Skill Sharpener Library

The Clear and Concise Habit

CATEGORIES | Email, Groups and Teams, Meetings, Precision Answering, Skill Sharpener, Social Intelligence

The end of a Discover Your Best Thinking with Precision Q+A workshop can feel like New Year’s Eve. It is an opportunity to think and communicate differently, and to use our new Q+A skills to think and collaborate deeper. But like many New Year's resolutions, the changes we swore we were going to make can soon be forgotten if we don’t establish a routine. Why It’s So Hard to Change Our workplace conversations differ dramatically from social conversations, where questions are often … [Read more...]

Beyond the 5 Whys

CATEGORIES | Critical Thinking, Precision Questioning, Skill Sharpener

As a guide to explaining the causes of problems at work, we are sometimes given this advice: ask the question “Why?” five times. But “Why?” is a vague question and might not always deepen our thinking. It is akin to advising a confused student to ask “Huh?” or “What do you mean?” five times in order to clarify the meaning of a new concept. It is imprecise and inefficient. Here are five ways of articulating more precise questions to understand what caused something to happen. Sequence of … [Read more...]

Ensuring Questions are Clear & Positively Received Over Email

CATEGORIES | Critical Thinking, Email, Precision Questioning, Skill Sharpener

While the number of communication tools available to us continues to expand, email remains a primary form of interaction. Every day we write dozens of messages, and receive even more, generating so much information churn that we can overwhelm our ability to focus on our most important work. Precision Q+A helps us write email that is clear and to the point, easing our collaborations over email. To create clarity and conciseness in email, follow these three steps: Write an opening … [Read more...]

The First Step for Mindful Communication

CATEGORIES | Credibility, Email, Meetings, Precision Answering, Skill Sharpener

We live in an age of ever-increasing chatter. The never-ending stream of messages, alerts, reminders, and emails means our minds rarely settle during the workday. In this context, it’s easy to rush as we ask questions and deliver answers in our meetings. We think we can’t pause for a second or two, because if we do: Someone might hijack the thread of our discussion, leaving issues unaddressed. We’ll be viewed as less credible or knowledgeable. We’ll lose out on the opportunity to add … [Read more...]

Answering Anxiety

CATEGORIES | Building Confidence, Credibility, Meetings, Precision Answering, Skill Sharpener

At the beginning of every workshop we teach, we ask participants to briefly self-assess their thinking and communication skills. Not surprisingly, more than 60% cite the following as their personal Achilles heel: “communicating clearly and concisely at the speed of conversation.” Answering questions that others ask us during meetings isn’t always easy. Anxiety can surface: We may worry that our comments could hurt a colleague’s feelings or be perceived as insensitive. We may worry that … [Read more...]