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Friday, February 16
CS05 Collaboration Essentials Fri, Feb 16, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Salon A

Asking Great Questions (303537)

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Heather Smith, Cal Poly 
*Eric Vance, LISA--University of Colorado Boulder 

Keywords: communication, collaboration, career development, consulting, nontechnical skills

The questions we ask and the way in which we ask them can make all the difference in how successful we are in meetings, in collaborations, and in our careers. Would you be interested in learning how to ask good questions, what makes good questions even better, and determining your own list of great questions to ask in professional settings? If so, please join us for this interactive presentation in which we motivate why and how statisticians and data scientists should ask questions, provide examples of our own favorite questions to ask domain experts, explain the theoretical framework for how questions can lead to more effective collaborations, and explicate our list of 20 great questions for collaborative statisticians and data scientists. Participants will personally identify their most important and potentially most difficult questions to ask and will have an opportunity to practice asking these questions. We will provide feedback and a final reflection exercise to increase the probability that participants will use their new skills—on the job back home—to ask great questions.