Using Inquiry Based Discussion (IBD) to Create Better Business Relationships and Outcomes
Throughout your career, have you ever felt talked-at by a superior at work? How about if you’ve been the one doing the talking-at to one of your reports who stares back with a blank or sullen expression? Being told what to do is not our favorite thing. Sometimes it is necessary in the workplace to give instruction, but when it comes to the development of your workforce, hurling feedback during a performance review or even during a quick chat is not an effective way to create lasting behavior change or performance improvement.
Using Inquiry Based Discussion to guide employees to discover their unique path to a higher level is the most effective way. IBD creates a level playing field for manager and team member to explore possibilities, identify shortcomings, and chart a solution in a productive and supportive way. The purpose of an IBD is not to identify who is right or wrong, it is to find what is true.
There are three parts to conducting a successful IBD:
A set of mutually agreed upon shared agreements about best practices and behavior
Prompt questions related to the situation at hand
Tools for planning next steps
Let’s examine each of these and explain its importance for a successful IBD.
Shared agreements are fundamental to IBD because they form the basis for what points of inquiry can be addressed during the coaching session. With companies, shared agreements that we help every organization outline are their guiding principles. Guiding principles define how people in the organization get things done. Everybody in the organization has these printed out in their workspace because this set of agreements describe the optimal state of the business and the people in it, and regularly being exposed to this information keeps this agreement top of mind. If one of the guiding principles is attention to detail, every employee must agree that attention to detail is a best practice of the organization and work to embody this principle in what they do. Mutual agreements in the form of guiding principles are both guidelines and standards for work in the organization.
The second part of a successful IBD is prompt questions related to the point of inquiry that will be focused on. Our favorite question that applies in every situation is, “What is this a case of?”. When a coach/manager asks this question, it sends the person being coached into discovery mode. Their creative thinking is activated and they begin to look for answers. This is where the guiding principles serve as a guide - if coach and employee are investigating a small problem that was overlooked on a recent project, a possible answer to “What is this a case of?” Could be, this is related to attention to detail. If the individual receiving coaching is not arriving at a conclusion easily, awareness raising questions can be used. An awareness raising question may be “what does it usually look like when…?” Or “What evidence do we have of…?”. Asking an awareness-raising question that is general helps identify areas for further inquiry. Once an answer appears, a refining question can help to achieve further specificity and clarity towards the subject at hand. A refining question might be, “What is the greater significance of this project to the company, our customers, and the world, and how can we communicate that to our team?”, or “if we don’t know the answer to this, who can we reach out to that might?”. A refining question brings the discussion towards action items and next steps.
As the successful IBD concludes, participants record the key parts of the conversation in their ongoing log, and put together a plan between now and the next IBD session. A successful plan incorporates the product of the conversation, any insights, ideas, tools, or notes, as well as specifically worded action steps. Action steps should be clear, and serve as a guide for what will be measured going forward. Good measurement is key to successfully implementing changes and making consistent progress. Measurements should be relevant to the subject at hand, and are always being evaluated to see if something is being missed or is no longer helpful. The successful IBD plan also includes any unanswered questions, things to be mindful of, and things to emphasize.
Inquiry Based Discussion helps teams arrive at decisions that are best informed by critical thinking, pursuit of the truth, and alignment with the team’s values. It leverages the team’s shared agreements of what excellence looks like, and helps accurately diagnose any inconsistencies that arise. Because IBD takes place in a supportive way, employees are inclined to open up and to participate - changes that occur are their ideas and inherently have their buy-in. Through IBD, meaningful behavior change is not only possible - it becomes enjoyable for everyone involved, leading to happier, more effective teams, better relationships, stronger culture, and more exceptional results for customers.