A good question saves an hour of guessing. Most information you need at Nexus is already in someone’s head — the skill is getting it out clearly, without taking up more of their time than you need to.
Types of questions
| Type | What it does | Use it when | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Invites a full answer. Starts with what, how, why, tell me. | You want the story, or you don’t know what you don’t know. | ”How does the figures request usually reach you?” |
| Closed | Gets a yes/no or one specific fact. | You’re confirming a detail or pinning down a date. | ”Did you get the request on the Thursday?” |
| Probing | Digs into an answer you’ve already had. | An answer is vague or you sense there’s more. | ”You said it’s usually tight — what makes it tight?” |
| Clarifying | Checks you’ve understood correctly. | Anytime you’re not certain. | ”So the delay is the approval, not the data itself?” |
| Reflective / summarising | Plays back what you heard. | Closing a conversation, or checking a long answer. | ”Let me check I’ve got this — you need two days’ notice…” |
| Hypothetical | Explores an option safely. | Testing an idea before proposing it. | ”If the request came the Monday before, would that work?” |
| Leading | Suggests the answer you want. | Avoid. It gets you agreement, not information. | ”It’s the Care team holding it up, isn’t it?” |
Styles of questioning
- Funnel — start broad and open, then narrow to specifics. The safest default for finding something out: “Talk me through month-end” → “Where does it usually slow down?” → “What date do you get the request?”
- Inverted funnel — start with an easy closed question to warm someone up, then open out. Useful if the person is busy or guarded.
- Direct — a short, specific set of questions. Use when you already know what you need and the person has five minutes, not thirty.
- Conversational — questions woven into a normal discussion. Good with a colleague you work with daily; less reliable if you need a complete answer.
Match the style to the person and the situation. A team leader in a corridor gets direct. A colleague you’re asking to explain a whole process gets a funnel.
Preparing a set of questions
- Be clear what you’re trying to find out. Write the one thing you need to walk away knowing.
- Write more open questions than closed ones. Closed questions confirm; open ones inform.
- Order them. Broad first, detail after. Don’t jump around.
- Keep the set short — five or six good questions beats fifteen.
- Check them with someone before you go — your supervisor will spot the question you’ve missed.
- Leave room for follow-ups. You won’t predict every answer.
Asking them well
- Say up front why you’re asking and how long it’ll take.
- Ask one question at a time, then stop talking.
- Listen to the answer rather than planning your next question.
- Follow up where an answer is thin: “Can you give me an example?”
- Play it back before you finish: “So the two things holding it up are…”
- Thank them, and tell them what you’ll do with what they’ve told you.
Writing the answers down
Take notes as you go — you will not remember it accurately an hour later. Record who you asked, when, what you asked and what they said, and mark anything you still need to confirm. Save it where the team can find it, following document control, and keep the tone and format consistent with the written style guide.
Common mistakes
- Leading the witness — you get the answer you already assumed.
- Stacking questions — three at once, and you get an answer to one.
- All closed questions — you confirm your own assumptions and learn nothing new.
- Asking only one person — one version of the story is not the story.
- Not asking at all because you don’t want to look like you don’t know. Everyone asks. See confirming what you’ve been asked to do.
Related
- Solving problems at work — the techniques to use once you have the answers.
- Communication policy — how we communicate at Nexus.
- Templates library — the question plan and problem-solving record.