Useful questioning: probing questions

Pocket Guide to Probing Questions

The distinction between clarifying questions and probing questions is very difficult for most people working with protocols. So is the distinction between probing questions and recommendations for action.  The basic distinctions are:

Clarifying Questions are simple questions of fact. They clarify the dilemma and provide the nuts and bolts so that the participants can ask good probing questions and provide useful feedback later in the protocol. Clarifying questions are for the participants.  They have brief, factual answers, and don’t provide any new “food for thought” for the presenter. The litmus test for a clarifying question is: Does the presenter have to think before s/he answers? If so, it’s almost certainly a probing question.

Some examples of clarifying questions:

·      How much time does bath time take?

·      Where do your kids sit at mealtime?

·      What do your kids watch on TV?

Probing Questions are for  the presenter.  If a probing question doesn’t have that effect, it is either a clarifying question or a recommendation with an upward inflection at the end.  If you find yourself saying “Don’t you think you should …?” you’ve gone beyond probing questions.  The presenter often doesn’t have a ready answer to a genuine probing question. Since probing questions are the hardest to create productively, we offer the following suggestions:

·         Check to see if you have a “right” answer in mind.  If so, delete the judgment from the question, or don’t ask it.

·         Refer to the presenter’s original question/focus point.  What did s/he ask for your help with?  Check your probing questions for relevance.

·         Check to see if you are asserting your own agenda.  If so, return to the presenter’s agenda.

·         Sometimes a simple “why…?” asked as an advocate for the presenter’s success can be very effective, as can several why questions asked in a row.

·         Think about the concentric circles of comfort, risk and danger.  Use these as a barometer.  Don’t avoid risk, but don’t push the presenter into the “danger zone.”

·         Think of probing questions as being on a continuum, from recommendation to most effective probing question.  For example:

1)      You could have your kids use a chore chart with stickers.  (recommendation )

2)      What would happen if your kids used a chore chart with stickers? (recommendation re-stated as a probing question)

3)      How do your kids respond to earning rewards like stickers?  (good probing question)

4)      What are some examples of effective rewards for your kids? (better probing question)

In summary, good probing questions:

·         are general, widely useful, and brief

·         don’t place blame on anyone

·         help create a paradigm shift

·         avoid yes/no responses and elicit a slow response

Some final hints for crafting probing questions.  Try the following questions and/or question stems.  Some of them come from Charlotte Danielson’s Pathwise work.

·      Why do you think this is the case?

·      What would have to change in order for…?

·      What do you feel is right in your heart?

·      What do you wish…?

·      What’s another way you might…?

·      How was…different from…?

·      When have you done/experienced something like this before?

·      How did you decide/determine/conclude…?

·      What is the connection between…and…?

·      What if the opposite were true?  Then what?

·      Why is this such a dilemma for you?

Some Examples of Probing Questions:

·      How do you think your own comfort with this topic has  influenced your choice of strategies?

·      What would your kids say about this issue?

·      How have your perspectives on this influenced how you have structured it?

·      What was your intention?

Adapted from work by Gene Thompson-Grove, Edorah Fraser, Faith Dunne, NSRF