{"id":1244,"date":"2025-05-27T13:02:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2025-05-27T13:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:14:27","slug":"16-what-kind-of-questions-do-you-ask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/16-what-kind-of-questions-do-you-ask\/","title":{"rendered":"16. What kind of questions do you ask?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>[This post is part of <a href=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/corinnas-guide-to-facilitating-retrospectives\/\">Corinna&#8217;s Guide to Facilitating Retrospectives<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahoy friend,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>in my post about what I do <a href=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/10-during-the-retrospective-the-actual-facilitation10\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1191\">while facilitating a retro<\/a>, I said that I\u2019m very hands-off as a facilitator. That doesn\u2019t mean that I don\u2019t influence where the conversation is going because <strong>I do ask questions<\/strong> and therein lies a lot of power. Let\u2019s look at something I call \u201canswer space\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Answer space \u2013 The question shapes the direction of likely answers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One distinction you might know is the one between <strong>open and closed questions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Open: <\/strong>What could help you with that?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Closed: <\/strong>Is there anything that could help yo<strong>u with that?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Which type you choose is one way to limit or broaden the answer space: The expected answer to a closed question is \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d. The expected answer to an open question is some information or a story. In the example above \u201cWhat could help you with that?\u201d implies that <em>there is at least one<\/em> thing or person that can help. This implication makes it more likely that the other person will indeed come up with at least one thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use this deliberately: During the early stages of a retrospective we usually want to explore. Use powerful, open questions to invite a wide variety of answers.<a href=\"https:\/\/wall-skills.com\/2015\/powerful-questions\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wall-skills.com\/2015\/powerful-questions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"596\" height=\"842\" src=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Powerful-Questions_Wall-Skills.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Powerful-Questions_Wall-Skills.png 596w, https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Powerful-Questions_Wall-Skills-212x300.png 212w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In later stages, when we try to decide and wrap things up, closed questions are more helpful in narrowing things down and agreeing on actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But wait, there\u2019s more! For example, you can influence people to <strong>look into their past or future<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Past:<\/strong> What has helped you in the past in similar situations?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Present:<\/strong> What could help you in the current situation?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Future:<\/strong> What could help you in a similar situation in the future?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And we can focus on a <strong>problem versus an outcome<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Problem:<\/strong> So, what\u2019s the problem here?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Topic \/ Neutral:<\/strong> Why did you come here today?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Outcome: <\/strong>What would you like to have happen?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A question is like a ray of light that you can direct. What you shine a light on, can be seen more clearly and take up more (head) space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"689\" src=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Antwortspektrum-en-1024x689.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Antwortspektrum-en-1024x689.png 1024w, https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Antwortspektrum-en-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Antwortspektrum-en-768x517.png 768w, https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Antwortspektrum-en.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The question \u201cWhat has changed?\u201d has a rather broad answer space. Asking \u201cWhat has improved?\u201d limits the space of expected answers to positive points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously, the person you ask can also ignore the expectations behind your questions and answer outside of the intended space. They can answer the closed question \u201cDo you have any plants?\u201d with \u201cYes, a rubber tree and a small fern\u201d. Or answer \u201cWhat would you like to have happen?\u201d with \u201cOh well, you know, that tracking system really is a pain in the butt\u201d. But you can <strong>increase the odds<\/strong> of a certain type of answer. People are social beings that want to fulfill expectations. The chances of an answer inside your desired answer space are higher than of one outside of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why is that important? <strong>How can we use this for good?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can influence the energy levels with which people leave meetings run by us! And how much control they feel they have over a situation, and whether it\u2019s worth it to attempt to change something at all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we ask \u201cinto\u201d problems and have them described, energy typically goes down. In contrast, when we ask for things that have worked in the past, or have people envision a bright future in great detail, people typically gain energy. And this energy booster makes it easier to take the steps towards that brighter future. Hope makes way it easier to get started than from a ditch of discouragement in a situation that seems unchangeable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t get me wrong, I am <a href=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/my-most-important-retrospectives-were-horrible\/\">not trying to steer clear of difficult topics<\/a>, but rather that at the end of the retrospective I want people to feel that change for the better is <strong>possible<\/strong>. And that they are not at the very beginning of the process with lots of work still to do, but that they\u2019ve already got contacts, skills and resources that can help them get there.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image figcaption { style=\"text-align: center\"; }\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized style=&quot;text-align: center&quot;;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Compass-en-1024x614.png\" alt=\"Compass from the book \u201cJump Now!\u201d by John Brooker: Horizontal axis is Time: Past<-&gt;Future; Vertical axis is Energy: High<-&gt;Low. Quadrants are Resource (past, energizing), Imagine (future, energizing), Justify (past, de-energizing), Dread (future, de-energizing)\" class=\"wp-image-1246\" width=\"656\" height=\"393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Compass-en-1024x614.png 1024w, https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Compass-en-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Compass-en-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Compass-en.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From the book \u201cJump Now!\u201d by John Brooker<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>I ask questions whose answer space is in the upper two quadrants. I do it to focus the team on something that will give them energy (options) instead of leech it (all the ways things are shit) and on something they can change (the future) instead of something that is fixed (the past).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Are these leading questions<\/strong>, then? Ooof, not in the way that I\u2019d understand a manipulative, suggestive question to be. What I mean is that while I pick my questions aiming for a helpful answer space, I do not have a specific answer in mind. I do not ask so that someone will suggest \u201cmore pairing\u201d or \u201cworking agreement\u201d or anything concrete like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I want people to come to a specific conclusion I don\u2019t ask. Instead, I offer it as a suggestion \u2013 that they can decline. I don\u2019t play games where participants have to guess the &#8220;right&#8221; thing or where I\u2019m disappointed and shrug my shoulders if they don\u2019t guess what I\u2019m hinting at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as I\u2019m aware of it, I don\u2019t ask leading questions. But no matter what question you ask, you will influence the focus of your participants\u2019 attention. And that is powerful. Use it for good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019d like to know more about the kind of questions I ask, I go into a lot more detail in my free mini book \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/leanpub.com\/askingforabetterfuture\/\">Asking for a Better Future<\/a>\u201d.<br><br>Take a minute:<br><strong>Write down five questions that you typically ask during a retrospective. What answer space do they open up? What answers do you tend to get? Are you happy with the way these questions are working for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See you soon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Corinna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><h3><strong>PS: If you'd rather read this <a href=\"https:\/\/leanpub.com\/guidetoretrospectives\" target=\"_blank\">Guide as an ebook, click here.<\/a> Or go all in and get it as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/leanpub.com\/b\/retromat-bundle-agile-retrospectives\" target=\"_blank\">Retromat eBook Bundle<\/a> at a discount. A purchase also supports Retromat as a whole \ud83d\ude42<\/strong><\/h3><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[This post is part of Corinna&#8217;s Guide to Facilitating Retrospectives] Ahoy friend, in my post about what I do while facilitating a retro, I said that I\u2019m very hands-off as a facilitator. That doesn\u2019t mean that I don\u2019t influence where the conversation is going because I do ask questions and therein lies a lot of &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/16-what-kind-of-questions-do-you-ask\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;16. What kind of questions do you ask?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1244"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1256,"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions\/1256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retromat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}