Useful PDR Questions
Your colleague may feel a little nervous, worried, indifferent, and even hostile about the process or towards you. Using questions that keep you both focused on having a meaningful conversation will be helpful.
There are three main types of questions.
A statement question is simply a statement followed by a question. It is a useful way to raise an issue you are concerned about, or encourage a colleague to think about what went well.
Example
- “You took the role of project leader last month – what did you learn from that experience?”
- “I noted that you missed a lot of marking deadlines in the last year. How do you think you can manage deadlines better in future?”
- “Motivation in your team seems to have improved a great deal. What did you do?”
A statement question is simply a statement followed by a question. It is a useful way to raise an issue you are concerned about, or encourage a colleague to think about what went well.
Example
- “You took the role of project leader last month – what did you learn from that experience?”
- “I noted that you missed a lot of marking deadlines in the last year. How do you think you can manage deadlines better in future?”
- “Motivation in your team seems to have improved a great deal. What did you do?”
People rarely say what they really mean. Probing questions will help you get to the heart of the matter through exploring the reasons behind the answer to a previous question.
Example
- Colleague: "I don’t feel my contribution to the team is fully appreciated."
- Manager: "What makes you say that? What has happened that leads you to that conclusion?"
If there are some topics you want to explore – draft yourself a few questions to get your started. Then you won’t have to worry about find the right words while you are in the meeting.
- How do you think you are perceived by..?
- How did you feel about taking on extra responsibility (refer to specific example)?
- How do you feel you have added value to students in the past year?
- Which of your skills have you used the most in the past year?
- Which of your tasks have you found most challenging / least challenging / most interesting / least interesting?
- How confident do you feel in this area compared with 6 months ago?
- If you had free rein in this area what would you do?
- Which skills do you have that we are not currently using in your present job?
- What do you think you will need most support with in the year ahead?
- What do you see as the priorities for yourself/ the team in the coming year?
- Talk me through how you would normally plan a new project
- How do you go about engaging key stakeholders at the start of a new task / project?
- What is your strategy for increasing productivity / motivation / confidence within your team next year?
- What are the key challenges in your team at the moment?
- How can you help the team make the most of its strengths?
- Have you challenged your weakest performers to step up?
- How do your best performers know they are appreciated?
- How are you balancing managing people with other responsibilities?
Watch our workshop video - Great coaching questions and tips for an effective development conversation.
