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How to start a conversation using each pulse question
How to start a conversation using each pulse question

This is a detailed guide on how to use each question to start a conversation with your people based on their results.

Daniel Spitty avatar
Written by Daniel Spitty
Updated over 5 months ago

The best place to see the current scores for your people is in two areas:

The Passport - Top and Bottom Factors

The Passport - Scores

This list has been curated and sorted in alphabetical order:

How many great work days have you had recently?

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Wellbeing

Mindset

50% or below

Ask, what does a great work day look like for you?

What type of work are you doing? Who are you working with?

What impact do you have?


I am confident I will meet expectations with my current work commitments

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Wellbeing

Mindset

50% or below

Open by asking, what are the current expectations you are aiming for?

This will reveal if it is the expectation is aligned with yours. Further to this, discovering what might be impeding them from meeting this expectation would be a great follow-up question.


I am feeling good and energised

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Wellbeing

Energy

50% or below

Does this match your observations of this person in recent times?

If it does/doesn't, share that you have/haven't observed this and if there is anything you can do to support them as their manager.


I am given enough time to do my job

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Capacity

50% or below

Get a better understanding of what their current understanding of their workload is, what activities they are planning to work on, and how they are prioritising their work.

This may reveal that what they are thinking is urgent and important might not reflect the same staus in your view.


I am making a positive contribution to the team

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Fulfilment

50% or below

Ask what they view as the positive contributions they have made to the team in the past, and why they don't feel this has been occurring recently.

Or, this may also be an opportunity for you to refresh them on what positive contributions you have observed they have made to the team in recent times.


I am making a positive impact to the clients I am working with now

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Fulfilment

50% or below

Ask for a better understanding of what they deem as valuable or not-valuable.

What does great value look like to them?

Where might we be getting held back from delivering this to our clients?


I am spending my time working on the most important activities

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Flow

50% or below

Ask, what are the most important activities?

And where are you currently spending time?

And what are the reasons these important activities aren't able to be prioritised at the moment?


I am taking regular breaks to look after my wellbeing

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Wellbeing

Energy

50% or below

Encouraging them to take small actions towards this like a quick walk outside in between meetings to grab a coffee, or scheduling in a buffer between going from one task to the next is a great way to remind them of this.


I ask for help when I need it

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Relationship

Connection

50% or below

A great opportunity to ask, what help do you need?

And following up with, if you need help, what is holding you back from asking for it?


I feel I manage well in times of uncertainty

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Wellbeing

Mindset

50% or below

Ask, what is uncertain in your experience at the moment?

How can you help them either create certainty or help them navigate through?


I feel the effort I am putting in is having an impact this week

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Fulfilment

50% or below

This may be due to a host of reasons, use it as an opportunity to narrow in on why they feel that this is the case.

Is it due to the type of work, them not seeing a link between what they do and their impact?

As their manager, reiterating the link for them is a great way to reinforce their role and contribution. Or a way to reinforce that their effort may not be having an impact now, but may in the future.


I feel we are delivering great value to our clients

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Fulfilment

50% or below

Ask for a better understanding of what they deem as valuable or not-valuable.

What does great value look like to them?

Where might we be getting held back from delivering this to our clients?


I give positive feedback to someone I work with

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Relationship

Connection

50% or below

Ask, if you were to give positive feedback to someone, who would it be and what would the feedback include?

Then task them with the action of giving the feedback to that person before the day is out.


I have a good balance between meetings, client, team and solo work this week

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Flow

50% or below

Ask, what is out of balance?

And look at the breakdown of time and where they have been spending it across all of the categories available.


I have a good work-life balance right now

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Wellbeing

Mindset

50% or below

Be curious about what a good work-life balance looks like for them. How long is this imbalance to be the case?

Work and life ebb and flow, if this is likely to change next week due to circumstances, a temporary imbalance is perfectly human.


I have clear personal goals and I am on track to achieve them

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Flow

50% or below

This is twofold. Either the goals don't exist, or you can help encourage them to start.

Or the goals exist but they are not on track to achieve.

And you can help by asking them if there is anything they would like your help on to get them back on track.


I have everything I need to do my best work

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Capacity

50% or below

Ask, what would a 5/5 or 100% rating to this question look like?


I have great relationships with the clients I am working with now

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Relationship

Connection

50% or below

Get a better understanding of the reasons why they rated this low and what opportunities may exist that are coming up for this to improve.

*For internal employees, it is helpful to reframe this to relate to internal clients.


I have had a conversation about my personal development recently

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Growth

50% or below

Use this as an opportunity to have this conversation or a nudge for you/them to set up a time to do this.

This is particularly difficult in seasonally busy times, so even just acknowledging this and refreshing them on when these conversations are planned is a useful action.


I have had meaningful conversations with my manager recently

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Relationship

Connection

50% or below

Ask, what would 5/5 or 100% look like?

Look to when they rated this question high and reflect on what the conversation you had with them then was.


I have had opportunities to learn and develop recently

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Growth

50% or below

People will interpret this question very differently. Therefore focusing your conversation on what learning and development means to the individual is often a great starting point.

This often comes from learning on the job, internal training/mentoring and learning from external training/mentoring.


I have received valuable feedback from someone recently

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Relationship

Connection

50% or below

Use this as an opportunity to provide valuable feedback as their manager. I noticed that you have rated this low, I wanted to spend the time to give you feedback ......

And, use the next rating as a validation of whether they felt the feedback was valuable. Also, encourage them to request feedback if they would like it in particular situations.


I know exactly what my targets are and when I need to achieve them

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Flow

50% or below

Ask, what is unclear at the moment, and what is missing for this to be rated 5/5 or 100% that I can help with.


I really enjoy working with the clients I have currently

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Fulfilment

50% or below

Ask, what are you not enjoying at the moment? What would need to change for this to be 5/5 or 100%?


I receive recognition for what I do from someone I work with

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Relationship

Connection

50% or below

Use this as an opportunity to provide recognition as their manager.

I noticed that you have rated this low, I wanted to spend the time to let you know that you did a great job with .....

And, use the next rating as a validation of whether they felt the recognition was received.


I've been thinking clearly

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Wellbeing

Mindset

50% or below

Ask, so what's on your mind? Often just listening to them and having an opportunity to think out loud will enable the mind to clear (a little).


I've had meaningful interactions with my teammates recently

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Relationship

Connection

50% or below

Ask clarifying questions as this is another example of the same question being interpreted differently.

What do meaningful interactions with teammates look like?

When was the last time you can relate to that this occurred?

How can you/we create this again?


It is clear what is expected of me in my role

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Flow

50% or below

Ask, what is unclear at the moment, and what is missing for this to be rated 5/5 or 100% that I can help with.


My current workload is manageable

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Capacity

50% or below

Get a better understanding of what their current understanding of their workload is, what activities they are planning to work on, and how they are prioritising their work.

This may reveal what they are thinking is urgent and important might not reflect the same status in your view.


My work challenged me to improve this week

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Growth

50% or below

Be curious on when the last time they felt challenged and this resulted in an improvement.

Use this as an example to recreate with them. It may be that they haven't felt challenged for a while and they are ready to take on something new, or, you may have an example that you have observed that you can discuss further with them.


The most difficult challenge I have at the moment is

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Flow

-

Open by asking, I was really interested in your response here, can you tell me a bit more about this challenge?


The proudest achievement I have had recently is...

Dimension

Category

Score

Manager Recommendation

Productivity

Fulfilment

-

Open by asking, I was really interested in your response here, can you tell me a but more about this achievement and why it made you proud?

If they haven't written a response, use the opportunity to help them think through or provide a suggestion of what this might be based on what you have observed.

Did this answer your question?