I just finished reading “Making Questions Work: A Guide to What and How to Ask for Facilitators, Consultants, Managers, Coaches and Educators” by Dorothy Strachan. This quote about sums it up: “the right questions for the right people at the right time are at the heart of a healthy group process-a top priority in effective and dynamic facilitation.”

The book reviews helpful skills for conscious questioning, such as be intentional about creating inviting questions and clarifying assumptions.  It reviews some core facilitation values: integrity, authenticity and mutual respect. Not only does the book offer a rich bank of questions to ask, it provides some helpful process frameworks for types of questions to ask during different parts of a meeting or retreat. There’s a different set of questions to ask to open a session, for enabling action, for thinking critically, for addressing issues and for closing a session.

I recommend the book to anyone who wants a more advanced book for helping groups reach their full potential. The book helped me brush up my questioning skills, which I look forward to putting into practice as I facilitate future retreats, training and coaching sessions.