Scenario: Open says me

As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation: A member responds to a closed question with an open answer.

Tags: Action Learning, ActionLearning Coach, Team Coach, WIAL, WIAL Action Learning, WIAL Talk

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Comments (21)

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    Bernard van Gils

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    Afhankelijk van hoe de situatie is en het gesprek verloopt zou ik verschillend reageren op deze vorm van antwoorden. Wanneer het gesprek vlot verloopt, er vooral veel open vragen gesteld worden en er een positief onderzoekend klimaat heerst zal ik zeker niet ingrijpen op dat moment. Wel zal ik op een later moment als het even stil ligt en dit soort zaken vaker gespeeld hebben, aangeven dat ze na mogen denken over de manier van vragen stellen en antwoorden geven. Heerst er echter in het gesprek niet de positieve onderzoekende sfeer, of worden er veel (of alleen ) gesloten vragen gesteld, dan zal ik het gesprek stilleggen en de groep wijzen op de manier van vragen stellen en het effect daarvan. In het volgende evaluatiemoment tijdens het gesprek zou ik er op terugkomen en òf complimenteren als ze hun wijze van vragen stellen aangepast hebben, òf nogmaals wijzen op de noodzaak van open vragen tijdens deze onderzoekende, verkennende fase.

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    Paulina Gucka

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    I would intervene by: “Let me stop you for a while. The last question was: [I would repeat the question as exactly as I remember]. The answer is: [I would repeat the answer as exactly as I can]. What have just happened?”, and after team’s answer I continue: “What can we learn out of it?”

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    Sim Choo Khoo

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    I would intervene by asking “Team, what did you notice is the type of question”.
    I would then ask “Team, what was the response (open or close)?”
    If there have been more closed questions than open questions, I would then ask “Team, what kind of questions helps to explore and generate ideas?”.

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    Bert van Veldhuizen

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    Scenario: Open says me
    As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation: A member responds to a closed question with an open answer.

    An open answer to a closed question is not necessarily a mistake. It is the context that makes answering a bit complex. If the closed question is intended to provide clarity and the response with an open answer helps to start the conversation better and further, then a compliment may be appropriate. If the group is still very much looking for the right questions, it is a good example of how you can solve it as a team. If the entire conversation is difficult and there are mainly closed questions and open answers, if it does not contribute to the progress then an intervention is in order. It is then my role to take the group along in my perception. I would then give back to the group what I have seen / heard, without value judgment. A closed question with an open answer, what do we think about that? Does it help the group, what can we learn from it?

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    Tuyen Van

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    As a coach, I will ask the questions ” Hello team, do the member answer the question or try to explain ideas in his/her answer”, ” how team can follow strictly the 1st rule of the action learning: statements only in response to questions;…”

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    Sharon Roberts

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    I would intervene and ask the team member that asked the question if they intended their question to be a closed question. If they said yes, I would remind the person answering that it is important to respond to the specific question asked. If the team member asking the question said no, I would ask the team member how they might turn their closed question into an open question.

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    Achmad Zakaria

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    Intervention:
    “Team, howd you feel if your question do not have straight answer from your team member?”
    …let team member answer…
    “Lets recall back…have our question answered?”
    …let team member answer…
    “What we learn if we dont directly answer question?”

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    Achmad Zakaria

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    “Team, i see that some of the statement has not yet answered directly…what will be the impact of such things for the discussion?
    and following to the team response i will ask again
    “What can we do to improve as a team?”

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    Achmad Zakaria

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    Coach asked:
    What type of question was asked?
    What kind of responses did you get?
    Was the responses correct to the questions?
    What are the benefit of asking open question?
    When do you ask close question?
    mooving forward how do we want to ask question?

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    Lee Kwan Meng

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    As an Action Learning coach, I would interrupt the dialogue and intervene by asking the team 2 questions:
    1) What do they think of the closed question with regards to the issue before the question was asked?
    In this way, it will allow the other team members to reflect on that question; and then,
    2) And what they think of that open answer?
    These two questions will enable the team to determine whether the closed question was appropriate at that time, and likewise the open answer
    In a way, these 2 questions will temporarily stop the team from moving forward until they have clarity on the issue or problem that was earlier discussed before the closed question was asked.

    But following how the team responds to this intervention, there could be a third question, i.e “What can the team learn from this situation?

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    Ivy Sun

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    I wouldn’t intervene immediately. Instead, I prefer to wait until the feedback session when I can review this moment with the member. “why use an open answer to a closed question? What’s the consequence? If use a closed answer, what is the possible consequence? Which consequence is better?” Let the group know when they meet the similar situation, what choices do they have and what’s the consequence for different choices. Then they can make decision with more awareness.

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    Pet Hen Oei

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    I don’t think answering a closed question with an open question is an automatic mistakes. I mean the responder may already reflect on the qustion before answering, and still within the boundary of the AL 2 ground rules.
    Depending on the response of the questioner, I would not intervene, but will be alert while observing the space and team’s individual response before taking any intervention or let the flow continue.

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    Charmaine McFarlane

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    As the Coach, I would intervene and ask whether they intended it to be a closed question. If they reply they had not, I would allow the opportunity for them to rephrase it. If they reply they had, I would guide the person answering to respond to that accordingly with a simple yes or no. If they struggle with how to pose an open question, I would ask the team to support them by offering the best ways to ask open questions (beginning with “what if, why, how, when, what do you think, would you explain…”).

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    Rogier ten Kate

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    If they were just starting with Action Learning I would make a strong point about asking closed questions every time. I would ask the question: is this meant to be a closed question? I would interrupt the person answering. Are you answering the question? What was the question you are answering? I feel it is important from the beginning to set an environment where we try to ask as many open and authentic questions as possible. in the beginning people tend to ask a lot of closed questions as they do not really know yet how to word the question open ended. Helping them think about what are you really trying to ask develops skills of asking great questions.

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    Janaina Gameiro Arbucias

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    I would ask the person: “which question are you answering?”.

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    Wutthichai Bunkhrong

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    As a coach, I will ask the team: How is the latest team questioning team, closed or open? Why did the team respond to the question that does not match the nature of the question asked? What will happen If we still have an answer to a question that does not match the nature of this question? How can the team make this any better?

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      Wutthichai Bunkhrong

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      As a Coach , I will ask the team :
      – Did the team notice the kind of nature of the past questions?

      – What kind of quiz team (Closed or open)

      – What if we still have an answer that does not match the nature of the question asked?
      – How do the teams respond to their series better?

      Reply

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    Tom Palmer

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    As a coach I would briefly intervene and ask the responder, “what question are you answering?” I would read their response to this – if they weren’t connecting the dots, I would add, “Is this an open or closed question?”

    More than likely, this would be enough to have them provide a brief answer to the closed question, after which I would ask, “who has the next question?”

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    Mongkol Othavorn

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    As a coach, I will intervene and ask the team
    “Team How about answers from member respond for Question?”
    “How can the Question and the answers given help the team?
    “How concise responses will affect the team’s performance”
    “How will the team do better?”

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    Danielle de Nóbrega Tiso

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    I would ask: Team, what question are we answering? Is an open or closed question?
    What kind of questions will support us in this moment and generate more ideas for the group?
    What can we learn with this conversation?

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    Niwat Theeraviwatwong

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    As a action learning coach. I’ll intervene by using “SID Model” as follows;
    S : Team! ; I observed that some team member responds to a closed question with an open answer. How can we answer each type of question effectively.
    I : What impact on our team if members continue to answer questions that are not relevant to their type of question?
    D : What can we do to improve better?

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