Time to read: 60 seconds + 12 minutes for the linked article
Purpose: To share techniques that will help you effective communicate with your leaders, your colleagues, and your staff, depending on what situation you find yourself in
Keywords: Questioning techniques, communication
Our team is honing the skills that we need to help our customers through the FY 2024 Program Review process. One of the skills we need, of course, is communication, both written and verbal. On March 7, we shared a resource about written communication using plain language: Choose your words carefully.
Today, we’re sharing a resource about verbal communication, specifically about asking good questions in particular situations, with purpose. We thought you too would benefit from this content, even if it’s a reminder of concepts you already know.
The resource is an article from MindTools called Questioning Techniques. It explains different types of questions (open and closed, funnel, probing, leading, rhetorical) and what each type can help you do in certain situations. There are tips and examples in the article to help you choose what to ask, when, and what you might expect when you do.
We thought it might be interesting to look at typical questions we ask you as we work on the FY 2024 Program Review together, and for what purpose. Check out these examples below!
“What is stopping you from sharing your draft activity pages with additional people for review? – an open question to find out more information so we can remove barriers
“Are you okay with how this reads right now?” – closed question to bring a conclusion to the drafting stage
“Is this a new activity since FY 2020?” If yes, then, “do you have some existing content that you can use to create your activity page, from the budget or elsewhere?” Then, “what sections do you not have content for?” Then, “what help do you need to develop those sections?” – funnel questions to find out exactly what kind of help you need
“Can you share more detail about what you mean by this phrase in your recommended service level?” – probing question to clarify or learn more details
“It tells the story better this way, don’t you think?” – leading question to lead you to a specific conclusion
“Aren’t the new Program Review headings a clearer way to communicate? Don’t they really help the reader understand what we’re doing? Didn’t they help you as you were writing?” – rhetorical questions in a string, hoping you will agree!
Remember: by April 28, 2023—Department head final review is complete. All writing and performance measure data through FY 2022 is up to date, including current and service levels.
FY 2024 Program Review Key Deadline Countdown!
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Thank you!
Thank you all for your thoughtful work on the Program Review and beyond. Please let us know if we can help.
