Re:Ask HN: Types of questions to ask team members before acc...
by saudioger on Tuesday September 04, 2018 @01:14PM
(#17910754)
>Think of the last person you know who left the company. Why did they leave?
I don't think you'll get an honest answer for this a lot of the time, often team members might not even directly know why someone was laid off
>When was your last vacation, and how long was it?
This is a bit tough too, it's very subjective. I personally like working, and while I encourage my employees to use all of their vacation time, I rarely do so myself (I spread my time around as individual days rather than large chunks).
Also depends on your audience. Parents will answer this much differently than individuals.
Re:Ask HN: Types of questions to ask team members before acc...
by christophilus on Tuesday September 04, 2018 @02:10PM
(#17911391)
It does depend on your audience, but I've gotten good mileage out of these questions, so personally vouch for them. I got them from the book "Switch"[0], which has better phrasing than I jotted down in my comment. I highly recommend the book.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/038...
Re:Ask HN: Types of questions to ask team members before acc...
by haloux on Tuesday September 04, 2018 @01:22PM
(#17910852)
I'd argue against asking questions that have a clearly negative predicted response. Whenever a question is clearly skewed in one direction, the subject has a tendency to become suspicious and will often try to give the unintended answer. This is why tests like the MMPI use validity indicators and repeat questions.
- When did you last miss supper / a personal event because you were working late?
- Think of the last person you know who left the company. Why did they leave?
- When was your last vacation, and how long was it?
These are essentially a way of asking, how’s the work life balance? In a way that avoids the BS answer, “great!”