Scenario: Repetitive Questions

As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation:

The team is starting to ask the same questions over and over again.

Tags: Action Learning Coach, WIAL Action Learning

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Comments (14)

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    Balan Dass

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    As an AL coach, I would intervene and ask the group, ‘how are we doing, from a scale of 1-10, and I will ask the group on what we are doing well and not so well. On hearing this, the assumption is that the participants will tell that the questions asked are the same., and taking this opportunity I would share this learning point that asking the same questions would not get the group anywhere. Now who has the next question?

    Dr Balan Dass

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    Benjie Leogardo

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    I would ask how the team is doing (from a scale of 1 to 10), and what it is doing well, as a segue to asking about the quality of questions being asked and the consequences of asking the same questions over and over.

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    Shiryll Go

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    I come in the assumption that everyone is already in agreement to the problem presented.

    When in this scenario, as the AL coach, i will intervene by saying, ” I noticed that the team has been asking repetitive questions this last few minutes, what do you think is the possible effect and outcome if we continue to ask the same questions over and over again?”

    How i will proceed with the AL session would depend on the team’s agreed actions on how to improve from this given situation.

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    Somnuk

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    I would ask the question ” Team, How are we doing as a group? rating from 1 to 10. One member will say ” not well”, I will ask him or her to give an example. This will help the group recognize what was going on.

    Then, I will ask, ” what could we do better as a group?

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    [email protected]

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    This scenario provides a great opportunity to check in with the group. Remind everyone of how long we’ve been working. Then ask the following questions:

    How are we doing as a group so are?
    What are we doing well?
    What could we be doing better?

    If no one else brings it up…ask the group “What is the quality of our questions?” Based on responses…follow-up with “Why is it important…?” Allowing ample time for the members to respond…

    Then move the group forward…asking “Who has the next question?”

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    muhammad.ridwan

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    As a coach while i observe repeated question i will say “I’ve observed that there was repeated question, Has anyone observed this?” to make all the team realize the condition of the team

    And than asking “What is the impact of repeated question on this team?” to ensure them reflect the impact of repeated question.

    An than in the end i will ask two question, they are: “How do we want to handle the repeated question?” and “What would be the impact of handling repeated question on the team?”

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    Christina Wong

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    I would ask the team how they are doing from a scale of 1 to 10 and what have they done well and how could we do better. I would let them know that I have noticed the questions has been repeated and how it will impact the team and how do they want to proceed.

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    Wendy Reus

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    I would intervene and ask “I notice that this question has been asked x times. Has anyone else noticed this? What is the impact on the group? And then perhaps “How could we be more creative with our questions?”

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    DrBea

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    As some have said – start with the standard 3 questions — How are we doing as a team? What are we doing well? What can we do better? Ideally the team calls attention to the situation.

    This situation can either use the “I’ve observed approach” or the “How are we doing with approach”

    For the I’ve observed –
    I’ve observed the same question asked multiple times. Did anyone else notice that? (yes response)
    What’s the impact of this on the team?
    My next question would depend on the answer –
    If the question was answered – How can we insure we fully answer questions before moving forward?
    if it was a statement hid inside a question – How can we be more open to other lines of inquiry to insure we identify the real problem we should address?

    From the How are we doing perspective –
    How are we doing being truly curious with the questions we are asking?
    Why is it important that are questions are curious?
    How can we be sure to ask our questions from a place of curiosity?

    Happy Coaching
    Bea

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    Romy Frida Mariani

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    firstly I will intervene by asking how are doing so far (scale 1-10), then continue what are we doing well, what we could do better.
    if from the answers there is no comment about asking the repetitive question, I will continue by asking what are the quality of the questions?if the answere is poor, I then ask why the quality is poor? which question is poor? Assuming they will mention about the repetitive question, then I will ask Why it is happen? and How to improve the quality of the question?
    If the repetitive question is mentioned during the discussion, I then will ask why the the team ask the repetitive questions? what is the impact of the repetitive questions to the solutions, and how to improve the quality of the questions.

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    Craig Senecal

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    This is a great opportunity for a check in. Asking the group about how they’re doing might be just the trigger to help the group see that they’re stuck.

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    Lisa James

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    My aim as Coach would be to have them focus on the quality of their questions with a view to encouraging more innovation and creativity.
    After the 3 standard check-in questions, I would first ask:
    1. How have we been doing with asking questions? …if that generates response about repetitive questions, I would then ask:
    2. What is the impact of asking the same questions over and over? …hopefully that should elicit responses such as: it prevents us from getting better, deeper, more varied responses to get to the root cause of the problem. After this response I will follow-up with:
    3. How can we improve the quality of our questions?…I would first want them to come up with suggested strategies OR, if necessary, I will point them in that direction by asking:
    4. How can we be more innovative/ imaginative/ creative with our questions?

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    Shobhna Popatlal

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    I would intervene and ask the team “How are we doing so far?” “What are doing good?” and “What can we do better?” If the issue was not brought up, I will ask “Team, I observed that some questions were repeated. What is the impact in problem solutioning if we keep repeating our questions?” Finally I will ask “What can we do to ensure we maximise the time left in helping the problem presenter?” and “Who has the next question?”.

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    Amanda Leung

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    As an Action Learning Coach, I would intervene and ask the group how we are doing and let them rate from a scale of 1-10. Let them be aware of the situation and have any impacts to the team, and how they want to proceed and improve. If time is running show, I will ask them how they can optimise the discussion time, and will ask this question: ” Who has the next question?”

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