The Art of Asking Good Questions

Article written by: Jenny Clarke și Dr. Sabine Dembkowski and published in the International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching, Vol. IV Issue 2, September 2006. Translated by: Dr. Petra Müller-Demary

The Art of Asking Good Questions includes a whole spectrum within coaching conversations, ranging from telling, advising, and offering suggestions to the art of asking effective questions. Asking questions is one of the core skills of coaching. This applies to every type of coaching, whether executive coaching, life coaching, or strategic coaching.

Questioning is a process: each question is built in some way on the previous answer, demonstrating attentive listening and a good sense of where attention needs to be directed. Asking questions is therefore an essential part of every coach’s toolkit.

Because questioning is crucial to the impact and results we achieve as coaches, this article explores the art of asking questions. To continue improving our coaching practice, it is important to pause and consider:

What do we pay attention to when the client is speaking?

How do we ask questions?

How can we create greater impact through the questions we ask?

What effect do different questioning styles have on clients?

In this article, we will compare questions asked from a problem-focused perspective with questions asked from a solution-focused perspective. We will also introduce readers to the Solution Focus approach and share our understanding of how it can help coaches, regardless of the type of coaching they practise, develop their coaching skills and create greater impact for their clients.

Different Types of Coaching Questions

In a coaching context, questions take many different forms. Some are asked simply to understand the client’s situation from their perspective and to gather information, for example: “How long have you worked there?” or “How many people report directly to you?”

Some questions are leading or are disguised forms of advice, for example: “Do you think the marketing department has a role here?” or “Have you considered doing X?” Others are exploratory, asked in search of a theory or hypothesis, for example: “Mmm… is your manager an introvert?” or “It sounds as though she might be a terrorist.”

Some questions are asked to explore patterns and relationships further, for example: “How is it that John is stressed about the project deadline?” Other questions are more strategic in nature and are intended to open up new options for the client, for example: “What happens when you speak directly to a member of the leadership team?” Others invite reflection on current behaviour and its impact on those around them: “How do you think Jane felt when you challenged her in the meeting?” or “What response did you receive when you stood up and left the room?” These strategic questions tend to be challenging, and coaches are encouraged to use them sparingly.

The types of questions most often recommended as best practice in coaching are those that increase awareness. We can choose how we help our clients become more aware. Do we shine our metaphorical torch on what is going wrong and on the deficiencies and barriers standing in the way of progress? Or do we focus on what would be helpful for the client and on the strengths and resources that can support them in moving in their chosen direction?

When analysing transcripts of coaching sessions, speaking with colleagues, and listening carefully during group supervision, it appeared that current questioning practice tended to focus on the first of these options. Attention is drawn towards what is hindering or preventing progress, whether this involves the client’s beliefs, attitudes, or skills. The underlying idea is that, by directing the client’s attention towards their behaviour and its impact on others, they will become more aware of the role they play in the problematic situation and will therefore be willing to do something about it.

In The Principles of Psychology, William James, often regarded as the father of modern psychology, wrote: “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”

The Solution Focus approach favours setting aside information about what makes things so difficult and instead shining a light on what makes them easier: the strengths and resources that help the client achieve what they want.

Solution Focus Method

The Solution Focus approach has its roots in the therapeutic field. It has since been applied in a wide range of other contexts, including education, social welfare, prisons and probation services, and, more recently, organisations. Solution Focus is part of a broader development that includes strengths-based positive psychology, positive deviance, and Appreciative Inquiry—all part of a new wave of change methodologies seeking more direct routes to progress.

We are usually taught to view a present problem situation along a straight line connecting the origins of the problem with the present and an unwanted future. We call this the problem axis. The theory is that the problem has complex roots in the past and that, if things continue unchecked, it will lead to disastrous consequences in the future. A great deal of time and intellectual energy is devoted both to analysing the problem and to imagining how terrible the future might become. Diagnosing the problem and investigating its causes are seen as essential parts of addressing it.

People who use the Solution Focus approach in their work operate along a different axis: the solution axis. They are interested in what the client wants, rather than what they do not want, and in what is already happening that is moving them in the desired direction. They use their analytical skills to explore a preferred future, sometimes called the Perfect Future, to gather and examine examples of that future already happening, and to direct attention towards the abilities and resources needed to achieve it.

Increasing Awareness Through Solution Focus

CSolution Focus coaches shine their metaphorical torches on:

• What the client truly wants
• The resources available to the client

To illuminate these areas, the coach asks for concrete descriptions of the Perfect Future, explores signs that are already visible, and invites the client to describe them in detail. We ask questions that presuppose competence and resources.

What the client truly wants

Coaches who work with the Solution Focus approach invite their clients to imagine themselves far ahead, in the ideal world they can envision—a future in which the problem they are facing has disappeared, as if by magic. They ask them to describe this ideal world in detail. “What would be the first thing you noticed that showed you a transformation had taken place?”

They ask for clear, concrete signs rather than hidden processes such as motivation or feelings. The coach then invites detailed descriptions from different perspectives, for example: “What would your manager, colleague, or client notice?”

The Resources Available to the Client

Once a full description of the Perfect Future has been developed, attention turns towards examples and patterns showing that this future is already happening, even if only to a very small extent. As a coach, you might use scaling questions: “On a scale from 0 to 10, where 10 represents the Perfect Future you have just described and 0 means that nothing at all is happening, where would you say you are now?”

Almost everyone gives an answer somewhere between 0 and 10. Whatever the answer, it contains two important pieces of information: that something is already happening and moving the client in the desired direction, and that there is still some distance to travel. The coach listens very carefully to what the client says, using the metaphorical torch to identify abilities, resources, coping mechanisms, and strategies that support progress. The questions asked presuppose competence, as described below, and each question builds on the client’s previous response.

Affirmation is one of the key tools in the Solution Focus approach and is used frequently. It is always specific and directed towards the abilities and resources that have been identified: “I am very impressed by the way you planned this project.” “You were able to recognise the opportunity and make use of it.” “I admire the way you motivated your colleagues while doing this.”

We have noticed that when people feel stuck in a difficult situation, it is often because they feel overwhelmed by how much needs to be done. For this reason, Solution Focus practitioners encourage clients to take small steps, perhaps even as experiments, that move them one point or a fraction of a point further up the scale and help things begin to shift.

“What could you do or say in tomorrow’s meeting that would take you one step closer to having the ideal relationship with John? How would your colleagues know that the situation was improving?”

Questions That Presuppose Competence and Resources

Let us examine a question that is typical of the Solution Focus approach – one that might be asked at the beginning of a coaching engagement:

“Of all the things you are currently doing in meetings, which would you say you are most pleased with?”

“Of all the things” acknowledges the complexity of the client’s activities in these meetings and the fact that many things are happening at the same time. “Most” implies that there are several aspects the client is pleased with. Notice how different the question feels without the word “most”. “Pleased with” is not the same as “best”; it carries a lighter tone.

As an opening question, this type of wording serves several purposes:

• It offers a gentle way to begin the conversation; conversations that do not start with problems help both parties relax.
• It gives the coach information about what the client enjoys most in their work.
• It tells the coach something about what motivates and energises the client.
• It provides some initial clues about the client’s abilities and resources.

Coaches who use the Solution Focus approach ask many presuppositional questions that imply competence and resources. Solution-focused questions can be contrasted with questions from the problem axis, which concentrate on difficulties and offer little hope. A few examples are provided below:

What Is Different About Solution Focus Coaching?

Coaches who use the Solution Focus approach integrate the core coaching competencies set out by organisations such as the EMCC. These include creating a strong framework for co-constructing a relationship based on respect and trust, agreeing a clear coaching contract, listening actively, and facilitating learning.

At first glance, a coach working with the Solution Focus approach may not appear very different from someone trained in another coaching model. However, we believe there is a subtle difference in the way questions are asked compared with conventional coaching practice, and that this creates a different impact for the client.

The table below summarises the most important differences:

What Does the Research Say About the Solution Focus Approach?

We are not aware of any research specifically examining outcomes in coaching that uses the Solution Focus approach, and we encourage any interested researcher or student to explore this topic.

However, there is extensive research into the application of the Solution Focus method in more traditional fields, including mental health, criminal reoffending, conscious parenting, couples therapy, and school counselling. Across these areas, clients reported improvement in 17 out of 18 studies. In 7 out of 11 comparative treatment studies, the Solution Focus approach produced better results than the other methods examined.

We believe that current coaching practice places too much emphasis on the past, on deficiencies, gaps, and obstacles. Both client and coach can become demoralised by this approach – the client may appear resistant, while the coach may feel drained by witnessing it. The Solution Focus Coaching approach sets aside the details of the problem, unless the client chooses to bring them into the conversation, and instead asks questions that build awareness of available resources and what is already working well. By integrating this approach into their practice, coaches can achieve better results with their clients and, over time, continue to strengthen their coaching practice.

About the Authors

Jenny Clarke is an independent consultant with extensive experience in the field. She is a Solution Focus facilitator and trainer, helping people who want to change either what they do or how they do it. She works with large organisations adapting to change and provides individual coaching for executives and managing directors.

Dr Sabine Dembkowski is the founder and director of The Coaching Centre in London and Cologne. Together with her associates, she provides services to executive teams, managing directors, and high-potential leaders in DAX 30, FTSE 100, and Fortune 500 organisations, as well as leading professional services firms. Before founding The Coaching Centre, she worked as a senior management consultant for A.T. Kearney and Monitor Company in London.

Further Reading

The art of asking questions lies not only in the words we choose, but also in where those questions direct the client’s attention. The following resources offer further perspectives on Solution Focus Coaching, the evidence supporting the approach, and the impact of solution-focused questions:

• Making Positive Change: A Randomised Study Comparing Solution-Focused and Problem-Focused Coaching Questions – A study by Anthony M. Grant exploring how different styles of coaching questions influence clients’ emotions, confidence, and ability to take action.
• Testing the Association Between Solution-Focused Coaching and Client-Perceived Coaching Outcomes – Research examining the relationship between Solution Focus coaching behaviours and the results experienced by clients.
• The Psychology Behind Effective Coaching – An International Coaching Federation article exploring psychological approaches used in coaching, including the Solution Focus emphasis on strengths, resources, and future goals.