Nursing

Blog spotlight: Ask effective questions to ensure meetings are productive

Nurse Leader Weekly, June 1, 2009

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In a meeting, you want participants to process information in a useful way that adds value. Each person in the room is running on a processing question. They are asking themselves a question and continually answering it. By setting that question for them, you can make the meeting much more productive.

Here is how it works: You describe a proposed plan to reorganize the use of contract nurses. As you are speaking, the three questions in people’s minds are:

  • What is wrong with this proposal?
  • Why won’t this work?
  • Should I support this?

These questions will likely produce negative, highly critical responses. They take the energy out of the room. The response could be defensive. They could generate negative responses.

To create a more productive response, before you speak, give the audience the effective questions you want them to address (this is what is meant my framing). For example:

  • What works?
  • What do you find exciting?
  • In what ways does this contribute to our goals?

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