AC202 Powerful Questions 1- Reflection of this session

Moderator-Bill Turpin

Feb. 05, I spent time to jump into the ICA teleclass course- AC202 Powerful Questions. Because this topic itself attract me for a long time, I was so excited about it.

What is a role of Questions as a coach? Make a connection, as a coach we must balance the powerful questions and powerful listening.

A question can be a coach’s most valuable tool in assisting clients to think clearly and solve problems. Questions help in the problem-solving process. They “dig in” deeper and open up our thoughts to explore ideas even further. Thinking critically involves a process of reason and discernment through a set of questions. This question-and-answer methodology for discerning truth is nothing new. It is commonly referred to as the "Socratic method" and derives its name from the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates.

During the courses, we discussed the different kind of questions:
1. Lower and Higher Level Questions: Lower level questions are those that deal with simple application of facts, common knowledge, comprehension, and practical use. Higher-level questions are those requiring complex application such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills. There is a conversation skill to use ORID methodology, O: Observation; R: Reflective; I: Interpretive; D: Decisional. Lower level questions are more like O type questions; Higher-level questions are those more like R & I questions.
2. Open and Closed Ended Questions: A closed ended question is one in which there are a limited number of acceptable answers, usually, “yes” or “no.” Examples of closed-ended questions are:

● “Did you have a good week?”
● “Did you do your fieldwork?”
Closed ended questions also have their place in coaching.

An open-ended question is one in which there are many acceptable answers thus providing an opportunity for the client to elaborate. Examples of open-ended questions are:
● “Tell me about your week?”
● “What was your experience with the fieldwork?”
3. Convincing and Curious Questions: convincing Q, providing us the source of Information; curious Q, providing the source for self expressing.

How can we make a safe environment to a client to answer? What is a authentic question? A truthful answer is very important, don’t manipulate or set a client up with questions. These questions give us a lot reflective thinking