“Good Conversations”

The person-centered thinking tools are a structured way to have a conversation and draw out information, which is recorded and acted on. Having ‘good conversations’ is the key to gathering the right information. To have a good conversation you need to:

• Ask the ‘right’ questions – sometimes the hardest questions produce the most important information

• Use Guess>Ask> Write: guess what someone means, ask questions to confirm your understanding then write down what you have learned

• Listen to what someone is telling you; don’t make assumptions

• Challenge what you are hearing and ask follow-up questions 

• Pay attention to non-verbal clues such as tone of voice, body language etc.