When it comes to project development, is your team focused on the why or the how? Just like individuals, teams need to constantly improve their efficiency and learn new skills. One way to do that is hone your team's ability to answer "how and why" questions about their work.
"How" questions establish processes and methods, and the answers are very important to a growing business. "Why" questions are just as crucial, though, because those answers empower employees to make decisions that could potentially keep the business from flat-lining.
"How" questions are about learning: Inexperienced and new employees may not know all the answers, but it's okay to help them along. Conversely, a great worker will figure out most answers on their own. Beware: too many "how" questions will slow the rest of the team down, so businesses need to have methods in place to reduce the number of "how" questions that could bog down the development process.
"Why" questions are about empowerment: Employees looking for "whys" will create value with their time without direction, and that's the reason these types of questions are important— they lead to greater job fulfillment and satisfaction. Interestingly, when the group has a similar understanding of the "why," the "how" questions get magically sorted out.
Some creative personalities are naturally drawn to "why" questions, while others gravitate toward the "how." Make sure there's a steady supply of both types of questions, and good answers to go along with them.
