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Want to make your meetings better?

Stop trying to have all the right answers. Start learning to ask the right questions.

Some people walk into meetings armed with slides. Others bring a confident opinion.  

This kind of 'answers-led' approach is usually about serving yourself (sorry, hard truth). Being clever, knowledgable, making things certain.

And I'm not saying there isn't a time and a place for having strong, crisp answers to key questions.

But people who are there to act in service of the group and its aims, know how to ask incisive questions.

Not fluffy, stall-for-time questions.

I mean the kind that:

- refocus a scattered room

- break through conflict and tension

- get people out of rabbit holes

Why are good questions SO powerful?

Humans are question-answering machines. Our brains are wired to respond automatically, instinctively, often creatively to interesting questions.

That’s why a good question can do more than keep a meeting moving. It can unlock a new way to see something or gently flag something that people aren’t saying out loud yet or bring generosity where there’s tension.

It’s also a bold, brilliant move when you’re not sure what to say. You don’t need to perform. You just need a really good question.  

Before I show you my list, can I recommend you go and follow the Queen of Meeting Questions, Steph Vidal-Hall - she even has a free monthly group called 'question club' where people prepare great questions for upcoming meeting. 

And now, let me talk you through my go-to list. 

My 15 question swipe file for you

Here’s a handful of sharp, thoughtful questions to keep in your back pocket. I use them whether I'm leading the meeting or not!

Questions for getting clarity at the start  

Start by focusing the group’s attention on what matters:

- What’s the real decision we’re trying to make today?

- What's the best use of our time today? (if you've ever been in a meeting with me, you've almost certainly heard me ask this 😂)

- What’s at stake if we don’t make progress on this?

These questions help people scope the session together with what matters right here and now.

Questions to shape and sharpen the discussion

Use these when things feel circular, vague, or over-complicated:

- What options are available to us?

- What do we agree on, and where is there still disagreement?

- What feels like the heart of this issue?

- What are the risks of taking the next right step on X and how could we mitigate them?

Questions like these help surface what’s clear, what’s unclear and what’s being avoided.

Questions to handle conflict and tension (without shutting things down)  

Instead of ignoring disagreement, use questions to explore it:

- What’s underneath the hesitation we’re hearing?

- What’s the most generous interpretation of [this situation]?

- What do you want the group to understand that they're not yet getting?

- What's the bigger goal here that we agree on?

Questions to bring clarity and action at the end.  

Wrap up by asking questions that create clarity and forward motion:

- What information are we missing that we need to gather after this meeting? Let’s make a list.**

- What’s the best use of the remaining time we have together today?

- What’s one small step we could take straight away to make progress on this?

- What did we decide today and who should we tell about it?

Answers impress, questions serve

It’s easy to feel like you’re supposed to bring your “solution self” into every meeting.  

But the truth is, your value often lies in your attention, not your answers.

The people who are most helpful in group settings are rarely the ones doing the most talking. They are the people trying to pull the threads together and ask questions that move the group forward.

So next time you feel stuck, underprepared or unsure, don’t default to “I should have known this.”  

Ask: What’s the question that would help this room move forward right now?

You don't need to be clever (truly), just be useful.

Warmly,

Carrie

Dr Carrie Goucher
FewerFasterBolder
07769 708490

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References and further reading 

You can access the full FewerFasterBolder bibliography to source links to any references I use in any of my content and programmes.