Asking great questions

The questions we ask and how them will make a difference in successful are meetings, collaborations our careers as statisticians data scientists. What makes question good what great? Great elicit information useful for accomplishing the tasks of project strengthen statistician–domain expert relationship. have three parts: question, answer paraphrasing to create shared understanding. We discuss strategies asking great questions: preface with statements about intent behind question; follow behaviours actions consistent prefaced words including such listening, summarizing; model collaborative relationship via question. describe methods results study that shows can be assessed, learn those who learned this skill consider it valuable their careers. provide practical guidelines learning so improve collaboration skills thus increase impact help address societal challenges.