When you manage employees, it is important to ask them about their well-being and job effectiveness; however, it also is crucial to consider the frequency with which you address such questions.
Fast Company recommends asking these types of questions once a quarter to give direct reports the opportunity to reflect on the past few months when providing responses. It is important to create trust by doing something with the information you receive so your employees continue to give you honest answers.
Fast Company shares the following five questions you should ask your direct reports every quarter.
- How are you doing? Although this question often gets a quick, stock answer, when you ask your direct reports in a quarterly meeting, let them know you want the full answer, which should reflect how they are doing overall regarding work, health, home, family and work-life balance. If someone is struggling, express empathy and ask whether there is anything you can do to help.
- What is your big goal? This question goes beyond the business goals you have set with direct reports and helps you gauge what is motivating them at this moment. It is vital to understand what drives your direct reports; if you can help them to achieve their goals, they are likely to continue to enjoy their work and bring their best efforts.
- What is your big obstacle? A crucial part of success is identifying what is preventing a project from progressing and fixing those problems. You must help your team recognize obstacles and provide strategies and support to overcome them. You then can mentor them to be better able to identify those obstacles in the future and create strategies to address them.
- What do you need to know? Developing your team members is an important part of your role, so ask them what they would like to know. You can ensure they use available education and training benefits to learn something new each year. You also can incorporate learning opportunities into the workday, such as bringing direct reports on “ride-along” meetings or coaching them through problems so they can learn to solve those issues on their own in the future.
- What do you see that I do not? When you are in a leadership position, you often are more distanced from day-to-day engagement with specific tasks, so you may lose sight of things happening in the front lines of your company. This employee feedback is valuable because it can be an early warning for issues that eventually could be big problems. You also could run potential decisions by a few employees to see whether they have any insights regarding problems that could arise.
