Elements of Effective Communication and Presentation Skills in the Workplace (5) | Utilize the probe guide | Improve your presentation skills

Written by Wu Zhengzhe, Kang Shiteng Management Consulting Company

Leaders start by speaking well and guiding well

At the beginning of the TCA Communication Leadership course , supervisors will be asked to write down the most common personnel management problems they encounter, and the most common problems they hear include: subordinates are unable to draw inferences, are not proactive enough, and sometimes feel good about themselves or are blind, no matter how they communicate, it is difficult to improve!

These problems and troubles can actually be improved through the TCA set of communication skills tools, if you are interested in the content of TCA, it is recommended to look up the past few articles for reference. Today’s ‘Prospecting and Booting’ technique is the last in the TCA series, but it is also my favorite and most useful one, especially for solving the subordinate problems mentioned at the beginning of the article.

In the previous article, there are three response skills, namely: suggestion , empathy, and inquiry.

1. “Advice” is to share one’s own experience/insights/practices from the speaker’s perspective.
2. “Empathy” is based on acceptance to support the other person’s emotions.
3. “Inquiry” is to gather information and guide reflection by asking questions.

What is Probing Guidance?

Based on questioning skills, the level of questioning is divided into three stages: ‘collecting information’, ‘guiding reflection’ and ‘promoting improvement’.

1. “Gathering information” refers to the use of questioning skills to identify problems, including collecting the full picture of the incident, grasping the current situation, and clarifying the cause and effect.
2. “Guided Reflection” is to analyze the problem through questioning skills, and guide the other party to think about what kind of observation and reflection they have from the above information, and what new insights and suggestions can be generated.
3. “Promoting Improvement” is to solve problems through questioning skills, guide the other party to list specific action plans from the above insights and reflections, and ensure implementation.

When using questioning techniques, pay special attention to asking more open-ended questions and less closed-ended questions. Closed-ended questions are not that they can’t be asked, but it is usually used for confirmation and focus, similar to true/false questions and multiple-choice questions, so the range of answers is usually limited, and there is no way to listen to the other party more. When the other party answers an open-ended question, it is easier for the questioner to grasp the logic and opinions of the other party, and to maintain the intention of listening when asking questions.

Practical examples of exploratory guidance

Let’s use the example of Xiaoqiang from the previous article ([Elements of Effective Communication and Presentation Skills in the Workplace (4) | Empathy in the Workplace | The Power of Empathy] to illustrate that when he heard that the customer’s tone was not good when he returned the product, he felt that the customer was making trouble (idea), so he felt aggrieved and angry (emotion), so he swallowed his anger in order to avoid adding fuel to the fire, so his face turned red and he did not say a word (behavior). After the last empathetic listening, it is now possible to have a guided discussion on how to solve this customer complaint problem.

May I ask Xiaoqiang, can you describe the ins and outs of this incident in detail? What were the personnel and places at that time? What did you say? What did he reply? The preceding question is information gathering. Next, you can ask, what do you think customers care about? What efforts have you made that have been effective? What efforts don’t seem to be working? If you had to do it again, what do you think could have been better done? The above questions belong to ‘leading reflection’. Finally, in the guide to find a solution, for example: After this incident, what is the first improvement action you plan to make? What can we see to represent that you have started to change? What assistance is needed to carry out the operation? The above issues fall under the category of ‘promoting improvement’.

Make good use of exploratory-led meeting skills

If the talk skill of ‘probing and guiding’ is done well, it can help the subordinates to clarify the truth of the problem, find the cause of the problem, and propose a solution to the problem, because the plan is found by the subordinate himself, so he will have a commitment to these plans, and when the follow-up does produce improvement and performance improvement, the subordinate will have a sense of achievement, and the next time he encounters a similar problem, he has laid a more stable foundation of ability, even if he encounters greater challenges, he has been able to self-guide and explore and solve the problem by himself! And wouldn’t that solve the common problem of subordinates mentioned at the beginning of this article? Not being able to draw inferences, not being proactive enough, feeling good about yourself, etc., there are opportunities to solve them!

Thank you for taking the time to read this series of TCA articles, I hope to have a certain reminder effect on your management work, and also look forward to your practical use, if you encounter any questions or suggestions on the use, you are welcome to contact Kang Shiteng or the author to discuss!