One of the things we've witnessed over the past 18 months is leaders being far more intentional about ‘checking in’ with their team, both work and wellbeing (which is FAB!)
Sometimes though, we ask very broad questions like 'how are you feeling?', 'how are things going?', or 'do you have any feedback for me?'.
Because they are broad questions, we get vague responses.
If you asked for feedback on your leadership, for example:
‘On a scale of one to 10, how well do you feel I am leading you right now?’ You’ll usually hear 'seven' or 'eight' as people are uncomfortable saying anything beyond that.
This is where the magical second question comes in: The Scaling Question:
‘What would it take to move that score up a notch, by one point?’
This encourages your team to give you specific responses.
You might hear responses like, ‘You could ask me what times of the day are challenging for me to have video calls when I am working at home'.
Asking the magical scaling question is important for two reasons:
It gives people greater safety to be able to express their opinion and have their voice heard, which increases engagement and commitment, and
It gives us specific micro-steps we can then act on. This builds trust and improves connection and inclusion (if we are prepared to act on the feedback).
Other follow-ups scaling questions to consider are:
What could move you down the scale from your current rating of 8 to a 7 or 6?
What would a 10 look like to you?
What is keeping your score at that rating?
Try using scaling questions next time you are in a team meeting or one-on-one to show your team their opinion matters and you want their specific feedback and ideas.
Keep smiling, look after yourself and your team!
Building Sticky Virtual Relationships
Download the first of the seven-part 'Stickiness Hacks'. Spend five minutes to reflect on how you are tracking on building sticky relationships within your team. Brainstorm one action that you commit to improving the level of trust and team connection.
It's time to check, reflect and plan your actions!
BLYTHE ROWE & Her Life on Heels.
The founder and director of Human Incite, is widely recognised for her passion, energy and her ability to shake things up. Blythe is brilliant at revving-up productivity and performance in organisations. She is on a mission to rid our workplaces of toxic behaviours, build meaningful relationships, personally and professionally and create workplaces worth belonging. Her enthusiasm simply is infectious!