Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 

HANDOUT: Reframing and Refocusing 1 

Handout: Reframing and Refocusing

General Information: 

Reframing involves preserving the context of a communication but altering it in form so it can be heard 

by more people, and be more aimed at a solution of the problem being expressed. Refocusing is a kind 

of reframe that changes the focus of attention from the initial statement to a different perspective or to 

a solution. Reframing/refocusing does not imply a negative judgment of the speaker and/but is from a 

more neutral perspective. 

Examples: 

1. Statement: I don’t think we are getting anywhere with this discussion.

One Reframe/Refocus by the Facilitator: This group has been working hard to try to respond to 

this issue and it is proving to be very challenging. Is there some additional information we can 

get that might help us move forward? 

2. Statement: I think the current policy was designed to be sexist. 

One Reframe/Refocus by the Facilitator: It sounds like we need to talk about how this policy 

affects people of different genders. 

3. I think this team is totally incompetent! 

One Reframe/Refocus by the Facilitator: What specifically occurred that didn’t meet your 

expectations? 

4. I don’t like the way this meeting is going. Everybody seems to be blaming me for what has 

happened. 

One Reframe/Refocus by the Facilitator: So, you would like us to discuss these problems 

without trying to assign responsibility at this point. 
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 

HANDOUT: 10 Commandments of Skillful Inquiry 1 

The Ten Commandments of 

Skillful Inquiry for Dispute Resolvers

1) Never ask questions as a way to make a statement or give advice;

if you haven’t earned their trust enough to be straightforward with the statement or 

advice, they will likely be suspicious of your question anyway. 

2) Always seek first to ask questions to LEARN; 

If not, you risk building your own assumptions into the question. 

3) Only use HELPFUL questions to help others discover facts you’ve already 

uncovered with curious empowering questions;

Otherwise you are attempting to influence them to frame resolution in terms of 

your beliefs, perspectives, values, assumptions and/or rationale, not theirs thus 

impairing their right to self-determination. The time for imposing your will on them 

is in an adjudicatory role. 

4) Never use questions to cross-examine another person; 

If this requires additional explanation see number 3.

5) Frame curious questions as an invitation to help you understand;

This is what questions are best used for; make sure your intentions are clearly 

known. 

6) Frame your questions in a way that makes it safe for them to not answer;

Mediation is a voluntary process. Your questions should reflect that. People who 

feel safe will be less likely to respond defensively. 

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Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 

HANDOUT: 10 Commandments of Skillful Inquiry 2 

7) Ask questions that probe the inner Ladder of Inference1

rungs;

This is where interests, concerns, values, perceptions, patterns, expectations, 

emotions, and needs are found. 

8) Check yourself for tone and body language that can telegraph judgment 

when asking questions; 

if your intent is a curious, empowering question, your tone and body language 

should not be sending conflicting signals. It is human nature, as a survival instinct, 

to give priority consideration to the negative when mixed positive/negative 

messages are received.

9) If people respond defensively to your questions, assess first what you might 

be doing to cause that reaction, or what perceptions may be behind their 

feelings. 

It may not be about you,... but then again it just might be. 

10) Make sure you have clarity about why you are asking a question before it 

leaves your lips. 

Self-awareness and conscious competence are the pathways to the Balcony 

Perspective.

 

1

 The Ladder of Inference is a theory by Chris Argyris which seeks to explain the sub-conscious decisionmaking process.