Training Consultant Questioning Techniques
Training consultant questioning techniques are the important element of their trade. The ability to cut through to the very heart of a training problem is the key to correcting it.
The poet and author, Rudyard Kipling, wrote in his 1902 work, “The Elephant’s Child”, the following wisdom. “I keep six honest serving men. They taught me all I knew. Their names are--What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who.” This poem should serve as a guide to the proper application of training consultant questioning techniques.
It is the ability to ask the right questions that allows the consultant to get a good enough idea of the current state of a training regime to make helpful suggestions for improvement. It is important to remember the meaning of the concept of the consultant. You need to think of advice and counsel. The consultant that does not grasp the reality of not only the training program itself, but of the type of organization it serves, can not perform this function properly.
The idea of questioning technique has been advanced as a selling skill as well. It is often said that the proper use of questions puts a prospective client at ease and makes the salesman appear to be more of a consultant. This same principle applies to a person who is supposed to be a consultant. The questioning technique puts the client at ease and makes them feel they are still retaining control over the process and puts the consultant in the role of advisor.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “The secret of success is asking the right questions.” The questioning techniques of the training consultant do not consist merely of asking questions, but of asking the right questions. This is the key. It is not always the time to be diplomatic, especially when the consultant sniffs out a potential problem. It is absolutely essential that the questions cut to the heart of any problems and also that they clearly identify the goals of the organization.
Questioning techniques are one of the primary skills of the consultant regardless of their specialty. The training consultant must use them to determine the current level of training, the attitude of the organization toward trainings role in the overall structure, and the expected and measurable goals of the training effort. When these things are known and understood, the consultant can offer the guidance that is their true stock in trade.