When it comes to meetings, asking the right questions can make all the difference in the level of engagement you see from attendees, the quality of the conversation, and the likelihood of achieving the objective of the meeting.
Of course, the questions you choose to ask need to align with the purpose of the meeting, the attendees, and the agenda you have set. To give you an idea of the questions that spark engagement, feedback, and innovative thinking, here are over 50 possible questions to ask in your next meeting.
Questions To Ask In A Meeting
Questions To Start a Meeting
- What has been the highlight of your day so far?
- What is something cool or exciting you’re working on right now?
- What would you like to learn from or contribute to this meeting?
- What did you accomplish since we last met that you’re proud of?
- Share one word to describe how you’re showing up today.
Questions To Soclict Feedback
- What is our biggest challenge as a team?
- Is there anything we should start, stop, or continue doing as a team?
- What (or who) needs to be added to our team? What is the level of urgency associated with this? How can we work around it with what we have?
- Are our meetings a good use of your time? If not, what would change your mind?
- Is there anything we don’t cover in our meetings that you'd like to have included next time?
Questions To Determine Workload and Capacity
- How heavy is your current workload on a scale of 1-10?
- Have you taken on an unexpected task or project? How is this impacting your existing responsibilities and deadlines?
- What is one change we could make that would boost productivity?
- Are any projects or tasks going differently from the plan? If so, what needs to change?
- What tasks are your biggest time sinks? Should they be offloaded or eliminated?
- What’s your outlook on your workload between now and our next meeting
- What are the top 3 things on your to-do list?
Questions To Ask On Strategy
- Is there anything holding us back or making it difficult to achieve our goal/mission?
- What are your thoughts on our progress?
- What's one thing our team would be crazy not to do in the next month/quarter/year?
- What are our team’s greatest strengths? Weaknesses? Opportunities? Threats?
- Do you have any new ideas or innovations that would help propel us forward?
- What have you seen others doing that could be a relevant opportunity for us?
- What does success look like for our team?
Questions To Check On Change
- Does change make you excited or nervous? What would make you more confident in the face of change at work?
- What is one piece of feedback you would give on the change initiative?
- What new skills would help you implement change?
- Do you know why the change is happening?
- Do you receive enough communication regarding change?
- How is this change impacting your day-to-day role?
- What benefits are you noticing from the change?
Questions To Get A Pulse On Culture
- What makes you proud to be on this team? Work for this company?
- Do you feel supported by your peers?
- What’s one way we could enhance our work environment?
- What three words would you use to describe our culture?
- What one behavior would you eliminate from the team? How would it help us?
- Do we celebrate success enough?
- Do you feel that your work is valued?
- What are the benefits of working on this team? For this company?
- Do you feel safe to share your ideas, thoughts, and feedback?
Questions To Spark Collaboration
- Do we communicate enough?
- Where did miscommunication happen recently? How can we avoid this?
- What is an example of teamwork you experienced since we last met?
- What’s our biggest communication challenge? How can we resolve it?
- Where are the most significant bottlenecks or delays taking place? How can we fix it together?
- How can we ensure everyone feels included?
- What is a strength you have that you feel is underutilized by the team?
- What is your commitment to staying aligned with the team?
- What is a missed opportunity for teamwork?
Questions To Reflect and Celebrate
- What do we do really well as a team?
- What is one way someone on the team made you feel recognized?
- How can we better celebrate our success as a team?
- What is one win you’ve achieved since we last met?
- What is one improvement we’ve made?
- Who made your job easier recently? What did they do?
- How can we better show each other appreciation?
Next Steps: Feel Confident and Prepared for Leading Meetings
Knowing how to ask the right questions, set an agenda, steer conversations, and overcome conflict in meetings takes knowledge, time, and practice to master. However, you can fast-track your skills in leading meetings with Niagara Institute. With programs on communication and leadership for individuals and organizations, there is the perfect option that meets your needs.