Keterampilan Open and Closed Questions

Pengantar

How you ask questions is very important in establishing a basis for effective communication.
Effective questions open the door to knowledge and understanding. The art of questioning lies in
knowing which questions to ask when. Address your first question to yourself: if you could press a
magic button and get every piece of information you want, what would you want to know? Th e
answer will immediately help you compose the right questions.

Although attending behavior is the skill and action foundation of the microskills hierarchy, it
is questioning that provides a systematic framework for directing the interview. Questions help an
interview begin and move along smoothly. Th ey open up new areas for discussion, assist in
pinpointing and clarifying issues, and aid in clients’ self exploration. If you use questions as described
below, you can make the follow predictions.

Open and Closed Questions. Begin open questions with often useful who, what, when,
where, and why. Closed questions may start with do, is, or are. Could, can, or would questions are
considered open but have the additional advantage of being somewhat closed, thus giving more
power to the client, who can more easily say that he or she doesn’t want to respond.

Predicted Result. Clients will give more detail and talk more in response to open questions.
Closed questions may provide specific information but may close off client talk. Effective questions
encourage more focused client conversations with more pertinent detail and less wandering. Could,
would, and can questions are often the most open of all.

PEMBAHASAN

Questions are an essential component in many theories and styles of helping, particularly
cognitive-behavioral counseling, brief counseling, and much of career decision-making work. The
employment counselor, the social worker conducting an assessment interview, and the high school
guidance counselor (Guru BK) helping a student work on college admissions all need to use
questions. Many in the increasingly influential coaching movement believe that questions are the
most important helping skill.

Open questions are those that can’t be answered in a few words. They encourage others to
talk and provide you with maximum information. Typically, open questions begin with what, how,
why, or could: For example, “Could you tell me what brings you here today?” You will find these
helpful as they can facilitate deeper exploration of client issues.

Closed questions can be answered in a few words or sentences. They have the advantage of
focusing the interview and obtaining information, but the burden of guiding the talk remains on the
interviewer. Closed questions often begin with is, are, or do: For example, “Are you living with your
family?” Used judiciously, they enable you to obtain important specifics.

A. Closed-Question Example

The first session illustrates how closed questions can bring out specific facts but can
sometimes end in leading the client, even to the point of putting the counselor’s ideas into the
client’s mind.
Tolong dibuatkan tabel, teks dan artinya, sebagaimana pada hal. 98 (atau dapat
dilampirkan dalam makalah)

Closed questions can overwhelm clients and can be used to force them to agree with the
interviewer’s ideas. While the session above seems extreme, encounters like this are common in
daily life and even occur in interviewing and counseling sessions. Th ere is a power differential
between clients and counselors. It is possible that an interviewer who fails to listen can impose
inappropriate decisions on a client.

B. Open-Question Example

The interview is for the client, not the interviewer. Using open questions, Jamila learns
Kelly’s story rather than the one she imposed with closed questions in the first example. Again, this
interview is in the employee assistance office.

Tolong dibuatkan tabel, teks dan artinya, sebagaimana pada hal. 99-101 (atau dapat
dilampirkan dalam makalah)

In this excerpt, we see that Kelly has been given more talk-time and room to explore what is
happening. The questions focused on specific examples clarify what is happening. We also see that
question stems such as why, how, and could have some predictability in expected client responses.
Th e positive asset search is a particularly important part of successful questioning. Issues are best
resolved by emphasizing strengths.

You are very likely to work with clients who have similar interpersonal issues wherever you
may practice. Th e previous case examples focus on the single skill of questioning as a way to bring
out client stories. Questioning is an extremely helpful skill, but do not forget the dangers of using too
many questions.

C. Eight Major Issues Around Questions

1. Questions Help Begin the Interview
With verbal clients and a comfortable relationship, the open question facilitates free
discussion and leaves plenty of room to talk.
2. Open Questions Help Elaborate and Enrich the Clients Story
A beginning interviewer often asks one or two questions and then wonders what to do next.
Even more experienced interviewers at times fi nd themselves hard-pressed to know what
to do.
3. Questions Help Bring Out Concrete Specifi cs of the Client’s World
If there is one single open question that appears to be useful in practice sessions and in most
theoretical persuasions, it is the one that aims for concreteness and specifi cs in the client’s
situation.
4. Questions Are Critical in Assessment
Physicians must diagnose their clients’ physical symptoms. Managers may have to assess a
problem on the production line. Vocational counselors and coaches need to assess a client’s
career history. Questions are the meat of eff ective diagnosis and assessment
5. The First Word of Certain Open Questions Partially Determines What the Client Will Say
Next
Often, but not always, using key-question stems results in predictable outcomes.
6. Questions Have Potential Problems
Questions can have immense value in the interview, but we must not forget their potential
problems.
7. In Cross-Cultural Situations, Questions Can Promote Distrust
If your life background and experience are in relative synchrony with those of the client, you
may fi nd that you can use questions immediately and freely. On the other hand, if you come
from a diff erent cultural background, your questions may be only grudgingly answered.
8. Questions Can Be Used to Help Clients Search for Positive Assets, Strengths, and Patterns
of Wellness
Stories presented in the helping interview are often negative and full of problems and diffi
culties. People grow from strength, not from weakness. Carl Rogers, the founder of client
centered therapy, was always able to fi nd something positive in the interview. He
considered
positive regard and respect for the client essential for future growth. Strength-based
questions are a foundation of effective questions.

D. Using Open and Closed Questions With Less Verbal Clients

Generally, open questions are much preferred to closed questions in the interview. Yet it
must be recognized that open questions require a verbal client, one who is willing to share
information, thoughts, and feelings with you. Here are some suggestions that may encourage clients
to talk more freely with you.

Build trust at the client’s pace. A central issue with hesitant clients is trust. If the client is
required to meet with you or is culturally diff erent from you, he or she may be less willing to talk. At
this time, your own natural openness and social skills are particularly important. Trust building and
rapport need to come fi rst. With some clients, trust building may take a full session or more.
Extensive questioning too early can make trust building a slow process with some clients. Often it is
helpful to discuss multicultural diff erences openly. “I’m wondering how you feel about my being
(White/male/heterosexual or vice versa) as we discuss these issues.”

Accept some randomness. Your less verbal clients may not give you a clear, linear story of
the problem. If they lack trust or are highly emotional, it may take some time for you to get an
accurate understanding. A careful balance of closed and open questions to draw out the story and
get “bits and pieces” will help you put together a coherent narrative. Keep your words as simple,
straightforward, and as concrete as possible. With some clients you will find that briefly disclosing
your own stories is helpful.

Search for concrete specifics. Counselors and therapists talk about the abstraction ladder. If
you or the client moves too high on the abstraction ladder, things won’t make sense to anyone. This
is especially so with less verbal or emotionally distraught clients. After some trust is generated, you
might begin by making an observation such as “The teacher said you and she had an argument.”
Then try asking a concrete open question such as “What did your teacher say (or do)?” “What did
you say (or do)?” If you focus on concrete events and avoid evaluation and opinion in a
nonjudgmental fashion, your chances for helping the client talk will be greatly expanded.

Examples of concrete questions focusing on narrow specifi cs include the following:

(A) What happened fi rst? (B) What happened next? (C) What happened after it was over?
(This brings out the linear sequence of the story.)
What did the other person say? What did he or she do? What did you say or do? (This
focuses on observable concrete actions.)

What did you feel or think just before it happened? During? After? What do you think the
other person felt? (This helps focus emotions.)

Questioning and other listening skills. One eff ective counseling method is to repeat the
client’s main words by paraphrasing or refl ecting feeling (see Chapters 6 and 7, akan kita pelajari
pada perkuliahan berikutnya) and then to raise the intonation of your voice at the end in a
questioning tone.

Working with children. Children, in particular, may require considerable help from the
interviewer before they are willing to share at all. With children, a naturally warm, talkative person
who likes and accepts children will be able to elicit more information more easily. Thus, it helps to
begin sessions with children by sharing something fun and interesting. Games, clay, and toys in the
counseling room are useful when dealing with children.

PENUTUP

Questions help begin the interview, open new areas for discussion, assist in pinpointing and
clarifying issues, and assist the client in self-exploration.

These questions can be described as open or closed. Open questions are those that can’t be
answered in a few short words. Th ey encourage others to talk and provide you with maximum
information. Typically, open questions begin with what, how, why, or could. One of the most helpful
of all open questions is “Could you give a specific example of . . . ?”

Closed questions are those that can be answered in a few words or sentences. They have the
advantage of focusing the interview and bringing out specifics, but they place the prime
responsibility for talk on the interviewer. Closed questions often begin with is, are, or do. An
example is “Where do you live?”

It is important to note that a question, open or closed, on a topic of deep interest to the
client will often result in extensive talk-time if it is important enough. If an interview is flowing well,
the distinction between open and closed questions is less important.

DAFTAR PUSTAKA

Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., & Zalaquett, C. P. (2013). Intentional interviewing and counseling: Facilitating
client development in a multicultural society. Nelson Education.
Okun, B. F., & Kantrowitz, R. E. (2014). Effective helping: Interviewing and counseling techniques.
Nelson Education.