One of the many reasons to join the AAMC open forum and communities network is to ask questions from your peers and identify Subject Matter Experts (SME's). But not all questions are created equally. Did you know
that there are different classifications of questions?
- Objective questions look for a specific fact.
- Subjective questions look for a recommendation or an opinion.
- There are questions based in cultural and/or social connections.
- Some questions ask for people who can perform a favor.
- Facilitation questions help people to critically think about a topic and challenge assumptions.
Even how you ask and who you ask can help create a higher response and better engagement with others in the community. Here, we share a few tips for you:
- Recognize that perfection is the enemy of engagement.
- This is your community - so ask away! In your voice!
- Do not ask questions in a declarative or authoritative manner. This kills engagement.
- Use the “Intuitive Way” exercise, i.e. what you think is going to happen and then compare it to what actually happened. Taking the time to reflect helps to remove assumptions and expectations.
- Show interest, i.e. “Did you mean...?” This creates interest and helps the questioner to avoid the failure experience of an unanswered question.
- Be supportive even if you do not have the answer, i.e. “I don’t know the answer, but we are experiencing the same thing.”
- Reduce the cognitive load within the question. Questions that make people think too hard will get passed over by members.
- Describe what the answer looks like before trying to formulate the question.
- Invite others to join the community and participate. We have nearly 3000 members here; invite others to join us. They simply need to visit Home - AAMC Communities to register to join the open forum.
What advice do you have in asking questions?
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Penny Schnarrs
Virtual Communities Program Manager
Association of American Medical Colleges
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