The art of asking questions

Abstract

Asking questions is an important skill when helping others to learn. Broadly speaking, there are two areas on which questions can focus:

• Questions may be asked about a colleague’s specific situation in order to reach an independent view or perspective on the position. In this case the questions are directed to the issue itself, and are diagnostic or exploratory in nature. The level of intervention concerned here is the ‘surface level’.

• The questions may also be directed towards the issue holders more personally, in order to help them improve their understanding, clarify their options, or confront them with the reality of what they are doing or saying. Deeper levels of intervention come into play here.