direct link to the complete article.
Tijs Besieux is a senior expert in behavioral change at &samhoud, a visiting professor of leadership at IÉSEG School of Management, in France, and a research fellow at KU Leuven, in Belgium.