Steal these 14 tips and start asking better questions in cross-cultural workplaces. Read the full post with additional examples here: https://blog.talaera.com/asking-better-questions
Check out our free communication resources: www.talaera.com/free-resources
Business English training for career success.
.📩 hello@talaera.com
Steal these 14 tips and start asking better questions in cross-cultural workplaces. Read the full post with additional examples here: https://blog.talaera.com/asking-better-questions
Check out our free communication resources: www.talaera.com/free-resources
Business English training for career success.
.📩 hello@talaera.com
Paola Pascual 0:03
Welcome to Talaera Talks, the business English communication podcast for non-native professionals. My name is Paola and I am co-hosting the show with Simon.
Simon Kennell 0:13
In this podcast, we're going to be covering communication advice and tips to help express yourself with confidence in English in professional settings. So we hope you enjoy the show.
Paola Pascual 0:24
Hi, my name is Paola and I'm back with a new Talaera Bit. If you ask any of my friends, what phrase defines me best? That is, I've got a question. I love asking lots of questions as much as listening to what others ask. But I tell you, if you pay close attention, you will soon realize that asking good questions is a skill not everybody has mastered.
Paola Pascual 0:51
We spend most of our time at work, asking and answering questions, requesting status updates from a colleague, questioning a client in negotiation, requesting a report, or finding out what a prospective client needs. But spending most of our day asking others for information doesn't mean we're good at it. Asking good questions, takes time and practice. And if you communicate with people from different cultures, it gets even harder. How do you ask for questions in a way that is culturally appropriate? Like how do you know and that's okay, so in today's Talaera Bit, I'll share 14 tips that you can steal, to ask better questions, in general, but in particular, across cultures. Ready? Here we go.
Paola Pascual 1:39
The first step is to find a cultural go-to person that can help you ask the right questions to your international peers. This person should be someone that knows the other culture well, and can teach you how to ask questions that are culturally appropriate.
Paola Pascual 1:57
Tip number two, create the right mindset. Be as open, sincere, and genuinely interested in what the other person is saying. So instead of coming or asking the question, with, you know, with assumptions, try to just be open to whatever they have to say.
Paola Pascual 2:17
Tip number three, include words such as normally typically, and usually, when asking people about other cultures are about tricky questions. This takes some pressure off and makes it easier for the other person to reply. For example, what's your general approach to handling conflict? Or how do you usually like to collaborate?
Paola Pascual 2:42
Tip number four, ask more questions. A good rule of thumb is to ask five questions before you add your story to the mix. Do you know what are the most common complaints people make after having a conversation like an interview, a work meeting or a first date? They are I wish they had asked me more questions. And I can't believe they didn't ask me any questions. So just make sure that you you ask a lot of questions to the other person, something we tend to like because it shows that you're interested. Right. So yeah, remember Tip number four, ask more questions.
Paola Pascual 3:24
But ask one question at a time. That way you make sure that although you get all the information that you need it. So instead of asking, how do you usually handle this type of projects? And when would you like to start, split that up and say, first, how do you usually handle this type of projects? Then you wait for the answer. And then you can ask, when would you like to start?
Paola Pascual 3:48
Tip number six, listen actively. We always say that to be a good communicator, you have to listen, and listen being present. So here when you're asking questions, restate or summarize, or the other person said, and then bake some of their words into your questions, right. So for example, oh, you just mentioned you want to start a new business. When do you plan to launch it? Perfect. Number seven.
Paola Pascual 4:19
Tip number seven. Ask questions in a casual way. Asking questions in an informal tone. And in a low risk context where you focus on the relationship will help you get more honest answers. So don't sound buttoned up into official and instead tried to be a little bit more casual and informal.
Paola Pascual 4:41
Tip number eight, ask difficult questions in third person. So if you want to ask what do you think of the new policy, perhaps it's a little controversial. Try this instead. How do you think the employees will react to the new policy? Now, there's nothing wrong with asking questions directly using you. But you can mix it up with these third question approach to get some honest answers.
Paola Pascual 5:12
Number nine, ask open questions and be explicit in your wording. This is a very, very big one, open ended questions are great. They are the ones that start with why how, what, when, where, who? And they they open up a new world of possibilities, and you're not just been pointing them to a yes, no question. So instead of Do you think you will finish the project tomorrow? Try? When do you think you will finish the project? Or instead of? Did you and Alex argue, try? What happens between you and Alex? Instead of Do you like to work with a small team? Try? What is it like to work with this small team? See the difference in their awesome.
Paola Pascual 6:05
Tip number 10. Avoid yes/no questions in multicultural workplaces. For two reasons. For tip number 10. The reason is because some cultures just don't feel comfortable saying no. So you may not get a true answer by asking this type of question. And also remember that even Yes, can have different meanings based on who you're talking to. Like in Western cultures, such as France, Germany, the United States, yes, typically indicates agreement, commitment or understanding. Yes, I agree. Yes, I understand. Yes, I will do that. But in some Eastern cultures, yes. may just mean, I heard you. This happened to me when I lived in Vietnam that I would ask, do you understand? And they would say yes. And that doesn't mean Yes, I understand. It means okay. I acknowledge that I heard something, or will the project be finished tomorrow? And I heard Yes. And it didn't mean yes, it will be done tomorrow. It meant Yes, I hear you. So just avoid frustrations by asking open ended questions.
Paola Pascual 7:16
Now, tip number 11 is how to avoid being manipulative and leading. And that is, again, by avoiding yes/no questions, and just try to rephrase them as open ended. So if you ask something like, do you think it's a good idea to call Ryan? That can be leading, but you can try this instead, Who should we call? Or how could Ryan help? If you want to ask about that specific person.
Paola Pascual 7:47
Tip number 12. Also about yes/no questions, but this time, I'm telling you do it. In what situations? Well, if you want to avoid evasive answers, like for example, in a tense negotiation? A Yes, no question is a good idea.
Paola Pascual 8:04
Number 13. One of my favorite tips is to dig deeper with follow up questions. Now we're adding blog article to the comments. So check it out. But with you know, with lots of examples and lots of tips, but here are three ways, three great ways to ask effective follow up questions. The first one is ask your original question, again, with a slight variation. And you can use this when, for example, part of your answer was in a part of your question wasn't answered. So you want to ask it again. Now, the important part is that you actually rephrase it, you ask it with different questions, otherwise, it can sound a little bit aggressive or confrontational. And here's an example. You know, for example, you want to ask, what communication skills would you like to work on? Let's say you're putting together your l&d Next l&d program. And again, you ask, what communication skills would you like to work on? If you didn't get the answer you were expecting? Or if you didn't get an answer, you can later phrase it as, what are your main struggles? In terms of communication skills? Same kind of information, different words.
Paola Pascual 9:26
The second way of asking great follow up questions is by linking their answers, so tie responses to something they said earlier in the conversation, and this tells the other person that you're truly listening. Now, if you use this technique, remember that you're not trying to interrogate or, you know, avoid accusations like Oh, but didn't you say or, but that's not what you said earlier, right? That's not your goal. Your goal is to synthesize to combine ideas And the third way to ask grateful out questions is by asking the question, why? Out of all the open ended questions, those that start with WHY have the strongest power. You know, they help you dig deeper, they help you learn more about a topic, they give you clarity, they help you understand someone's request and clear up misunderstandings. And it also helps you understand their emotions. And again, we said, words or questions that start with the word, why have the strongest power? You can ask why in different ways. Like, I'd like to understand something better. Can you please explain what led to this decision? Or would you be able to tell me the reasoning behind it? Or what's your hope? That's when you think why did you do that? Or why do you want to do that? We can ask, what is your hope? Or what would you like to see happen? Or instead of saying, Why did you say that which is great, you can also say, What makes you say that. And this is something that Toyota believes in, they use the Yodas, five why's and I don't know if you've heard it. But the goal of this method is to get to the, to the nature of the problem by asking why five times, and that way, the whole solution becomes much more clear.
Paola Pascual 11:30
And the very last step, we're very, very last one, number 14 is to embrace the silence, giving other person time to think you know, and craft their answers. We feel that often we feel that we need to fill every every gap, every hole every silence, but you will notice that many people are willing to share more information if you wait for it. So it's okay that if you ask a question, give them time to answer, listen to it, give them a little bit more time. And now the goal is not to make the conversation awkward, but to actually give people enough time to think about that what they want to say.
Paola Pascual 12:11
So this is all I have for you today. I hope you can steal some of these steps. I hope you learned something new. And again, check out the blog article that will go with this episode because there's so much content in there that you you know, you can get and a lot of examples that you can apply. Again, I hope you enjoyed it. And as always, keep learning.
Paola Pascual 12:37
And that's all we have for you today. We hope you enjoyed it. And remember to subscribe to Talaera talks will be back soon with more
Simon Kennell 12:45
and visit our website at talaera.com for more valuable content on business English. You can also request a free consultation on the best ways for you and your team to improve your communication skills. So have a great day and keep learning!