Elicitation techniques are strategic communication methods used to extract information during a conversation without making the other person feel interrogated.
They are very useful tools when facilitating strategic discussions because formal and professional settings often put people in a closed and defensive mode, however, elicitation makes questions feel like natural sharing rather than an interrogation.
It bypasses mental defence mechanisms and triggers a psychological desire in the other person to correct the record or provide context.
The second elicitation technique is acknowledging success and giving praise when it is due. Praising someone’s work or expertise immediately makes them comfortable when explaining to you exactly how they do it, leading to greater insight to inform your plans.
For instance, instead of directly asking “Tell me how you dropped your response times by 30%”, you may ask “In all my experience I have never come across such quick response times, how did you do it?” This is a human tendency to response positively to praise and to further build on it.
Again, I stress that elicitation in the business context is not for manipulation, it is to help the listener give clear answers that can aid the strategy formulation process.
The third technique is called quid pro quo and that is when you share a true piece of personal information. For instance instead of asking, “What’s the best way to improve invoicing”, you ask “We still use Excel to manage our invoices, what are your thoughts about that?” Quid pro quo leverages the innate psychological desire for social balance.
By sharing a piece of personal or professional information first, you prompt the other person to reciprocate with a detail of similar weight. Elicitation is an important tool in strategy planning, but it must be done with authenticity and not in manipulation.
