Safety Leadership:
Challenges and Solutions
(ASSE Professional Development Conference
Orlando Florida
June, 2000)

Positive Questions

Terry E. McSween

The ability to ask good questions about performance appears to be an important skill for leaders wishing to monitor their employees. But we have seen leaders who ask ineffective questions in their efforts to monitor performance. Effective questions make the employee feel like the leader cares about what's happening, while ineffective questions make the employee feel interrogated or grilled. Positive questions are helpful, while ineffective questions make the listener feel defensive. Positive questions are likely to prompt openness and honesty, while ineffective questions are likely to prompt the listener to provide as little information as required.

In trying to find the difference between these two types of questions, we have noticed that managers who ask questions that start with “what” or “how” get a better response than managers that ask questions that start with “why”. We have also found this in training observers in behavioral safety. While we are very interested in having the observers identify the root causes of at-risk behaviors, asking “why” puts employees on the defensive.

In addition, second person (“you” oriented) questions are more likely to get the listener to talk about their performance. Thus a monitoring question early in the discussion for someone who is struggling with a problem might be something like, “What have you tried so far?”

Listeners also respond positively to questions that seek solutions and focus on the desired outcome or behavior. Such questions are more likely to be perceived as helpful, while questions that are focused on the problem are perceived as seeking to find fault or place blame. Positive questions often shift the focus of the discussion quickly from what has been done to the future, in terms of current plans or what needs to be done. An effective question continuing the discussion from the previous paragraph might be, “What are you planning to do next?”

In creating a natural dialogue, the exemplary leader asks questions that fit the situation. Effective questions come naturally in the context of direct observations, so leaders can easily ask effective questions that fit the situation in the context of touring work areas. Positive questions, and feedback, then flow naturally and build on one another as the conversation progresses.

Used correctly, effective questions build a better understanding for all involved. The leader gains a more accurate understanding of what the followers are accomplishing. At the same time, followers gain a better understanding of what is important to the leader. Ideally, by regularly creating this type of dialogue between leadership and employees, both gain additional insights that can contribute to continuous improvement, which is the purpose of effective leadership in the first place.

Paper presented at the American Society of Safety Engineers annual Professional Development Conference in Orlando, in June, 2000. Included in the conference Proceedings.