Using S.M.A.R.T. methodology in asking quality questions that matter to ask. * Examples of good questions; * Examples of bad questions.

1. Asking S.M.A.R.T. questions
Oleksandr Stefanovskyi

2. Why asking
● ScreeningInterview meetings
● Project details discussions
● Communication with contractors
● Internal team discussions
● Negotiations with customers
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3. Why asking
● ScreeningInterview meetings
● Project details discussions
● Communication with contractors
● Internal team discussions
● Negotiations with customers
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4. Why asking
● ScreeningInterview meetings
● Project details discussions
● Communication with contractors
● Internal team discussions
● Negotiations with customers
��

5. Why asking
● ScreeningInterview meetings
● Project details discussions
● Communication with contractors
● Internal team discussions
● Negotiations with customers
��

6. Why asking
● ScreeningInterview meetings
● Project details discussions
● Communication with contractors
● Internal team discussions
● Negotiations with customers
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7. Why asking
● ScreeningInterview meetings
● Project details discussions
● Communication with contractors
● Internal team discussions
● Negotiations with customers
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8. Stakeholders

9. Who is a stakeholder?
“Stakeholders are people who have
invested time, interest, and resources into
the projects that you are working on”
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❔

10. Stakeholders types
● Executive team
● Customer facing team
● Data science team
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11. Stakeholders types (Data-oriented companies)
● Executive team
● Customer facing team
● Data science team
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12. Stakeholders levels
● Executive team
○ Vice Presidents
○ Chief Marketing Officer
○ Senior Level Professionals
● Customer facing team
● Data science team
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13. Stakeholders levels
● Executive team
● Customer facing team
● Data science team
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14. Stakeholders levels
● Executive team
● Customer facing team
● Data science team
○ Data Analysts
○ Data Scientists
○ Data Engineers
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15. S.M.A.R.T
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16. Good question
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time bound 👍

17. Good question
● Specific
“Questions are simple, significant, and focused
on a single topic or a few closely related ideas.”
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time bound
👍

18. Good question
● Specific
● Measurable
“Questions can be quantified and assessed.”
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time bound
👍

19. Good question
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
“Questions encourage change.”
● Relevant
● Time bound
👍

20. Good question
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
“Questions matter, are important, and have
significance to the problem you’re trying to solve.“
● Time bound
👍

21. Good question
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time bound
“Questions specify the time to be studied.”
👍

22. Example of a SMART Question
● On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most important) how would you
rate 4-wheel drive?
● What are the top 5 features you would like to see in a car package?
● When would you consider buying a car without 4-wheel drive?
● How much more would you pay for a car with 4-wheel drive?
● Has 4-wheel drive become more or less popular in the last three years?

23. Example of a SMART Question
● On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most important) how would you rate
4-wheel drive?
● What are the top 5 features you would like to see in a car package?
● When would you consider buying a car without 4-wheel drive?
● How much more would you pay for a car with 4-wheel drive?
● Has 4-wheel drive become more or less popular in the last three years?

24. Example of a SMART Question
● On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most important) how would you rate
4-wheel drive?
● What are the top 5 features you would like to see in a car package?
● When would you consider buying a car without 4-wheel drive?
● How much more would you pay for a car with 4-wheel drive?
● Has 4-wheel drive become more or less popular in the last three years?

25. Example of a SMART Question
● On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most important) how would you rate
4-wheel drive?
● What are the top 5 features you would like to see in a car package?
● When would you consider buying a car without 4-wheel drive?
● How much more would you pay for a car with 4-wheel drive?
● Has 4-wheel drive become more or less popular in the last three years?

26. Example of a SMART Question
● On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most important) how would you rate
4-wheel drive?
● What are the top 5 features you would like to see in a car package?
● When would you consider buying a car without 4-wheel drive?
● How much more would you pay for a car with 4-wheel drive?
● Has 4-wheel drive become more or less popular in the last three years?

27. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
● The Assumptive Question
● The Pushy Question
● The Confusing Question
● The Random Question
● The Double-Barreled Question
● The Ambiguous Question
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28. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
“How great is our hard-working customer service team?”
● The Assumptive Question
● The Pushy Question
● The Confusing Question
● The Random Question
● The Double-Barreled Question
● The Ambiguous Question
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29. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
● The Assumptive Question
“How often do you exercise twice a day?”
● The Pushy Question
● The Confusing Question
● The Random Question
● The Double-Barreled Question
● The Ambiguous Question
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30. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
● The Assumptive Question
● The Pushy Question
“Ice cream is good on a cold day.
Agree or disagree?”
● The Confusing Question
● The Random Question
● The Double-Barreled Question
● The Ambiguous Question
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31. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
● The Assumptive Question
● The Pushy Question
● The Confusing Question
“Do you think our sales team was not unhelpful,
or were they helpful?”
● The Random Question
● The Double-Barreled Question
● The Ambiguous Question
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32. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
● The Assumptive Question
● The Pushy Question
● The Confusing Question
● The Random Question
“Do you consider yourself physically fit?”
● The Double-Barreled Question
● The Ambiguous Question
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33. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
● The Assumptive Question
● The Pushy Question
● The Confusing Question
● The Random Question
● The Double-Barreled Question
“How would you rate the training and
onboarding process?”
● The Ambiguous Question
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34. What are bad questions?
● The Leading Question
● The Assumptive Question
● The Pushy Question
● The Confusing Question
● The Random Question
● The Double-Barreled Question
● The Ambiguous Question
“Are we better than other software companies?”
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35. SMART questions in real world
● Planning
● Create questions
● Taking useful notes
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36. Planning
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time-bound ��

37. Planning
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time-bound ��

38. Planning
● Specific
Questions are simple, significant, and focused on
a single topic or a few closely related ideas.
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time-bound
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39. Planning
● Specific
● Measurable
Questions can be quantified and assessed.
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time-bound
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40. Planning
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
Questions encourage change.
● Relevant
● Time-bound
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41. Planning
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
Questions matter, are important, and have
significance to the problem you're trying to solve.
● Time-bound
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42. Planning
● Specific
● Measurable
● Action-oriented
● Relevant
● Time-bound
Questions specify the time to be studied.
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43. Conversation with someone who works in retail
● Do you currently use data to drive decisions in
your business? If so, what kind(s) of data do
you collect, and how do you use it?
● Are there business decisions or changes that
you would make if you had the right
information?
For example, if you had information about
how umbrella sales change with the weather,
how would you use it?
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44. Conversation with a teacher
● What kind of data do you use to
build your lessons?
● Do you use others’ data to support
the concepts students are learning?
● How do you use grading data?
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45. Preparing questions
● Avoid technical jargon
● Prioritize your questions
● Make your time count
● Clarify your understanding ✍

46. Preparing questions
● Avoid technical jargon
● Prioritize your questions
● Make your time count
● Clarify your understanding ✍

47. Preparing questions
● Avoid technical jargon
● Prioritize your questions
Ask the most important and impactful questions
first to save time.
● Make your time count
● Clarify your understanding
✍

48. Preparing questions
● Avoid technical jargon
● Prioritize your questions
● Make your time count
Stay on the subject during the conversation.
● Clarify your understanding
✍

49. Preparing questions
● Avoid technical jargon
● Prioritize your questions
● Make your time count
● Clarify your understanding
To avoid confusion, briefly summarizing the
given answers to make sure you understood
them correctly. This will go a long way in helping
you avoid mistakes.
✍

50. Taking useful notes
● Facts
● Context
● Unknowns
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51. Taking useful notes
● Facts
Any concrete piece of information is usually
worth writing down. Dates, times, names,
and other specifics that pop up.
● Context
● Unknowns
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52. Taking useful notes
● Facts
● Context
Facts without context are useless. Note any
relevant details that are needed in order to
understand the information you gather.
● Unknowns
📝

53. Taking useful notes
● Facts
● Context
● Unknowns
Sometimes you may miss an important
question during a conversation. Make a
note when this happens so you know to
figure out the answer later.
📝

54. Any questions? 😉

55. Useful links
● Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions by Google
● SMART Goals: How to Make Your Goals Achievable
● The 7 Deadly Survey Questions
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