In our academic environment, many students do not have habit of asking questions. Their hesitation could be due to many reasons   e.g. shyness, fear of looking foolish, difficulty in forming the question, lack of interest in the course etc.   This not only limits their learning in college but also see its affects when they carry this mindset to the workplace.

At a workplace, things often move at a faster pace.  One also experiences uncertainty, cross cultural interaction, management jargon, meetings with senior stakeholders, and best practices etc.  To add to it, when recent graduates join a professional setup, they initially feel intimidated by the setup and boss or higher ups. 

They want to make a good impression on their new colleagues and don’t want to been seen as ones responsible for slowing things down.  So they go into their shell, which is detrimental to their career development.

Here are some of things you should know about asking questions and sharing opinions at workplace 

• It is important to understand all aspects of a given task well and this requires you to ask clarifying questions.  If not understood for the first time, then ask again.  It is perfectly acceptable and fine.  Do not base your work on assumptions.
• Contrary to perception held by junior level employees, managers like people who ask questions and have meaningful discussion with them. Managers prefer participatory meetings as compared to where they are the only one speaking and others are nodding
• If you have a strong opinion on some topic, share it.  This shows your personality as well as level of involvement in the discussion. It is greatly noticed by managers.  You will learn to better articulate your points with experience, however you must start now to get there. If you are uneasy with sharing negative opinion, then initially you start with expressing negative opinion in private to the concerned person.  Never hold your opinions to yourself. 
• Always ask and share ideas to improve the current situation – be it for project or related to your own development. Managers like employees who show genuine interest in improvement. 
• There is no silly question – as long as question or comment is not made with malafide intention, all questions are good.  

It is important to develop the habit of asking questions in the college itself. No matter if you are in a classroom, group project, group discussion – never let your curiosity subside.  It will help you widen your knowledge and also build your confidence for future roles at workplace.

I will finish the article by sharing an interesting incident.

Many years ago a presenter told me, there are 3 types of questions

• Good question - This is the question which makes the presenter think. It stimulates discussion and as a result, everyone gets engaged.
• Very Good question – Presenter have a fair idea of what to answer. They provide more clarity and examples while answering it and also thank you for asking this question.
• Excellent question – Presenter absolutely knows how to answer your question.  They are waiting for someone to ask this and thus they love you for asking this question. 

What you perceive a silly question could be an excellent question for presenter.  As funny as it may sound, it is true. You can try it yourself.

So never hesitate to ask questions and share your opinion.