Closed and Open Questions

When communicating there are 2 types of questions that need to be used, depending on the situation.
Closed questions are those that have the answer "yes" or "no".  An example may be: Is this due tomorrow?  The answer is Yes.  Another example may be: Will you be in tomorrow?  The answer is No.  Basically these questions are asked when you are looking for a very matter of fact answer.  These types of questions are appropriate in job interviews when confirming experience.  For example, if you are hiring a customer service rep, you may ask if they have telephone experience.  Once the answer Yes or No is given, you can move on to other questions or end the interview if you need someone with that experience and they answer No.

Open questions are ones where you are wanting or allowing more information to be provided.  These questions start with: Who? What? Where? Why? When? or How?  For example in interviewing for your customer service rep, you may ask How long have you worked in a field where you were answering the phone?  This gives you a lot more information than the closed question above and allows them to feel comfortable with providing more information.

In my Train-The-Trainer Leadership certificate, we were asked to solve a riddle.  Using only 10 closed questions, figure out what happened.  Remember I can only answer "yes" or "no" and nothing else.

2 men were on the top of a mountain.  One of them was dead.  Both had backpacks, one was full and one was empty.  What happened?

Try this with some co-workers and stay tuned for the second part in a couple of days.

You can reach me via email at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or feel free to check out our website too at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Till next time!

Tara