The Advice Process Starts With a Question


By Hans Bool


Obviously, the advice process starts with a question? But who will pose the question. Is it the advisor or the one, let’s say the manager, who is asking for an advice?

First the advisor. This can be nearly anyone; from the official advisor or management consultant to someone in the office, a colleague ... But to trigger the advice process and to open the road to a satisfied advice, the advisor doesn’t necessary have to ask the first question. Of course, the professional advisor would always want to pose questions. This is part of his job. “Which marketing campaign made the sales volume increase most?” Or, “Do you want to increase your sales with ten percent?” Yeah, who wouldn’t, but why would you care? That is the top confusion in the advice process; the advisor wants to solve (question) a topic he dominates best. So (don’t) let him or her ask the first question.

Even if you are not a professional advisor but an experienced colleague, your advice will not easily be accepted if it something that is not asked for at the moment.

During our work we are troubled by an enormous amount of questions and uncertainties. And all these questions could be answered. But answering those costs valuable time and involves some dedication and probably follow-up actions and resources.

From this amount of possible questions you need to select the one that you think is urgent and the right one to focus on. And you -– whether you are a manager or a specialist -– know best which question this is. Than you are free to consult someone, an official advisor and you will be able to control the advice process.

If you do not know the question to ask, you’re not dealing with an advice process, but you are informing. These are quite different areas, which you should keep separated if possible.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account


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