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Jean McKayPuttyCove, Inc.
An introduction to
High Cost of Doing Nothing4/18/2012
About Jean McKay, PMP, PMRMP, MSCIS
Jean is an experienced professional with a proven track record over 20 years.
She currently holds numerous professional certifications in both Project Management and IT, focuses on Disaster Recovery Planning, Business Continuity Planning, Risk Assessment, and Technical Training.
Jean is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)®, and Risk Management Professional PMP-RMP, with a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems.
Jean currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, and is an active member of the PMI Phoenix Chapter, BPW, and Infragard.
Background for this work
Fifteen years of development at Stanford University
Observations or interviews with 225 executives
25 longitudinal studies of executives
In 2007, 55 formal interviews in 9 industries
In-depth study of PQ+A in two global companies• Cypress Semiconductor, 1996 to 2004• Microsoft, 1995 to 2004
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Four deep trends
Information overload
Higher levels of complexity
Complexity is dynamic
Increased time crunch
Time
The pressure toimprove discussion
The efficiency of typicalbusiness meetings
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Two factors
Two factors make it difficult to manage complexity and overload in meetings
Answers that destroy focus
Questions that lack focus
- 5 -
When answers lack focus
Not clear
Not crisp
Not concise
- 6 -
What’s going wrong?
She asks a precise question• “What are the unit sales for the urban and suburban
segments?”
He hears a generic question• “Give me an update.”
He believes he’s helping the discussion by providing “valuable context”
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Precision Answering solves the problem
The basics of PA• Answer the question that was asked• Start with the core• Keep it short
The benefits of PA• Better focus• Greater efficiency
- 8 -
When questions lack focus
Low efficiency
No depth
- 9 -
What’s going wrong?
We shouldn’t be asking this:• What do the lines show us?
If the question in our mind is this:• At the end of the quarter, what was the rate at which
sales were decreasing?• Is the rate of decrease slowing down or speeding up?
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Precision Questioning solves the problem
The basics of PQ• Be precise• Get to the heart of the matter
The benefits of PQ• Greater efficiency• Better analysis
- 11 -
Precision Questioning
Drill-down questions fall into seven categories
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The seven categories
Our customersare spending more
time on social networking sites.
- 14 -
The seven categories
Our business needs to start doing better
security of our data.
- 15 -
Let’s Practice
We will use your issue to practice thecategories one at a time
Real PQ ismore fluid
- 16 -
Practice: Write down an issue like one or the other of these
Use a real issue fromyour work
Write legibly
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
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Instructions for two-minute drills
Find a partner to practice with. Decide roles
• One person presents issue & answers questions• Other person asks questions
Don’t change roles until instructed to
These are practice drills for the questioner; this will not be a fluid discussion. Real PQ ismore fluid than this.• Answers should be short, honest, and realistic
Please wait to begin
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Establish the big picture 2 minute limit
Presenter starts• Show partner the written statement• Give an overview of your issue (about 30 seconds)
Then questioner asks• Ask questions that help you understand the big picture
(about 60 seconds)• Big picture questions are mostly clarifications so you
understand the topic• Do not worry about the categories for now
• 2 minute limit
- 19 -
Go/NoGo questions guide energy and focus
Setting up a good meeting• Who should participate?• Goal?• How much time?• Who should tee up the issue?
Shaping the direction once the meeting begins• Are we focused on the right thing?• Are we asking the right questions?• Should we take this off-line?
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Reminder: these are not Go/NoGo questions
How do you track resources?
What do you mean by “complex?”
What seems to be causing it?
For now – focus only one Go/No Go questions
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Examples of Go/NoGo questions
OK• Who should attend?
Better• Who knows more about this, Ellen or Bill?
OK• What would be the goal of the meeting?
Better• Is a half-hour enough time to both review the data and
figure out the underlying causes of the problem?
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Practice Go/NoGo questions 2 minute limit
Ask questions thatwould help them set upa real meeting to discuss this issue
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 23 -
Clarification questions sharpen the meaning
By “clarification” we mean clarification of the meaning of words and sentences
Three main types of clarification• Clarifying slippery words• Asking graph questions• Asking pivot table questions
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Clarification of slippery words
A “slippery” word means one thing to one person
and something different to another person
OK• What do you mean
by “complex”?
Better• Complex in what ways?• Do you mean complex with respect to number of parts?• Complex with respect to number of dependencies?
The project has become more complex than we
expected.
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Reminder: these are not clarification questions
Do you have data on your use of resources?
What seems to be causing it?
If you don’t change anything, what would be the consequences?
For now – focus on Clarifying slippery word questions
- 26 -
Practice clarifying slippery words 2 minute limit
Clarify words that mightmean something different to the presenterthan to you.
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
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Clarification through graph questions
“Draw the graph” with questions• When did the schedule first slip?• How far have you fallen behind the original projections?• Are you losing ground or gaining ground?
The project is taking more time
than expected.
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Clarification through pivot table questions
Pivot table questioning• Picture the parts• Question the parts
Examples• Show it to me by ___ (gender, age, location).• Where has morale been the most difficult to improve?• Where has morale been easiest to improve?
Improving morale is turning out to be more
difficult than weexpected.
- 29 -
Practice graph/pivot table clarification 2 minute limit
Graph questions
Pivot table questions
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 30 -
Assumption questions go deep
An assumption is something that must be true in order for the statement to be true
The difficulty: assumptions are in what is not said
Useful tip: phrase your questions this way• Are you assuming…?• Are you assuming…?
- 31 -
Common categories of assumptions
“I’m looking for the solution to the problem of…”
Existence• Are you assuming a problem exists?
Uniqueness• Are you assuming there’s only one problem?
Measurement• Are you assuming you can measure improvement?
Value• Are you assuming it’s bad?
Time, Constancy• Are you assuming the problem isn’t changing over time?
- 32 -
Practice assumption questions 2 minute limit
Are you assuming...?
Are you assuming...?
Are you assuming...?
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 33 -
BCQs ask for evidence
Two main types of BCQs• Questions about the validity of the data• Questions about the credibility of the sources of
information
- 34 -
BCQ: questions about the validity of DATA
Not• How do you know that’s true?
OK• What’s the data?
Better• How complete is the data?• How accurate is the data? • Is the sample representative of the population?• Is the sample large enough?
- 35 -
Practice DATA questions 2 minute limit
Ask questions about the validity of their data
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 36 -
BCQ: questions about the credibility of the SOURCES of information
OK• Where did you hear this?
Better• Did you hear it from somebody who was on the project
at the beginning?• Do you have 100% confidence in what they are telling
you?• Should you check with other people who were on the
project at the beginning?
- 37 -
Practice SOURCE questions 2 minute limit
Ask questions about the credibility of theirsources of information
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 38 -
Establish the big picture – switch roles 2 minute limit
New presenter• Show your written statement
(about 30 seconds)
New questioner• Ask questions that help you understand the big picture
(about 60 seconds)• Big picture questions are mostly clarifications• Don’t worry about categories, this is so you understand
the topic
- 39 -
BCQs ask for evidence
Two main types of BCQs• Questions about the validity of the data• Questions about the credibility of the sources of
information
- 40 -
Practice BCQs – DATA and/or SOURCE 2 minute limit
Ask about validityof data
Ask about credibility ofsources of information
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
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Cause Questions
Questions about causes help us control Here are five precise why’s
• What triggered this (an event)?• Is there a root cause (a condition of vulnerability)?• What is the mechanism (how does it work)?• What are the drivers (pushes)?• What are the inhibitors (pulls)?
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Cause questions
OK• Why were our initial expectations so unrealistic?
Better• Was the root cause that fact that this was a different
type of problem than we have seen in the past?
OK• Why is it becoming more complex?
Better• What are the main drivers of complexity?
- 43 -
Practice cause questions 2 minute limit
Root cause? Trigger? Drivers? Inhibitors? Mechanism?
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 44 -
Questions about Effects help us predict
When thinking about the future, we tend to oversimplify
This 3x3 matrix helps us be more precise
Best case Worst case Most likely
Short term
Medium term
Long term
- 45 -
Effects questions
OK• How long will it take?
Better• Worst case, how long will it take?
OK• What will be the result?
Better• What will the long-term consequences be?
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Practice effect questions 2 minute limit
Ask questions like this:• Suppose you don’t
change anything.In the ___ term, what’s the ___ case for ___?
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 47 -
Questions about Action
There are many more options than “what should we do about it?”
• What is our strategy? • What tactics will we use to enact our strategy?• What is our plan for the coming week?• Is our goal a root cause fix? Or is it just containment?
- 48 -
Practice action questions 2 minute limit
Ask questions like these:• Can you do a root-cause
fix on this?• Should you just try to
contain it?
___ is more complexthan expected.
___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.]
than expected.
- 49 -
Benefit of PQ
What is the benefit of making our questions more precise?• It helps us analyze our work in new ways• Our meetings become more efficient• The level of critical thinking goes up
- 50 -
Tools, not rules
- 51 -
Precision Answering
- 52 -
PQ can’t get very far without PA
• In the first video, Jordy does not hear the Precise Question
• He hears, ‘Tell me a story’
- 53 -
Precision Answering solves the problem
- 11 -
The basics of Precision Answering
• Answer the question that was asked• Start with the core• Keep it short
Focus on Precision Answering
PA:Conveying only the important information in a crisp, clear, and concise way
- 86 -
Three basic rules of PA
Answer only the question that was asked
Start with the core
Keep it short
- 87 -
Three basic rules of PA – Rule #1
Answer only the question that was asked
• Don’t answer the question you wantedthem to ask
• Don’t answer the question you think they shouldhave asked
• Make sure you heard the question
• If the question isn’t clear to you, clarify
- 88 -
Three basic rules of PA – Rule #2
Start with the core• Core answers go right to the point
Common core answers
• Yes• No• Number• Date• Single point• Bullet points• I don’t know + next step
- 89 -
Three basic rules of PA – Rule #3
Keep it short
• Many times the core answer will suffice
• At most, add one or two additional points
• When adding necessary information, use bullet points when possible There are three top concerns . . .
We have two options . . .
- 90 -
Additional options
Clarify the question
Redirect the questioner
Add qualifiers
Do a torpedo alert
Anticipate the next question, only when obvious
Keep the discussion moving forward
- 91 -
Find the precise answer
Q: What’s the status of the project?
A: Well I made the phone calls to our customers
that you asked me to. I think people were ingeneral pretty positive, though ABC Retailerhad some concerns about the timing, but Ithink we can work around their schedule bydoing a phased implementation of the plan.The rest of our customers are fine withthe schedule, so I think we should be onschedule to deploy next month, with againthe exception of ABC Retailer which willdeploy the system in the next two months.
- 92 -
Core answer plus information
Find the precise answer
Q: Why did the schedule slip?
A: I want to say that we have been working veryhard to make the schedule, but as you know theschedule is very aggressive and we are workingon a new system, so we are doing our best.We have been having some problems
integratingthe new system with the manufacturing
process.We are not sure, but we think it has something
todo with an incompatibility between the newsystem design that used an XYZ process and
ourmanufacturing design that used the old ZYXprocess, but at this point it is just a guess. - 93 -
Single point answer plus I don’t know
Practice Precision Questions & Answers
Visit www.vervago.com Skill Sharpeners that build skills The PQ+A 1 day Workshop
• Teaches four things: PQ PA plus two additional techniques
• Workshop creates high impact three ways: Focuses on real issues How to make practical application Post-workshop emails to deepen the learning
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Thank You !
Questions? Contact me! Email: [email protected] Call: 623.210.7312 Website: www.puttycove.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanmckay
www.vervago.com Ask better questions and give better answers
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