Struggling with professionalism in the workplace? 3 Simple Questions to Engage With Others & Build Trust

Creating trust and good communication in workplace relationships is a challenge when there are divergent perspectives, priorities, needs, etc. This divergence is a natural part of our collaboration and innovation that support our relational and organizational progress. It is valuable information that must be embraced just as much as the agreements and shared ideas that lead us to action. When you are in a position of leadership, supervision, or just play a supporting role as an individual contributor, we all have valuable pieces of information that contribute to the progress of the organization as a whole. There are three simple questions to ask and to begin with when you are engaging with your staff or co-workers. These three questions build a foundation of trust, increase productivity, reduce conflict and grow employees into true professionals because they promote effective communication.

In our workplace relationships, we are all navigating competing needs, priorities, opinions, perspectives, timelines, etc. within ourselves and with each other. When we have competing thoughts, communication is difficult and we often avoid communicating or aggressively argue which are not productive. This is a natural occurrence and response within our human relationships. The question is, how do we navigate these competing thoughts and respond appropriately? The answer is to cultivate our emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is made up of two parts; personal competence and social competence. Personal competence is the ability to be aware of your emotions and to manage your behaviors and tendencies. Social competence is our ability to understand other people’s moods, behaviors, and motives in order to improve the quality of our relationships. Emotional intelligence is the foundation of good communication and supports us in engaging with others effectively.

There are three simple questions you can ask yourself or others that prompt emotional intelligence and good communication. They are called the “3 Golden Questions.” These questions help to build a foundation of trust with curiosity and to support critical thinking that leads to exploration and productivity. When we feel safe to be curious and to explore, it opens up the lines of communication so that we can begin to understand what we need to know or learn about our own agenda or another’s to get the job done. These questions are a great way to start conversations that then lead to more insightful follow-up questions and information.

​The Three Golden Questions

“What’s going well?”

“What’s challenging?”

“How can I support you or What support do you need?”

​“What’s going well?” This question begins the conversation on a positive note which engages people right away. This question reveals what other people are interested in and what motivates them. This is critical information to take note of so that you can encourage and empower staff and coworkers to do more of what they enjoy and to recognize their contributions.

​“What’s challenging?” Many employees shy away from discussing the difficult parts of their job because it puts them in a vulnerable position. This question is appealing because it does not necessarily expose weaknesses, but instead offers an opportunity to work through a problem an employee is experiencing.

​“How can I support you or what support do you need? Another way of saying, what do you need, this question immediately invites a person to feel trust and support. Now that you and others have thought through the current landscape with the positives and the challenges, we are able to recognize more of what we may need. We are now primed to provide support or collaborate on a solution to satisfy what is needed by all parties.

Utilizing the “3 Golden Questions” to begin 1:1 meetings and team meetings are a great way to cultivate a healthy feedback culture that leads to effective communication, productivity and trusted relationships in the workplace. The 3 Golden Questions encourage people to share important information that begins to align our thinking and action as it engages people to pay attention to and to support the most pressing needs of the day.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, to learn more book a free consultation today.