4 Questions To Ask Your Boss During Your Next Chat

A good boss will provide you with regular and constructive feedback. Hopefully they will encourage you to ask questions but you are ultimately in charge of your own career. When you meet with your boss whether off the side of your desk or in a formal one on one, this is your chance to get the precious information you need to be successful in your career. Many people enter their regular monthly one on one and sit there being talked to. This is a huge missed opportunity.

In a workplace study by the American Psychological Association, up to 75% of respondents said the most stressful aspect of their job is their immediate boss. That being said, taking the time to build a relationship with your boss by asking questions and having two way communication will allow you to get to know each other better. It will also allow you to pinpoint what is important to them to make sure you are focusing on the pertinent things.

Here are 4 great questions to ask your boss during your next chat.

What are your top 3 priorities right now?

• In a previous article I spoke about “knowing the hot topic items”. Knowing your bosses top 3 priorities will help you focus on the important things. Don’t just focus on those things but also push yourself outside your comfort zone by challenging the status quo. Come up with new and creative ways to drive for result on these 3 topics and share your findings.

What do I need to do differently or get better at to set myself up for a promotion?

• Many times we are thinking everything is going great and nothing needs to be changed. The old adage of “no news is good news” is not necessarily a good thing in this scenario. Your boss may be really busy or have other priorities taking them away from these important conversations with you. Next thing you know you are applying for a position and you get turned down. Now you are left wondering what you could have done differently. By asking this question you are ensuring that from your boss’s perspective you are on track and you always know where you stand. The important thing here is that you take that constructive criticism and really work on it.

When you think of the most successful people that have worked for you what traits do they share?

• Why not take this opportunity to learn from others? If others had success by emulating certain traits then why not do the same. To many times in life we learn the hard way when there are other life experiences at our finger tips to learn from. You just have to ask. Once you get theshared traits of these successful people then put a plan in motion to get better at those things.

What path did you take to get to where you are at?

• Again, this question helps build that relationship between you and your boss but it will also give you some pointers on some things that you can do to get better at your job and have more success in your career. Ask follow up questions like, what did you like about that position? Or, why did you make the decision to go that path? Open ended questions like these keep the conversation going. The more you have two way communication the more you will build an understanding relationship with your boss.

In conclusion:

You and only you are responsible for your career. You need to treat your career like your own business. In fact, Earl Nightingale said, “The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!”

~Dale