Kristin LamendolaVervago

Effective Business Communication with

Society of Women EngineersWE12

November 10, 2011

Today’s Learning Objectives

① Use Precision Questioning and Precision Answering to make discussion more efficient

② Use the Precision Questioning Toolkit to analyze problems from different angles

③ Use Precision Answering to preserve credibility in interactions with executives, senior management and stakeholders.

Background for this work

Fifteen years of development at Stanford University

Observations or interviews with 225 executives

25 longitudinal studies of executives

In 2007, 55 formal interviews in 9 industries

In-depth study of PQ+A in two global companies• Cypress Semiconductor• Microsoft

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Four deep trends

Information overload

Higher levels of complexity

Complexity is dynamic

Increased time crunch

Time

The pressure toimprove discussion

The efficiency of typicalbusiness meetings

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Two factors make it difficult to manage complexity and overload in meetings

Questions that lack focus

Answers that destroy focus

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When answers lack focus

Not clear

Not crisp

Not concise

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What’s going wrong?

She asks a precise question• “What are the unit sales for the urban and suburban

segments?”

He hears a generic question• “Give me an update.”

He believes he’s helping the discussion by providing “valuable context”

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Precision Answering solves the problem

The basics of PA• Answer the question that was asked• Start with the core• Keep it short

The benefits of PA• Better focus• Greater efficiency

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When questions lack focus

Low efficiency

No depth

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What’s going wrong?

We shouldn’t be asking this:• What do the lines show us?

If the question in our mind is this:• At the end of the quarter, what was the rate at which

sales were decreasing?• Is the rate of decrease slowing down or speeding up?

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Precision Questioning solves the problem

The basics of PQ• Be precise• Get to the heart of the matter

The benefits of PQ• Greater efficiency• Better analysis

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Precision Questioning

Drill-down questions fall into seven categories

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The seven categories

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Solid-state device performance

requirements are becoming more

complex.

Write down an issue using one of these formats

Use a real issue fromyour work

Write legibly

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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We are now going to the PQ Gym

We will use your issue to practice thecategories one at a time

Like practicing grounders, pop ups,line drives, bunts

Real PQ ismore fluid than this

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Instructions for two-minute drills

Pair up with a partner

Decide roles• One person presents issue & answers questions• Other person asks questions

Don’t change roles until instructed to

These are practice drills for the questioner; this will not be a fluid discussion• Answers should be short, honest, and realistic

Please wait to begin

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Establish the big picture

Presenter starts• Show them the written statement• Give an overview of your issue (about 30 seconds)

Then questioner goes• Ask questions that help you understand the big picture

(about 60 seconds)• Big picture questions are mostly clarifications

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Go/NoGo questions guide energy and focus

Setting up a good meeting• Who should participate?• Goal?• How much time?• Who should tee up the issue?

Shaping the direction once the meeting begins• Are we focused on the right thing?• Are we asking the right questions?• Should we take this off-line?

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Examples of Go/NoGo questions

OK• Who should attend?

Better• Who knows more about this, Ellen or Bill?

OK• What would be the goal of the meeting?

Better• Is a half-hour enough time to both review the data and

figure out the underlying causes of the problem?

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Practice Go/NoGo questions

Ask questions thatwould help them set upa real meeting to discuss this issue

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Clarification questions sharpen the meaning

By “clarification” we mean clarification of the meaning of words and sentences

Three main types of clarification• Clarifying slippery words• Asking graph questions• Asking pivot table questions

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Clarification of slippery words

A “slippery” word means one thing to one person

and something different to another person

OK• What do you mean

by “complex”?

Better• Complex in what ways?• Do you mean complex with respect to number of parts?• Complex with respect to number of dependencies?

Solid-state device performance requirements

are becoming more complex.

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Practice clarifying slippery words

Clarify words that mightmean something different to the presenterthan to you.

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Clarification through graph questions

“Draw the graph” with questions• When did the complexity start to increase?• How far have you fallen behind the original projections?• Are you losing ground or gaining ground?

Solid-state device performance requirements

are becoming more complex.

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Clarification through pivot table questions

Pivot table questioning• Picture the parts• Question the parts

Examples• Show it to me by ___ (gender, age, location).• Where has morale been the most difficult to improve?• Where has morale been easiest to improve?

Improving morale is turning out to be more

difficult than weexpected.

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Practice graph and pivot table clarification

Graph questions

Pivot table questions

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Assumption questions go deep

An assumption is something that must be true in order for the statement to be true

The difficulty: assumptions are in what’s not said

Useful tip: phrase your questions this way• Are we assuming…?• Are we assuming…?

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Common categories of assumptions

“I’m looking for the solution to the problem of…”

Existence• Are we assuming a problem exists?

Uniqueness• Are we assuming there’s only one problem?

Measurement• Are we assuming we can measure improvement?

Value• Are we assuming it’s bad?

Time, Constancy• Are we assuming the problem isn’t changing over time?

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Practice assumption questions

Are we assuming...?

Are we assuming...?

Are we assuming...?

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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BCQs ask for evidence

Two main types of BCQs• Questions about the validity of the data• Questions about the credibility of the sources of

information

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BCQ: questions about the validity of data

Not• How do you know that’s true?

OK• What’s the data say?

Better• How complete is the data?• How accurate is the data? • Is the sample representative of the population?• Is the sample large enough?

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Practice data questions

Ask questions about the validity of their data

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Establish the big picture

New presenter• Show your written statement as you give an overview

(about 30 seconds)

New questioner• Ask questions that help you understand the big picture

(about 60 seconds)• Big picture questions are mostly clarifications

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BCQ: questions about the credibility of sources of information

OK• Where did you hear this?

Better• Did you hear it from somebody who was on the project

at the beginning?• Do you have 100% confidence in what they are telling

you?• Should you check with other people who were on the

project at the beginning?

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Practice source questions

Ask questions about the credibility of theirsources of information

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Questions about causes help us control

You may have heard about the “five why’s”• Why did it happen? What caused that? What caused

that? What caused that? What caused that?

Here are five precise why’s• What triggered this (an event)?• Is there a root cause (a condition of vulnerability)?• What is the mechanism (how does it work)?• What are the drivers (pushes)?• What are the inhibitors (pulls)?

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Cause questions

OK• Why were our initial expectations so unrealistic?

Better• Was the root cause the fact that this was a different

type of problem than we have seen in the past?

OK• Why is it becoming more complex?

Better• What are the main drivers of complexity?

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Practice cause questions

Root cause? Trigger? Drivers? Inhibitors? Mechanism?

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Questions about effects help us predict

When thinking about the future, we tend to oversimplify

This 3x3 matrix helps us be more precise

Best case Worst case Most likely

Short term

Medium term

Long term

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Effects questions

OK• How long will it take?

Better• Worst case, how long will it take?

OK• What will be the result?

Better• What will the long-term consequences be?

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Practice effect questions

Ask questions like this:• Suppose you don’t

change anything.In the ___ term, what’s the ___ case for ___?

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Questions about action

Many more options than “what should we do about it?”

• What is our strategy? • What tactics will we use to enact our strategy?• What is our plan for the coming week?• Is our goal a root cause fix? Or is it just containment?

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Practice action questions

Ask questions like these:• Can you do a root-cause

fix on this?• Should you just try to

contain it?

___ is more complexthan expected.

___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]

than expected.

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Benefit of PQ

What is the benefit of making our questions more precise?• It helps us analyze our work in new ways• Our meetings become more efficient• The level of critical thinking goes up

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Tools, not rules

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Precision Answering

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PQ can’t get very far without PA

The basics of Precision Answering• Answer the question that was asked• Start with the core• Keep it short

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The heart of Precision Answering: bullet points

Listen carefully to the entire question• Don’t start forming your answer too soon

Pause to form your answer• Decide on the key points

Start your answers with a number• Two reasons: 1) ___ 2) ___. • Three risks: 1) ___ 2) ___ and 3) ___.

A good rule of thumb: list three bullet points• That is what our working memories can hold

Experiments to try at the conference

Start with writing• Emails are an ideal training ground

Will you be calling a customer, a colleague, or your admin?• Try to ask one precise question and see if you get the

information you need more quickly

Will you be sitting with friends at dinner?• Ask a precise question and notice how it feels

Applying PQ+A on the job

What are some specific places where you think you can use PQ or PA?• Meetings, processes, or other situations• Discuss at your table• As a group, select the five where the improvement in

the work would be greatest• Assign a spokesperson to share your favorite

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Today’s Learning Objectives

① Use Precision Questioning and Precision Answering to make discussion more efficient

② Use the Precision Questioning Toolkit to analyze problems from different angles

③ Use Precision Answering to preserve credibility in interactions with executives, senior management and stakeholders

The PQ+A Workshop

Day-long / highly interactive Teaches four things: PQ, PA, and two techniques

for critical thinking and preparation for meetings Creates high impact three ways

• Pre-work focuses on real issues and is used in all key exercises

• Application worksheet used throughout the day• Post-workshop emails deepen the learning

Can chose to continue the relationship• Opt to receive Skills Sharpeners• Skill Sharpeners Archives• LinkedIn Group for Alumni

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Additional PQ+A Opportunities

Enroll in full day workshop• Vervago.com/events

Sign up to receive Skill Sharpeners• Vervago.com

Download past Skill Sharpeners• Vervago.com/Sharpeners

Bring the Workshop to your organization• kristin@vervago.com• 303.619.8707

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