Questions asked of others are great … although you can control a conversation by asking a whole list of questions (and if you’re not careful, you can get a bad reputation for being so controlling), you also can learn a lot by doing the same. Bring the latter intention to your work on virtual teams, and ask questions of others. It’s generally the case that you will be working with other people that have different backgrounds, expectations and training to you … so you need to take responsibility for creating understanding.

Ask questions to understand the context … why do they think something is as important as they are saying it is?

Ask questions to comprehend the details … draw others out so they will give you the complete picture.

Ask questions to help the other people explain themselves in ways that you can understand.

You don’t have to agree with all of what other people say … this isn’t a directive to be a door mat on the virtual team … but it is a directive to be open to deeper meanings that aren’t apparent on first blush.

What Do I Need To Do?

If you think you understand what someone else is saying to you, ask a question to clarify that you really have understood. “Here’s my understanding … What haven’t I got right?”

If you don’t understand what someone else has said, try the Brian Tracy question … “How do you mean?” Don’t be backwards about asking for more insight, more information, more context, more clarity.

See A-Z of Virtual Teams: Summary for the complete list.