Part - I

When did you last come out of a meeting only to realize that you did not get to know all that you wanted to? In a teleconference or a videoconference why do people generally accept ideas as they are and act on them, only to find out after two weeks that that missed out asking for some relevant critical information? Did your client ever come back after a release and tell you that you have missed the requirements by miles?

You can avoid all these costly scenarios by probing effectively. Appropriate questions asked in any interaction whenever there is an iota of doubt or lack of clarity provides a simple means to capture more and more information. You get what you ask for. Ask for information that helps you form the 'big picture' beyond the other people's perspectives and you shall get it. Being assertive is not being intrusive. Probing skills help you develop a more collaborative style so essential for success in a global company like ours.

In order to probe effectively you must plan your questions well - crisp and to the point. This enables you to give a sense of direction to the interaction and imposes a natural order on the questions, possibly leading to a solution. In addition you can also ask spontaneous questions depending on the actual situation. Choose a neural location for the interaction, if you can and try to maintain a congenial environment for flow of ideas. Do not carry any preconceived notions into the interaction. Patiently, listen with two ears and two eyes what the others have to tell. You are there to know more and not to reaffirm what you already know. Gather as much information as possible. You can apply your filters later on. During the interaction allow breathers in between-you are not a cop.

As you probe look for facts, not perspectives. Use open-ended questions, however, leading questions may be used in case the other party is not clear on a certain issue. If you are not satisfied with a response, you should try framing the query differently. You can elicit longer, more meaningful and frequent responses from the other party after an initial response by maintaining a deliberate silence or making a reflective statement or inviting elaboration. Always give others some time to think after you ask a question.

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* Contributed by -
Rajiv Das,
Systems Engineer,
Wipro Technologies,
Madhapur,Hyderabad.