Open and Closed Questions

This week saw the beginning of our transition to our new brand. You’ll see it rolling out across all our channels in coming days.

We also released two new linked moment types - open and closed questions. These are only available on sessions conducted after the feature release date of 30 Mar 2022. You can find them by opening a new session, and using the moment filter to highlight them on the session timeline.

Asking the right question at the right time is a subtle and important skill in coaching, and more generally in all personal communication. It is also deeply challenging to master. What tools are available to coaches looking develop this skill? Historically it’s been done through a combination of mostly theory and reflection and a little supervised practice. The challenges here are obvious - knowledge of the theory does not necessarily translate into mastery in practice, and self-reflection relies on our ability to recall our every action from a session with clarity and no bias. This is notoriously difficult.

In this instance, Ovida makes the difficult easy. Reviewing the questions you asked during a session is as easy as clicking through the questions highlighted on the session timeline, reading the linked transcript, and possibly watching the related video. After all, the quality of a question lies not just in the words used, but also in how it is delivered, and received. You can deepen your learning by recording your reflections for your own purposes, or by sharing the moment (always and only with the consent of your client) with a supervisor to solicit feedback.