Instead of saying, What do you think of this? Say "Maybe if we were to do it this way it would be better?" Always give people the opportunity to do things themselves; Never told your assistants to do things; Let them do them, let them learn from their mistakes.
A technique like that makes it easy for a person to correct errors. A technique like that saves a person's pride and gives him or her a feeling of importance. It encourages cooperation instead of rebellion.
REsentment caused by a brash order may last a long time - even of the order was given to correct an obviously bad situation. Asking questions not only makes an order more palatable; it often stimulates the creativity of the persons whom you ask. People are more likely to accept an order if they have had a part in the decision that caused the order to be issued.
When Ian Mcdonald of South Africa, the GM of a small plant specializing in manufacturing machine parts, had the opportunity to accept a very large order, he was convinced that he would not meet the promised delivery date. Instead of pushing his people to accelerate their work and rush the order through, he called everybody together, explained the situation to them, and told them how much it would mean to the company and to them if they could make it possible to produce the order on time. Then he started asking questions;
Is there anything we can do to handle this order?
Can anyone think of different ways to process it?
Is there any way to adjust our hours or personnel assignments that would help?
The employees came up with many ideas and insisted that he take the order. They approached it with a "We can do it".
An Effective leader will ask Questions instead of giving direct orders.
