As a leadership coach and facilitator, the most important part of my job is to ask good questions. As a leader, that’s the most important part of your job, too.
Asking good questions is not about sending out a survey or having a prescribed set of questions you roll through during 1:1 meetings. Asking good questions is about being genuinely curious; it’s about wanting to know what makes your team tick and how you can support them to excel in their role. Asking good questions prompts people to think about things they might otherwise skip over; it encourages open conversation and honest feedback; and it gives everybody a chance to grow.
Not sure what questions you should be asking? Check out my list of 67 Questions Every Leader Needs to Ask their Team.
Goals and Aspirations
1. Which of your current personal achievements are you most proud of?
2. Which of your current professional achievements are you most proud of?
3. What’s one bucket-list item you’d like to achieve this year?
4. What’s one personal goal you are working towards currently?
5. What’s one professional goal you would like to achieve over the next 12 months?
6. Once reached, which of your goals would bring you the most satisfaction?
7. Which goals, if any, have you been stuck on for some time?
8. What are your biggest personal barriers to achieving your goals?
9. What am I (or the company) doing that hinders progress towards your goals?
10. How can I best support you towards achieving your goals?
11. One year from now, what will you be pleased that you started today?
Learning and Development
12. What has been your biggest learning over the last 12 months?
13. If you could do one thing differently from the last year, what would it be?
14. What is one thing you would like to learn over the next 12 months?
15. What is one thing you would like to get better at over the next 12 months?
16. What three conferences would you love to attend if you had the chance?
17. Who is one person you would like the opportunity to learn from, and why?
18. What is a specific skill or process you could teach a team mate this year?
19. What is a specific skill or process you could teach me this year?
20. What is one learning habit you could practice over the next 12 months?
21. What is one thing I can do to support you with your learning goals?
Role Satisfaction
22. What do you enjoy most about your role?
23. What about your role are you most grateful for?
24. What would you like to do more of if you had the chance?
25. Is there anything you’re not responsible for, that you would like an opportunity to step into?
26. What do you enjoy least about your role?
27. What do you find most frustrating about your role or current job description?
28. If you could change one thing about your job description, what would it be?
29. How much of your time is spent doing work you love vs. work you tolerate?
30. If you could write your job description from scratch, what would it look like?
31. How closely does your current role match your dream job description?
32. What needs to change for you to be more satisfied in your role?
Recognition and Appreciation
33. What was the most memorable thank-you you have ever received?
34. When have you felt most appreciated in this workplace?
35. Who makes you feel most valued and appreciated, and how?
36. What kind of recognition do you appreciate the most?
37. How do you like to celebrate success?
38. What is one thing I could do to make you feel more appreciated at work?
39. What do you do to make your team-mates feel appreciated at work?
40. What is one practice we could start that would raise the feeling of value and appreciation across the whole team?
Workplace Culture
41. What is your favourite thing about working here?
42. What is one of our workplace practices that you are grateful for?
43. What makes our workplace unique?
44. Which one of our workplace values do you resonate with most closely, and why?
45. Which one of our workplace values do you struggle to embrace at times?
46. What is your least favourite thing about working here?
47. If you could change one thing about ‘the way we do things around here’, what would it be?
48. If you could re-establish the culture of this place, what would you want it to look like?
49. What is one thing I could do to improve workplace culture?
50. What is one thing you could do to improve workplace culture?
51. What is one piece of advice you would give someone looking to work here?
Vision and Innovation
52. What could we, as a company, do differently to better achieve our vision?
53. If you were me, what would you do differently to help move the company forward?
54. What one big idea could change the way our company works?
55. In what areas do you think the company has most room for improvement?
56. What opportunities do you see for the company in the next 12-24 months?
57. What threats do you see on the horizon for the company?
58. What is one thing the company needs to start doing?
59. What is one thing the company needs to stop doing?
60. What have you noticed about our sector/industry over the last 12 months?
61. Where do you think our sector is heading in the next 12-24 months?
Leadership Evaluation
62. What do I need to do better as a leader?
63. What is one thing you have often wanted to ask me?
64. What is one thing you have wanted to tell me, but have been too scared to raise?
65. If you were me, what is one thing you would do differently?
66. What is one thing you want me to keep doing as a leader?
67. How can I better serve you and the rest of our team?
What questions would you add to the list?