Reflections on how to ask correctly in order to receive answers
It is often necessary to observe how a developer tries to find out from the analyst or client the information he needs. As a result, this turns into an endless exchange of letters and meetings, and it’s not a fact that as a result, the developer will receive the answer he needs.
The main reason is that the people who ask and the people who respond have different “pictures of the world”, i.e. different views on the same thing. The picture of the world is a way of perceiving and interpreting events and phenomena [1]. For example, if a developer asks a question, he asks questions from the point of view of a specific task being solved by him (important for him, but small in terms of the system as a whole), the architect, after reading the question, can answer it from the point of view of the system architecture as a whole , and an analyst on the same question - in terms of requirements and terminology of the project scope. That is, asking the same question to people with different fields of activity, we can get different answers. They will not be wrong, they will simply reflect a different vision of the same object / situation (in other words, “pictures of the world”). I must say that the pictures of the world for all people are basically different.
A simple life example: ask your neighbor on the right what “good developer” means to him and maybe you will get an answer that doesn’t coincide with your idea.
Thus, before asking a question, you need to take care of its semantic content (the subject matter).
The subject matter is the conceptual vision of the object, determined by the researcher and reflecting its essential content [2]. Accordingly, the semantic content of the question is an expression of the subject matter. It is the semantic content of the question strongly depends on the view of things. Therefore, when asking a question, it is necessary to remember the constant rule: “what question is such an answer”.
It is also worth remembering that there are the following types of questions:
1. Closed questions - questions that can give unambiguous answers Yes / No. Example: Is it allowed to use within the .NET project?
2. Open questions - questions on which there is no definite answer and it is important for us to hear from the interlocutor his opinion and views on the subject matter. Example: What will be your opinion about using .NET within the project?
3. Guiding questions - questions that are formulated in such a way as to prompt the interlocutor the answer expected from him. Example: Currently your servers are running MS Windows Server 2008, we can implement functionality in Java or .Net. What will be your decision?
4. Test questions - questions whose purpose is to verify that you have reached an understanding of the subject matter. For example: I correctly understood that we will implement the project using .NET?
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To correctly formulate a question that will help you get the right answer, you can use a number of practices:
1. Before asking a question, it is necessary for you to clearly define the subject of the question being asked (to formulate its content). In other words, what you want to ask and what you expect to hear in response. This way you can determine in advance who can answer your question.
2. Assume that the pictures of the world of people are different and the same question can be understood in different ways. Therefore, before you ask it, try to at least briefly describe your interlocutor with your vision of the situation (“picture of the world”). Thanks to this you will be able to synchronize your views on the subject matter. Just remember that sometimes it is necessary to clarify the terminology used by you in presenting the subject matter, because some of the same terms can be understood by interlocutors differently or not understood in principle.
3. Avoid excessive use of “closed questions”. Often, the people to whom such a question is addressed,
There is no clear answer and / or they need additional information to make a decision. Abuse of this type of questions leads to the creation of a tense atmosphere during communication, as the partner may get the impression that he is being interrogated. Closed questions are best used to summarize as control questions.
4. If you have several solutions to the problem, but you have difficulty in choosing one of them, first describe the problem, describe the possible solutions with their pros and cons, and ask the question which of the proposed solutions can be used. With such a question, you provide information for a decision and at the same time limit the possible answers. As a rule, it is easier for a person to choose one of the ready-made options than to answer the abstract question “how should it be?”.
5. If you need to ask a question, in response to which you expect that you will be told some details about the subject of the question, then use the strategy "from general to specific." Asking the general question first, then clarifying the details. And not the other way around, otherwise starting from detailed questions, you can miss the most important thing - what needs to be done or what exactly you are trying to solve. It is better to start with open questions, then smoothly passing to the clarifying and summing up closed questions.
6. If you feel that the interlocutor did not understand you or the received answer is not completely clear to you, use clarifying questions that will allow you to synchronize views on the subject of your question and the interlocutor. For example:
- We plan to use .NET as part of the project. Will this option suit you?
- From the point of view of running our business, we need to ensure the performance of the application.
- We correctly understood that provided that if application performance is ensured we can use .NET?
Literature:
1. Wiki Picture of the world.
2. Sociology: the art of asking questions, L.Ya. Averyanov
3. How to ask a question correctly?
4. Oratorical skills, or how to ask questions?
The main reason is that the people who ask and the people who respond have different “pictures of the world”, i.e. different views on the same thing. The picture of the world is a way of perceiving and interpreting events and phenomena [1]. For example, if a developer asks a question, he asks questions from the point of view of a specific task being solved by him (important for him, but small in terms of the system as a whole), the architect, after reading the question, can answer it from the point of view of the system architecture as a whole , and an analyst on the same question - in terms of requirements and terminology of the project scope. That is, asking the same question to people with different fields of activity, we can get different answers. They will not be wrong, they will simply reflect a different vision of the same object / situation (in other words, “pictures of the world”). I must say that the pictures of the world for all people are basically different.
A simple life example: ask your neighbor on the right what “good developer” means to him and maybe you will get an answer that doesn’t coincide with your idea.
Thus, before asking a question, you need to take care of its semantic content (the subject matter).
The subject matter is the conceptual vision of the object, determined by the researcher and reflecting its essential content [2]. Accordingly, the semantic content of the question is an expression of the subject matter. It is the semantic content of the question strongly depends on the view of things. Therefore, when asking a question, it is necessary to remember the constant rule: “what question is such an answer”.
It is also worth remembering that there are the following types of questions:
1. Closed questions - questions that can give unambiguous answers Yes / No. Example: Is it allowed to use within the .NET project?
2. Open questions - questions on which there is no definite answer and it is important for us to hear from the interlocutor his opinion and views on the subject matter. Example: What will be your opinion about using .NET within the project?
3. Guiding questions - questions that are formulated in such a way as to prompt the interlocutor the answer expected from him. Example: Currently your servers are running MS Windows Server 2008, we can implement functionality in Java or .Net. What will be your decision?
4. Test questions - questions whose purpose is to verify that you have reached an understanding of the subject matter. For example: I correctly understood that we will implement the project using .NET?
')
To correctly formulate a question that will help you get the right answer, you can use a number of practices:
1. Before asking a question, it is necessary for you to clearly define the subject of the question being asked (to formulate its content). In other words, what you want to ask and what you expect to hear in response. This way you can determine in advance who can answer your question.
2. Assume that the pictures of the world of people are different and the same question can be understood in different ways. Therefore, before you ask it, try to at least briefly describe your interlocutor with your vision of the situation (“picture of the world”). Thanks to this you will be able to synchronize your views on the subject matter. Just remember that sometimes it is necessary to clarify the terminology used by you in presenting the subject matter, because some of the same terms can be understood by interlocutors differently or not understood in principle.
3. Avoid excessive use of “closed questions”. Often, the people to whom such a question is addressed,
There is no clear answer and / or they need additional information to make a decision. Abuse of this type of questions leads to the creation of a tense atmosphere during communication, as the partner may get the impression that he is being interrogated. Closed questions are best used to summarize as control questions.
4. If you have several solutions to the problem, but you have difficulty in choosing one of them, first describe the problem, describe the possible solutions with their pros and cons, and ask the question which of the proposed solutions can be used. With such a question, you provide information for a decision and at the same time limit the possible answers. As a rule, it is easier for a person to choose one of the ready-made options than to answer the abstract question “how should it be?”.
5. If you need to ask a question, in response to which you expect that you will be told some details about the subject of the question, then use the strategy "from general to specific." Asking the general question first, then clarifying the details. And not the other way around, otherwise starting from detailed questions, you can miss the most important thing - what needs to be done or what exactly you are trying to solve. It is better to start with open questions, then smoothly passing to the clarifying and summing up closed questions.
6. If you feel that the interlocutor did not understand you or the received answer is not completely clear to you, use clarifying questions that will allow you to synchronize views on the subject of your question and the interlocutor. For example:
- We plan to use .NET as part of the project. Will this option suit you?
- From the point of view of running our business, we need to ensure the performance of the application.
- We correctly understood that provided that if application performance is ensured we can use .NET?
Literature:
1. Wiki Picture of the world.
2. Sociology: the art of asking questions, L.Ya. Averyanov
3. How to ask a question correctly?
4. Oratorical skills, or how to ask questions?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/126669/
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