Asking better questions on the floor
Supervisors already know where work snags. The skill is asking in a way that surfaces the snag without turning the conversation into blame.
During Operations Health Reviews we avoid opening with “why did this go wrong?” That question invites defence. Better starters:
- “Walk me through the last order that felt messy.”
- “Where do you wait even when you are ready?”
- “What do you wish sales knew before promising a date?”
Listen for the second answer. The first is often polite; the second names the recurring friction. Write what you hear in the language of the floor — “waiting on the blue crates” — not in abstract labels. Those phrases become the backbone of a backlog people recognise.