We've all been there, someone asks us, "How was your weekend?" and you say, "Good thanks, yours?"

It's possibly the dullest exchange of the week, don't you think?! 🥱

Generic questions = generic responses.

So I'm going to share some ways to deepen your relationships with your team by asking better questions.

What makes a great question?

If you're really honest, when you ask about someone's weekend, do you really care about their answer?

Whereas genuine conversation-starting questions come from a place of curiosity.

"How was your weekend?" is also a really expected question which keeps people on auto-pilot so you'll get a stock answer.

The key is to swap generic questions for surprising ones that you'd genuinely like to know the answer to!

Idea for Action 👉

Here's some alternatives for you - the key is to get specific;

• What was the highlight of your weekend?
• How did you unwind this weekend?
• Did you try any new or exciting activities over the weekend?
• Did you discover any new books/ movies/ music this weekend?

And as a bonus, here's some of my favourite questions to get to know people better;

• What's the best advice you've ever received?
• What's one of your favourite quotes?
• What's your favourite restaurant?
• What's your favourite way to learn?

Can you see how all of these questions suggest a genuine interest and how useful it would be for

you to know their answers in pursuit of building a working relationship?

You'll get better insight into what drives them, what they enjoy, how they learn and maybe even how you could thoughtfully reward them with something you know they'll appreciate!

Small things matter to us humans. We want to feel like we're understood.

Painting 🖼️

Why not take a moment to reflect and watch me paint "Curious Cat" 🐈‍⬛👇

What questions do you like to ask your team? I'd really love to hear from you!

Have a lovely day and stay curious!

Louise