Powerful People Partnering Questions
The questions I reach for most often when partnering with leaders. They're designed to surface what matters, build trust, and move the conversation forward.
Understanding the business and priorities
- What are your top three priorities this quarter, and what's going to make or break your chances of success?
- What do you need to say no to in order to say yes to these priorities?
- Where does the team lose the most time or energy right now?
- If everything goes right this year, what will have changed about your team?
- What obstacles are you seeing that you need cleared?
Understanding the leader
- What does a great quarter look like for you as a leader?
- Where do you feel most stretched right now in leading the team?
- What kind of support from People has actually been helpful to you in the past?
- What's the best and worst relationship you ever had with an HRBP, and what role did you play in its success or failure?
- What is one thing I can do to make you 10% more energized?
- What is one thing I can do to make you 10% less stressed?
Team effectiveness
- What are the friction points you are seeing in your team's execution?
- Who on the team is quietly carrying a lot of weight right now?
- Where do you see capability gaps emerging as the team grows?
- What places do ownership or decisions feel fuzzy?
Talent and retention
- Who are your strongest players, and what are you doing to retain them?
- If we were sitting here a year from now, who would you hope had grown the most?
- Who on the team might be ready for more scope in the near future?
Organizational health
- What are you hearing informally from the team that might not show up in surveys?
- Where does the team seem most energized right now?
- Are there any early signals of burnout or disengagement we should pay attention to?
Looking around corners
- What are the most significant risks on your team right now, and what are you doing about it?
- What decisions coming up will have the biggest impact on the team?
- If the company doubled in size, where would this team break first?
- What people problems would you rather prevent than solve later?