Interrogative techniques

Powerful questions

Interrogative techniques are the main tool with which the coach works, helping to classify objectives and optimize personal capabilities, facilitating learning and growth in the degree of commitment of the client.

They are characterized by:

• They are not intended to elicit more information, but to make the client think, feel or react differently about a specific issue.

• It refers to the words and the tone in which we use them. Many of the communication problems start not only from the words, but also from the way they are expressed (volume, speed, manner), in the "how they are said". In coaching processes, it is important to understand "what is being said" while at the same time correctly reading what is being transmitted indirectly, feelings and ways of thinking, in order to increase the effectiveness of the coaching process.

These considerations are based on the principle that an issue defined in a limiting or restrictive way makes solutions more difficult, and vice versa, favors them.

It does not make sense, in the coaching process, to approach the issue always in the same way or from the client's approach. Starting from the assumption that a client asks for coaching help when he/she has already personally explored his/her goals and ambitions. It is then sometimes necessary to "reconfigure" their way of perceiving the situation.

Even knowing what the healthy habits are, few people adhere to them, not because of information problems, but because of strongly rooted habits and mental patterns that need to be transformed.

The questions that transform the reference structures are the ones that allow us to act differently and are the essential and characteristic technique of the coaching process.

There are several aspects to consider:

• Do not ask questions that cannot be justified. One must be able to answer at the time, why this information has been requested.

• When asking questions, calling the client by name, or using the words tú, usted, usted, will give us more reliable answers than if they are approached in an abstract way. Likewise, when we use affirmative statements, the answers are more reliable than if we use negative statements.

• When asking a question, the answer should not be suggested, it should not contain closed alternatives (or...or...), nor categories that carry an implication.

• The question should not be asked in such a way that the answer must be obligatorily detailed, if necessary, then several questions should be formulated in stages. Short questions, only one idea at a time. A long question may not fulfill its purpose because it may be partly forgotten.

• Questions should be formulated for simplicity and clarity, choosing active rather than passive tenses and formulated in the language of the interlocutor.

In coaching processes, powerful questions allow to obtain new information and generate new ideas, so it is necessary to formulate them in a way that does not show the intention of influencing the answer. These questions are known as neutral questions and allow for an open response from the client. For example, a direct question such as "are you disappointed?", proposes a specific emotion to the client, focusing attention on that feeling, to the detriment of other emotions and sometimes exaggerating it. On the other hand, a neutral and open question, such as "how do you feel?", the interlocutor defines his or her feelings without limitations or previous interferences.

Denial questions should also be avoided, for example "what is preventing you....?", this causes the client to focus on blockages and difficulties. Instead, positively phrased questions can help in the design of solutions.

Asking closed questions frees people to think, while open-ended questions force them to think for themselves. Although open-ended questions are more effective, in coaching processes it is necessary to intersperse them with closed questions.

Open questions: They are more effective in generating responsibility and awareness in the coaching process, they allow ideas to materialize. They begin with adverbs or interrogative pronouns such as: "who, what, where, when, which, what for". They avoid "Yes, No, Maybe" answers, making the interlocutor actively intervene. They increase the breadth of the discourse.

Closed questions: They are useful to verify the information, to check that it has been understood. They usually begin with a verb, promote brief answers and do not encourage dialogue. At the end of the sessions they can be useful as they allow to focus conclusions.

Careful choice of words to use

Questions should be brief and concise, allowing the maximum possible time of the sessions to be occupied by the clients. Long questions, consciously or unconsciously, respond to the desire to propose solutions, accelerate the coaching process, obtain recognition, in short, interfere with the coachee's autonomy.

The "why" question is the least useful in the process as it only focuses on the referential structure of the client, grouping the possible answers into two categories: the sequence of events that led to the action, or the motives. In both cases, they provide a justification based on the client's experience or limit creativity in the emotional transformation process.

In addition, they consciously or unconsciously imply a criticism of the coachee, adopting a defensive attitude that can block the dialogue. It is advisable to replace the "why" questions with questions that focus on action.

Example: how could you...? how will you...? how can you...? These are considered to be the best questions to ask in the coaching process.

The questions must be prepared in such a way that their linguistic content reflects the coach's intention, for which a correct choice of words is essential.

There are questions that, although they may seem routine, imply a different communicative intention, subtly suggesting the structure of reference for the practice, such as: "What subject do you want to deal with today? What do you want to achieve with this session? How are your affairs going now?" Thus, while one encourages the client to play an active role as it is an open subject, the others suggest an evaluation of the situation or focus directly on the definition of objectives.

Formal questions

Formal questions are asked with the intention of showing respect and controlling the situation itself. They delimit the formal scope of the process.

They show respect and formality and are a subtle way of getting the client's attention (when someone asks for permission to intervene, it usually leads to better listening). For example, "May I interrupt you, do you mind if I try to rephrase what I think I understood?"

Strategic questions

They do not respond to a methodology or procedure as they arise from the coaching process itself. When a solid relationship has not been created, they can provoke defensive reactions, which is why they may be appropriate in some processes and not in others.

Some types of strategic questions:

• Magic questions: they allow you to focus your thinking and channel your objectives away from the initial reference. Examples: "If the solution were perfect, what would it be?" or "What would you do with a magic wand?"