Ask to Guide

I owe my favorite facilitator tactic to my wife: she used to work in sales a long time ago and always said, “Those who ask questions lead the way.”

That applies equally to workshops: as a facilitator, my job is above all to ask the right questions—and at the right time!

Many consultants believe that their job is to guide the client, and because the client has hired an external expert, it is their job to provide the appropriate answers, i.e., to set the direction. But this usually leads the client down the wrong path.

Because the real experts in their business are the company’s employees. They know their business best. However, they usually can’t see the forest for the trees. They get lost in their immense knowledge.

What they lack is not direction but orientation. The right questions help participants find their orientation, i.e., focus on the goal, and set the right direction themselves.

In any case, participants have to walk the path themselves. And we all prefer to walk our own path rather than one that is set for us.

The right questions therefore also generate acceptance, and acceptance is crucial: because that is the first step on a long road to implementation.