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Authentic Connection: Closing Questions

Inflexion June 23, 2023
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Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.

– Margaret J. Wheatley

INTRO

One of the best ways to create small, powerful moments of human connections at work is to ask questions at the beginning of a meeting or to close a meeting.

OBJECTIVES

  • Provide opportunities for people to reflect on their experience and how it impacts them and their future work/selves
  • Cultivate a culture that actively embraces and supports reflection, evaluation, and collaborative growth

RESOURCES

One of the best ways to create small, powerful moments of human connections at work is to ask questions at the beginning of a meeting or to close a meeting.

We’re including 18 example questions here. Please see the original article for the complete list of 52 questions you can ask at the end of a meeting or use in moments of a review or as debrief questions to close the week together as a team.

The goal of doing a closing, review, and debrief is to listen to each other, hear about each other individual experiences, learn, and build trust.

Meeting-Specific Questions

  • What’s a learning you take with you from this meeting?
  • What’s a new idea or thought from this meeting that you would like to continue thinking about?
  • How would you have made this meeting better?

Team-Related Questions

  • When did you feel appreciated this week?
  • When did you feel most connected to your team/colleagues this week?
  • Was there a moment where you felt left behind? If yes, when and why?

Work-Related Questions

  • What has been something surprisingly challenging?
  • What has been a work highlight of this week/day/session for you?
  • What would you do differently if you could start again (this day, this week)?

Growth-Related Questions

  • What thoughts, beliefs, or stories am I holding onto that no longer serve me?
  • Is there something you learned about yourself, and you feel willing to share?
  • What happened this week/today that you want to do again?

Emotional, Mindfulness Questions

  • Why do you want to remember this week/day?
  • What is something you are taking away from this meeting/week and want to reflect on more?
  • When did you feel in flow and at your best?

Creative & Inspirational Questions

  • If this week/day/project/meeting would be a song, which one would it be, or what would you call it?
  • If you had to describe this week/day/meeting in 3 words, what would they be?
  • When did you feel on top of the world this week?
Categories: Rituals & Routines
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