Now more than ever, I believe managers should practice balancing asking reports the right questions at the right time with providing them answers.
In professional settings, one core need people often have is being understood. Humans want to be seen, be heard, and be acknowledged for their ideas and creativity.
The nature of a manger-report relationship is often one where the manager has knowledge perhaps because (1) they did the role before or because (2) they are more senior and are viewed as ‘having the answers.’
As a result of this dynamic, mangers might miss the chance to develop awareness about how understood their employees truly feel and might be too quick to provide answers/opinions on how to approach projects rather than asking questions.
When managers start from a curious, question seeking position, employees will naturally feel more understood, allowing them to walk away from discussions feeling motivated, excited, and engaged to do their job.
Managers should develop instincts on what questions to ask when and when to give employees answers.
It sounds obvious and easy, but it is very hard and instinctual.
In the situational leadership framework, I added a guideline on how often managers should provide answers vs. ask questions.
Essentially with highly qualified reports (both confident and competence), mangers should be asking questions more often than providing answers. Because the report is so strong, they will likely be loud about when they need an answer. Pay attention to that.
When the manager is in coaching / supporting mode, the balance is likely more even – though I’d still argue it should balance towards questions. If managers get their questions right then reports’ confidence or competence should grow through answering them.
In directing mode, managers are giving more answers than questions. Consider preparing asks and structure them in writing before or after 1:1 discussions to increase the chances the information is digested and understood.
