The promotion you thought was yours was given to someone else. A boss offers you a small raise after a year of hard work and says "take it or leave it." A job interviewer is asking you inappropriate questions. Your great idea for saving your department thousands of dollars was shot down. Now you can turn tough situations like these into powerful opportunities, thanks to this valuable guide! It provides the exact questions to use - and expected answers - for getting in control of virtually every conceivable on-the-job situation. For example, you'll discover exactly what to ask when you have to satisfy a demanding What to do when your boss blames you for his mistake ... you receive a low performance rating ... or you're told you don't measure up; survive layoffs or getting What you should ask if you're unjustly fired you're told to lay off members of your staff ... or your salary is frozen; work with difficult How to handle a coworker who checks up on your work ... a lazy peer who asks for your help ... or a subordinate who takes up too much of your time; ask for a promotion or a How to respond when you're offered a promotion without more money ... a deserving employee asks for a raise and there's none to give ... or you're asked to choose between reduced pay or a severance package; please troublesome What to say to a customer whose check bounces ... demands special treatment ... or requests a special service your company doesn't provide; Resolve How to answer someone who insults or belittles you ... loses his temper ... or uses you as a target of her practical jokes and much more! Knowing when to turn around a problem situation instead of being caught at a loss for words is one of the secret skills of a great manager. With this resource, you'll have step-by-step guidance for mastering the questioning techniques you need to help resolve problems, turn conflict into compromise, and deflect hostility.
Asking the right question is an essential tenet of the coaching process and is extremely effective in influencing and getting along with others. In this book, the authors explain why they call "the magic of questions" and then provide examples of "555 powerful questions to use for getting your way at work. The vast majority of these examples are relevant to today's workplace and furnish a useful reference tool when you are stumped on how to deal with a difficult situation.
The questions are organized by topic ranging from Satisfying Bosses to Getting Promotions and Raises, Working Together, Selling Your Ideas, Resolving Conflict, etc. All of these scenarios are familiar to anyone who has worked in business or other fields of endeavor. Questions around job interviewing were particularly helpful and relevant.
I would recommend this book to keep in your desk drawer and refer to it as various situations crop up. With a little practice, I think you will find that a well constructed question that elicits thought from the other person is much better than stating an opinion or worse yet, bashing the other person over the head with your viewpoint. Unless the question is very aggressive, people will not get defensive if they feel the question is not a leading one with a "gotcha" as its goal. Win/win should be the ultimate objective in every interpersonal encounter for enduring and fruitful relationships.