Scenario: Unanswered questions

As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation: Participants are asking question upon question and no one is answering.

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

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Comments (39)

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    Monika Kantowicz-Gdanska

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    I would suggest an intervention. i would say “I can observe there is a lot of questions being asked, but no answers are given. What is happening?” After getting the answers I would ask “What can we do to make sure the answers are given to the questions asked?” Another scenario that comes to my mind is intervention such as: “”I can observe there is a lot of questions being asked, but no answers are given. What happens when we do not answer the questions that are asked?” The second solution seems more precise to me. It may help proceed more quickly than the first one. Answer to “What is happening?” could be difficult or not precise.

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    Danuta Babińska

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    I would check in saying something like: “I‘ve noticed that a number of questions were left unanswered. Have you also noticed that?” and then I would continue by engaging the team to observe how it affects their work by asking questions like: “What do you think this results from? How do we cope with this? How do you think it will affect our work?”

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    Beata Pluta

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    Intervention: I noticed that there are unanswered questions , did you notice that? What do we lose by not answering the questions? and what could we get if we heard the answer.

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    Rachel Goodwin

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    I would intervene to point out that a specific team member had asked a question and ask them if they feel it had been answered, if they said it had not been answered I would ask them to repeat the question and to specify if the question was addressed to a particular member of the group or if it was an open question. If it was an open question I would continue to ask if everyone who wanted to respond had had the chance before moving on to the next question. I would make a note of who I had stopped asking the next question and return to them. If it was repeated behaviour I would intervene to ask how the group were performing, what were they doing well and what they could do better, I would ask what the impact of not answering questions before moving on was having on the performance of the group and ask them what they could do differently to address it.

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    Roxette Lam

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    I would intervene to ask questions for Team: I observed that there were many questions that were posed but no answers. Have you observed that? How affect are un-answers questions to the effectiveness of this session? According to Team, what should we do next with the questions we have asked so far?

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    Lai Yin Yong

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    I would intervene to ask ” Team, do you have any observation on our session so far?’ if they did not get the situation, I would further ask” I observed there are few questions which are not responded yet. Have you observed it?’ ” what is the impact if we let this situation continue?’ ” what should we do about it?'” How is the team will be benefited if we are able to improve this situation?”

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    katia soares natalicchio

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    I would suggest an intervention like: “I can see that everyone is using our rule that everyone can ask questions at all times. But I notice that there is no room for answers. What happens to the group when we don’t answer the questions asked? How can we support the presenter in generating ideas to be carried out to address his question? ”

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    Carmem Rocha

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    I realize we’re having a lot of unanswered questions. How can we learn more and maximize the group’s potential for troubleshooting in this situation?

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    Anna Sieczkowska - Bałazy

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    As an action learning coach, I would say there are many questions but no answers. What do you think how we are doing as a team on a scale 1- 10?
    What are we doing well?
    What can we do better?
    I assume that someone from the team will bring up the situation. If not, I would ask directly – What atmosphere do we have now? How do you feel in this way of working?

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    Ronaldo Paulo Villamarzo

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    This sounds like a perfect time for an intervention using the SID format. I will begin by mentioning that I have observed that several questions have been asked but no one has answered. Then I will ask them what they think the impact will be if we continue this way. From there, I will ask them what needs to happen so that we can have a healthy exchange of questions and answers.

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    Katrina Dickson

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    I would intervene: “I am observing a pattern in questioning and answering. What are others observing? ” If they do not observe the pattern (eg they are a new group, who are still becoming familiar with the action learning process) I would point the pattern out, saying ” I notice that many questions are being asked but no (or few) answers are being given. Are others also noticing this?” (look for nods or other signs of affirmation. Follow this with “What is the impact on the group of people asking question upon question, but with no answers being given?” Then “what could we do about this?” I would also remind them of the ground rule that statements can only be made in response to questions (to minimise the chance of “over-correcting” in which they may start making too many statements as opposed to asking questions).

    I would then track the “balance” of questions and statements to identify if the pattern has changed, and if not, I may need to intervene again. At the end, when the group is identifying learnings, if no one raises the impact of the questioning pattern on learnings, I may raise it.

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    nadia estirini

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    Facing the situation, as action learing coach I will bring the situation into learning by interven with the following steps:
    1. Team, “what is happening right now?”
    2. I observed there are many questions remained unanswered.
    3. As a team, “how the situation impact to the efftiveness to the team?”
    4. “How do the team improve it?”

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    Angeline Yong

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    I would intervene by asking, “Team, what is happening?”

    How are we doing in terms of responding to the questions being asked, on a scale of 1 – 10 (with 1 being low & 10 being high)?

    How would this affect our team effectiveness if this continues?

    What can we do to improve this?

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    Jouw Wijnsma

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    I would intervene by asking ‘I’ve observed that a lot of questions are left unanswered, did you notice that?’, then follow with ‘why is it important that questions are answered?’ and continue with ‘how can we do this better?’

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    FangFang Kong

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    A: As an action learning coach, I will ask the team to intervene with the SID intervention mode based on the six components and two basic rules of action learning:
    1. What is happening in the team at present?
    2. How do you think the team is doing so far?(on a scale of 1-10)
    3. Review one of the basic principles of action learning: statements only in response to questions and anyone can ask anyone questions.
    4. What will happen to the team if we continue?
    5. How will the quality of the solution be affected?
    6. What can we do to better promote results?
    7. How can we prevent this from happening again in future meetings?

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    Brittany Hartman

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    I would intervene before the questions get too far and question are not answered. I would ask the person that is asking the next question, if the previous question had been answered. I believe that when others questions are not answered it makes them feel like their questions don’t matter. During the break, I would ask the participants how they felt about the session and how it is going and help them realize the unanswered questions affect the quality of the session.

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    Alessandra Denis

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    In my experience I made the following intervention: I noticed that the group is asking questions about questions, did anyone else notice? What could we do to resolve this situation?

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    Doreen Wei

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    I would ask the team, “How are we doing as a team on a scale of 1 – 10? What are we doing well? What can we do better?”
    If no one mentioned it, I would ask the team, “I observed some questions that were left unanswered. Did anyone else notice that?” “Why is it important that questions be answered?” “How do we make sure that all questions will be answered next?”

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    Nidhipon Tritiptawin

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    As an action learning coach, I cannot let this situation go. It needs to make clear to the team about questions and answers. I will interrupt immediately by asking, “Wait, team, (then I will turn to a person who raised the first question), whom is this question going to?”

    If he/she says it is to everyone, but, still, everyone keep quite, I will invite again by asking, “Are there anyone who want to answer to this question?” If silence is an answer, I will ask the question owner if he/she would like to change the question or to let other people to ask the next question.

    If he/she specify whom the question is going to, I believe that the question will be answered anyway. Even, in the worst case, the answer may be “I don’t know.” And the process can move on.

    However, if this situation keep repeating, i.e. team members are asking question upon question and no one is answering, it’s definitely a time for learning opportunity. I will intervene by asking, “Team, how well are we doing regarding listening and answering?” After their responses, I will further ask, “How is it going to be if we are asking question upon question and no one is answering? Then the last question in my intervention will be “What can we do better?”

    Once the team has learned from what happened, we can move on and I will say. “Who has the next question?”

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    Patrick Kok

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    I’ll intervene and pause the questioning with, “Team, we have many questions asked but are there any answers given, or statements made, Yes or No?”

    Followed by “What can be done better?” This will trigger the team to agree on a process of questioning and allow statements to be made for every question asked before proceeding on. Once the process has been agreed by the team, I’ll than ask “Who has the next question?” or “Who had the last question asked?” to allow the session to proceed.

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    Marina Moreno

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    I would make the following intervention: “I‘ve noticed that a number of questions were left unanswered. Did anyone else noticed that?” and then I would continue by engaging the team to observe how it affects their work by asking questions like: “What is the impact of leaving unanswered questions?” and, finally “How do we want to proceed in this session?”

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    Hanh Nguyen

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    I will apply the SID method (Situation, Impact, Do). First, i will provide my observation that many questions were not answered and ask the team about the impact of this fact, then their response towards unanswered questions. When the team goes to consensus of the action, i will ask them to pick up one good unanswered question to work on.

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    Tuyen Van

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    As a coach, I will ask the questions ” what make the team keep silent?” What happen if the team continue not answering the question?” ” How can the team have learning points/ actions if coach session continue without answer from members” ” What the team can do to have the good answer for each question”

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    Sharon Roberts

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    I would intervene and say that I am observing that questions are being asked that no one seems to be answering. I would ask if anyone else has noticed that. I would ask what the impact to the team is when questions are left unanswered. I would ask the team how they want to handle the situation moving forward.

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    Taissa Melo

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    I could say: “ “I‘ve noticed that a number of questions were left unanswered. Have you also noticed that?”
    Why is it important that questions be answered?”
    “How do we make sure that all questions will be answered?”

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    Mihaela M

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    As an ALC I will ask:
    “I noticed that there are questions which were not answered. Did anyone else notice that?”
    “What is the impact on the team if questions are not answered?”
    “So what do you want to do from now on when questions are not answered?”

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    Lee Kwan Meng

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    As an Action Learning Coach, I will intervene and ask these comments to the team:
    “Team, a lot of questions have been posed, but none have been answered.”
    “Can the Team pause for a while to reflect back on the questions that have been posed first before moving forward?”
    By intervening to get the team to pause, it will give time for the team to review back the SID and get back on track. Otherwise, if they go on, it will become more difficult to answer as it will lead to more confusion as to the problem. I will then allow themselves to be silent for awhile before asking them how they will proceed from there with the question: “Team, are you ready to move forward now?” If any of them answered “Yes”, then I will as the Team to move on to the next step. This will of course involve SID to reflect back on the Situation, on the Impact to the team by continuing to pose never ending questions, and to Do the next step forward.

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    bihong xie

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    I would step in and say, “I’ve noticed a lot of questions go unanswered. Have you noticed?” After a yes or no response, I continue to ask, “How does this situation affect team performance?” Finally, ask, “What can we do to improve this problem?”

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    Lia Cavellucci

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    As an Action Learning Coach, I would make an intervention asking the following:
    – Team, I am observing that some questions were asked without time between them to be answered. What is the impact of an unanswered question for solving the problem that we are helping the presenter solve today?
    – How are we going to deal with unanswered questions going forward?

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    Camila valente

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    In this case, I would make the following intervention: “Group, I am observing that several questions were asked without anyone answering them. Did you observe that too? Then:” Why is it important that we follow the two basic rules of Action Learning? And finally: “How do we want this to happen from now on?”

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    Ponnarat Pichaichanlert

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    I would ask the team member the following questions.
    “How about the question or the answer in the session …(No one is answering, Dead air)?”
    “What would be the impact if no one answer or response?”
    “What would you like to do to improve the situation?”

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    Marta Siudak

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    I would intervene saying: ‘I’ve noticed many unaswered questions left, have you noticed that? How does it effect our work on the problem?’ I would also consider asking ‘What is the reason we multiply questions not answering them?’ If the group will move forward without taking a challange to answer previous question I would also ask what we should do with the questions we’ve asked so far, do we work on them?

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    Lam Nguyen Thanh

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    As an Action Learning coach, I would intervene by asking following questions:
    “In the past several minutes, I have noticed that many questions were not answered completely before moving to the next one. Have you noticed that?”
    “How does it impact to the problem solving process of a team?”
    “How would we do to keep all questions answered from now on?”

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    yiming zhou

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    I would ask, “What just happened?” If someone asks a question that isn’t answered, I ask, “What are the implications for us?” “What should we do?” If no one on the team mentioned it, I would ask the team directly, “Were all the questions answered?” “Why is it important to answer every question?” “How can we make sure each question is answered?”

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    Gene Audrey Arayata

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    I will intervene and ask the following questions:

    1. So team, I noticed that everyone is asking a lot of questions. Did you notice this too?
    2. Have any of these questions been answered?
    3. What would happen to the team and to our session if questions continue to be left unanswered?
    4. Given this, how would the team like to proceed?

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    Grace Wong

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    I will intervene and say: “I noticed that many questions have been left unanswered. Have you noticed?” When the members answer yes or no, I will continue to ask, “How does this situation affect the team’s performance?” Finally I will ask “What can we do to solve this problem?”

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    Nguyễn Cường

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    As a Coach, I would intervene by asking some questions (SID Intervention model):
    “Hello team, I saw that some questions were not answered. Have you noticed that?”
    “What will happen to the team if we continue?”
    “What can we do to improve?”

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    张 琴琴

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    I will intervene and say: “I noticed that many questions have been left unanswered. Have you noticed?” After the members answer yes, I continue to ask three questions including “The question was heard, while no one replied. I wonder what happened?”, “What do you think is the motivation of the question presenter?”, and finally “What can we do to prevent this situation from happening again?” to enable the team to think from another perspective and build a more harmonious conversation atmosphere.

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    yanjun Wang

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    I’d will intervene and say, “I’ve noticed that a lot of questions aren’t answered. Have you noticed that?” When they say yes or no, I follow up by asking, “How is this situation affecting team performance?” Finally, ask “What can we do to improve this problem?” Let the team to reflect further.

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