How to apply the Question Method

How to apply the Question Method as a Follower: Managing up, down, laterally, and internally

In my work with people and organizations I have learned the more productive an individual is the more satisfied they are with their work. Productive people are ore engaged and demonstrate greater commitment to the work they are doing. An easy way to find fun and enjoyment in your work is to be effective and get results. People often confuse productivity with being busy or putting in extra hours. How hard, often, or long you work is not a sign of productivity – productivity is achieving or exceeding expected results with a reasonable (or limited) amount of effort. Productivity is winning at the game you are playing.

To be productive it is critical that you have the information, resources, and capabilities necessary to succeed. Productivity also relies on your relationships and your ability to collaborate at all levels of the organization. Your immediate supervisor is a critical relationship to manage. If you and your immediate supervisor are not on the same page it is nearly impossible to succeed. Furthermore, when you do succeed the value of that success will be diminished.

It is important to recognize and understand the role of an employee and the role of a supervisor. A simple description of each roles function is:

• Team Member or Employees deliver results and meet expectations through the application of skills and abilities with provided resources.
• Supervisor’s establish targets, goals, and expectations (e.g. what results you should be producing), provide the necessary resources (e.g. training, hours, technology, support etc.) and evaluate performance, acknowledge/reward successes, and address roadblocks and failures.

In work environments employees typically surrender relationship management to the supervisor or boss. They do not typically take a proactive approach to seeking evaluation, acknowledging successes and taking ownership of failures. In other words, people usually sit back and wait for their boss to act. This is a mistake and often the sign of an average or below average team member. High potential employees are proactive and engaged in the process.

The same concepts and techniques we teach with the Question Method can be utilized by employees to manage up resulting in improved performance and better results.

Tip: Managing up does not mean you take control and manage your supervisor. It means you take a proactive approach to getting the targets, resources, and evaluation you need to deliver results. Managing laterally does not mean you stand in for your boss and supervise your colleagues. It means you help clarify critical information for your teammates and assist them in capturing resources, training, and support where necessary. You become a better team player helping push the team to achieve higher productivity. 

In our work with hundreds of organizations over the last 30+ years we have learned some key foundational elements necessary for an individual or team to achieve expected results. When the following foundational elements are present, we see teams behave differently. Communication becomes easier, messaging becomes more direct, and managing up, down or laterally becomes part of the organizational culture. The following key elements are critical to a team’s success. If you are unclear on any of these items, it will be difficult to be productive and impossible to exceed expectations.

1. Goal: What are we trying to achieve as a team, organization, entity? What does winning look like for us? The goal should be big picture often represented as the vision or mission statement. The goal should be both inspiring and a little scary.
2. Role: What is my specific role in the work we are doing. What position, tasks, and or functions do I complete? Your role should be well defined, and you should be clear on how and why the role was created.
3. Impact: What is my individual impact on results? How does my role impact the role of others in the organization as well as the organizations’ ability to achieve the ultimate goal? Understanding how your role interacts with other roles is the best way to accelerate your performance and engage in achieving the goal.
4. Rules of the Game: What structure are we working in? What are the policies, guidelines, boundaries etc. within the system and/or industry? What authority do I have to make decisions and when do I need to seek approval. The rules include team specific as well as organizational guidelines and industry standards.
5. Process: What procedures are we following? What specific process I am expected to follow or execute. If there are specific steps that need to be followed what are they.
6. Target: On the short term what is my target. Having a big picture vision without a short-term target is a common mistake. It is difficult to arrive successfully at the result of a major goal if you do not establish short term targets along the way. Targets should be evaluated and updated regularly. An example of a goal vs a target is – We have a goal to open 2000 stores in 10 years to achieve that goal we have a target to open 100 stores in the first year, 300 in the second year etc.
7. Evaluation: How are we keeping score? How do we evaluate performance. Performance evaluation includes individual performance, team, and/or organizational performance. Find out where your supervisor is getting the data to evaluate you – is it based on observation, are they pulling a specific report, are they basing the evaluation on customer surveys etc. Seek evaluation regularly. If you are not evaluated regularly you have little opportunity to see where you are succeeding or failing and make adjustments.
8. Resources: What resources do I have to work with and how can I request more resources if I need them.

So how can you, the employee, use these concepts to take a proactive approach? The Question Method™ provides supervisors a series of questions to ask employees that will clarify and confirm the categories described above. After establishing the correct baseline of understanding supervisors ask the questions until they get a yes answer to all 7 questions. You can apply the same concepts yourself.

Take time to reflect on each of the eight categories listed in this article. If you are clear on all eight you are able to push productivity. Remember, being clear on all eight elements means you and your supervisor would generally have the same response if questioned on them.

Beginning with preparation, take a moment to collect your thoughts and establish goals for your meeting with your supervisor. Maintain a rhythm by setting a recurring schedule for your meetings, and stick with it. If your manager is tough to pin down you can send an email, text or make a phone call on the day and time of your regular meeting. I recommend having a weekly, or bi-weekly quick check in along with a lengthier monthly meeting and finally quarterly or annually detailed review. If your company or your manager does not follow a structured approach to checking in, I recommend you take the initiative and create the schedule yourself. Maintain a rhythm – same day, same general time, same week, month, quarter etc.

The list below is a summary of the 8 key elements necessary to be productive. (If you are reading the second article click the link at the bottom of this article to hop back to the first article to read an in-depth review of these elements):Establish the vision (Goal)

1. Clarify Expectations
2. Define the target
3. Explore interactions
4. Understand the evaluation process
5. Clarify Authority and or review process
6. Ask for resources and support as needed
7. Express desired rewards or outcomes for your effort

Establish the Vision – It all begins with your individual vision and the vision of your organization. Before you begin discussing the details of your work or the issues you face ensure your big picture goals are aligned. Do you both have the same vision of the future in mind for yourself and your organization? The Vision involves what the organization is working toward in the long-term. Vision should also include your future goal for yourself. Not having a clear vision for yourself or a clear understanding of the vision of your organization is a common mistake. I have worked with hundreds of supervisors over the years, in every coaching situation I review each staff member one by one asking the same question “What is your vision for (insert staff name here)” More often than not the response is “I haven’t thought about that” or “I’m not sure”

The lesson here is that often your supervisor is living in the moment and has no larger vision for you and your career. IF this is the case, manage-up by sharing your vision for yourself and asking what they think you need to work on to get there.

Tip: Don’t over think this step. This does not need to be a deep and meaningful conversation. It can be as simple as stating a larger goal you have for yourself and ensuring your manager gets it. Something like “I’d like to be a district manager someday” or “I was hoping to go back to school to earn my Master’s degree”

If your supervisor doesn’t know what your goals are they can’t become a partner in reaching them. When you supervisor becomes a partner in reaching your goals with you, they get invested in your success.

Expectations – Once you have alignment on vision the next step is to better understand expectations. This is a critical step when you first start anywhere. Expectations are not typically outlined well in job descriptions. Expectations may be immediate or long-term. Expectations is where you will identify your timelines, products, and targets. Expectations may include larger goals or immediate goals (e.g. We need to end this year with an increase of 80% or I need you to produce these two reports before COB today).

Tip: Expectations should be clear and understood. Always establish a clear measurement or deadline for your expectations. If your supervisor does not provide a deadline or delivery date offer one yourself. Some expectations are difficult to measure such as your demeanor, your ability to collaborate, or the way you present yourself when representing your organization – these are valid expectations as well. If you disagree with these expectations, you may have a conflict of values with your supervisor.

Define the Target – You know what your larger picture goal is and you know what your immediate expectations are somewhere between those two is your target. Targets are short term outcomes that build toward the larger goal. Targets could be quarterly revenue goals, the completion of a major project (or a significant step in completing a major project).

Tip:  A good target is challenging enough to inspire and challenge you. Targets should be longer term (achievable in 30-90 days). Some supervisors do not have clear targets because they have not had targets established by their manager. In this is the case work together to establish your own targets for your team. Targets offer the opportunity for bigger wins that will inspire more success while helping you ensure you are on target toward the larger goal or vision.  

Role & Function – Exploring interactions means understanding how your work impacts the work of others. Are people waiting on your step in the process before they can begin theirs? Does your work directly impact customer satisfaction or another teams ability to achieve results? How do the tasks you complete help the organization work toward achieving the vision. Then flip this back on yourself. How can your role in the process help you achieve the vision you have established for yourself?

Tip: You may not need your supervisor to tell you interactions. If you are observant and communicate with your peers it will be clear. You may actually see interactions that your supervisor does not. If you are new to a role try to learn about your function throughout orientation. Pay attention to what matters to your peers and try to understand why.

Evaluation – Supervisors often get data to judge success from a number of places. Is your supervisor looking at production numbers, submission deadlines, your general attitude in the workplace? A number of factors typically contribute to your evaluation. Get clarity on what data your supervisor is using and where they are getting the data they use. Evaluations can be both subjective (leaderships opinion or standards) and objective (measurable data). If you do not agree with your supervisors evaluation, seek to understand why, avoid being defensive or discounting their opinion. Objective data is not subject to the opinion of your supervisor and is therefore easier for you to achieve. Subjective data is your supervisors opinion and is more difficult for you to control.

Tip: If you do not agree with your supervisors evaluation, avoid being defensive and seek to understand. Values are the source of subjective evaluation. What you find important or care about most may be in conflict with your supervisor. By understanding what they value you may better understand their judgement.  

Understanding the larger vision, your immediate targets, and performance expectations is necessary to you to have the greatest impact. Being clear on how your role interacts with others and how you are evaluated is the quickest path to success. Identify where you have questions and ask leadership to clarify. Ensure you are aligned with your supervisor. Applying the concept of the Question method to your relationship with your supervisor will accelerate you on your path to achieving your career goals.

Authority – This constitutes the decisions can you make without seeking approval. This may also include areas where your supervisor is expected to seek approval from someone above them. Employees often seek approval when they have the authority to decide for themselves. This can extend the time needed to deliver results and add to the workload of your supervisor and their supervisors. In a new role authority is critical area to explore. Whenever expectations are set, and decisions need to be made, review the authority chain with your supervisor so you know what actions you can or can’t take. Over time you will have a better understanding of your authority and your supervisor’s authority resulting in a decreased need to discuss this topic. Employees often have authority and lack the confidence to execute. If you are given authority, use it to both your advantage and the advantage of your team.

Tip: Your range of authority will grow with time. You may not share the same authority with peers in similar positions. You will gain authority as your supervisor and their supervisor gain confidence in your ability to make decisions and get results. Authority is rooted in trust, and trust must be earned.

Resources – If you need resources to meet expectations take initiative and ask for them. If you are under resourced, it is difficult or impossible to meet standards. Employees often assume organizational leadership knows what resources they need to get the job done. Often supervisors don’t fully understand the situation and therefore may not be working to get you the resources you need. Resources could be time, training, money, equipment, support from other workers etc. If you are under resourced and there are no options to get you resources, you may want to discuss shifting your expectations.  One of your supervisors’ primary functions is to secure resources for you and your team.

Tip: .  The more you achieve using resources you are provided (or less) the more productive you are and therefore, the more valuable you are. Do not ask for an increase in allotted resources until you have completed multiple target cycles with what is provided. You need to make a business case for more resources and that is hard to do if you have yet to achieve goals. Teams often jump to a need for resources when they are struggling to meet expectations. Your organizational leadership may not agree. A business case for resources should clearly define what they will be used for and what result they will yield.

Reward & Recognition –  Not everyone likes to receive the same kind of feedback. For example, you may or may not enjoy being acknowledged publicly. You may want opportunities to interact with senior management (e.g. participating on a committee, visiting the corporate office etc.). You may be seeking a promotion or a raise. You may want preference on assignment selection or a personalized work schedule. Your supervisor will not know what your recognition and reward goals are if you do not clarify them.

Tip: If you are wanting big rewards you need to demonstrate big value. Big rewards are typically given for consistent performance over an extended period. This means hitting and/or exceeding your defined targets regularly and consistently. Be certain you have the big picture in mind when you ask for big rewards such as a raise, bonus, or promotion.

You may not be able to address every one of these categories in a quick 15–30-minute meeting. Therefore, it is important that you start out right. Take time to reflect on each category and ask yourself – Do I know what I need to know in each of the 8 categories? If you reflect on these 8 categories and have several questions for each one you may need to request a longer meeting with your supervisor. The more clarity you have the more effective your meetings will be. As you start a new role your meetings may take more time as there is more to discuss. As you gain clarity your performance will increase, and you will see results. When you are new in role you will not have full clarity on all categories this is the reason for orientation and training.

Tip: In the beginning focus on achieving standards – doing your job – meeting expectations. Rewards, promotions, raises come after you have established a consistent ability to deliver results. Doing a great job on one project or one shift is not grounds for promotion or a bonus. Most supervisors would prefer an employee that delivers consistent average performance over an employee that bounces between not meeting expectations and exceeding expectations. 

Thus far our work to teach and promote the concepts in the Question Method™ technique have focused on its application for supervisors. The same concepts and techniques we apply to the supervision process can be shifted and applied by the employee.

Failure to perform usually comes from a lack of information necessary to take action. Supervisors often question themselves, lack the right information to make decisions, and therefore suspend action until the reach certainty. This same detrimental mistake is made by individual contributors.

The role of a supervisor is to establish goals and expectations, provide resources and structure, and acknowledge good performance and address poor performance. The foundational role of an employee is to understand what is expected of them, how they are going to be evaluated, and to deliver agreed upon results. The simplest summation of employment is an exchange between an organization and the employee. The employee offers their skills, abilities, and time and in exchange the employer the provides pay and benefits. There may be a number of other factors within this exchange however, the basis of employment is typically time/skills for resources/money. If you are the employee you can use the Question Method™ to better understand this exchange resulting in higher performance for yourself and your team and ultimately opportunities to increase the value of your exchange to the employer.

You can also use this approach with your co-workers, your business partners, contractors, anyone you are working with to achieve a goal. The more clarity everyone on the team has the easier it is to communicate what is happening, address issues or failures, and acknowledge and reward success.

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