Asking open questions

  Asking closed questions does not provide the opportunity for the person you are interacting with to elaborate upon a conversation. They also provide very little information because they can usually be answered with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer. The following dialogue between an interviewer and an interviewee illustrates the restrictive nature of the closed question:

InterviewerDo you think that you have developed the necessary level of skills, knowledge, experience and confidence to be able to deal with a range of different client groups in various settings at both local and national level? IntervieweeYes. It can be seen from this example that although the interviewee has clearly answered the question asked, it has not allowed them to say anything about the knowledge, skills and experience they do have relevant to the job. So let’s rephrase the question into an open one:

InterviewerTell me about what skills, knowledge and experience you have gained over the years and how you think this can be applied to working effectively with the range of different client groups in this company. IntervieweeWell I think I will start by telling you a bit about my work experience since leaving university and then I will go on to say what skills I feel that I have developed over this time period as a result of these experiences … [then moves on to qualifications and how the work experience, skills and training relates to being able to do the present job effectively…]. Another example would be to ask someone ‘Did you have a happy childhood?’ (a closed question to which the answer is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’) as opposed to saying ‘Tell me about your childhood’ (open-ended question which allows for a lengthy response). The open-ended question makes the other person in the interaction give more information. In general the rule is that if you want to give someone room to talk, ask open questions. However, if you want some specific information or simply want to check something out with the other person, ask closed questions. Closed questions are not taboo, but they are not the best way of eliciting information from someone.

Immediacy

  Sometimes in the course of a conversation things crop up which, if not addressed immediately, can interrupt the subsequent flow and quality of further interaction. Take, for example, the situation where a manager has called a meeting with an employee to discuss a particular project that they want them to take on. When the individual arrives, the manager begins to outline the project to them but notices that the individual is looking sad and tearful. The manager chooses to ignore this and continues with the task in hand but notices the individual is now crying. The manager then asks why the person is crying and is informed that they have just experienced bereavement. It is no good the manager then ignoring this information. Some time must be taken to address the immediacy of the situation before any meaningful work related tasks can be addressed. Another example would be where a workplace counsellor is doing an assessment on a client who is an employee but each question they ask is met with an abrupt response. The counsellor is unable to elicit the information that they need and so must address the immediacy of the situation before the interview can progress. As a result the counsellor is able to establish that the employee is behaving this way because they are worried about the issue of confidentiality. The counsellor thus needs to reassure the employee that the session is confidential before any meaningful communication can continue. Having an awareness of the technique of immediacy and when to use it is important in such circumstances, and major communication difficulties can arise if it is not addressed.